![]() And most of the time when you win, it’s only temporary. These methods tend to result in far fewer casualties, waste fewer resources and are a display of superior intellect, rather than just strength.Īttrition warfare is usually a last resort only. Traditional military theorists such as Sun Tzu (“Supreme excellence consists of breaking the enemy’s resistance without fighting”) and Machiavelli (“Never attempt to win by force what can be won by deception”) evangelized for clever tactics. Indeed, theorists are divided as to whether attrition is even a separate tactic, rather than a ubiquitous feature of all conflict. The International Encyclopedia of the First World War defines attrition warfare as “the sustained process of wearing down an opponent so as to force their physical collapse through continuous losses in personnel, equipment and supplies or them down to such an extent that their will to fight collapses.”Īttrition warfare is considered a somewhat dirty tactic, although necessary in some situations. “When you do as everyone else does, don’t be surprised when you get what everyone else gets.” - Peter Kaufman The best way out is to use a different approach - through tactics, strategy, or weaponry. It’s hard to see when you’re in it, but most people and businesses are in some form of attrition warfare. The winning side usually has a slight advantage in production capability or resources. To date, 630 minesweepers died while demining the zones.When warring opponents use similar approaches and possess similar weapons, trench warfare becomes inevitable. To deal with the massive cleanup and unexploded ordnance issues, the French government created the Département du Déminage (Department of Demining) after World War II. Not all are so lucky to escape unscathed and so the French and Belgian governments still pay reparations to the “ mutilée dans la guerre“– the victims of the war nearly 100 years after it ended. Occasionally, the Iron Harvest claims casualties of its own, usually in the form of a dazed farmer and a destroyed tractor. Every year, all along the old Western Front in France and Belgium, the population endures the “Iron Harvest” – the yearly collection of hundreds of tons of unexploded ordnance and other war materiel still buried in the ground. This does not mean that the areas are completely safe, however. In these areas, people were allowed to return and rebuild their lives. Nine villages deemed unfit to be rebuilt are known today as the “ villages that died for France.” Inside the Zone Rouge signs marking the locations of streets and important buildings are the only reminders that those villages ever existed.Īreas not completely devastated but heavily impacted by the war fell into other zones, Yellow and Blue. ![]() The people of this area were forced to relocate elsewhere while entire villages were wiped off the map. Those areas that were completely devastated and destroyed, unsafe to farm, and impossible for human habitation became the Zone Rouge. Immediately after the war, the French government quarantined much of the land subjected to the worst of the battles. ![]() But the most dangerous remnants of these battles are the unexploded ordnance littering the battlefield. These massive bombardments and the brutal fighting inflicted horrifying casualties, over 600,000 at Verdun and over 1 million at the Somme. During the battle, which lasted over 300 days in 1916, more than 60 million artillery shells were fired by both sides – many containing poisonous gases.
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