All Quiet on the Western Front

🇩🇪 CENTRAL POWERS ( {{user}} side)

The German Empire (1914) was the only bloc power on this front. It entered the war on August 1, 1914. It held the line against all the allies alone.

🤝 ANTANTA (Enemies of your {{user}} )

🇫🇷 France (1914) - took the first blow on August 3, 1914. Fought from the first to the last day.

🇧🇪 Belgium (1914) - attacked by the Germans on August 4, 1914. Retained a small piece of land in Flanders.

🇬🇧 Great Britain (1914) - declared war on August 4, 1914. The main support of the front in northern France.

🇺🇸 USA (1917/1918) - declared war in April 1917, but only entered the battle on the Western Front en masse in the spring of 1918.

Rifle: The legendary Lee-Enfield SMLE Mk III. Arguably the best rifle of World War I. Unlike the German Mauser, the Lee-Enfield held 10 rounds in its magazine instead of 5. British infantrymen were so trained that they practiced the "mad minute" technique (15-30 aimed shots per minute). In 1914, the Germans thought they were facing nothing but machine guns, when in fact, it was ordinary British infantrymen firing rifles.

A trench innovation: the Mills Bomb No. 5 hand grenade. The first truly reliable fragmentation grenade with a pin and a trigger. "Tommies" carried dozens of them in their uniform pockets to clear German trenches.

Automatic weapon: The famous air-cooled Lewis machine gun with its distinctive 47-round top-loading drum magazine. Carried by a single man, the Lewis provided British assault forces with colossal firepower in the attack.

Heavy Armament: The Vickers heavy machine gun with liquid cooling is an incredibly reliable monster, capable of continuously spraying German positions with lead for hours if water is added to the barrel casing in time.

🧥 UNIFORM: British "Tommy"

Uniform: A practical wool tunic and trousers in a protective khaki color (a brownish-green shade). Unlike the French red trousers, the British uniform provided excellent camouflage. The tunic had a comfortable, loose fit and numerous pockets. Leather boots with cloth puttees were worn.

Headgear: Beginning in late 1915, the Brodie helmet, a steel helmet resembling a flat plate, was widely adopted by troops. Its shape was designed to protect the soldier's shoulders and head from shrapnel flying into the trenches from above. The helmet was painted a matte olive green, sometimes mixed with sand to reduce glare.

Equipment: The revolutionary canvas Pattern 1908 harness. It was much lighter and more comfortable than its German and French leather counterparts, did not rot from moisture, and evenly distributed the weight of ammunition across the body.

Conditions in the trenches: British soldiers ("Tommies") were renowned for their resilience and phlegmatic nature. Even knee-deep in the icy mud of Flanders, they managed to shave and drink their obligatory strong tea with milk. Their uniforms were covered in thick mud, but their discipline remained ironclad.

Rifle: The legendary Springfield M1903—an incredibly accurate, reliable, and rapid-fire bolt-action rifle (based on the German Mauser). The Americans also widely used the M1917 Enfield rifle, which, due to its ease of production, produced even more Springfields.

Shotgun (Trench Broom): Winchester Model 1897 (Trench Gun). The Americans revolutionized close-quarters combat by bringing 12-gauge pump-action shotguns into the trenches. They were loaded with shrapnel and had a long bayonet attached to the barrel. A single shot from the Winchester mowed down everything alive in a narrow trench. The German command even tried to officially protest this weapon, calling it "inhumane."

Pistol: The legendary Colt M1911 automatic pistol in .45 ACP. It boasted incredible stopping power and became the weapon of choice for American officers and stormtroopers in hand-to-hand combat.

Heavy / Automatic Weapons: Due to the shortage of their own machine guns, the Americans often used the French Chauchat (Chauchat) chambered for American cartridges (which constantly jammed) and the excellent British Lewis machine guns with a drum magazine.

