Weapons of World War I

1. Weapons of World War I When World War I erupted in August of 1914, it would bring to the world death and destruction on a scale never before experienced in war. While Generals and tacticians on both sides were still using military strategies dating back to the Napoleonic Wars, advances in the modern weapons used to make war were making those tactics obsolete. The introduction of effective, functional machine guns, accurate and easy to use carbine style rifles, deadly, accurate artillery, armored tanks, and grenades would introduce death and devastation to the battlefield on a scale the world had never seen before. Machine Guns Artillery Tanks

2. The Machine Gun Machine-guns were positioned all along the Western Front. The machine guns in use in 1914 required a crew of three to six men and were positioned on a flat trajectory tripod. For added protection, German machine-guns were often housed inside concrete blockhouses Both sides also used smaller machine gun posts. Germans built them in large numbers all along the line at Ypres and Messines. Machine-gunners were deeply hated by the infantry and they were more likely to be killed when captured than other soldiers.

3. Allied Machine Guns Vickers machine gun (British/French) Drawing of a Vickers machine-gun in 1915. Lewis machine gun (British) The Lewis machine gun was smaller and lighter than the Vickers, but less deadly

4. Allied Machine Guns Continued Browning Automatic Rifle (USA - 1918) Hotchkiss machine gun (French) Pulemyot Maxima machine gun (Russia) Browning machine gun (USA)

5. Machine guns of the Central Powers Bergmann (Germany) Maschinengewehr (Germany) Schwarzlose Gune (Austria/Hungary) German Machine Gun Trench

6. The Effects of the Machine Gun

7. Artillery of World War I The word artillery was used to describe large-calibre mounted firearms. The calibre is the diameter of its barrel bore. In the 19th century artillery was divided into light and heavy, depending on the weight of solid shot fired. Light guns, deployed at battalion level, were usually 4-6 pounders, whereas heavy guns were 8-12 pounders.

8. Allied Artillery Howitzer (Britain) Mark I Howitzer (Britain) 75mm Cannon (France)

9. Allied Artillery Continued 75mm Howitzer (United States) 60mm Howitzer (Great Britain) 76.2 mm “Lender’s Gun” (Russia)

10. Central Powers Artillery 420 mm siege howitzer “Big Bertha” or “Dicke Bertha” (Germany) Skoda 30.5 (Austria/Hungary) 210 mm Howitzers (Germany) Mountain Howitzer (Austria/Hungary)

11. The Impact of Artillery Of all the modern weapons utilized on the battlefields of World War One, none, not even the machine gun, had the devastating effect (both emotionally and psychologically) of modern artillery. During World War One, artillery was responsible for 70% of all combat deaths, far outdistancing any other weapon of the era. Psychologically, nothing was more devastating than an artillery barrage. The non-stop bombardments could last for hours without end, and introduced the battlefield to the psychological horrors of “Shell Shock,” a condition unheard of until the First World War.

12. The Effects of Modern Artillery

13. The Tanks of WWI The idea of an armored tracked vehicle that would provide protection from machine gun fire was first discussed by army officers in 1914. Two of the officers, Colonel Ernest Swinton and Colonel Maurice Hankey, both became convinced that it was possible to develop a fighting vehicle that could play an important role in the war. On the outbreak of the First World War, Colonel Swinton was sent to the Western to write reports on the war. After observing early battles where machine-gunners were able to kill thousands of infantryman advancing towards enemy trenches, Swinton wrote that a "petrol tractors on the caterpillar principle and armoured with hardened steel plates" would be able to counteract the machine-gunner.

14. The Tank in World War One While the tank would never prove to be a decisive weapon during World War One (it wouldn’t see widespread use until the last stages of the war), the tank would be used with devastating effects during World War II. World War One Tanks were prone to breaking down, and had a top speed of around 5 mph, making them slow and difficult to maneuver. Both the tank and the airplane, relatively new and ineffective weapons in World War One, would become two of the most important combat innovations in World War II. British Mark I tank during World War I

15. Allied Tanks Mark I (Mother) (Britain) Little Willie (Britain) Char Schneider (France) Mark V (Britain)

16. More Allied Tanks The Carro Fiat Tipo (Italy) The Whippet Tank (Britain) A British Mark I Tank Being Used by Canadian troops

17. Central Powers Tanks Schwerer Kampfwagen A7V (Germany) Leichter Kampfwagen II (Germany)

18. Naval Warfare • Naval combat in WWI was mainly characterized by the efforts of the Allies, with their larger fleets and surrounding position, to blockade the Central Powers by sea, and the efforts of the Central Powers to break that blockade or to establish an effective blockade of the United Kingdom and France with submarines and raiders.

19. Naval Weapons • Dreadnought class ships were possessed by many nations. Their guns were as big as 16”. • Subs had limited range, but were effective hunters and sank many merchant ships • Radar and aircraft carriers weren’t around yet • Torpedoes and mines were effective weapons • Sonar was in its infancy • Q-ships were an attack vessel disguised as a merchant ship. They lured subs to the surface then attacked them with guns. Dreadnought class

20. Flamethrowers • - The earliest flamethrowers date back to the Byzantines in the 5th century B.C. This “Greek fire” was hand pumped to set ships aflame • Germans introduced modern flamethrowers during WWI • They terrified Allied forces at first, but the Allies later built their own versions • A flamethrower projects a stream of flammable liquid, rather than flame, from 50-80 meters and is useful against bunker and trenches • Operating flamethrowers was risky. They were bulky with 2-3 cylinders. Snipers targeted them, and if caught, they faced execution.

21. Poison Gases • The Germans worked hard to perfect chemical warfare. At first they opened cylinders and let the wind do the work. This had disadvantages! Later, gas would be launched in artillery shells • Chlorine gas was in a yellow-green cloud that attacked the respiratory system and brought choking • Phosgene gas often caused death within 48 hours • Mustard gas was almost odorless and caused severe burns. It could also stay in the soil for weeks! • Early protection included urine-soaked cloth to ward off chlorine. Gas masks came later. • After the war, the horrors of gas warfare led to 16 major nations banning it in the Geneva Protocol