Weapons Used In Ww1 Trench Warfare Essays

Satire – This is a device used to mock or parody other writing or figures (often people) through writings of a similar form.While you may find this boring, knowledge of the nature of WW1, the weaponry used and how it all started are essential to appreciating the war writings properly.Also, an arms race between Britain, Germany and the other European powers was going on, with each nation trying to produce more weapons, soldiers and ships than any other – this competition naturally caused rising tension.For this reason the frontline trench was often dubbed the ‘forlorn hope’ trench.WW1 became infamous for its trench warfare, where France was quite literally sectioned by trenches.

World War One (1914-1918) remains, even today, one of the most infamous and controversial wars in the history of mankind, with a legacy that, through groundbreaking revolutions in chemical warfare, completely altered the way ethics and morals, as they relate to warfare, are perceived in modern society.... middle of paper ... ....only massive worldwide change, but also intense psychological transformation.Instead of utilizing fatal or disabling poisons, they opted for tear-inducing irri... .The usage of this hazardous, and often times lethal, gas took some of the warring nations by surprise and was extremely effective in trench warfare, one of the primary styles of warfare applied in WW1.

Before men joined the war they barely knew anything about warfare they thought it was just pride and glory.Many soldiers did not want to fight in ww1 because they were Quakers this means they don’t believe in violence or war.The most effective way to get people to fight in ww1 was peer pressure because if you didn’t fight you were considered a coward and no man wants to be a coward.Most men didn’t know about trench warfare because the government thought it would not persuade them to join the army and the government needed volunteers.For example censorship is what mainly covered all the lies about warfare up.

Britain and France could not match the vicious power of these new weapons of warfare.The relentless rapid gunfire from machine guns during World War I made armies abandon conventional battlefield tactics and adopt a new system of warfare called trench warfare.Submachine guns (e.g., the Thompson, or “Tommy gun” and Beretta 1918) as well as lighter machine guns (the BAR, for example) were developed later in World War I, along with large-caliber machine guns which were all heavily used (Wikipedia 2006).Without machine guns, there would have been no trench warfare, and without trench system of tactics, the war could not have dragged on for so long resulting in such an unprecedented devastation.Weapons of War: Machine Guns .

After the colossal change from the cavalry charge to the infantry change and the introduction of trench warfare, there were no real drastic changes to the weapons used in the first year and a half of the war.Several key weapons were introduced to warfare, including the tank, the machine gun and the use of poisonous gas.This improvement in the sophistication of weapons had a direct impact upon tactics in the war due to the type of weapon necessitating how soldiers fought against the enemy.In addition, smaller versions of field guns were also used in artillery attacks and hand held trench mortars were used by the men in the trenches.Wilfred Owen in his poem clearly encapsulates the difference this new fighting technique had in comparison t...

But the Crimean war introduce the world to trench warfare.The transition from impulse warfare to a political style of warfare also demonstrates a fundamental change in warfare because of the reasons of war are different.The Russians used this new style of trench warfare to their advantage at Sebastopol.The allies used steamboats to transport supplies and men across to the Crimea in only weeks.Napoleons weapons e.g.

WW1 was the first total war- a conflict between highly industrialized economies and militaries.They were proved to be useless as modern warfare removed the momentum from conflict.Railroads and roads were used to bring ammunition and troops quickly to the front, to restock losses.WW1 started as a war of quick lightning thrusts and high mobility, but degenerated into an astonishingly protracted war of static battle lines.Total war- the attempt of both sides to sink all efforts to the waging of war, was for the purposes of breaking the stalemate.

Radios were also used during World War 1. .Because of technological advancements, warfare was changed because the more efficient weapons made it easier to kill the enemy and eliminate chivalry.In August 1914, the French used tear gas grenades containing xylyl bromide on the Germans.Until 1915 the British army used an adapted paraffin lamp known as a “Begbie” to send messages via Morse code, using special lens to concentrate the light into a more powerful beam.This is an example of how railway systems were used to take advantage over enemies.

Reliable tanks would have been able; to be used at the Somme if it had started at the planned time; however the battle of the Somme went ahead before Haig had planned.The German troops and weapons were therefore able to survive artillery attacks and emerge relatively unharmed.Most of the weapons used by the British military failed during battle.For many people, the Battle of the Somme was the battle that symbolised the horrors of warfare in World War One, this one battle had a marked effect on overall casualty figures and seemed to epitomise the futility of trench warfare.1,300,000 shells were used against the Germans however a third of these failed to explode because they were so poorly made.

The tank was planned to bring the weapons of missiles and machine guns crossways the chaos of No Man’s Land while on condition that more defense than a simply infantry group could carry.They changed how wars were fought they were used for offense and they were used for defense.The U.S used a helicopter equipped with missiles to defeat the Soviet tanks.Now we don’t use tanks as much as they used to but they still come in handy.Defensively they let soldiers hide behind them and for offense the tank contained weapons to fire at the opposing force.

