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World War 1: How Weapons Changed the War

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Submitted By DrReekus
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World War One saw the beginning of a new era in warfare. It put an end to static war and created mobile warfare. It also was the beginning of the concept of total war as battles began to be fought in civilian areas and an entire nation’s economy had to be dedicated to winning the war. World War one turned into a bloody stalemate because of trench warfare and the large amounts of soldiers needed to break the defence ratio but in an attempt to break the stalemate the many nations fighting invented various technologies such as the tank, flamethrower, and poisonous gasses to bring about a faster end to the Great War. Trench warfare was used during this time period to be able to protect soldiers from enemy artillery and machinegun fire. This resorted in static defences spanning the entire French-German border. Because of the trenches spanning such great distances there was no room for flanking maneuvers to be made against the opposing army. This left only the possibility of a frontal point attack to try to break the trench line. Soldiers had to run from their trench to the opposing trench across an open field known as no-man’s land while also being fired upon by machine guns, artillery, and gas weapons. Due to there being little to no cover in no-man’s land many soldiers would be gunned down by the thousands in a feeble attempt to break the enemy defence. With casualties mounting the British navy began to develop a new concept as to how to protect soldiers as they cross no-man’s land. A large trapezoidal shaped vehicle was the solution. It was known as the tank to keep German spies from discerning what the secret vehicle really was. The British Mark 1 was meant to break German defences and allow an opening for soldiers to push through to the next set of trenches. Armed with machine guns and six pound howitzers, the tank was a psychological shock to German soldiers.

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