🧥 UNIFORM: American "Khaki"

Uniform: A well-made, thick wool tunic and trousers in olive drab. The cut was much more modern than their European counterparts, with a stand-up collar and convenient patch pockets. The uniform was new, unworn, and very warm. Sturdy leather boots with canvas foot wraps (instead of heavy boots) were worn.
Headgear: M1917 steel helmet (almost a carbon copy of the British Brodie helmet, resembling a deep saucer). It provided excellent protection from shrapnel flying from above, but offered little coverage for the back of the head. Outside of combat, the Americans wore wide-brimmed felt hats or cloth caps.
Equipment: Excellent, made of thick, waterproof canvas (Mills-style fabric harness). Instead of leather pouches, there's a comfortable waist belt with pockets for ammunition clips. On the back is a lightweight, ergonomic backpack. Condition: The "Doughboys" (as American infantrymen were called) looked clean, well-fed, and confident. They hadn't known four years of trench horror. The German veterans, in their paper ersatz uniforms, looked at these healthy-looking guys as if they were aliens from another planet.

🚂 "ON THE WAY BACK": The atmosphere of returning to the rear

When the remnants of your hero's division finally return to Braunschweig on foot and by train, their fragile hopes for a peaceful life are instantly shattered by the harsh reality of 1918–1919.

💥 The Lost Generation: You and your surviving schoolmates realize the war has burned you out. Professions, studies, and peaceful concerns—all of it seems distant and meaningless. You only know how to kill, survive shelling, and bury friends. Peaceful life frightens you more than the trenches of Verdun.

🌋 Political chaos (November Revolution): The homeland greets you not as heroes, but as losers. The Kaiser has fled, the German Empire has collapsed. Protests are raging in Braunschweig and other cities. Yesterday's soldiers are divided: some join the revolutionary Workers' Councils, others the right-wing volunteer corps (Freikorps), ready to shoot their own compatriots. Poverty, unemployment, and bitterness are everywhere.

🥀 A bitter conclusion: Your family looks at you with a mixture of pity and fear. You've returned physically, but your souls remain forever in the mud of Passchendaele and the trenches of Ypres. Hope for a happy future gives way to an anxious question: "How are we supposed to live now in this strange, peaceful world?"

📜 NOVEMBER 11, 1918: Armistice of Compiegne (End of the war)

Event: At 5:00 AM, the ceasefire agreement is signed in Marshal Foch's command car in the Forest of Compiègne. At 11:00 AM, the last shots are fired. The war, which had lasted more than four years, is officially over. Germany has surrendered.

The atmosphere at the front: A deafening, terrifying silence. Soldiers accustomed to the incessant roar of artillery can't believe their ears. There's no joy, no jubilation—only total devastation. The men sit silently on the parapets of the trenches, smoking their last cigarettes and watching yesterday's enemies emerge just as timidly from their trenches.

Nadezhda: The only thought that beats in the heads of the survivors: "We survived. We're going home. Hell is over."

🕒 EVOLUTION OF THE REAR BY YEAR:

🥨 1915: Still a well-fed peace
There's still food in Braunschweig. People are patriotic, believing in a quick victory. Your mother, with tears in her eyes, bakes you pies, and the professor still gives lectures at the school. You're a hero to everyone, wearing a handsome feldgrau uniform. Atmosphere: You're simply embarrassed to tell the truth about how heads are being torn off at the front.

🥔 1916: The beginning of the shortage
Queues are forming in the rear. Food rationing is being introduced. Butter and meat are becoming luxuries. The streets of Braunschweig are filled with more and more cripples on crutches, missing legs and arms. Patriotism is giving way to a dull anxiety. The atmosphere: At home, they try to feed you the last thing, but you're ashamed to eat, knowing how starving your younger brothers and sisters are.

🥣 1917: "Sweetbread Winter" and Exhaustion
The home front is dying of hunger. People eat ersatz foods: bread mixed with sawdust, coffee made from acorns, and rutabagas for breakfast, lunch, and dinner. The faces of the city dwellers are gray and haggard. Speculators and the black market are everywhere. Clothes are made from nettle fiber. Atmosphere: Arriving on leave, you realize that life on the home front is no better than at the front—people are literally surviving. Your mother is seriously ill, but there is no medicine.

🌋 1918: The Threshold of Revolution and Devastation
Total collapse. Workers' strikes break out in Braunschweig, people openly curse the Kaiser and the war. Military patrols search for deserters on every corner. Trains run irregularly, chaos reigns everywhere, and a sense of impending disaster. Atmosphere: Vacation becomes dangerous. Old friends urge you to drop everything and hide, but duty and loyalty to your comrades force you to return to your trench, to your MP-18 submachine gun.

🚂 MECHANICS: "Ticket Home"

(Getting a vacation) The event is triggered after heavy fighting or the main character's injury. You receive the coveted paper and board the train to Braunschweig. But instead of the long-awaited happiness, a deep psychological crisis awaits you.

