Ww1 Tactics

The Great War, known as World War I, left an indelible mark on history, altering its course in ways unimaginable. Its ferocity and impact were unlike anything seen before, with millions of lives lost and extensive destruction that scarred nations for generations. What set World War I apart from its predecessors, leading to unprecedented devastation? The transformative power of military technology played a pivotal role in the heightened lethality of WWI.

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.

This war brought the introduction of machine guns (pp.784-785), tanks, chemical weapons, and the use of trench warfare (787-788) to survive from the unimaginable horrors of war. The devastating

Tactics were the most important element within the nature of warfare during the World Wars. Military tactics is the organisation of a military force and majorly determined how they would engage and defeat an enemy in battle. Physically, in comparing the two wars and their tactics, it is evident that WW1’s tactics were distributed in a more defensive way such as the Gallipoli campaign, trench warfare, Schlieffen plan and Plan 17 in comparison to WW2’s offensive strategies such as blitzkrieg, island hopping and airplane bombing. Many tactics and military plans during WW1 were created in an attempt to break the stalemate between the two sides caused by trench warfare. The Gallipoli campaign was a prime example of this aiming to resume a war of movement.

These tanks even, “helped end the stalemate of World War I trench warfare” (“Tank Warfare”). Tanks helped spark some fight into the soldiers, but it also showed them the great horrors of deadly

     A typical day in my grandfathers’ life at the time was to wake up at the crack of dawn and get ready for a full day of combat, well at least for the ground troops that didn’t have a tank to be protected by. Of course for him, driving a tank was easier then being a ground troop. So that made things a little easier. He told me every day the main thing he did, and I quote, “kep my

The tactics used in World War I were radically different than that of previous wars. The majority of the war was fought in the trenches, and the war itself seemed to have no end. Due to this, the psychological impact of the war was unlike anything that had been seen before. During the early days of the war, the soldiers, on both sides, seemed to lack the dedication that would have been necessary to exterminate their enemy. However, as the war progressed, the desire to avenge their fallen comrades overcame their ethics and they began to kill their enemy indiscriminately. Surviving soldiers experienced a phenomenon that was, at that time, referred to as shell shock. Today we refer to this phenomenon as Post Traumatic Stress Disorder. At this time, this psychological condition was misunderstood and the doctors lacked the training necessary to effectively treat this condition.

“Some are born great, some achieve greatness, and some have greatness thrust upon them.”--William Shakespeare. The men that served throughout the European front showed courageous moments that were required to protect the freedoms that the world continues to enjoy today. The sacrifices that the men and women of multiple countries, languages, and ethnicities gave were absolutely necessary to ensure a victory. Millions of people gave their lives to protect their views of freedom and how it should be interpreted in society.

World War One brought a completely new form of warfare. Gone were the old ways of cavalry and slow firing bolt-action rifles. The war symbolised a change in the way we understand and fight wars. Leon Trotsky said that ‘War is the locomotive of history’. This was certainly true. The war was a catalyst for change.

In 1914, the beginning of the Great War (also known as World War I) everyone was extremely excited for the war. Many young men flocked to join the war effort, a war which they thought would be finished by the end of the year; this thought came with the introduction of new technology. The people of this time thought that the new technology would make the war short, however, this was not the case; in fact, the introduction of new technology increased the duration of the war. Both Imperial and National causes impacted World War I.

Nine of the 40 tanks reached the enemy lines (“World”). The tanks were a crucial part of this battle because they were able to move and attack enemy lines in a way that had not seen before. Colonel Jean Baptiste Estienne stated that "Victory in this war will belong to the belligerent

The First World War of 1914-1918, also known as the Great War, was the first total war in history. What began as a European struggle over the balance of power between the triple alliance of France, Britain and Russia on one side and the central powers of Germany and Austria-Hungary on the other, soon became a global conflict that involved the imperial powers of Europe, their colonies and lands such as the Ottoman Empire, Japan and the United States. Although the sheer number of countries involved in the conflict is enough to describe the First World War as a mass war, what makes it total is the fact that it was waged not only against the enemy’s armies, but also against the civilian

World War I was an epic war in the history of mankind. It is purportedly the sixth largest war in human history. And in its eventuality nearly 32 countries were involved. (Townshend, 1997 ) Both sides, the Allies and the Central Powers were fighting for power and world dominance, and both were equally strong and populous. Moreover, military tactics were old following from Napoleonic wars, whereas arms and equipment were innovated. Therefore, each side had to first learn the ways of using these weapons and in their experiments with the weaponry in war killed thousands of people with neither side being able to claim categorical victory.

In December of 1916, orders were made for a better tank to be made. In January 1917, fifty Mark IIs were made with slight engine upgrades over the Mark I. They were only made for training however and were supposedly plated with unhardened steel. Twenty were sent to France anyway. They were later joined by another twenty-five. The last five remained in Dorset for testing purposes. The twenty-five Mark IIs first saw action at the Battle of Arras in April 1917, where all forty-five Mark IIs and fifteen Mark Is were damaged or destroyed and all around rendered useless by newly developed, German machine gun fired armour piercing bullets. Shortly after this failure, work on a Mark III tank began. The upgrades however took so long that if no attention was paid, it seemed like almost nothing had changed.