SkipCaptcha, Automoderated users, edit
1,631
edits
Changes
Jump to navigation
Jump to search
Created page "First Battle of Ypres"
The '''First Battle of Ypres''' was a battle in the opening months of [[World War I]], fought from approximately October 19 to November 22, 1914, around the city of [[Ypres]] (Dutch and Flemish: ''Ieper'') in the [[Flanders]] region of western [[Belgium]]. It directly followed the [[Race to the Sea]] of September and early October, in which the allied British, French, and Belgian armies and the forces of [[Imperial Germany]] had each attempted to turn the other's northern flank, but had failed and were now compelled to resort to frontal attacks in order to gain an advantage.
Fought in several phases around the city of Ypres itself and along the Yser River to the north and south, the battle chiefly involved the German Fourth and Sixth Armies against the British Expeditionary Force (BEF), the French 8th Army, and units of the Belgian Army. Consisting largely of massed infantry attacks against increasingly fortified defensive positions, backed by artillery and machine guns, it resulted in very heavy casualties on both sides, but especially for the Germans, who did the majority of the attacking. This, and the inability to break through the lines of the western Allies, would be a factor in the subsequent decision of the German leadership to avoid seeking a decisive battle and instead focus on a strategy of attrition; thus cementing the shift to [[trench warfare]] on the [[Western Front]].
[[Category:World War I Battles]]
Fought in several phases around the city of Ypres itself and along the Yser River to the north and south, the battle chiefly involved the German Fourth and Sixth Armies against the British Expeditionary Force (BEF), the French 8th Army, and units of the Belgian Army. Consisting largely of massed infantry attacks against increasingly fortified defensive positions, backed by artillery and machine guns, it resulted in very heavy casualties on both sides, but especially for the Germans, who did the majority of the attacking. This, and the inability to break through the lines of the western Allies, would be a factor in the subsequent decision of the German leadership to avoid seeking a decisive battle and instead focus on a strategy of attrition; thus cementing the shift to [[trench warfare]] on the [[Western Front]].
[[Category:World War I Battles]]