Western Front: Quick Facts

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Facts

Location	Europe
Context	World War I

Photos and Videos

Map of the Western Front during World War I from 1914 to 1918, showing northern France, Belgium, Luxembourg, and western Germany. Colored lines indicate the farthest German advance in September 1914, the front line at the beginning of 1915, German and Allied offensives, and the armistice line of 1918. Major cities such as Paris, Brussels, and Verdun, as well as key rivers and geographic features, are labeled.

Map illustrating the Schlieffen Plan of 1905, showing the German army's planned invasion routes at the start of World War I. Thick red arrows indicate German advances sweeping through Belgium and Luxembourg into northern France, curving toward Paris, with key cities and rivers labeled across Belgium, France, Germany, and neighboring regions.

World War I soldiers in helmets stand and work around a machine gun station built into an earthen trench on the Western Front in France, with one soldier on lookout.

Gas masks at the Second Battle of Ypres

tank in the Battle of Cambrai

A black and white photograph depicting the signing of the World War I Armistice inside a railway car. From left, the figures are Ernst Vanselow, Alfred von Oberndorff, and Detlev von Winterfeldt. Seated second from the right is John Arthur Ransome Marriott. Standing opposite the German delegation is French Marshal Ferdinand Foch. Other Allied and German military personnel stand behind the principa

Brutal truths of the Battle of Verdun

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Timeline

French soldiers in uniform rest and eat on a grassy field behind the front lines during the Battle of Verdun in World War I, with gear and rifles stacked nearby.

Battle of Verdun

February 21, 1916 - December 18, 1916

Three soldiers in World War I uniforms and helmets operate a St. Etienne machine gun in a trench at the Somme.

First Battle of the Somme

July 1, 1916 - November 13, 1916

Second Battle of the Somme

March 21, 1918 - April 5, 1918

Marne, Battle of the

Second Battle of the Marne

July 15, 1918 - July 18, 1918

World War I: Meuse-Argonne, battles of the

battles of the Meuse-Argonne

September 26, 1918 - November 11, 1918

Key People

Dwight D. Eisenhower

Dwight D. Eisenhower

president of United States

Erich Ludendorff

Erich Ludendorff

German general

Ferdinand Foch

Ferdinand Foch

marshal of France

John J. Pershing

John J. Pershing

American military officer

Paul von Hindenburg

Paul von Hindenburg

president of Weimar Republic

William Mitchell

William Mitchell

United States Army general

Philippe Petain in military uniform and decorated cap, facing the camera with a neutral expression and a large mustache.

Philippe Pétain

French general

Helmuth von Moltke

Helmuth von Moltke

German military commander [1848–1916]

Sir Douglas Haig

Douglas Haig, 1st Earl Haig

British military leader

French, John, 1st earl of Ypres

John French, 1st earl of Ypres

British field marshal

Joseph-Jacques-Césaire Joffre

Joseph-Jacques-Césaire Joffre

French general

Erich von Falkenhayn

Erich von Falkenhayn

German general

Robert Nivelle

Robert Nivelle

French military officer

Monash, Sir John

Sir John Monash

Australian engineer and soldier

Manfred, Freiherr von Richthofen, “the Red Baron”

Manfred, baron von Richthofen

German aviator

Rickenbacker

Edward Vernon Rickenbacker

American pilot

Bishop, William Avery

William Avery Bishop

Canadian fighter ace

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Charles Lanrezac

French general

Albert Ball.

Albert Ball

British pilot

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Sir George Arthur French

British soldier

Louis IX of France (St. Louis), stained glass window of Louis IX during the Crusades. (Unknown location.)

World Wars

American infantry streaming through the captured town of Varennes, France, 1918.This place fell into the hands of the Americans on the first day of the Franco-American assault upon the Argonne-Champagne line. (World War I)

World War I Quiz