Weapons, tactics, and strategy of the First World War

War of stalemate and attrition

SMALL ARMS

The perfection of the pistol, rifle, and machine gun.

Gatling Gun

Maxim Machine Gun

Machine Gun

British Enfield Rifle

Thomson Machine Gun(Trench Sweeper)

Artillery

Artillery accounted for nearly 70% of all casualties in World War I.

French Artillery

“Long Max”38 cm (380mm)

Used in the Battle of Verdun (1916)

The impact of German shells on an armored building

Howitzer

Two 280 mm Japanese siege guns (1904)Howitzers

Life in the Trenches

Trench WarfareTrench WarfareTrench: a depression in the ground

Trench Warfare: a style of fighting in which the enemies occupy opposing trenches, which require artillery in order defeat the enemy

No Man’s Land: tract of land between opposing trench lines

Cross section of a British trench

No Man’s land

Infantry attack

Dead in No Man’s Land

Trench on a dry day

Firing from a German Trench

French Concrete Bunker – Under the Trenches

Barbed WirePlaced outside the trenches to slow attacksBelts 1.8 meters high and 3-6 meters thick

Complex Trench Systems

Trenches on the Somme (1916)

A far cry from the tidy illustrations in the field engineering manuals

Poison Gas

• blinded or choked its victims• caused serious burns• could be fatal• Because this was a new development in weapons technology, soldiers were not equipped with gas masks right away• an uncertain weapon: winds could blow it back on the soldiers who launched it

Poison Gas

Poison Gas

Poison Gas

Poison Gas

Victims of War

War Is HELL !!War Is HELL !!

Keep Your Feet Dry, Clean, and Warm

Sacrifices in WarSacrifices in War

World War I CasualtiesWorld War I Casualties

01,000,0002,000,0003,000,0004,000,0005,000,0006,000,0007,000,0008,000,0009,000,000

10,000,000RussiaGermanyAustria-HungaryFranceGreat BritainItalyTurkeyUS

Air Power

Nations’ air forces were primarily used for reconnaissance. Airplanes

would not play a major role in aiding ground movement until the Second

World War.

British DH4

German Fokker

Flying CoffinsPlanes were so dangerous to fly that they received the

nickname “Flying coffins.”

Zeppelin

New Weapons

World War one spawned the introduction of the tank. This

weapon along with the airplane would break the defensive stalemate.

British Tank

British Tank crossing a trench in the battle of Cambrai, November 1917.

Sea Power

World War One would be the age of the Battleship. It would also be the

introduction of the submarine. Besides the Germans attempt to

“blockade” Britain with the submarine, the most crucial battles

took place on land.

Unterseeboot

German submarinesa.k.a. U-Boats

U-BoatsU-Boats

Allied Ships Sunk by U-Boats

Allied Ships Sunk by U-Boats

DreadnoughtThe Dreadnought was introduced by the British in 1905. This new ship with its 11” guns and a range of nearly 20,000 yards

made all previous ships obsolete.

US Dreadnought

British Submarine

Strategy and Tactics

Germany at War 1914

1st Battle of the MarneThe German attempt to take Paris and surround French troops failed. British troops from the North and French troops from

North Africa turned the tide.

Stalemate warfareBecause of the use of the machine gun and rapid fire artillery, movement on the battlefield became nearly impossible. The

war quickly bogged down into a stalemate on all fronts.

Eastern Front 1914-1918

Western Front 1914-1917

The Gallipoli Campaign1915

The British attempt to reopen the Straits ultimately proved a failure.

Battle of Verdun 1916Germans and the French bleed each other white as the Germans attempt to take the fortifications at Verdun.

Verdun 1916Nivelle’s use of the creeping barrage kept the

Germans at bay as they tried to take the fortifications

Battle of the Somme 1916This British attempt to break the German lines failed. The attackers never

made it more than 10 kilometers. British lost over 490,000; French 250,000 and Germans 600,000 men.

Defense in DepthGerman defensive system devised by Ludendorff in 1917. Machine gun

nests and artillery held off the enemy in the front while major reserves were concentrated in the rear, away from enemy artillery.

Battle of Ypres

Western Front 1918

Europe: Post World War One1919

Europe Post World War OneThe Treaty of Versailles left Germany in tact but took territory from the East as

well as Alsace Lorraine.The Treaties of St. Germain and Trianon dismembered the Austro-Hungarian

Empire.

Ottman Empire: Post World War OneThe Treaty of Severes dismembered the Ottoman Empire. Turkey never signed it.