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