WWI: New Weapons, Warfare, and trenches; 1914 - 1918
Dec 16, 2015
WWI: New Weapons, Warfare, and trenches;
1914 - 1918
New Weapons
1. Machine Guns
2. Hand Grenades
3. Poison Gas
4. Tanks
5. Airplanes
6. U-Boats
7. Heavy Artillery
Machine Guns
Machine GunsA. Hiram Maxim
1. American 2. Took advantage of the European move towards militarism in the late 1800s. 3. Understood new weapons technology would make him millions.4. Went on to improve airplanes for war.
Machine Guns
Machine Guns
Shot 500 rounds/minute with a fire power of 100 rifles.
Maxim Machine Gun
Machine Guns
One Machine Gun equaled the power of sixty men.
German Maxim Machine Gun Squad
Machine Guns
British Vickers Machine Gun. Came apart into two pieces for easier carrying. Weighed over 100 pounds. This was a variation of the Maxim made to be more portable.
Machine Guns
British Vickers Machine Gun. Disassembles into two parts for carrying
Machine Guns
British also developed the Lewis machine gun. This was a lighter weight, single piece
gun made for one soldier to carry
Machine Guns
Germans Motorized Machine Guns to help solve the problem of mobility. Problem was these would get stuck in the mud
and were too heavy to carry.
Hand Grenades
Hand Grenades• Hand Grenades are actually small bombs.• Come in many sizes and shapes• May be filled with chemical or explosives• Four kinds of grenades
1. Offensive: filled with TNT. Designed to stun the enemy in enclosed places.2. Fragmentation: Kills everything with shrapnel within 5 to 10 yards.3. Chemical: Toxic gas meant to kill or slow down troops4. Illuminating: Filled with white phosphorus that would burn bright for about 60 seconds.
US Hand Grenades In WWIOffensive Fragmentation
Chemical Illuminating
Poison Gas
Poison Gas
• Germans were the first to use poison gas during trench warfare.
• By 1916 Allies began using it on the Western Front.
• Allied advantage = the wind blew from the west!• 250,000 soldiers died from gas on the Western
Front. 10,000 died quickly, the rest suffered to varying degrees.
Poison Gas
Gas would be carried by the wind to the enemy troops. If the wind changed direction gas could wipe out the wrong
troops!
Poison Gas• Three Basic types
1. Tearing gas
a. Caused temporary blindness
b. Inflamed the nose and throat of victim
Soldiers that were blinded by tear gas leading each other to
safety
Poison Gas2. Asphyxiate
a. Poisonous gas (chlorine gas – turns to hydrochloric acid when contact lungs and eyes)
Poison Gas3. Blistering Agent
a. Mustard Gas- Attacked any exposed moist skin and
respiratory system - Lungs, eyes, armpits,
and groin areas mostly- Produced large burns
and blisters - Gas mask did little to
help Mustard Gas Burns
• Mustard gas burns
First gas masks were only made of cloth
Early gas mask developed by the British
Germans putting carrier pigeons in gas shelters
US WWI Gas Mask
Italian WWI Gas Mask
Tanks
British WWI Tank
Tanks1. Used for the first time in WWI2. British used the first tank on the
Western Front on September 15, 1916
3. Early tanks had many problemsa. Too hot for humans to operateb. Heat could cause explosionc. Exhaust was not ventilated properlyd. difficult to see out ofe. Became stuck in mud easily
1st British Tank
Tanks
Psychological Effect:
1. Germans feared tanks even with all of their early problems
2. They could not be disabled quickly
3. Easily went over barbed wire and trenches
4. Not stopped by machine guns
5. Cannons were very accurate and could get close
Tanks
Early British Tanks (Experimental Phase)
Tanks
1st Canadian Tank
Vintage British WWI Tank
First United States Tank
First American Tank
1st German Tank
Russian Tank Prototypes
Russia begins to develop practical tanks in the 1920s
Airplanes
“Dogfighters”
WWI Airplanes
• Initially used for observation
• Later fitted with machine guns
• “dogfights” – aerial fights between pilots
American Rickenbacker
Biplanes
American Planes: Spad and Morane – Saulnier Parasol
German Planes: Albatross and Fokker
WWI Airplanes
German Albatross
WWI Airplanes
WWI American Fighter Plane
Who was this person known as?
