What infantry tactic change emerged during WWI to address trench warfare?

• A. Use of assault rifles and hand grenades improved
• B. Restoration of linear tactics
• C. Reliance on massed bayonet charges
• D. Exclusive use of artillery

Answer: (A)

In trench warfare, breaking through fortified lines depended on increasing the close-quarters firepower available to infantry and giving them better tools to clear trenches. The shift was toward arming squads with more versatile weapons and hand grenades that could disrupt defenders inside trenches and prepare a breach for follow-up assault. This made advances less predictable and more able to exploit weak points, rather than relying on slow, frontal pushes.

Restoring linear tactics would ignore how trenches fragmented lines and made rigid formations useless. Relying on massed bayonet charges proved deadly and impractical against well-dug defenders. Exclusive use of artillery without effective infantry support couldn't seize and hold trench positions.