Technology and Warfare World War 1 Technology and Warfare

Map europe preww1

Machine Gun A single gun capable of firing 1000+ bullets per minute. Cause millions of casualties.

They are the single most important weapon in the war. Machine guns are so deadly they force soldiers off the battlefields

Trench Warfare: Soldiers go underground to escape the deadly machine gun fire. The soldiers fight from trenches dug in the ground and live in “dugouts”, caves dug into the sides of the trench.

These would fill with water turning the dirt to mud These would fill with water turning the dirt to mud. They were also infested with rats that fed off the unburied dead.

Gas War In an effort to break the stalemate of trench warfare Germany invents poison gas to kill and maim large numbers of enemy troops. See extra sheet.

Tanks In an effort to break the stalemate of trench warfare Britain invents an armored vehicle.

It can cross the trenches and attack the enemy while protecting its crew from machine gun fire.

Germany uses these ships that can go totally underwater to sink ships supplying Britain with food and war materials. Submarine Warfare

Many of the ships belong to American Companies and many American sailors are killed. This upsets the US a great deal.

Aircraft: Invented in 1903 by the Wright Brothers, aircraft were still very small and weak at the start of the war. Becomes a glamorous job, but deadly. Air War

Germany’s Baron Von Ricktoffen becomes leading ace of war, down’s 80 Allied pilots. Red Baron