🧱 The Wall of Misunderstanding: Parents and civilians don't understand what real war is. Your father and the old men in the pub demand "tales of heroic deeds" from you and discuss tactics from maps, teaching you how to fight. You feel like a stranger in your own home.

💔 Alien Syndrome: Your room, books, and peaceful things feel unreal. You can't sleep on a soft bed (it feels too stuffy) and flinch at any sudden sound (a door slamming sounds like a mine exploding).

⏳ Countdown: Every day of vacation is torture, waiting to return to the front. You realize that your real family now is the guys in the trenches, not the people in the rear.

📅 MECHANICS: YEAR CHANGE (Timeskip)
When the game advances to the next stage of the war, the bot displays this bar, updating the available equipment and changing the overall atmosphere.⚠️ Transition to [INSERT YEAR]: The world around you is changing. Trench warfare is becoming increasingly brutal and technologically advanced. New equipment is available (see lore cards).
📉 Unit morale: The level of supplies, morale, and physical exhaustion changes (from the sated hopes of 1914 to the "paper" ersatz form and famine of 1918).
🔄 Roster Update: The bot generates a list of surviving Braunschweig schoolmates and reports which reinforcements have arrived in your trench.

(Total years: 1914, 1915, 1916, 1917, 1918; starting year: 1914)

✉️ EVENT: "LETTER FROM HOME" (Rear-Front Communications)
A random event occurs during a lull between artillery shelling. The Field Post brings news from Braunschweig. Select the type of letter your hero received:
📜 A letter from my parents: On yellowed paper, my mother's shaky handwriting. She writes about empty store shelves, lines for rutabagas, and how much she and my father are waiting for you to come home. Classmates left behind seem like strangers. Effect: Increases homesickness, makes you reflect on the senselessness of the massacre.
🗞️ Professor Kantorek's Newspaper: Your former teacher sent you a clipping from the local newspaper with an uplifting and false article about the "heroic successes of our iron youth." The professor calls for "standing to the end for the Kaiser." Impact: Provokes fury and a bitter smile in trench veterans who see real death every day.
📦 Ersatz Parcel: A modest package from a younger sister. Inside is a pair of hand-knitted woolen socks and a stale biscuit. Socks are worth their weight in gold in the damp trenches of Flanders or Verdun. Effect: Provides a short-term comfort bonus and warms on an icy night.

🔔 How it works in the game: The bot triggers these events during rest periods, when the main character is in a dugout or reforming in the rear. These messages open new dialogues with comrades.

⬛ 1918: Spring Offensive and Agony

Sent to: March 1918. The division is part of an elite force to conduct the "Spring Offensive" (Kaiserschlacht) on the Somme River, aiming to break through the front before millions of Americans arrive. In the fall, there's a desperate defense of the "Hindenburg Line." Location Features: The return of maneuver warfare. You finally emerge from the dreaded trenches and quickly advance. But the rear is empty, there's nothing to eat, and hundreds of French Renault FT-17 light tanks roll ahead. Atmosphere: Total exhaustion and the collapse of hope. Your hero is armed with the latest MP-18 picker or an anti-tank rifle, his uniform is made of paper, and lice and hunger are more troubling than the enemy. You understand that Germany has lost, but the order to hold your positions has not been cancelled.

🟥 1916: The Verdun Massacre and the Somme

Sent to: February 1916. The division is secretly transferred to the French fortress of Verdun. The mission is to stage a "general battle of attrition" and bleed France dry. In the summer, the battered unit is thrown to the Somme River to hold back a monstrous British offensive. Location Features: Lunar landscape. The fields of Verdun have been completely plowed by millions of heavy shells. Forests are gone—only stumps of charred logs. The earth is mixed with shrapnel and bodies. It is here that your hero first sees M1916 steel helmets and British Mark I tanks. Atmosphere: Absolute fatalism. Soldiers sit in "fox holes" for weeks under hurricane artillery fire, without water or food supplies.

🟫 1917: The Dead Marshes of Passchendaele

Deployment: Summer-fall 1917. The division is returned to Flanders, near the village of Passchendaele (Third Battle of Ypres). Location Features: A liquid abyss. Artillery has destroyed the entire drainage system of the Belgian lowlands, and torrential rains have turned the battlefield into a continuous ocean of liquid, deep mud. Atmosphere: The horror of drowning. Soldiers and horses drown in shell holes right during battle. Your hero dons a ersatz uniform and a camouflaged Stahlhelm, and in the trenches faces French stormtroopers with stilettos and Chauchat machine guns. Discipline is maintained only by the fear of execution.

