From Towns into Battlefields
Chapter 1 explores the topography of the urban battlefield, and provides an urban history of the Western Front. It describes how Arras, Reims, Nancy, Lens, and other towns were progressively transformed into battlefields in the period after August 1914. It describes the transformation of urban space by the First World War, through artillery bombardment, the fortification of these towns by the militaries, and the proliferation of military weaponry and defensive architecture. It discusses how civilians changed their routines to adapt to the urban battlefield, and argues that as much as possible civilians at the front aimed to maintain a semblance of normality. This was encouraged by local authorities, and represented as a form of heroic resistance in the face of the enemy. The chapter charts the physical impact of urban warfare near the front, and describes the extent of urban destruction during the period of the stable Western Front. It also charts the transformation of the civilian population of the front, through discussions of evacuation policies and the scale of civilian death and injury.