How did new weapons affect the war? Weapons of World War I How did new weapons affect the war?

# 1 The Machine Gun Invented by Hiram Maxim for German Army, but used by all sides Fired ammunition automatically Most commonly used during trench warfare Advantage: Take out waves of attackers, hard for troops to advance Disadvantage: Heavy, hot, main reason for bloody stalemates

#2 The Tank Developed by Frederick Simms of the British army Was an armored combat vehicle Moved on caterpillar-like chain tracks, could cross all types of terrain Advantages: major firepower including several machine guns and sometimes a cannon, hard to disable Disadvantages: Very slow, hot & cramped

#3 Heavy Artillery “Big Bertha” Howitzer large caliber siege guns used by Germany and Austria-Hungarian empire moved by using wagons or railroad tracks Advantages: able to destroy fortifications, trenches, and tanks, range up to 7.7 miles Disadvantages: difficult to move [94,000 lbs], required multiple pieces of equipment to mount and fire, difficult to aim

#4 The U-Boat (Submarine) Developed by and used almost exclusively by the Germans Was a warship that could dive underwater U-Boats used an underwater missile called a torpedo to destroy ships Advantages: Very hard to see or detect (sneak attacks) Disadvantages: cramped conditions & leaks

#5 Aviation – Airplanes Attacks could now come from the sky Dropped bombs or shot at targets Bombers had 2 seats & Fighters had 1 seat Advantages: Quick & agile Disadvantages: little room & flimsy #6 Aviation – Zeppelins “Death From Above” Developed in Germany, these “blimps” were used to drop bombs Advantages: could carry more bombs, men, equipment and their size made them intimidating Disadvantages: not as fast or agile, big target

#7 Poison Gas French first to used tear gas to disable an enemy Later, Germans develop mustard gas & ammonia based poison gas Because Germany used it, Allies start using it as well Advantage: fairly undetectable, enemy doesn’t see it coming Disadvantage: seen as a very unethical weapon causing blindness, choking, blisters, death, banned after WW I

Nearly 90K of the 9.7 million killed-in-action were due to poison gas Country Total KIAs Gas Deaths Austria-Hungary 1.2 million 3,000 British Empire 908,371 8,109 France 1.4 million 8,000 Germany 1.8 million 9,000 Italy 650,000 4,627 Russia 1.7 million 56,000 USA 116,708 1,462 Ottoman Empire 800,000 1,000 Question: Who suffered the most from poison gas and why?