A static war

Although there were some new weapons in this war, they were not successful enough to end it quickly. In some ways the war was different from others before it. It was not a war of dashing cavalry charges and rapid movements of troops as was the last major war fought in Europe, the Franco-Prussian War of 1870-71. That was also a short war; most of the real fighting was over in two months.

The First World War has been described as a static war of attrition. This means both sides dug in and stayed put and tried to wear the other side down by killing more of the enemy in occasional and huge offensives. War on this massive scale meant each side had to use all its industrial and human resources - machines and men - and this only helped them to last that much longer.

Neil Demarco: Britain and the Great War; Oxford University Press, 1992/2000, page 18