New Technology of World War I

The first world war brought on a lot of new technologies that forever changed the ways and tactics involved in war. 


Technology Timeline


My Opinion of WWI Technology


     I do not believe that poisonous gases had a positive effect on warfare.  Gas became a very ineffective war technology after gas masks became more popular for soldiers.  If anything gas was very negative and only made life for all soldiers miserable.  Chemical warfare was very dangerous and could often end up killing troops who were either the ones setting off the gas, or allies of the people who set off the gas.  This happened either because of carelessness or unfavorable conditions to the area.   I don’t hear of gas being used today in warfare because it is just a senseless weapon, and it is a bad idea.

     Tanks were one of the best things to come about during this war.  They have entirely shaped the way that war happens today.  Ever since World War I, tanks have become a very common thing in warfare and are a very advanced type of technology.  They are very effective in attacking enemies and have more force than any of the other weapons used during the early 1900s.  The design of modern tanks make it harder for the enemy to hurt the people inside of the tank, which I think makes the rate of soldier deaths decrease in number. I also think that it makes going into enemy territory easier by intimidating them so that they may not want to fight with you, causing death rates to go down.  I also think that tanks influenced the making of Hummers and other armored land vehicles. 

     Another one of the greatest things invented was the machine gun.  Machine guns completely changed the way guns could be used.  Going from bolt-action rifles to fully automatic weapons was a huge turning point.  At first the gun had many problems occurring with heat troubles.  If the weapons were used too much in a short period of time, they would over-heat which caused them to not work for a period of time.  Over time they were perfected and they found new ways to cool the guns to make them the most effective type of gun used in war.  Automatic weapons are a lot quicker than single shot weapons because single shot weapons had to be reloaded after each shot while automatic weapons were only reloaded after many shots, making it easier to defend yourself from enemies.  Automatic weapons are still a very popular weapon today for the army. 

     The idea of flamethrowers was very advanced and was a good idea.  If the weapon had been perfected, it could have proved to be a better advancement in technology.  At the time flamethrowers had a very short range, which put them in the very risky position of enemy fire.  Burning is a very gruesome way to die, so I personally think that flamethrowers are a bad idea based on the fact that burning alive is such a terrible way to die.  I feel that flamethrowers would have been a very successful technique in attacking the enemy if the range of the throwers would have been more than only 40 meters.  I do however think that they are a great tool to clear enemies in close range of the trench you are stationed in.



Causes and Effects

Because the war was such a huge war involving so many different nations, armies had to think of new ways to out smart their enemies.  During this time many great weapons that forever changed the way wars are fought came to be.  You will find many similarities in weapons used then as opposed to weapons used in present day.