54MM FRENCH PLASTIC toy soldiers ww1

Issued as premiums with Mokarex coffee was a collection of figures depicting characters from French history

When war broke out in August 1914, France, Britain and Russia were allied against Germany and Austria. The Germans attacked France through southern Belgium - aiming to capture Paris in a swift "knock-out blow".Both sides dug in, creating lines of muddy trenches. These were defended with barbed-wire fences, land-mines, artillery and murderous machine-guns. The trenches were so difficult to attack that the battle lines became frozen in a stalemate. By November 1914 they extended from the Belgian coast to the Swiss border.Although Paris and most of France was saved, almost all of Belgium and much of the northern borderlands of France remained in enemy hands. German troops established control with harsh repressive measures, confiscating houses and property for the use of occupying troops, and killing people who resisted. The population was used for forced labour to benefit the German war effort, and given inadequate food supplies. The north's mines, factories, farms and railways were exploited, and systematically looted for whatever Germany needed.The Allied naval blockade in the North Sea caused shortages of food and other supplies in Germany, which increased the suffering of French people in the German-held areas.The vital supply lines from Britain across the Channel were defended throughout the War, despite attacks and mine-laying by small submarines and fast boats operating from bases in Zeebrugge in occupied Belgium, and occasional bombing raids by aircraft and Zeppelin airshipsOn each side, the generals would plan "offensives" to try to break through the enemy Front Line. First they would shell the enemy lines to weaken their defences, then the infantry would be sent out of their trenches into "no-man's land".