The Technologies and War Tactics in the First World War The First World War encompassed more than four years of battles in Europe, Asia, Africa and the Americas, costing nearly two hundred billion US dollars in total. More than thirty belligerents mobilised sixty-five million troops across the globe. Among them, twenty million were wounded and nine million were killed. Additionally, there was a civilian casualty of nine million as well. A primary factor in the war’s high casualty and fatality rate was the advanced technologies and war tactics employed by the militaries. As products of the industrial and chemical advancements during the century proceeding the war, some were developed to directly aid combat, such as the machine gun, while others …show more content…
A variety of weapons that could reach into the trenches by hurling projectiles were consequently developed, contributing, along with machine guns, to the high death toll of the war. In the 18th century, Europeans have already created entrenchments in battles as the by-product of ramparts and outworks to defend citadels. The war tactic continued into the century that comes after, spreading to other continents, employed in the American Civil War for example. Entrenchments later became a common practice before battles in the First World War, in response to the enhanced firepower of machine guns. At the same time, mobilising troops in trenches allowed opportunities for flanking and ambushes. For example, during the Race to the Sea, Allied and German forces employed such flanking attacks on each other on the Western Front. However, because troops could not risk leaving their trenches to advance or retreat, successful attacks did not result in any significant progress on neither side, creating prolonged stalemates. In order to inflict damage to enemies in entrenchment, weapons that could be projected into trenches were developed and employed regularly. These weapons include hand grenades, rifle grenades, the Stokes mortar and one-pounder cannons, which all accomplished the goal …show more content…
When poison gasses were introduced to the First World War, aptly named the chemists’ war, they immediately resulted in heavy casualty rates. Militaries soon developed protective protocols, dropping chemical warfare’s potency mostly among the troops, contributing to the war’s high civilian fatality rate. As early as the fifth century BCE, there have been recorded uses of chemical warfare in Greece, China and India. The toxic gasses employed were mainly carbon monoxide, produced from burning wood. Soldiers exposed to carbon monoxide were described to have flu-like symptoms, and they could not combat with strength. Other chemicals were eventually discovered and employed in war throughout the modern era, such as sulphur dioxide and calcium oxide, which achieved similar results by blinding and choking enemies. The chemical revolution in late 18th century brought forth means to study these chemicals, previously discovered without understanding their chemical composition. In the succeeding century, the industrial revolution then introduced methods to widely refine and produce chemical compounds. With growing international tensions leading to the First World War, countries have already begun the production of chemical weapons in preparation, despite previous prohibitions at the Hague Conventions of 1899 and 1907. In
The men and women who served in the First World War endured some of the most brutal forms of warfare ever known. Millions were sent to fight away from home for months, even years at a time, and underwent a series of terrible physical and emotional experiences. The new technologies available to First World War armies combined with the huge number of men mobilized made the battlefields of 1914-18 horrific, deadly and terrifying places.
Chemical warfare, while horrible, proved to be unwieldy and unpredictable, and relatively easy to counter. After some limited successes against unprepared opponents, the use of chemical gas had very little tactical benefit; the recognition of this limited utility is that after widespread use in 1915 - except for the short-lived effects of the introduction of mustard gas in 1917 - gas was abandoned by both sides as an effective tactic.
Frist of all, in the Second Battle of Ypres, the Germans introduced the first use of poisonous gas. When poison gas first introduced it was a popular weapon choice and would be the weapon to change the outcome of the war. The Germans surprisingly attack the Allies, where the used lethal chloride gas against them. The gas was deadly and killed over one thousand soldiers. (1) It also allowed a significant advanced for the Germans in the war. The gas usage continued to grow throughout the war. In the end, many Allied countries started chemical weapons research. Gas warfare became common but effective actions were used to protect the troops. After World War 1, poison was use for a while but in today’s war it is no longer allowed. Instead of poisonous gas, chemical warfare is used. Chemical weapons come in a variety of forms and are used for several different techniques.
The tactics used in World War II had to come from somewhere and that was the past. The main reason for this was because most high ranking officers only knew old tactics. One of the biggest strategies that most are familiar with is the use of trench warfare. The many problems both sides faced when using trenches was how vulnerable soldiers were inside them. They were prone to constant chemical attacks, artillery barrages, and tanks. Trench warfare was not a pretty fight but it was one of the most used tactics throughout the war. An offensive at Somme was a prime example of the use and tactical advantage tools of war gave a side. In the summer of 1916, General Douglas Haig ad ordered and eight day artillery bombardment to soften up the German
The nations of the Entente (Britain, France, and Russia) sought the new technology as well. A German press report found that the French used chemical weapons at Ypres (Document 5). The technology of poison gas, though ultimately ineffectual in swaying the war to one side’s favor, showed the changing landscape of military technology in the First World War. A fundamental part of modern warfare is the use of “armor” or vehicles protected from conventional small-arms and small-artillery fire, such as tanks. The first widespread and successful use of tanks was seen in WWI.