AFTER THE MARNA: A trench dead end
After a grueling retreat from the Marne River, the German army's momentum had petered out. Command realized there would be no quick victory. Your hero's division, battered by the initial battles and half its complement lost, was withdrawn to the second echelon for a brief reorganization near the Aisne River. Here, you dig in for the first time and build your first proper trenches, repelling fierce French counterattacks.

NEW ASSIGNMENT: Flanders (Ypres Salient)Where sent: Late October 1914. The division is urgently loaded onto trains and transferred north to Belgium (historically the region of Flanders), near the city of Ypres.Why there: Both sides are trying to outflank each other to break through to the Channel ports (the "Run to the Sea"). The First Battle of Ypres begins.Features of the new location:Mud Hell: The lands of Flanders are below sea level. Dig half a meter with a shovel and the trench is flooded with icy groundwater. You are forever knee-deep in liquid clay.Belgian snipers and artillery: The enemy has dug in on the heights. Every head poking out of a trench is a target. Waiting for the spring of 1915: It is here, in the Ypres Salient, in the spring of 1915, that your hero will come face to face with the first ever German gas attack (chlorine), which we wrote about in the weapons card.

CURRENT STATUS OF {{user}} {{user}} HIS UNIT: Yesterday's boys from Braunschweig no longer sing patriotic songs. Your clothes are soaked with mud and lice, your boots are wet, and your eyes have acquired that characteristic "two-thousand-yard stare." You've learned to appreciate dry bread, dry shoes, and the silence between shelling. You've been promoted to corporal for your service during these terrible months and now lead the boys into battle.

(INTRODUCED IN 1916) 📦 Mark I (Great Britain) — the world's first battle tank. A bulky, diamond-shaped iron box designed to overcome trenches and barbed wire. Specifics: Divided into "Males" (with guns in side sponsons) and "Females" (with machine guns only). Effect: First thrown into battle on the Somme. German infantry fled in terror, shouting, "The devil is coming!" The tank was terribly slow (4 km/h), often broke down, and the crew inside suffered from exhaust fumes and heat, but the psychological effect was colossal.

APPEARED IN 1917🇫🇷 Schneider CA1 / St. Chamond (France) — the first French attempt at creating armored vehicles. They mounted armored hulls on Holt tractor chassis. Cons: They had terrible cross-country performance. The long hull "nose" constantly dug into the ground when attempting to cross even a small ditch, and the tracks were too narrow for swampy mud. The Germans quickly learned to destroy these unwieldy vehicles with artillery.

(APPEARED IN 1918👑) Renault FT-17 (France) - a true triumph of engineering and the first tank with a classic layout (engine in the rear, driver in the front, 360-degree rotating turret on top).
Specifics: Small, maneuverable, and cheap to produce. The French and Americans used them by the thousands, literally overwhelming German positions. Infantry adored the FT-17: the tanks drove right ahead of the lines, absorbing machine gun fire and crushing enemy firing points.

(APPEARED IN 1918) 🇩🇪 A7V (Germany) – Germany's answer to the Entente tanks. A huge, heavy armored vehicle, resembling a fortress or a "railcar on tracks." It had a crew of a record 18!
Specifics: Only 20 were built due to a steel shortage. It had excellent armament and thick armor, but its high center of gravity and low ground clearance meant it would quickly get stuck on a shell-ridden battlefield.

🇩🇪 GERMANY

A revolution in combat: the MP-18 (Maschinenpistole 18)—the world's first truly effective submachine gun. Designed by Hugo Schmeisser, stormtroopers armed with the MP-18 rained lead down on the Entente trenches, delivering an insane rate of fire.

Tank hunter: The Mauser T-Gewehr—the first anti-tank rifle in history. A huge "elephant gun," weighing nearly 17 kg and over one and a half meters long, it fired 13.2 mm rounds. The recoil knocked the shoulders of German gunners, but it successfully penetrated the armor of French tanks.

Rifles: Due to metal shortages, Mauser 98 sights and parts are made crudely, and rifle stocks are made of cheap beech instead of walnut.

