Discuss World War I when explaining trench warfare. Of the major wars in our history, this is the one that utilized trench warfare the most. Trench warfare arose because around the time of World War I, dramatic improvements in firepower, especially artillery and machine guns, rendered previous forms of warfare almost impossible to wage; while technologies to combat these weapons, for example, tanks and armored personnel carriers, were not properly developed until late in the war. Thus, armies resorted to digging trenches as a means of protecting and defending themselves.
Include details about how large or small the trenches could be. Some trenches were up to one mile long and were developed into complex systems of interconnected trenches. Many were easily deep enough for soldiers to stand upright within them. Some trenches, especially new ones, were so small that soldiers barely had space to crouch down alongside each other.
Talk about other uses of the trenches, other than protection. Soldiers often used the trenches as tunnel systems to deliver necessary supplies to each other, as well as mail. Larger trenches could also be used as a safer place to administer first aid to wounded soldiers.
Add details about the conditions of the trenches. These details should be discussed delicately with younger children. The trenches had to serve as beds, workstations and bathrooms for the soldiers. Rats and lice infested trenches, which added to unsanitary conditions. The rats could grow as large as house cats and often ate the remains of dead soldiers. Infection and a condition known as trench foot were rampant. Trench foot was caused by standing in wet, cold conditions for prolonged periods of time and often led to amputation of the foot. These factors combined to produce a horrifying stench, which made trench warfare particularly unbearable.
Show pictures of trenches that were used in trench warfare to help supplement what you are explaining. Pictures of how vast or how tightly spaced the trenches could be, for example, can help illustrate this point.