The First World War is considered one of the bloodiest wars ever fought in the history of the world. A major contributor to the death toll of this war was the new tactics of trench warfare. Trench warfare is a battle strategy that uses trenches and artificial weapons to attack and conquer the enemy's trench. This battle strategy, combined with the use of new warfare technologies and living conditions in the trenches, created one of the deadliest wars ever fought by humanity. For about four years France and Germany used trench warfare as a warfare tactic. Soldiers were told to dig trenches to temporarily shelter from the gunfire. The trenches would provide a sufficient amount of cover as long as a soldier ducked. The trenches were long zigzag dugouts about six and a half feet deep in which one army hides and the other attacks. Once a trench is captured, the army previously inhabiting the trench retreats to one of the trenches behind them. If the attacking army retreats, the other army attacks it in turn. At the time it was created, trench warfare seemed like a good idea, but it ultimately turned into a stalemate. This stalemate ended up lasting four years. The introduction of new technologies has always been a part of warfare. If war leads to slaughter and science helps create efficiency, the result is a more efficient form of slaughter. As both sides are trying to outdo each other technologically, more and more people are being killed by each invention. Some examples of new technology introduced as a result of trench warfare include machine guns, tanks, heavy artillery, chemicals, and automatic weapons. Each of these inventions was created to cause mass destruction and death of enemy forces. New technology makes us… middle of the paper… vulnerable to disease and other ailments. The troops were exposed to a humid and cool climate, so many fell ill with bronchitis and pneumonia. Often there was no way to prevent it because there was no where to take cover. Hospitals were often unsanitary and very crowded. Many times, if a patient was said to be “beyond surgical help,” they were left to die. Men have died from infection in hospitals. Medical science was not advanced enough to treat some of the soldier's wounds. In conclusion, many factors combined caused the First World War to be considered one of the bloodiest wars in the history of humanity. Some of these factors include the trench design, new technology introduced during the war, the offensive and defensive methods used by the soldiers, the gruesome conditions the soldiers lived in, and the lack of medical science..