I feel that source A is more useful due to the opinion of Craig Mair being similar to most historians and soldiers opinion’s that bombardment tactics didn’t do their task in most places, but again source B is also reliable that a German machine gun posts and other defences could be destroyed by bombardment and be effective and have a big part in the WW1, but was a exception.Artillery is shown in photograph B to destroy the enemies’ defences, so the attacker can advance and take the enemies fortification or trench, but the picture looks suspicious because there is a British soldier is standing over the remains of a German machine gun post and that would be unlikely in September 1916 and probably propaganda for current battle The Somme whi...

As many would joke and laugh, this is because faced with a thing like WW1, soldiers formed a black humour known as Gallows humour.Source G is useful at explaining why the war lasted so long because the bad conditions, which caused trench foot etc., also lowered morale and hampered soldiers who fought.In source B it helps you understand why the great war lasted so long by the way the propaganda was used to recruit soldiers and to increase morale by making it look like were winning.The strengths of source H are that the trenches and the environments are almost the same as WW1.I feel that source A is more useful due to the opinion of Craig Mair being similar to most historians and soldiers opinion’s that bombardment tactics didn’t do their ...

This research and technological knowledge initially carried out during the war to develop new weapons of technological warfare later lead to several new sciences and developments after the war ended like cybernetics and the production of nuclear energy to name a few some innovative weapons that defined and characterized the course and outcome of the Second World War include Air Bombs Torpedoes and Missiles.The use of technology to develop new weapons to be used in conflict revolutionized combat in World War One.The majority of the weapons used in these wars were developed and manufactured by the US and the USSR The Cold War witnessed the development of may new weapons ranging from improved fire arms to new technology deployed in tanks , ...

It was the most feared weapon.The ideas given by Foch and Haig (sources G-H) which were used in the battle plan for the Somme were highly wrong and unrealistic.The question being – where the soldiers of WW1 brave men, sent to their deaths by incompetent officers?They were interested in new technology, as in 1916 having invented the tank, and being the first ever army to use them in warfare, by introducing them at the Somme.However, contrary to this evidence that the WW1 generals were all ‘donkeys’ there is evidence to prove otherwise.

There were three main gases used in WW1.It was named the danger tree because it was surrounded by German trenches and was used as target practice by the Germans.There were new weapons that were used to devastating effect.Weapons and soldiers were brought forward to help defend.However, the leaders of regiments often fought World War I as if it was an older war with less sophisticated weapons.

They were first used as reconnaissance planes because they were unable to inflict enough damage to major enemy targets to change the course of a battle or campaign.This problem was averted with the creation of the “creeping barrage” which was used first with the 7 and 18 division on the British XV corps on one area on the first day of the Somme with great success.On the 20 November 1917, 400 new Mark IV tanks were used in formation at the battle of Cambrai and 5 miles of the Hindenburg line were captured at limited cost of lives to the attacking British.Throughout the war, the trench line writhed like a snake, but mostly stayed in the same position.They were used to limited effect at the Somme, mid 1916, and Haig – The Commander in chief...

With the withdrawal, it was important that all the troops knew that the lives of all the men were more important than saving any weapons or equipment.Source 4: Gallipoli Weaponry .Source 2: A trench at Lone Pine after the battle, showing Australian and Turkish dead on the parapet.The anniversary of the landings, April 25, is celebrated as ANZAC Day and is both Australia’s and New Zealand’s most significant day of military remembrance.The bayonet for the SMLE rifle.

The poems I will use to describe this are all by Wilfred Owen and show that during WW1 people changed their opinions on war because WW1 was a very long war that was costly to the U.K both in monetary terms and human lives.This is done by writing the poem as a sonnet (8-line stanza, 6-line stanza and rhyming couplet to finish) which are normally used for love poems only.In the 2nd and 3rd stanza’s Owen describes a soldier who has been killed by one of the new very powerful weapons of WW1 and WW2, gas.There are lots of semi-colons throughout the poem and these could be used in an effort to make the reader stop and think about the words that Brooke is saying.There is also a rhetorical question in the poem and this is “was there a man dismay...

The reason for this accuracy was not so much the static nature of trench warfare but the increasing use of optical munitions, particularly the aerial reconnaissance photograph.The insatiable demand for such quantities was a pre-indicator of the progression and development of this weapon to the round-the-clock surveillance employed today by Military Intelligence (MI) via the many orbiting satellites.By the 1914-1918 war, photographic technology and air transport had developed and with the juxtaposition of fixed-wing aircraft like the de Havilland DH-4 and the Kodak A-2 camera the aerial weapon was effectively created.Both ‘sides’ had a balance of Weapons of Mass Destruction (massive Nuclear arsenals) so the weapon that was to once again m...

In conclusion there were many reasons for WW1 to start but most of them had been building up for years behind the scenes it just took the match of the assassination of Archduke Franz Ferdinand to light the fuse and the world exploded into chaos and destruction with roughly 16 million people dead, 20 million wounded, and 8 million missing it was one of the biggest wars in the worlds history.This caused the spark of the war because Austria-Hungary found out that Serbia helped to provide some equipment and weapons.The whole reason most empires/ countries got involved was because they thought their armies were so amazing that their contribution would end the war in under a year, which was not true because of the stalemate that old tactics wi...

