The nations that marched off to fight in the fall of 1914 all expected a short, sharp, and victorious war. Why did the First World War instead devolve...

This
description of WWI mainly describes the Western Front, as the Eastern Front was more dynamicwith
Germany making significant inroads into the Russian Empire.

One major reason
that the Western Front turned into a stalemate was defensive technology. Trenches became quite
advanced, and many could survive anything short of a direct artillery hit. Soldiers used barbed
wire to slow down incoming attackers. Automatic rifle fire also turned the space between the
trenches into killing fields, thus making an advance of a few hundred yards
remarkable.

Artillery grew to unprecedented levels, and the large shell holes
that pockmarked the battlefield also made maneuver difficult, especially when these were filled
with water. The muddy conditions of no-man's land also contributed to the deteriorating health
and morale of the solders on both sides.

Another factor was that the tactics
remained relatively unchanged since the days of linear warfare. Soldiers continued to come out
of their trenches in waves and were thus mowed down by automatic rifle fire. Rolling artillery
barrages often hit the soldiers they were trying to protect. The tank proved little help for the
Allies as it was not until late in the war that it was used in conjunction with
infantry.

The stalemate on the Western Front consumed Britain, France, and
Germany. After the first year of the war, neither side wanted to quit fightingas it became a
matter of national honor to continue the war to its conclusion no matter the cost. Tactics could
not keep up with advances in weaponry; as a result, millions lost their lives in an event that
is one of the greatest tragedies of the twentieth century.