A. Manfred von Richthofen1. German dogfighter – flew the Fokker
plane2. Downed 80 planes and killed or
captured 127 pilots3. Became a target for the Allies4. Had his plane painted red to attract
the Allies5. Boosted German morale and influenced
other dogfighters to paint their planes red also
The Red Barron
Manfred von Richthofen
Dogfights between the
Allies and the Central Powers were common during WWI
Fokker WWI Planes
U-boats
Freighter sunk in the North Sea during WWI
U-Boats (Unterseeboots)
1. Developed first by the Germans
2. Most feared weapon
a. Attack without warning
b. Sunk both military and commercial ships
3. Fragile
a. Even the smallest tap would sink the earliest U-boats.
WWI German U-Boats
WWI German U-boats
WWI German U-Boat
Heavy Artillery
Heavy Artillery1. Could be heard over 40 miles away2. Long range shelling capabilities3. Psychological Use
1. Bomb heavy before sending troops in 2. Cause “shell shock” – nervous disorder3. Wear the troops down – loud, nonstop noise that would shake the trenches all night. Did not allow for sleep or rest.
Heavy Artillery shells - French
Allied Howitzers
Heavy Artillery
WWI British Howitzers
WWI British Canons
Trench Warfare
Trench Warfare1. Located on the Western Front (between France
and Germany)
2. Fighting in a series of deep trenches.
3. Dug by soldiers – about 6 feet deep
4. Result of new Warfare technology (Machine Guns, Hand Grenades, and heavy artillery)
5. Lasted from 1914 – 1918
Aerial View of trenches
“No Mans Land”
Trenches
Parapet
Firing Step
Muddy bottom
Barbed Wire
Basic Cover/Shelter
Narrow Walk Way
Typical section of front line trench.
• Heavy artillery shelling, attacks, and counterattacks prevented burials.
• Shell explosions would kill and bury several men while simultaneously exhuming others killed in previous weeks or months.
• Smell of decaying bodies was the norm
• Rats were huge due to gorging themselves on human remains. Muddy Trench Walls
Broken Leg
• French troops eating in the trench
• Notice the firing ports built into the side of the trench
*Some trenches were not as well built or as large as other trenches.
*Mud and water were common in all trenches
*Foot rot was very common
French preparing to leave trench to cross “no man’s land”
Too much water and mud made moving heavy artillery difficult. Soldiers were not always able to move weapons in time to provide cover for
the soldiers in the trenches.
Trying to move supplies to the front proved difficult with all the water and mud
Standing in water knee high was common. Water also made great breeding grounds for lice, frogs, and
bugs.
Not all trenches were deep and well fortified. These were used as stepping stones to get across “no man’s land”
Trench Warfare2,500,000 bodies were never found on the Western Front
Military Casualties in World War I 1914-1918
• Belgium 45,550• British Empire 942,135• France 1,368,000• Greece 23,098• Italy 680,000 • Japan 1,344• Montenegro 3,000• Portugal 8,145• Romania 300,000• Russia 1,700,000• Serbia 45,000• United States 116,516• Austria-Hungary 1,200,000• Bulgaria 87,495• Germany 1,935,000• Ottoman Empire 725,000
Grand Totals for Both Sides
Total Mobilized = 65,038,810 troops
Total Casualties = 37,508,686 troops (57.6%)
Known Killed in Action (KIA) = 8,538,315
Missing or prisoners = 7,750,919 troops
Wounded = 21,219,452 troops
The End