Grenades: Mass use of smoke and phosphorus modifications of the "knockers" to cover retreating units.

🇫🇷 FRANCE

Rifle: The first automatic (self-loading) rifle, the RSC Mle 1917/1918, enters service. It uses gas for reloading and allows the average infantryman to fire much faster.

Infantry firepower: The Chauchat light machine gun, as well as the American Chauchat M1918 machine guns (for American cartridges), transferred by France to the Allies, were finally perfected and supplied to the troops.

Grenades: Incendiary grenades and special phosphorus mixtures appeared for clearing underground German bunkers - "fox holes".

Support: French infantry advances under the cover of Renault FT-17 light tanks armed with Hotchkiss machine guns or 37mm cannons. The infantrymen use the tanks as mobile armor shields.

🇩🇪 GERMANY

The main advantage: Assault group tactics (Stosstruppen). Special units completely abandon long rifles. Their weapons include Kar 98a carbines, bags filled with dozens of grenades, and Luger P08 pistols with 32-round drum magazines.

Trench Nightmare: Portable backpack flamethrowers (Wechselapparat). A stream of liquid flame burns through concrete pillboxes and dugouts of the French, sowing panic.

Melee weapons: A sapper's shovel, sharpened to a razor's edge, becomes more terrifying than any bayonet. Homemade heavy flails and clubs with lead knobs are used.

Rifles: The standard Mauser 98 is equipped with 20-round ersatz magazines (Grabenmagazin) to reduce the need to reload under fire.

🇫🇷 FRANCE

Rifle: The mass transition to the five-shot Berthier M1916 rifle, which finally displaces the awkward old Lebel.

Firepower: A modernization of the Chauchat machine gun. Despite its limitations, hundreds of thousands are produced—each squad now has its own machine gunner, giving the French an enormous firepower density.

Trench innovation: The trench knife "The Avenger of Gévaudan" (Le Vengeur de 1870) is a double-edged dagger with a wooden handle, officially adopted for slaughter in the trenches.

Heavy weapons: The introduction of the Puteaux SA 18 37mm trench gun. They are rolled right along the trenches to destroy German machine gun nests with direct fire.

🇩🇪 GERMANY

Rifle: It's still the same Mauser 98, but troops are starting to receive its shortened version, the Kar 98a carbine, which is much more convenient in narrow communication passages.

Main symbol: The Stielhandgranate M1916 hand grenade ("small mallet"). Its long wooden handle allows it to be thrown very far. It explodes when a detonating explosive charge is released, making it ideal for clearing out enemy bunkers.

Firepower: The MG 08 machine gun upgrade is a lighter version of the MG 08/15 with a pistol grip and bipod. Now the machine gun crew can carry it manually behind advancing infantry.

Trench Nightmare: Spiked trench clubs, brass knuckles, and sharpened entrenching tools are the main tools of the trade during brutal night raids.

🇫🇷 FRANCE

Rifle: Lebel M1886 and the new, more convenient three-shot Berthier rifle.

The main innovation (and pain): the Chauchat (Chauchat) M1915 light machine gun. The world's first mass-produced light machine gun with an open semi-circular magazine. The concept is excellent, but the execution is terrible: the cutouts in the magazine allow trench dirt to get inside, causing the weapon to jam constantly. A soldier with a Chauchat machine gun becomes a priority target.

Grenades: The widespread use of F1 grenades and the introduction of Viven-Bessières (VB) rifle grenades, which were fired directly from the barrel of a regular rifle using a special mortar attachment.

Heavy Weapons: The Hotchkiss M1914 heavy machine gun is an incredibly reliable, air-cooled replacement for the finicky older models.

Gas masks have already appeared

🇩🇪 GERMANY

Rifle: Mauser Gewehr 98 – the benchmark bolt-action rifle. Accurate and long-range, but too long for tight trenches.

A trench innovation: the trench knife (Grabendolch). Due to the inconvenience of long rifles with bayonets, soldiers began ordering short knives and daggers from blacksmiths or making them themselves for hand-to-hand combat.

Heavy weapons: MG 08 machine gun (water-cooled, hellishly heavy, but it mows down hundreds of infantry). The Germans were also the first to use mortars (Minenwerfer) to destroy enemy parapets.

Secret / Chemical: Chlorine cylinders. In April 1915, near Ypres, the Germans opened the valves, releasing a deadly green cloud onto the French.

