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Introduction The Western Front of the First World War occupies a uniquely grim position in the popular imagination. It is a landscape defined by static lines of trenches, the nihilistic slaughter of the Somme and Passchendaele, and the apparent futility of a generation sacrificed by an incompetent and callous high command. This pervasive narrative, often summarised by the aphorism “lions led by donkeys,” posits the conflict as a catastrophic failure of strategy and humanity, a four-year descent into meaningless attrition. While this perspective captures the profound human tragedy of the war, it fails to apprehend the underlying strategic, political, and…