Why are the 1916 battles called attrition?

Each side aimed to bleed the other white rather than take a strategic point, so the line barely moved while casualties soared.

What matters when counting days of war?

Subtract actual calendar dates and check for leap years, since 1916 adds one day to the total.

S5 History First World War, Paper 2: fighting, technology and attrition

2026-11-02

Tutor Prep Guide · Primary English

Paper 2 starts with the Marne and trench deadlock, then covers the attrition at Verdun and the Somme, why America entered in 1917, date arithmetic in days and casualty density.

Focus　Subtract real calendar dates and remember leap years, divide casualties by days or by totals for a rate, and give both effect and limit for any weapon.

01　Paper details (check answers afterwards)

Item	Detail
Questions	10
Suggested time	25
Difficulty mix	Foundation 4 · Intermediate 3 · Challenge 2 · Error redo 1
Chapter	Chapter: S5 History: The First World War
Level	S5

02　Questions (10 items)

FoundationWhat did the First Battle of the Marne achieve in 1914?
FoundationWhat characterised trench warfare on the Western Front?
FoundationWhat kind of operations were Verdun and the Somme in 1916?
FoundationWhat brought the United States into the war in 1917?
IntermediateThe war ran from 28 July 1914 to the armistice of 11 November 1918. How many days?
IntermediateVerdun lasted from 21 February to 18 December 1916. How many days?
IntermediateBritish casualties on the first day of the Somme were 57 470, about one third of them killed. Roughly how many died?
ChallengeVerdun cost about 700 000 casualties over 301 days. What was the average per day?
ChallengeHow did machine guns, gas, tanks and aircraft change tactics without breaking the deadlock?
Error redoError: a student says the United States joined the war in 1914. What is correct?

03　Answers and one-line notes

#	Answer	One-line note
1	It stopped a quick German victory, wrecked the Schlieffen Plan and turned the war into trench deadlock	With the German right wing weakened the encirclement of Paris failed, both sides dug in and the plan for a quick victory collapsed.
2	Opposing trench lines behind barbed wire, machine guns making every assault costly, and front lines moving only tens of kilometres in years	Defensive firepower outran attacking speed, producing a war of attrition rather than breakthrough.
3	Battles of attrition, aiming to exhaust the enemy rather than break through	Together the two battles cost over a million casualties with almost no change of line, the classic case of attrition.
4	Unrestricted submarine warfare sinking American ships, and the Zimmermann telegram revealing German overtures to Mexico	The two events turned American neutrality into belligerency and gave the Allies manpower and credit.
5	1 567 days, about four years and three and a half months	Subtracting the dates gives 1 567 days, one more than four common years because 1916 was a leap year.
6	301 days, about ten months	The dates give 301 days, though Germany expected weeks, and the battle became a ten-month mincing machine.
7	About 19 157	57 470 divided by three is about 19 157, a single day’s deaths equal to a whole town.
8	About 2 326	700 000 over 301 is about 2 326 a day, close to a small village’s population daily, which shows the intensity of attrition.
9	They raised killing power and favoured the defence, while tanks from 1916 were few and unreliable and communications and supply could not support a combined breakthrough	Any advantage was copied quickly, and commanders still used dense frontal attacks, so innovation never became a decisive victory.
10	The United States stayed neutral until April 1917 and declared war over unrestricted submarine warfare and the Zimmermann telegram, about two years and eight months after the outbreak	The three neutral years were the hardest for the Allies, and only American entry changed the balance of forces.

04　What to do after marking

After marking, redo only the wrong items and write down which step went wrong (formula, unit, or misread number).
Repeat the same item two days later; move to the next paper only when both attempts are correct.
Parents only need the answer and note columns; there is no need to explain every item.

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