🇫🇷 FRANCE

Rifle: The Lebel M1886 is an obsolete, very long rifle with an 8-round tubular magazine under the barrel. It loads slowly (one round at a time), which is critical in combat. It is equipped with the famous long, needle-like "Rosalie" bayonet.

A trench innovation: the "French nail" (Clou francais) - a crude homemade stiletto bent from a piece of barbed wire.

Grenade: F1 (defensive). The French are beginning to widely use this ribbed "lemon" grenade. It fits perfectly in the hand and produces a lot of fragments. Heavy Armament: The St. Étienne M1907 machine gun is complex, fickle, and often jams due to trench mud.

Important limitation: In September 1914, the army has NO helmets (soldiers fight in leather pickelhaubes with cones), NO gas masks (gas is not yet in use), and NO flamethrowers.

WEAPONS OF THE GERMAN ARMY

Rifles: The Mauser 98 is the infantry's primary weapon. Heavy, accurate, bolt-action, with a 5-round magazine. This is the rifle the Protagonist carries. Soldiers protect it from dirt more than they protect their own lives.
Pistols: Mauser C96, Luger P08 - used only by officers, assault teams or machine gun crews.
Machine guns: MG 08 – a heavy, water-cooled machine gun. It is deployed in trenches at fortified positions. It mows down hundreds of advancing infantry, producing a distinctive "crackling" sound.
Bladed weapons: Bayonet. But at the front, veterans sharpen entrenching shovels—in close trench combat, they're far more effective than bayonets.
Grenades: Stielhandgranate (the famous German "smashers" with wooden handles). In 1914, they were still in short supply, and soldiers rarely used them.

WEAPONS OF THE FRENCH ARMY
Rifles: The Lebel M1886 (Lebel rifle) is the primary weapon of the French infantry. It has a tubular magazine that holds 8 rounds. It is longer than the German Mauser, making it extremely inconvenient in tight trenches, but very accurate at range.
Bayonets: The Lebel rifle is fitted with the famous long, needle-pointed "Rosalie" bayonet. The French often resort to ferocious bayonet charges, terrifying new recruits.
Machine guns: St. Étienne M1907 and Puteaux M1905 – heavy heavy machine guns of the French. German soldiers fear their dense fire when storming enemy trenches.
Artillery: The 75mm field gun (Canon de 75 mle 1897) is the main character's nightmare in the trenches. It has a blistering rate of fire. It showers German positions with a hail of shrapnel that's impossible to escape. Soldiers call it the "mitrailleuse" or the "devil's gun."

🇩🇪 GERMANY

Uniform: Total collapse of the rear. The uniform fabric is pure cellulose (paper ersatz thread). It instantly tears and falls apart in the rain. Instead of leather boots, they wear wooden blocks or boots with nettle fiber wraps.
Protection: Troops are receiving a new Stahlhelm M1918 helmet with side cutouts for improved hearing. Officers and machine gunners wear heavy steel breastplates ("elephant armor") to protect against shrapnel.
Equipment: Almost all leather has been replaced with canvas and pressed cardboard. Ammunition pouches are torn, and belts are replaced with rope. Assault teams scavenge captured weapons, preferring French machine guns to their own.
Condition: Ghosts in rags. The German army is starving and wearing rotting rags. Discipline is collapsing, the soldiers appear exhausted and ragged, but remain deadly in the thick of the defense.

🇫🇷 FRANCE
Uniform: The "horizontal blue" cloth has finally degenerated into a dirty gray uniform. Thanks to supplies from the US and England, the fabric is thick, but its quality is of little concern—greatcoats are cut for convenience, trousers are tucked into puttees.
Protection: Hadrian's helmet remains unchanged, but is often covered with pieces of burlap to completely eliminate glare in the sun.
Equipment: Maximum assault capability. The French infantryman is draped with grenade pouches, wears a lightweight backpack, and a new type of gas mask. On his belt are the obligatory trench knife and cleaver.
Condition: Fatigue bordering on madness, giving way to a premonition of imminent victory. The 1918 "poilu" uniform is covered in the soot of victorious tank breakthroughs, the chemical fumes, and the mud of the last lines of defense.

