4. The New Way of War

About this Lecture

Lecture

In this module, we consider how both sides made use of new methods in order to break the deadlock on the Western Front. Beginning with the Battle of Verdun and the Battle of the Somme (both 1916), we explore the impact of tanks (first used at the Battle of Flers-Courcelette), the use of poison gas, as well as the increased reliance on heavy artillery.

Course

In this course, Dr Rob Johnson (University of Oxford) looks at the First World War from the point of view of the military strategies of each side. The course begins by considering the preparations for war, particularly those of Germany, before moving on to consider the reasons for the stalemate on the Western front in 1914. After that, we consider the various attempts to break the deadlock—the expansion into new theatres of war (particularly in the Middle East) and the development and use of new technologies (including tanks and poison gas). In the final module, we explore how the war finally came to an end.

Lecturer

Dr Rob Johnson works on the History of War in the nineteenth and twentieth centuries, with particular interest in the First World War, the Indian Army and the so-called 'sideshows'; the Inter-War Years, and more recent conflicts in Afghanistan, Pakistan, Iran and the Middle East. Thematically, he focuses on strategy, conventional operations, tactical developments, revolutionary warfare, intelligence and counter-insurgency.

Dr Johnson is also the Director of the Changing Character of War Programme which is an interdisciplinary study of war and armed conflict at the University of Oxford.