Technological Advances In Ww1

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World War I, started on July 28, 1914 and ended on November 11, 1918, was a war that was a sparked by the assassination of Archduke Franz Ferdinand. The war pitted two sides against each other, the Central Powers and the Allied powers. Both sides had their strengths and weaknesses. On one hand, the Central powers launched their attack first against the Allies and possessed internal lines of communication. On the other hand, the allies had superior numbers, greater resources of finance, and overall better sea control. Considering these attributes of each side, the technological advancements during the time have definitely influenced the war greatly. Technologies such as tanks, machine guns, and poison gas were largely responsible for the deaths …show more content…

Weapons like the machine gun, air support, tanks, and gas made it easier to take groups of soldiers out. Knowing that the Allies and the Central Powers both had access to these type of weapons, the number of casualties was unprecedented. The machine gun differed from the common semi-automatic rifles that were commonly used. The gun was a very good defensive weapon, shown through the British’s failed attempt of attack during the Somme Offensive. They gained 60,000 casualties, majority of which was from the machine gun. Furthermore, air support provided better access to the soldiers in the trenches. In the Battle of Ypres, the tactic of flying low was used to drop bombs on enemy trenches, causing a disturbance in the stalemate between the two opposing trenches. The tank also was also another weapon made to break the long stalemates in trench warfare. During The Battle of Flers-Courcelette, 49 tanks moved in position, 15 of which made it onto No Man’s Land, and destroyed the morale of the Germans. Lastly, the use of poisonous gas was first used by the Germans to shake the Allies. The gas burned the skin, eyes, and left the soldiers paralyzed leading to death. Along the western front the Germans fired 150 tons of chlorine gas which devastated the

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