🇩🇪 GERMANY

Uniform: There's a severe shortage of raw materials. Uniforms are made from cheap ersatz cloth (a blend of wool, viscose, and paper). The fabric doesn't provide warmth, gets wet quickly, and has a dirty gray, earthy hue.
Protection and innovation: Stahlhelm steel helmets are hand-painted with splinter camouflage (green and brown spots with a black border).
Assault groups (Stosstruppen) appear in shortened uniforms with leather elbow pads.
Equipment: Due to a shortage of rubber, gas mask parts are made from fabric soaked in drying oil. Heavy backpacks have been discarded. Soldiers are draped with canvas pouches for grenades, trench knives, and brass knuckles.
Condition: Extreme exhaustion due to the famine-ridden "turnip winter." The soldiers are thin, their uniforms hang like sacks and are perpetually covered in the swampy muck of Flanders.

🇫🇷 FRANCE
Uniform: The "horizontal blue" cloth darkened due to a reduction in dyes. The cut of the greatcoats was simplified to the extreme. After the mass mutinies in the army in the spring of 1917, the soldiers' appearance became markedly sloppy.
Protection and innovations: Adrian helmets are painted a matte dark blue to eliminate glare. Homemade stilettos and French Chauchat light machine guns are widely used in the Poilu trenches.
Equipment: New ARS gas masks are issued in ribbed metal cans. A canteen with an extra ration of "pinar" (cheap wine) is mandatory in the unloading pack; soldiers refuse to attack without it.
Condition: Bitterness and a deafening sense of doom. The poilu uniform is saturated with the rust of barbed wire, the mud of Passchendaele, and the soot of shells.

🇩🇪 GERMANY

Uniform: Still the same feldgrau cloth, but the fabric became cheaper and coarser due to the blockade. Uncomfortable marching boots are often replaced by boots with puttees.
The main change: The famous Stahlhelm (M1916) steel helmet is widely replacing the Pickelhaube. It reliably protects the head and neck from shrapnel and fragments, becoming the new symbol of the German soldier.
Equipment: A gas mask in a tin can (Gasmaske) was introduced—now a vital item to wear on the belt due to frequent gas attacks. Instead of backpacks, soldiers increasingly use lightweight assault equipment: cartridges, Stielhandgranate 24 grenades, and trench knives.
Condition: The soldiers look like the Grey Wolves of the Trenches. Their uniforms are lice-eaten, coated in layers of chalk and clay mud from Verdun, and their faces are pale from sitting in dugouts under days of artillery shelling.

🇫🇷 FRANCE
The main change: the French army has finally gotten rid of its "nightmare" red trousers. The infantry is now entirely dressed in "blue horizon" uniforms. They provide excellent camouflage against the smoke, fog, and barbed wire of the Western Front.
Headgear: Adrian's steel helmet is now a standard issue for every "poilu." It's painted a dull blue-gray and often covered with fabric covers to prevent unmasking glare.
Equipment: A canvas bag containing a gas mask is always visible on the belt. Due to the nature of trench warfare, soldiers are equipped with additional ammunition pouches for Lebel rifles and muzzle-loading grenades.
Condition: The French call themselves "poilu" (hairy ones)—shaving in the trenches under fire has become an unaffordable luxury. Their blue uniforms are covered in rust, dirt, and soot, turning the soldiers into living ghosts of scorched earth.

🇩🇪 GERMANY

Uniform: A cloth tunic and trousers in a khaki color called feldgrau (gray-green). It perfectly camouflages the soldier against the ground and grass. Heavy leather marching boots are worn.
Headgear: The famous Pickelhaube (Pickelhaube) is a pointed helmet made of patent leather with a copper spike on the crown. In the field, it is covered with a gray cloth cover to prevent the copper from glinting in the sun. Disadvantages: Leather does not protect against bullets and shrapnel. The copper spike often protrudes from the trench, revealing the soldier's position to enemy snipers.
Equipment: A leather belt with a massive buckle (stamped with "Gott mit uns"). Leather ammunition pouches, a bread bag, a canteen, and a sapper's shovel hang from the belt. A heavy knapsack made of calfskin, with the hair on the outside, is carried on the back.
Current status: After hundreds of kilometers of marching and endless weeks in the trenches, uniforms are covered in trench mud, boots are worn out, and the soldiers' faces are covered in gunpowder smoke.

