World War I - Western Front: Every Day

Troop positions and movements 1 August 1914 – 28 February 1919, 4 days every second.

Red - Germans & German allies
Blue - French & colonial infantry
Cyan - French cavalry
Orange - British & colonials
Green - Belgians in the north; Russians, Italians, Portuguese elsewhere
Purple - US-Americans

Dark blue - reserve
Light blue - resting & training
Uneven brown - building defense works
Uneven grey - staging
Solid grey - sanitation

The video shows the front lines, leaving out the regions further south. About 85% of the overall map area is included, and the source graphics are rendered at a 60% zoom at the highest video resolution. The infobox and the date labels are redrawn in a consistent format across all frames, closely based on the original. The credit for producing the maps goes to Jean Michel Martin, the author of the Cartographie 1914 - 1918 website.

The songs represent the main belligerents on the Western Front, in order: Belgium, Germany, France, UK, US. They've been shortened to fit the time frame of the video.

For excellent coverage of the war and what came after check out the channels below. I am not affiliated with them or with Cartographie 1914 -1918 in any way.

0:00 1914
0:38 1915
2:09 1916
3:41 1917
5:12 1918
6:31 After the Armistice

[enmarche]

00:00 - 00:13 German Advance and The First Battle of Marne
00:13 - 02:24 The Race to the Sea
02:22 - 03:37 Verdun
02:55 - 03:29 Somme
03:58 - 04:05 German withdrawal to The Hindenburg Line
04:07 - 04:09 The Nivelle Offensive
04:33 - 04:58 Passchendaele
05:31 - 06:00 Kaiserschlacht
06:00 - 06:31 Hundred Days Offensive
06:31 armistice signed

[gareththompson]

It's great to finally see a completed version of this. Thank you.

[boraxmixes]

What a remarkable great animation. Very cool to see the Von Schlieffenplan, the insignificant gains of the battle of the Somme and Verdun, the effect of the Spring offensives and the dire situation of the central powers at the end of 1918. I’m gonna watch it again 😁

[halnywiatr]

Excellent work!! An additional layer of information that could be added is a graph showing weekly and cumulative casualty figures. That would illustrate that even a static front was rife with activity.

[mrparalyzed]

Music:
00:00 - 00:48 De Charge van Burkel
00:48 - 02:21 Die Wacht am Rhein
02:21 - 03:54 La Madelon
03:54 - 05:59 It's a long way to Tipperary
05:59 - 06:58 Over There

[hughbeastodonnell]

I just wish I could slow it down and zoom in, but wow- - thanks for the fantastic work !

[ThePizzaGoblin]

its kind of insane seeing how little the map moves during the major offensives, especially verdun and the somme

[RMAGGR]

So helpful for actually understanding WHERE the war was.

[pyrenees]

This deserve a million views! Great work.

[AdamOlson-jj]

its amazing how much information a good figure like this can convey. Thank you!

[crisc.]

This is just incredible. Thanks for you all.

[theebs]

Excellent! Thank you for creating this

[epongecommuniste]

The US and even the british are the real DLC here contrary to what's said in BF1

[doncomuna]

Great video, bro. Too bad it hasn't reached a million views yet. Hug from Brazil! 😉👍

[OdysseyGaming]

This vid is so cool! I love how you added the units!

[ANotSoBoringGuy]

The dedication and knowledge is insane!

[mrsupremegascon]

Few things I would like to add :

- Yes the line barely moved, but a lot changed during those years. A lot of innovations and new doctrines were implemented. The armies that fought in 1914 had almost nothing to do with those of 1918. They didn't just sat down and send waves of men to the trench, they tried everything to break the status quo.

- Germany lost due to starvation made by the English blockade. Operationally, the Allies and Germans performed about the same.

- In Summer 1914, it was different, Germany did kicked the ass of France in the first weeks 0:00 - 0:01 . They came very close to winning. However, France was able to get back on it's feet and stopped the German army at the battle of the Marne at 0:08. Not only that, France came also very close to flank the Germany army and destroy them there. Germans had to retreat to avoid a disaster.
The reason why Germany kicked ass at first : Better and heavier Germany artillery and a flanking maneuver in Belgium that surprised the French
The reason why France was able to repel them: A lot of logistical troubles on German side, lack of scouting so they missed French army on their right flank, French great use of reserve.

[pbryan]

Interesting points for me:
The first battle of the Marne. The German withdrawal to the Hindenburg line in spring 1917.
The Ludendorff offensives of spring 2018 (that was a close run thing!).
And the German collapse in late 2018.

[MrGaters]

Remember that by Hollywood movie standard, the war is entirely fought and won by the Orange and Purple in this animation...

[monkeypie]

I thought the British and americans were the ones to come in and help like in WW2, but it was mostly just the French