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Germany’s plan was to overrun France quickly.
Then they’d move into Russia. But France fought back hard. New weapons, such as machine guns, kept both armies from going forward. Both sides dug trenches. These were deep narrow lines of defense dug into the earth. They were about 400 miles long. They ran from the French-Swiss border to northern France. The armies attacked each other from these trenches, but neither one could win a clear victory.