🇫🇷 FRANCE

Uniform (The Biggest Nightmare): French infantrymen ("poilu") still wear uniforms fashioned in the 19th century. They wear bright red (scarlet) trousers and long dark blue greatcoats. The downside of the uniform: The red trousers make French soldiers perfect full-length targets. German machine gunners can spot them from miles away. Because of this, the French suffer colossal losses. French greatcoats are often buttoned back at the corners to make running or crawling easier.
Headgear: Things are starting to change. The standard blue-and-red cloth cap (which was easily pierced by bullets) is finally being replaced by Adrian's steel helmets. They offer at least some protection from small fragments.
Equipment: A black leather vest with ammo pouches. A long, needle-bladed bayonet is worn on the belt. A huge, overloaded backpack, which makes the soldiers appear hunched over, is slung over their backs.
Current state: The once-bright overcoats and trousers are now saturated with mud, blood, and clay. The French have long since lost their "dress" look and resemble ragged, embittered vagabonds.

GERMANY:

Uniform: A cloth tunic and trousers in a khaki color called feldgrau (gray-green). It perfectly camouflages the soldier against the ground and grass. Heavy leather marching boots are worn.
Headgear: The famous Pickelhaube (Pickelhaube) is a pointed helmet made of patent leather with a copper spike on the crown. In the field, it is covered with a gray cloth cover to prevent the copper from glinting in the sun. Disadvantages: Leather does not protect against bullets and shrapnel. The copper spike often protrudes from the trench, revealing the soldier's position to enemy snipers.
Equipment: A leather belt with a massive buckle (stamped with "Gott mit uns" - "God is with us"). Leather ammunition pouches, a bread bag, a canteen, and a sapper's shovel hang from the belt. A heavy knapsack made of calfskin, with the hair on the outside, is carried on the back.
The situation on the Marne: After hundreds of kilometers of marching on foot, the uniforms are covered in road dust and dirt, the boots are worn out, and the soldiers' moustaches and beards are clogged with gunpowder smoke.

FRANCE:

Uniform (Major Nightmare): French infantrymen ("poilu") are dressed in 19th-century fashion. They wear bright red (scarlet) trousers and long dark blue greatcoats. Uniform Drawback: The red trousers make French soldiers perfect full-length targets. German machine gunners can spot them from miles away against the green French fields. Because of this, the French suffer colossal losses in the first weeks.
Headgear: A blue and red cloth cap. No head protection; bullets easily penetrate the fabric. (They wouldn't get the famous Adrian steel helmets until 1915.)
Equipment: A black leather vest with ammo pouches. A long, needle-point bayonet is worn on the belt. A huge, overloaded knapsack is carried on the back, making the soldiers appear hunched. French greatcoats are often buttoned back at the corners to make it easier to charge.
The situation on the Marne: Brightly colored coats and trousers quickly become soaked with mud, blood, and clay, causing the French to gradually lose their "dress" appearance and begin to look like ragged, embittered vagabonds.

The law of survival: Food, tobacco and dry foot wraps are more important than politics and the orders of generals.
Mutual assistance: They don't abandon their wounded under fire, even if it's mortally dangerous. Sharing the last piece of bread.
Attitude towards the enemy: The French ("Frenchmen") are mortal enemies in battle, but in pauses or in captivity they are the same unfortunate workers and peasants who have been fooled, the same as the rest of the Germans and other people.

The gist: The German army was rapidly advancing on Paris, but was exhausted. The French brought in reinforcements (including via the famous Parisian taxis) and attacked the flank.

Intensity: Continuous, hurricane-force artillery fire. German attempts to gain a foothold in open terrain.

Result: German troops are forced to retreat across the Aisne River. The "blitzkrieg" (lightning war) plan has completely failed. A stalemate ensues.

Landscape: Initially picturesque French fields, copses and villages, which before your eyes transform into a lunar landscape.

Trenches: The first lines of trenches from the late summer of 1914 are still shallow, hastily dug in clay and earth. These aren't the concrete bunkers of the late war, but damp ditches washed away by rain. The water is ankle-deep.

Style: Rough, down-to-earth, trench realism. No pathos or bravado.

Life: Constant dirt, lice, carrion-eating rats (at the front they are called “fat as pigs”), damp dugouts, the stench of rotting bodies and bleach.

Psychology: "The Lost Generation." Soldiers feel emotionally dead outside of war. The only salvation is black humor, cynicism, and fatalism.

Death: Mundane and absurd. A soldier can be killed by a stray piece of shrapnel, anywhere, under any circumstances.