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The World Wars
Causes, Turning Points & Treaties
How both wars began, turned and were settled.
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In which year did the First World War begin?
Life in the Trenches
Less about generals and treaties, more about what the ground and the routine were actually like between 1914 and 1918.
About this topic
The Western Front settled into trenches within months of the war starting and barely moved for the next three years. The reason was mechanical rather than tactical: magazine rifles, machine guns and quick-firing artillery made open ground lethal, and there was no vehicle yet capable of crossing that ground while carrying men. Digging in was the rational response, and once both sides had done it the line ran unbroken from the Channel to Switzerland. Daily life in that system had its own vocabulary, most of it practical. Traverses stopped a shell or a burst of fire sweeping a whole trench. Duckboards kept men out of standing water in the Flanders clay. Trench foot and trench fever were treated as preventable conditions with specific drills attached. The famous set pieces — the gas at Ypres, the first tanks on the Somme, the Christmas truce of 1914 — sit inside a routine that was mostly waiting, digging and carrying.
Questions & answers
Life in the Trenches: all 10 questions and answers
Every question in this quiz is listed below with its correct answer and the reasoning behind it. Play first if you would rather not see the answers — or read through as a study sheet.
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1In trench warfare, what was no man's land?
- A A trench abandoned by both sides
- B The area behind the reserve trenches
- C A neutral country bordering the front
- D The open ground between the opposing front-line trenches Correct
Answer: D. The open ground between the opposing front-line trenches
Why: It could be a few dozen metres across or several hundred. Barbed wire and shell craters made crossing it slow, which is much of why attacks failed.
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2Why were trench systems dug in a zigzag rather than a straight line?
- A To follow the line of existing farm tracks
- B To make them quicker to dig
- C So a single shell or burst of fire could not sweep the whole length Correct
- D To confuse enemy mapmakers
Answer: C. So a single shell or burst of fire could not sweep the whole length
Why: The projecting sections were called traverses. A straight trench would let an enemy who reached one end fire down the entire line.
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3The painful condition caused by standing for long periods in cold water was known as what?
- A Gas gangrene
- B Trench foot Correct
- C Trench fever
- D Shell shock
Answer: B. Trench foot
Why: Dry socks and whale oil rubs were ordered as prevention, and officers were held responsible for the drill. Trench fever was a separate illness spread by body lice.
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4Which gas, used on a large scale from 1915, formed the characteristic greenish cloud?
- A Chlorine Correct
- B Phosgene
- C Mustard gas
- D Carbon monoxide
Answer: A. Chlorine
Why: Phosgene was deadlier and harder to notice, and mustard gas burned skin as well as lungs. Gas caused a small share of total casualties but a very large share of the fear.
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5Who wrote the poem beginning "In Flanders fields the poppies blow"?
- A Wilfred Owen
- B Siegfried Sassoon
- C Rupert Brooke
- D John McCrae Correct
Answer: D. John McCrae
Why: McCrae was a Canadian military doctor and wrote it in 1915. The poem is the reason the poppy became a symbol of remembrance.
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6What was a creeping barrage?
- A Continuous machine-gun fire from a fixed position
- B The shelling of towns far behind the front
- C Artillery fire advancing just ahead of attacking infantry Correct
- D A slow cavalry advance across open ground
Answer: C. Artillery fire advancing just ahead of attacking infantry
Why: The timing had to be exact, and troops who moved too fast were hit by their own guns. It became standard practice from 1916 onwards.
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7Which term did British medical officers use for the psychological breakdown now generally understood as trauma?
- A Combat exhaustion
- B Shell shock Correct
- C Battle rage
- D Trench neuralgia
Answer: B. Shell shock
Why: It was first assumed to be physical damage from blast, which is where the name came from. Sufferers were often treated as malingerers, and attitudes changed only slowly.
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8Which animals were used in enormous numbers to move guns and supplies on the Western Front?
- A Horses and mules Correct
- B Camels
- C Oxen
- D Elephants
Answer: A. Horses and mules
Why: Motor transport existed but could not cope with churned ground and shell holes. Millions of animals were used across all fronts and losses among them were very heavy.
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9The Christmas truce of 1914 is best described as what?
- A A formal armistice agreed by both governments
- B A ceasefire ordered by the Pope and observed everywhere
- C A truce that held for the rest of that winter
- D Unofficial local ceasefires along parts of the Western Front Correct
Answer: D. Unofficial local ceasefires along parts of the Western Front
Why: It happened in some sectors and not in others, and commanders discouraged any repeat. Later Christmases saw nothing on the same scale.
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10What were duckboards used for in the trenches?
- A Boards for pinning up trench maps
- B Frames for carrying the wounded
- C Wooden slats laid down to walk above mud and water Correct
- D Shields fixed along the parapet
Answer: C. Wooden slats laid down to walk above mud and water
Why: Front-line trenches flooded readily in the Flanders clay, where the water table sits close to the surface. Men who slipped off them in the dark occasionally drowned.
Frequently asked questions about Life in the Trenches
How many questions are in Life in the Trenches?
Life in the Trenches has 10 questions and takes about 7 minutes to finish. It is rated Medium and sits in our The World Wars category.
How is Life in the Trenches scored?
Each of the 10 correct answers adds 10 XP, up to 100 XP for a clean run. Wrong answers cost you nothing, and your full question-by-question review is shown at the end.
Are the answers to Life in the Trenches explained?
Yes. All 10 questions carry a written explanation of why the correct answer is right, so the quiz works as a study sheet as well as a test.
Can I replay Life in the Trenches?
Yes, as often as you like. The questions and the answer options are reshuffled on each run, and you can use Practice Mistakes afterwards to retry only the ones you missed. No account is needed to play.
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