Why the basic training of WWI soldiers left them woefully unprepared for the horrors of battle

As Europe plunged into World War I, the warring nations quickly realized that a without an unprecedented recruitment effort, they would be unprepared to sustain the colossal struggle ahead.

So, within days of the wars beginning, recruitment efforts began with fervor.

It was initially thought that appealing to the people's patriotism and sense of duty would elicit the most effective response.

In Britain, Secretary of State for War Lord Kitchener foresaw the need for a large army and launched his famous campaign featuring the iconic "Your Country Needs You" poster.

This call to arms seemed to work. Thousands responded, leading to an initial rush to the colors as men volunteered in droves.

For many, they felt like time was off the essence, as many predicted the war would be over by Christmas.

Young men did not want to miss out on an opportunity for fun and adventure.

However, as the war dragged on and the casualty lists grew longer, the enthusiasm for voluntary enlistment waned.

The British government, unable to replicate their early recruitment success, passed the Military Service Act in 1916.

This imposed forced conscription on all single men aged 18 to 41. When this didn't raise the numbers required, it was later expanding to married men as well.

In France, there approach was similar. The concept of "levee en masse", which had historical roots dating back to the Revolutionary Wars, was resurrected.

It was conscription by another name.

On the other side of the conflict, the Central Powers, similar measures were already in place.

Likewise, Germany, under the leadership of Kaiser Wilhelm II, had a well-established system of compulsory military service.

Adopted from the older Prussian military recruitment system, it was already a fundamental part of German society.

Finally, the Austro-Hungarian Empire, faced a slightly different problem. As the empire was made up of a mosaic of different ethnic groups, it was impossible to encourage recruitment based on a simplistic patriotic call to national solidarity.

Instead, they had to rely heavily on conscription to fill the ranks of its armies.

However, as different people groups had to follow the orders of other groups they detested, this approach often highlighted the internal divisions within the empire.

The duration and structure of basic training during World War I was different for each country.

However, there were some commonalities that developed across the course of the war years.

For the British Army at the outset of the war in 1914, basic training could last as little as a few weeks.

However, as the conflict progressed and the need for more thorough preparation became clear, the training period was extended, often to several months.

By 1916, after the stark lessons of the Somme and other battles, the British had established a more systematic approach.

A recruit spending up to six months in training before being considered ready for the front lines.

Eventually, the training was divided into distinct phases, beginning with the inculcation of discipline and the instilling of basic military skills.

The first phase often included physical fitness, marching, and the rudiments of military life.

This initial period was crucial for building physical strength and endurance, as well as for transforming civilians into soldiers who could operate within the military hierarchy.

The second phase typically involved more specialized training in weaponry and tactics.

Recruits would learn to handle rifles, machine guns, and grenades; they would also be introduced to the tactics that would be required in trench warfare, which dominated the Western Front.

This phase also included instruction in the construction and defense of trenches.

In additional, it simulated combat exercises to prepare the men for the realities of trying to survive in no-man's-land.

The final phase of training was often conducted closer to the front lines, where recruits could acclimatize to the sounds and stresses of battle.

In France, for example, recruits might be sent to quiet sectors of the front to complete their training, a practice known as "nursery sectors".

This is where they would be exposed to the front lines under less intense conditions to harden them for combat.

The industrial scale of the conflict introduced deadly innovations that required soldiers to be well-versed in a variety of combat techniques.

Marksmanship was the bedrock of the soldier's combat skills, with training focusing on the ability to shoot accurately and maintain one's weapon in the muddy.

This was often impossible to do in the chaotic conditions of trench warfare.

To improve upon this, recruits could spend countless hours at the shooting range, learning to aim and fire their rifles with precision.

The Lee-Enfield rifle, standard issue for British troops, became as familiar to the Tommy (the nickname for a British soldier) as his own hand.

Similarly, American doughboys (an equivalent nickname for US troops) were often trained on the Springfield M1903 or the M1917 Enfield rifle.

The goal of all of this repetitious practice was the increase both the rate of fire and accuracy.

The importance of a well-aimed shot could mean the difference between holding the line and a costly retreat.

In addition to the rifles, soldiers were trained to use a variety of other weapons.

Machine guns had come to dominate the battlefield by 1916, but specialized training was required to operate these complex pieces of machinery.

The British Vickers gun, the German MG 08, and the French Hotchkiss M1914 machine guns were among the formidable weapons that troops had to master.

However, troops took months of training, in small groups, in order to confidently operate them.

While not often associated with the First World War, hand-to-hand combat remained a grim necessity.

The close quarters of trench raids meant that soldiers had to be prepared for brutal, intimate fighting when required.

For most new recruits, bayonet drills were a staple of this training. Men taught to thrust and parry with the detachable knife, as well as how to overcome the natural reluctance they felt when engaged in such personal fighting.

The basic training of World War I, while crucial, faced numerous challenges and limitations that affected its effectivenss.

One of the most significant challenges was the sheer scale of the mobilization. The unprecedented number of recruits that flooded into training camps following the outbreak of war put a strain on limited military resources.

For the early volunteer soldiers, it led to overcrowding in the barracks, and shortages of vital training equipment.

In many cases, recruits were limited to training with wooden rifles and other makeshift equipment.

This did not really prepare them for how real rifles worked.

Another limitation was the variability in the quality and experience of the instructors.

As the war progressed and the need for more soldiers became urgent, many trainers were hastily pulled from the ranks of those who had only recently completed their own basic training.

The result was a dilution of expertise and a potential compromise in the quality of training provided to new recruits.

This was exacerbated by the loss of experienced soldiers and officers on the battlefield, who would have been invaluable as trainers.

The rapidly evolving nature of the war also meant that training programs often struggled to keep pace.

What was taught in the early years of the war could become obsolete as new weapons and methods of warfare were introduced.

This was particularly evident in the use of poison gas and the development of tank warfare, which required new defensive and offensive strategies that were not part of the initial training curriculum.

Furthermore, the time constraints imposed by the urgent need for troop deployment meant that training was often rushed.

There was a constant tension between the need to thoroughly prepare troops for the realities of combat and the pressure to send them to the front as quickly as possible.

This could result in soldiers entering battle without having fully mastered the skills necessary for survival, let alone victory.