Who are the great generals?

[William F. Owen]

My biggest question on WWI is; that in a war where technological advances rendered neither side powerful enough to reinitiate maneuver warfare by going forward; why no one on either side thought to do so by falling rapidly rearward, and then launching powerful assaults through the flanks of the salient they had created, and into the enemy rear (while closing the bag on the then cut off attacking force in their own rear.

Because no one would fall for such an obvious trick! WW1 Generals were not stupid. Some where but only some. The western front was a unique perfect storm, not seen before and never seen since. Most Generals knew the problem and knew the solutions, based on experience, which cost a lot of lives to get, but there simply was no alternative.

WW1 cannot be understated in the importance of creating the modern armies we see today, and the various modern tactical systems. The problem is that very poor emotionally based on poetry, novels, and popular fallacies has obscured key operational lessons for nearly 90 years!

I submit, that WW1 Generals learnt much faster than a lot Generals since, as to what worked and what did not.