– Key tasks that aircrafts could perform were discovered, experimented with, and refined: observation and reconnaissance, tactical and strategic bombing, ground attack, and naval warfare.Both airplanes used technology from the captured Eindecker but combined the synchronized propeller system with stronger engines.This is the same type that the Wright brothers used, where the propeller faced backwards and pushed the aircraft forward.Types of Aerial Weapons: .* Planes used to gain information about enemy grounds and positions, and to detect enemy movements.

Though chemical warfare was proven effective and easily produced, the world council decided that it was inhumane to use.The introduction of this issue caused us to invent weapons such as the grenade, flame thrower, and finally, biological weapons.In 1972, chemical warfare was ban at the Biological Weapons Convention.At this convention, many country’s leaders voted that it was not right to use these weapons as a way to kill people.Biological weapons are a key to outstanding success in war and therefore, I strongly suggest that chemical warfare is an effective and producible weapon tactic that can be used on today’s battlefield.

Suppose further, that the resources that would have been used to produce exports for Europe were able to produce only half as much value when reallocated to other purposes such as producing goods for the domestic market or exports for non-European countries.Another invention that took place in WW1 was the machine gun.The 1903 Springfield was a very versatile weapon and was even used up until the Korean War.Developments continued despite the harsh words used by Kitchener.Women would go off to work and to help with the war effort they would work in factories helping construct all the weapons and tools required to win.

WW1 and WW2 were different in that they were two different kinds of nationalism caused by two different feelings, anger and embarrassment.The difference between the two wars was that WW1 military was building up their armies for the trenches, and in WW2 they were building up their armies and navies for the lines and waters.Militarism also played a role in the causes of WW1 and WW2.There was also a build up of weapons in WW1 and WW2, like, gas, grenades, tanks, guns, bombs, and airplanes.After WW1 the Germans felt embarrassed so they supported a Nazi party that wanted to build a strong army.

He never had any experience in trench warfare as he lived 30 miles away from it and most of the things saying Haig was a good leader had no evidence to support their claims.This shows how Haig was delusional which made the soldiers think they were going to win.Because he was speaking against Haig, it shows that Haig was a donkey.Based on these points which most of them say Haig was a donkey, I truly think that Haig was a donkey, who thought that all of his plans would work, he was too optimistic about these things.Although he is speaking against Haig there is no proof that he wasn’t lying.

The first poison gas used in battle was chlorine at the start of the Second Battle of Ypres on April 22, 1915 by the Germans.This led to a fierce competition where each side tried to create the smarter machines and better weapons, leading to deadly mass killing weapons in the process.Created to overcome the long stalemate style of trench warfare, its purpose was to draw out soldiers hiding in the trenches....eaponry and sophisticated machines, this total could have been reduce by nearly half and showed how destructive these weapons were.New developments such as machine guns, poison gas, tanks, and new strategy to thwart trench warfare affected how WWI was fought and it came with catastrophic results.

Normally, only the officers were given a map in a battle (“WW1: The Battle of Vimy Ridge- Canada at War”).Another thing is, that Canadians did a lot of things to ensure victory such as, dig tunnels behind enemy lines and bombard enemy weapon stashes with artillery (“WW1: The Battle of Vimy Ridge- Canada at War”).They used over 1 million artillery shells and destroyed 80% of the enemy weapons (“WW1: The Battle of Vimy Ridge- Canada at War”).Also all the tactics that the French and British used to capture Vimy Ridge were hugely unsuccessful (“Canada and Vimy Ridge”).Another thing is, that they were given a signature in the Treaty of Versailles after the war (“WW1: The Battle of Vimy Ridge- Canada at War”).

The leaders of the day could see no way to break this stalemate except by bleeding Germany dry to the point where they absolutely had to surrender.These systems had a front line trench, a secondary trench, communication trenches and supply trenches running throughout.The most notable weapon to appear was the most deadly weapon of the 20th century, the machine gun.The area between the two opposing trench systems was called “no mans land.” This inhospitable area had to be crossed if an attack was going to be made using the standard “over the top” method.These weapons caused older military tactics to become obsolete and created a style of warfare that had never been seen in the world before.

His anti-war poetry contrasted the official propaganda about the glories of trench warfare, and the heroism of soldiers and depict the shattering effect that war has on society and youth.One of the soldiers who experienced the war first hand was Wilfred Owen and through his poetry, he graphically illustrated both the horrors of warfare, the physical landscapes which surrounded him and the human body in relation to those landscapes.“What candles may be held to speed them all?” is a rhetorical question showing Owen’s own questioning of the war efforts and resulting slaughter.“No mockeries now for them; no prayers nor bells” shows their lack of funeral rights, and instead of “candles”, “bells” and “choirs”, they only receive the “shrill, de...

The troops, completely overcome by this terrible weapon, died or broke and fled, leaving a gaping four-mile hole in the Allied line.“On the Western Front: Ypres 1915.” Veteran’s Affairs Canada.Oxford: Oxford University Press.N.p., 10 Jan. 2011.Following an intensive artillery bombardment, they released 160 tons of chlorine gas from cylinders dug into the forward edge of their trenches- the first use of poison gas in the war.