During the First World War, 1914 to 1918, the “Western Front” referred to a series of trench lines that ran from the Belgian coast, to the Alps. The Western Front was a direct result of stagnation. Both the Allies and Central Powers “dug in” and settled down to a war of attrition, with little movement over three years. Born from the need to break the domination of trenches and machine guns on the Western Front, Britain designed the world’s first combat tank, known as the Mark I. It was developed to cross trenches, resist small-arms fire, travel over difficult terrain, carry supplies, and capture fortified enemy positions. The Mark I was a product of the industrial revolution. Similarly, to the Mark I, the Minie ball was a previous step towards the continued industrialization of warfare. Albeit, the Mark I and Minie ball are two different products of the industrial revolution, they are each steps towards modern warfare.
The Minie ball is considered the first modern bullet. The Minie ball’s conical shape and ridges at its base that fit into the grooves of the rifled musket, allowed this bullet to be fired from a farther distance and at a faster speed than the traditional musket ball. Fueled by the factory system of the industrial revolution, one person could cast three thousand Minie balls an hour. Musket ball production, on the other hand, involved a much more tedious and lengthy smelting process. Before the introduction of the Minie ball, most civil war battles were fought at close range. “The long-range accuracy of the Minié ball meant that the traditional model of warfare, when infantry and cavalry assaults could be successful, was over. Soldiers armed with a minié-loaded rifle could hide behind trees or blockades and take ...
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World War Warfare was one of the greatest examples of technological advancement and strategic challenge, with the introduction of inventions such as the aircraft and the tank the battlefield transformed from attrition as scene in the early years of the war to decisive by the end of the war.
was useful for firing over the top as you could rest your gun on it.
World War I is marked by its extraordinary brutality and violence due to the technological advancement in the late 18th century and early 19th century that made killing easier, more methodical and inhumane. It was a war that saw a transition from traditional warfare to a “modern” warfare. Calvary charges were replaced with tanks; swords were replaced with machine guns; strategic and decisive battles were r...
The First World War witnessed an appalling number of casualties. Due partly to this fact, some historians, developed the perception that commanders on both sides depended on only one disastrous approach to breaking the stalemate. These historians attributed the loss of life to the reliance on soldiers charging across no-man’s land only to be mowed down by enemy machineguns. The accuracy of this, however, is fallacious because both the German’s and Allies developed and used a variety of tactics during the war. The main reason for battlefield success and eventual victory by the Allies came from the transformation of battlefield tactics; nevertheless, moral played a major role by greatly affecting the development of new tactics and the final outcome of the war.
Johnson, David E. Fast Tanks and Heavy Bombers: Innovation in the U.S. Army, 1917-1945. Ithaca: Cornell UP, 1998. Print.
As countries adapted to trench warfare, new techniques and tactics emerged. For instance, the countries made trenches in a zigzag pattern and surrounded them with barbed wire so the enemy could not bomb them in a straight...
In September of 1914, the British and French troops met the German troops at the Marne River. The German troops had been advancing toward Paris. The British and French troops were victorious in this battle and they crushed the hopes of Germany who wanted a quick takeover of the Western Front. After this battle, both sides dug trenches to maintain their positions. Both sides entered into a stalemate over the next four years. Each side battled from trenches making very little progress in their efforts to defeat each other. The trench warfare that took place over a few hundred yards of territory and cost both sides enormous casualties. Trench warfare proved to be a failure for both sides.
War has been a recurring part of America’s history for the past hundreds of years. From the 1700s to the present, America has gotten into numerous situations and turmoil, which eventually lead to the wars we currently study and know about today. Technological advancements in warfare were necessary and a great obligation during times of war. This was pursued with drastic improvement. From the transformation of the use of smoothbore muskets during the Civil War to the industrial revolution leading to weaponry innovations post civil war, the nature of warfare dramatically changed. These developments proved to be proficient in battle. In the midst of these hundreds of years, while many technological advances demonstrated to be efficient in battle, the machine gun was one of the most significant advancements in technology that changed the face of warfare through its transformation of operations and strategy.
Warfare was in a state of transition. Older commanders and generals in the French and British militaries were very cavalry and infantry focused. These commanders believed that cavalry, infantry, and artillery would assure victory in any circumstance, against any foe. They clung to the static tactics of the bygone World War I era. World War I had been fought primarily on French soil, and the military as well as the government never wanted that to happen again, therefore they wanted to reinforce their main border against any future German. Little did they know that only twenty two years later they would be bested by German forces in a way that would shock the world. This research will be analyzing many important assumptions, oversights,...
Tanks of WWII Andrew Logan Middle Township High School US History Wilson 4/4/14 WWII was an era of learning and innovation, despite the ominous history behind it. Many new technologies were developed and led to many things never seen before; Jets made their first debut, experimentation with rockets started, nuclear science reached nuclear levels, peering radar, and huge metal boxes on wheels. These metal boxes evolved so much during WWII. Tanks have had such an impact on the war, and the same is true the other way around. Each nation had a slightly different take on tanks, each evolving throughout the way, along with the way tanks were used also varied among nations, and changed significantly throughout the war.
Many new technologies appeared during World War I, including the machine gun, airplane, tank and barbed wire. It is important to examine the historical circumstances of their development, their introduction onto the battlefront and the effect each had in bringing victory to countries that employed them. It can be categorically said that without giant strides made prior to and during the World War I (914-1918) it would never have taken on titanic proportions that it did. The Perfection of technology in the hands of imperfect man or man-the-beast resulted in the tragedy of World War I. However, during this war, technology advancement that had led to the formation of colonies in countries received a new life and influenced WWI by a great degree.
Trench warfare was introduced in order to bring a barrier between forces. They were dug by soldiers and were very lengthy, but very cramped. Soldiers crouched down for extended periods of time to keep their heads blocked from being a target for the other side. They sat their watching their friends die from disease and from being shot, bombed, or poison gassed while they waited to fire their weapons at the enemy.
By December 1914 the First World War had reached a dilemma on the western front that neither the triple entente nor the triple alliance had expected. The war had reached a stalemate, a state where both sides are so evenly balanced that neither can breakthrough against the enemy. The advances in Technology played a big role in creating the stalemate through strong defensive weaponry such as Machine Guns and Artillery, this caused ‘trench warfare’ (BOOK 48). Trench war is when troops from both sides are protected from the enemy’s firepower through trenches. Many advances in technology also attempted to break the stalemate throughout the war with tanks, gas and aircraft, these however failed. Eventually the stalemate was broken through a combination of improved technology, new strategies and the blockading of the German ports.
These kinds of weapons were impractical for military use, but attracted many people to the arms race for weapons that could sweep the battlefield. “They had limitations in practice, among them slow re...
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