1. OFFENSIVE VS DEFENSIVE
Weapons of WWI
OFFENSIVE VS
DEFENSIVE

2. Offensive Weapons 1. Repeating rifle 2. Artillery 3. Chemical weapons
4.Bayonets 5. Airplanes
6. Tanks (eventually)

3. Defensive Weapons 1. Machine gun 2. Barbed wire 3. Trenches
4. Repeating rifle

4. WW I
TACTICS

5. The Civil War Tactics
1. A lot of soldiers charging the enemy who is behind a “fixed” position
2. Muskets took minutes to load
Muskets were very inaccurate
(5 football fields: beginning; 1 by end)

6. WW I Tactics
1. A lot of soldiers charging the enemy who is in a trench
2. The repeating rifle made shooting faster
3. The machine gun made shooting even faster than that
4. Artillery was believed to be able win the war

7. SOME NUMBERS
1. 90% of soldiers that were killed were killed by machine guns
2. 1 man in a trench with a repeating rifle = 10 men outside the trench
3. U.S. loses 50,000 in 6 months of fighting in WWI
4. U.S. loses 50,000 in 7 YEARS of fighting in Vietnam

8. FIRST USED: April 22, 1915 First Battle of Ypres (chlorine gas)
Chemical Warfare
FIRST USED: April 22, 1915
First Battle of Ypres
(chlorine gas)

9. CHRONOLOGY
To break the stalemate, the Germans use chlorine gas at the battle of Ypres
1915--The British try to retaliate, but the wind blows the gas back in their direction

10. End Results
Defensive Weapons made the war last longer: harder to push through the enemy (Stalemate!)
Weapon technology had improved, the tactics did not
The horrors of this war will make many people afraid to get involved in another “quick and easy” war again (WW II)