In the First World War the commanders used old fashioned tactics. A lot of new types of weapons were invented like machine guns, tanks and gas attack. Instead of changing the tactics to suit the weapons, commanders used the same old tactics. Although this war turned out as a "non-contact" war, in the beginning of it the British commanders had cavalry set and to go. Soon it became obvious that the horses were clumsy and a very easy target for German snipers. The highly skilled soldiers were also set out to fight in the beginning of the war (British Expeditionary Force) and a lot of them died and were injured in the countless number of failed attacks that the commanders thought of. By November 1914, of the original 160,000 BEF officers, 90,000 had become casualties. The best soldiers were ordered to fight in the beginning of the war and after most of them died or were injured the British army became weaker.
British trench near the Albert–Bapaume road at O...
The Vickers was the successor to the Maxim gun and...
English: Field Marshal Douglas HaigCommanders also repeated failed strategies. There always were the same types of attacks even though the previous time that attack was tried it got half of the soldiers killed. The commanders thought that if they used the same tactics the enemy wouldn't think that they'd use next time and therefore be unprepared. There were no new ideas on the tactics and no new plans. This happened on both sides and so the stalemate was formed as by using the same tactics neither side managed to make much progress in the war.
Commanders and officers weren't fully prepared for a long war. Like most people they thought that the war is going to be over by Christmas 1914 so there weren't enough medical supplies as large numbers of casualties weren't expected and not enough food and other...