The western front of World War I opened in 1914, with the German army invading first Luxembourg and Belgium, then gaining military control of important industrial regions in France. The tide of the advance was dramatically turned with the Battle of the Marne. Both sides then dug in along a meandering line of fortified trenches, stretching from the North Sea to the Swiss frontier with France. This line remained essentially unchanged for most of the war. Between 1915 and 1917 a series of major offensives took place along this front. The attacks employed massive artillery bombardments and massed infantry advances. However, a combination of entrenchments, machine gun nests, barbed wire, and other defenses, repeatedly inflicted severe casualties on the attackers. As a result, no significant advances were made during these assaults. In an effort to break the deadlock, this front saw the introduction of new military technology, including poison gas and tanks. But it was only after the adoption of improved tactics that some degree of mobility was restored. In spite of the generally stagnant nature of this front, this theater would prove decisive. The inexorable advance of the Allied armies in 1918 persuaded the German commanders that defeat was unavoidable, and the government was forced to sue for conditions of surrender.

Read the rest of this article: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Western_Front_%28World_War_I%29

_______________________________ Today's selected anniversaries:

1846: The first baseball game (using modern rules) was played in Hoboken, New Jersey. (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/History_of_baseball_in_the_United_States)

1865: The Emancipation Proclamation reached Galveston, Texas, beginning the tradition of Juneteenth celebrations. (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Juneteenth)

1867: Maximilian I of the Second Mexican Empire was executed by firing squad in Querétaro. (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Maximilian_I_of_Mexico)

1953: Ethel and Julius Rosenberg were executed as Soviet spies. (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ethel_and_Julius_Rosenberg)

1961: Kuwait declared independence from the United Kingdom. (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kuwait)

1978: Garfield made his debut in a comic strip. (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Garfield)

_____________________ Wikiquote of the day:

"It is not power that corrupts but fear. Fear of losing power corrupts those who wield it and fear of the scourge of power corrupts those who are subject to it. -- Aung San Suu Kyi (http://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Aung_San_Suu_Kyi)