WWI Technology IB 20th Century Topics

The New Ways of Fighting Technology during World War I reflected a trend toward industrialism and the application of mass production methods to weapons and to the technology of warfare in general.

Technology categories include Artillery Guns Tanks Air warfare Naval Warfare Flame Throwers Poison Gas

Artillery Of all the types of weapons in existence in 1914, artillery underwent the most revolutionary and scientific advances. The majority of casualties inflicted during the war were the result of artillery fire.

Guns The machine gun directly impacted the organization of the infantry in 1914, and, by the middle of 1917, put an end to the tactic of company sized waves. Platoons and squads of men became important instead. The Lewis Gun The Browning Automatic Rifle

Lewis Gun Developed in 1911 by the United States, the Lewis Gun was a light machine gun. In 1915 the British purchased this gun for use on the western front. It was the standard support unit for the British infantry during World War 1.

Browning Automatic Rifle was adopted by the U.S. Army in 1918; adapters on cartridge belts allowed the BAR man to walk and fire the gun at the same time.

Armored Tank Although the concept of the tank had been suggested as early as the 1890s, few authorities showed interest in them until the trench stalemate of World War I caused serious contemplation of unending war and ever escalating casualties Early tanks were unreliable, breaking down often Regardless of their effects on World War I, tank technology and mechanized warfare had been launched and grew increasingly sophisticated in the years following the war

Air Warfare The aircraft underwent many improvements during World War I While early air spotters were unarmed, they soon began firing at each other with handheld weapons and even throwing spears An arms race started which quickly lead to increasingly agile planes equipped with machine guns.

Observation Balloons Manned observation balloons floating high above the trenches were used as stationary reconnaissance points on the front lines, reporting enemy troop positions and directing artillery fire.

Anti-aircraft Many methods were used to try and destroy planes from the ground. Some people used rifles, but they didn't work very well. Antiaircraft artillery was the main weapon against planes. They could fire four rounds a minute at a range of 3,000 yards.

Naval Warfare The years leading up to the war saw the use of improved metal techniques to produce larger ships with larger guns and with more armor

Submarines A submarine is a watercraft capable of independent operation below the surface of the water Germany’s version of the sub, the U-boat, was hugely successful in sinking British battleships

Flame Throwers Germany began experimenting with flame-throwers in 1900. These powerful weapons used pressurized air, carbon dioxide, or nitrogen to push oil through the nozzle. The oil was ignited by a small charge and became a jet of flame. These machines were mainly used to clear enemy soldiers from their front line trenches. They had a range of 40 meters.

Problems with Flame throwers Their short range made them hard to use anywhere besides no man's land. they were too hard to move around only enough oil to burn 40 seconds at a time. Britain also experimented with flame-throwers, and they also found them to be ineffective.

Tear Gas The early military uses of chemicals were as a tear-inducing irritant rather than fatal or disabling poisons. During the first World War, the French were the first to employ gas

Poisonous Gas Chlorine gas (used first by Germany) Yellow-green clouds came toward the French and had a smell similar to a mixture of pineapple and pepper. They thought the German were hiding behind a smokescreen, ready to attack. After they felt a burning in their chests and throats, however, they noticed they were being gassed. An hour later a four-mile gap was in the French line. Chlorine gas led its victims to a slow death, as it destroyed their respiratory organs.

Mustard Gas The most widely reported and, perhaps, the most effective gas of WWI was mustard gas Delivered in artillery shells, mustard gas was heavier than air, and it settled to the ground as an oily liquid. Once in the soil, mustard gas remained active for several days, weeks, or even months, depending on the weather conditions The skin of victims of mustard gas blistered, their eyes became very sore and they often began to vomit. Mustard gas caused internal and external bleeding and attacked the bronchial tubes, stripping off the mucous membrane. This was extremely painful and most soldiers had to be strapped to their beds.

Gas Masks Later, Allied forces began wearing gas masks. The masks were made of pads soaked in urine, which repelled the chlorine.

“The Impact of the Industrial Revolution on Warfare” By Walter S “The Impact of the Industrial Revolution on Warfare” By Walter S. Zapotoczny 2006 World War I was the pointless war which no one seemed to know how to prevent, and which, once begun, no one seemed to know how to stop. The technology of World War I was immeasurably more complicated than of any previous war. Much of it is a story of the improvement and perfection of previous weapons. Metallurgists and ballistics experts, for example, made machine guns and artillery weapons ever more accurate and powerful. Railroads were more efficient, communications were swifter, and logistics became ever more large and complicated, as transport was gradually motorized. Great innovations included the airplane, the tank, poison gas, and the submarine.

By late 1914, the armies were already stalemated By late 1914, the armies were already stalemated. The firepower of the machine gun was so devastating that armies could no longer live upon the surface of the battlefield. The only answer to that either side could think of for a long period was artillery bombardment. The great artillery barrages of the war solved nothing. The time taken for massing the artillery gave warning of the coming attacks, and the preliminary bombardments warned the enemy of the point of attack. The Germans were the first to turn to science in earnest for a device to break the stalemate. Chemists very early in the war had pointed out to the German high command the possibilities inherent in chemical warfare, but the generals had been reluctant to adopt the proposals. The use of gas by all participants and the development of new chemicals were not successful in brining an end to the stalemate of the western front. The instrument that finally broke the sandbag and barbed wire blockade and restored the offensive to what it had been before the invention of the machine guns was the armored car.

The great railway network…built with an eye to strategy as well as to commerce, had made it possible to rush huge armies to the frontier within a few hours of a general mobilization. In the later years of the war, the gasoline engine was increasingly used to haul supplies of ammunition and food from the railheads to maintain the huge armies deployed from Switzerland to the North Sea. American farms and factories broke all records for production. Civilian industry was converted to war uses; radiator factories turned out guns, and piano factories manufactured airplane wings. Every possible means was employed to build up ocean shipping. Civilian consumption was drastically cut. Eight thousand tons of steel was saved in the manufacture of women’s corsets and 75,000 tons of tin was spared in the making of children’s wagons.