Military History of the First World War
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The Western Front, 1916
By this time British mobilisation was beginning to have results and time was running out for Germany. Falkenhayn decided to launch an attack, and choose Verdun as his target. The Allies (Entente) also decided to attack on all fronts simultaneously. All sides believed that they would have enough high explosives manufactured to neutralise the dominance of defensive warfare. Between early 1915 and the autumn of 1916 Germany increased production of heavy guns from 38 to 330 per month. The French had made the mistake of enlisting key industrial workers, and the French army did not wish to demobilize them; however, the French passed a law requiring the army to do this. Thus, the increase in manufacture of French guns was slow at first, but thereafter accelerated rapidly. The Russians also began producing heavy guns in large numbers, but their problem was that their poor communications network made it difficult for them to deliver them to the front. In England a Ministry of Munitions was established under Lloyd George, and by mid 1916 Britain was producing 3,200 guns per month, mostly of the heavy variety. Britain was also able to use its credit with the United States to obtain ample supplies of raw materials for armaments production.
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Contents of Military History of the First World War
1 The Central Powers and the Entente 2 The run-up to the war: The July Crisis, 1914 3 Military Planning in Advance of the War 4 Serbia and the Eastern Front, 1914 5 The Battle for the Marne 6 The Race to the Sea and the First Battle of Ypres 7 First Battle of Ypres 8 The Pacific 9 Africa 10 The Eastern Front during 1915 11 Italy enters the war 12 The Balkans 13 The Western Front 14 Gallipoli 15 The Western Front, 1916 16 Verdun 17 The Battle of the Somme 18 The Trentino Offensive 19 The Brusilov Offensive 20 Romania 21 The Russian Front in 1917 22 Mesopotamia 23 The Nivelle Offensive 24 The Third Battle of Ypres (The Battle of Passendaele) 25 Cambrai 26 Caporetto 27 German offensive in Russia, 1918 28 Ludendorff's offensive in the West 29 Allied counter-offensive
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