World War I was fought from 1914-1919 and was characterized by brutal trench warfare on the Western Front. Opposing armies dug extensive trench systems that stretched across northern France and Belgium, living for years in underground bunkers and trenches under miserable conditions with rats, lice, flooded trenches, and disease. Between the opposing trench lines lay "no man's land", a desolate landscape filled with shell holes, destroyed buildings and trees. Soldiers would emerge from the trenches to charge across no man's land with just rifles and helmets, facing heavy casualties from machine guns and artillery in battles like the Somme. Life in the trenches was grim and dangerous.