Weapons and Tactics – WW1  Trench Warfare  Only useful for defense, not attack  A recognition by both sides that they could not advance.  Became more and more sophisticated as time went on.

Weapons and Tactics – WW1  No Man’s Land:  Area between the rival trenches  No one could survive there for long  Filled with artillery craters  Barbed wire and other barriers to slow attacks  Bodies of the killed typically left there

Weapons and Tactics – WW1  Poison Gas  Needed a way to dislodge entrenched enemy  First time to be used in European warfare  Considered barbaric  No agreements in place NOT to use it  French were first to do it  Very horrible way to die in most cases

Weapons and Tactics – WW1  Chlorine Gas:  First type used  Burned lining of the lungs  Death by suffocation (asphyxiation)  Mustard Gas:  Developed later  Burned skin and internal organs

Weapons and Tactics – WW1  Did not remain an effective weapon for long.  As each side used gas as a weapon, defenses were created  Gas masks became a part of standard issue to soldiers  Hard to fight in gas masks and suits  Unintended victims due to air currents / drifting  Civilians  Animals / livestock

Weapons and Tactics – WW1  Machine Guns  Recently invented technology  Early models were very heavy  Only good for defensive, stationary positions  Not useful for foot soldiers  Tended to overheat  Equated to about 70 – 80 single shot rifles

Weapons and Tactics – WW1  Aircraft  Hot air balloons and dirigibles (blimps)  Used to scout enemy formations and movements  Very easily shot down  Moved to fixed-wing aircraft – bi-planes  Bombing  Fighter Planes  Mounted machine guns  Dog fights / Aces

Weapons and Tactics – WW1  Tanks  Developed in response to the stalemate on the Western Front  Foot soldiers too exposed to cross no-man’s land  Needed protection  Initially designed for infantry to walk behind  Small machine gun for defense  Larger cannons were added later.

Weapons and Tactics – WW1  Tanks  Were very prone to breaking down  Horrible conditions inside for the crews  Immediate impact on the battlefield  Troops using tanks were able to break the stalemate  British were first to use them and broke through the German lines

Weapons and Tactics – WW1  Submarines  Developed mainly by Germany – U-boats  Early models were very small and dangerous  Extremely dangerous to surface ships  Accurate and powerful torpedoes  Unrestricted submarine warfare  Any ships going to enemy ports were to be targeted

Weapons and Tactics – WW1  Submarines  Unrestricted Submarine Warfare was a big problem between U.S. and Germany  U.S. demanded it stop  Germany agreed at first  U.S. was shipping materials to England  Germany resumed USR  Passenger ship Lusitania was attacked  Over 125 Americans killed  America is quickly drawn into the war after this incident

Weapons and Tactics – WW1  The Bottom Line:  Development of technology made killing more efficient / easier  Modern warfare became a much more “long-range” affair. You didn’t always see the person you were fighting.  Millions would die across Europe and the world