World War 1 Technological Advances

Machine Guns:  Gas-driven water-cooled machine guns that could fire hundreds of rounds per minute by two men replaced the hand-cranked Gatling guns of the past. Carefully placed machine guns could command the entire front of a trench line, and when combined with barbed wire to slow or stop attacking troops, machine guns ruled the battlefield.

Barbed Wire:  Barbed wire proved to be the most destructive weapon of World War I. During World War I barbed wire was strung by the mile in front of the opposing trenches. As soldiers from one army charged across the shell-cratered No Man's Land, they would become tangled in the wire, easy pickings for the machine gunners in the opposing trench.

Heavy Artillery:  Artillery (armed forces that use heavy weapons such as cannons) dominated the battlefields of World War 1. A well- aimed bombardment could destroy enemy trenches, and knock out artillery batteries and communications lines. It could also help break up an infantry attack.  Two main types of artillery were used during the war – light field artillery, pulled by horses, and heavier guns, such as howitzers, moved by tractor and set up on reinforced beds. Once in place, artillery pieces were camouflaged to conceal them from the enemy.  The most effective way to break down enemy lines was the creeping barrage, which rained down a moving curtain of heavy and insistent fire just ahead of attacking infantry.

Tanks:  Desperate to break through German wire, the Allies built the first primitive tanks in 1915 and 1916, but their use did not become widespread until There were not very reliable in the beginning but the tank played an increasingly important role and was instrumental in breaching the German lines in 1918.

Airplanes:  The first airplanes flew as reconnaissance craft, looking down on enemy lines or helping to direct artillery fire with great precision. Enemy pilots tried to shoot them down, leading to dogfights in the sky between highly skilled and brave “aces”. Specialized fighter airplanes were soon produced by both sides, as were sturdier airplanes capable of carrying bombs to drop on enemy targets.  The most famous pilot of the war was Manfred von Richthofen, better known as the Red Baron who shot down 80 enemy planes.

Ships:  The launch of HMS Dreadnought in 1906 marked a revolution in battleship design. With its 10 x 30cm guns and a top speed of 21 knots, the British ship outperformed and outpaced every other battleship of the day.

Submarines:  Submarines were also perfected before and during the war, and they played a major role by bringing the United States into the war when Germany declared renewed unrestricted submarine warfare in February German U-boats operated both under the sea and on the surface. German U-boats sank 5,554 Allied and neutral merchant ships as well as many warships.

Poison Gas:  The most feared weapon of the war was poison gas. First used by the Germans at the Second Battle of Ypres in 1915, chlorine, mustard and other gases were used to try to break the stalemate of trench warfare.  The effects of gas were gruesome; chlorine caused the lungs to break down and choke a victim to death; mustard gas blinded its victims, and other forms of gas caused the skin to burn and nerves to seize.  By the middle of the war, both sides wore fully protective helmets, which consisted of face masks, goggles and respirators. These protected the eyes, nose and throat from the potentially lethal effects of gas.  The most famous of the many poems to come from the trenches, Wilfred Owen's Dulce et Decorum Est, speaks of the horror of watching a friend fail to get his gas mask on in time.

Other Technologies:  Other technologies that had a major impact on World War I were:  Wireless telegraphy, invented by Italian Guglielmo Marconi in 1910, that allowed communication with ships at sea;  Radio and telephone that allowed communications over land;  Effective battlefield medicine that cut death rates markedly from previous wars.  None of these weapons proved decisive, and all of them managed to increase the death toll to unheard-of levels.