Lest we forget – the cause
    The German invasion of Belgium and Luxembourg in 1914 was of military benefit but a political gamble. It enabled the German armies to flood into France by avoiding the main border defences and it allowed Belgian coal mines and factories to fall into German hands. The political gamble was whether or not this move would bring Britain into the war on the side of France?

    For the past century, Britain had remained neutral in European conflicts, preferring to use diplomacy to maintain their top position in the Balance of Power by setting their capitalist rivals against each other. The British capitalist ruling class had supported Prussian aggression and a united Germany in the Franco-Prussian War (1870-71) and had applauded the formation ofa German Empire. However, during the last quarter of the 19th century, British capitalists began to realise that Germany was now rapidly replacing the traditional French enemy as their major commercial rival.

German stamp mourning the loss of its colonies: this one showing a German Togo stamp of 1900.

    British capitalists were also anxiously aware of the possibility of Germany gaining access to Europe's riches, and with the invasion of Belgium in 1914, the great fear was that such a nation, with a powerful fleet controlling the Channel ports, could seriously challenge Britain's command of the seas. Britain could not allow this to happen.

Lest we forget – the action
    So Britain declared war on Germany on 4th August 1914, and had troops in France alongside her Allies just in time to face an almighty military onslaught. A massive German army of 1½ million men stormed through Belgium with the objective of reaching and occupying Paris and the Channel ports of Dunkirk and Calais. On the left of the line, the British halted the German advance at Ypres where heavy fighting continued through to November. This was the first Battle of Ypres.

The mud at Ypres.
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    In the centre of the line, the Allies were driven back to the outskirts of Paris where, in September, the Germans were halted at the Marne River. Counter-attacks by the Allies then pushed the Germans back to the Aisne River by the end of 1914. The front line then stabilised and for 3½ years, trenches and massed artillery transformed the war into a virtual interminable seige, extending from Switzerland to the sea.

Ypres, 1916, after the Battle of Ypres.
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   All along this "Western front" the names of obscure towns and villages became immortalised as grim reminders of the obscene indifference that exists towards the expendability and suffering of workers in our present social system, known as "capitalism". Young men were shot, bayonetted, gassed, blown to pieces, or drowned in water-filled shell craters in their tens of thousands . . . human sacrifices to the God of Profit and Commercial Greed.

Canadian troops at Passchendaele, 1917.
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    The fighting in capturing, losing, and re-capturing a few yards of territory under the most horrific conditions and the great expenditure in effort and explosives plus the unacceptable casualties and loss of life . . . all became quite acceptable. The only significant movement, which swayed back and forth, was in the centre of the line between Loos and Verdun, known as the 'Somme Battles.'

Fallen soldier, Chateaubriand.
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    Fighting was continuous all along the Western Front but ferocious major battles were unleashed at strategic points. On 22nd April 1915 a heavy bombardment signalled another attempted "break through" by the Germans in the second Battle of Ypres.

    Civilians streamed out of the town and headed south. During the afternoon the Germans launched a poisonous gas attack . . . the first time such a weapon was ever used in warfare. 60,000 allied troops died in this extended battle, during which the Germans advanced 2 miles. This portion of the front was then pounded by artillery shells almost unceasingly for the next 2 years. The region was reclaimed marshland which was used as pasture. Farmers were required by law to maintain drainage ditches which, of course, were quickly wrecked. Rains added to the already soggy terrain which eventually became a landscape of foul-smelling mud, peppered with water-filled shell craters. In time, this treacherous morass would suck in and engulf men, horses, guns and . . . later . . . even tanks! Every new shell explosion would throw up rotted corpses which would slowly sink from view again.

Early British tank.

    In the Spring of 1916, the Germans launched a massive attack against the French at Verdun. For four months the battle raged and troops on both sides were massacred. The line held, but to relieve the exhausted defenders, the Allies mounted an equally massive offensive against the Germans on the Somme (1st July 1916.) This first Battle of the Somme was aimed at pushing the Germans back on a wide front. A seven-day artillery bombardment was followed by a 'creeping barrage' . . . infantry advancing behind a screen of slowly progressing shell explosions. Constant pressure was applied to the German positions . . . British tanks appeared for the first time in September 1916. The few tanks became ineffective when this area of irrigation and river systems also turned into a quagmire. Conditions worsened during the winter, but the 'push' was resumed in the Spring of 1917. Progress was slow and at a huge cost in lives . . . 600,000 Allies were lost for a gain of about 20 miles.   more