Soon the machine gun became a defensive weapon rather than an offensive weapon, as it was used to stop offensive enemy troops across this no man’s land. Gas was used infinitely by both sides in an effort to triumph over the trenches. If any trench was taken by an opposing force, a succeeding trench was dug just meters behind the one taken, making advancements longstanding and difficult. In this process many troops lost their lives, more so than any other war.
Warfare is a grim and horrible thing. Napoleon’s wars cost hundreds of thousands of lives for example. Yet, less than one hundred years later, Europe would discover the full horror of modern war. The technology of World War I made that conflict incredibly agonizing and prolonged the conflict, costing many lives. In the end, technology also produced some startling results.
Aspects of Trench Warfare 1. Trenches were built in an attempt to continue the war as both sides had reached a stalemate. There was a rush for the sea and then they found nothing else could happen so they dug in. The resulting trench system on the Western Front not only covered the equivalent of 25,000 miles (enough to encircle the world) but also stretched non-stop from Belgium to Switzerland.
It was challenging for the armies to continue the war while having a huge loss because of the guns, thus there was a need of the methods, like trench warfare. Trench warfare reached to its peak usage in WWI and one of the factors affecting that was the achievement in the weapon technology. Specially, MG 08, which is the German version of Maxim machine gun was forced people for trench warfare, otherwise just one machine gun was able to destroy one army of the opposite side. Moreover, in order to defend against the the military ships that has extended range tanks they were using the trenches that are a bit far from the shore, like it was in Dardanelle war. Furthermore, the use of bombs and gas made some issues on the trenches. For instance, with the use of gas, from mid-1915, every trench had some form of warning of gas attack. We can imagine these situations from the memories of Paul Baumer from “All Quite on the Western Front”: Paul mentions that soldiers cannot define bomb sounds from the other sounds and were dying because of shrapnels; This is terrible that because of the limited time, they could not have trainings and they were dying in front of their eyes, because of the lack of experience. Under those circumstances, it is possible to see how the technology caused the transition to trench warfare and how it
In World War 1 trench warfare began. Trench warfare was a method of fighting where apposing armies fought from and defended their territories using a system of dug out
World War I left a lasting impression on the world. New weapons such as tanks and poison gas turned the war into a “war of attrition.” Trench warfare was primarily used in this war and the conditions there were part of the reason why millions of people died. The war remained a stalemate between the opposing sides until the United States made the decision to join the war on the side of the Allies. This changed the course of the war and the Allies beat the Central Powers. Many factors in Europe contributed to the start of the war. Later, other reasons forced America to join the war which would leave drastic results.
“All trench systems consisted of several parallel lines of fortifications. A forward trench line was adjacent to ‘no man’s land, the unoccupied ground separating the two sides and had the greatest vulnerability to enemy attack” (Heyman, 43). Other attributes to the trenches included barbed wire, boardwalks, alarm bells, and sand bags that prevented the sides from collapsing. Certain spaces were also included in the trenches for first aid posts, communication equipment, and headquarter posts. These posts offered immediate medical treatment when the soldiers were injured.
Trench warfare was done by opposing army’s creating trenches. In between those trenches was an area known as “no man's land” and was the most dangerous place to be. This tactic lead to many standoffs and also extremely high numbers of casualties in a short period of time. One of the most efficient ways of winning these battles was chemical warfare. All that needed to happen was to throw a chemical bomb into the enemy's trench and then wait.
In addition to new protection from trenches came new war technologies such as machine guns, artillery, barbed wire, and various machines. In 1914, the modern Gatling gun was perfected into a gas-powered, water cooled war machine that only needed two men to operate it. When airplanes were added into the mix of destruction, both sides hastily flew into the air to claim the skies. With the amount of planes from the German and Allied sides being sent up into the sky became what is now known as the Flying Circus. Then as if the new guns, wires, and death machines weren't enough, poison gas was created by the Germans but soon back fired. This is because gas can spread throughout the air very quickly, resulting in both sides having the defects from
Chemical weapons originated in early World War I. They were simple grenades or mortars filled with common chemicals. These specialized grenades were popularized by the Germans and then were seen used by even the Allied Forces. They were popularized by their area of effect and useful in the trench warfare.