development of weaponry (WW1)

• Were weapons evenly matched in WW1?

  Yes, for the most part both sides had similar weapons with the exception of tanks that he Germans had little of.
• Machine gun example of usage

  Somme 1916- partly responsible for the excessively high casualty figures (57,000 on first day alone)
• Machine guns impact on nature

  • High casualty figures
  • BIG impact
  • Battlefield became more deadly as one machine gun = fifty riflemen, it was a force multiplier that could fire 5-8 rounds a minute
  • Changes in approach- trench warfare so they had cover
  • Favoured the defence
• Gas example of usage

  Germans first used at Ypres 1915 which disabled 5 miles of Allied trenches. British realised the limitations of gas at Loos 1915 when the weather was responsible for bringing the gas back towards their own trench lines.
• Gas impact on nature

  • Psychological element to the battlefield, soldiers became conscious of the smells in a battle
  • introduction of gas masks- new consideration
  • another dimension to the fighting
• Artillery example of usage

  Preliminary bombardments favoured at the start of the war eg 7 day bombardment of German lines prior to the Somme, over 1.5 million shells fired. Used more effectively during later stages of the war with the creeping barrage eg Cambrai 1917 and Amiens 1918. Later used as an important element of Allied combined arms.
• Artillery impact on nature

  • High casualty figures (60-70%, in comparison to the Russo-Japanese war where it was only responsible for 10% of casualties)
  • MASSIVE impact
  • Changes approach- trench warfare
  • Favoured the defence
  • damaged landscape
  • made new innovative tactics from preliminary bombardments to creeping barrage and combined arms
• Did machine guns and gas have any impact on the outcome of the war?

  Limited impact since both sides used it
• Did artillery have a impact on the outcome of the war?

  Only when it was used effectively (preliminary bombardment was a massive failure) as part of combined arms- relied heavily on Allies being able to outproduce Germany in an industrial capacity. This was not really down to the weapon itself.
• Aircraft example of usage

  Used for reconnaissance purposes at the start of the war to track the enemy and inform on their position. By later stages aircraft was used as part of Allied combined arms eg Amiens 1918 and attempted to attack enemy lines with grenades, gunfire etc
• Aircraft impact on nature

  • improved knowledge of enemy formations/ positions, therefore the accuracy of deployment
  • added another dimension to the battlefield
• Aircrafts impact on the outcome of the war?

  Only when used effectively with combined arms, not the aircraft itself but a part of an effective tactic
• Tanks example of usage

  First used by British at the Somme 1916 with poor effect as they were sent in alone so the progress they made was lost without the soldiers already there to continue the push. Tanks suffered from mechanical failures, were too slow (around 2mph) and cumbersome, were used independently of artillery and infantry and were too few in number (just 49). By Cambrai 1917 over 450 tanks were used en masse as part of a coordinated Allied assault alongside infantry and artillery. Helped to restore mobility to the battlefield.
• Tanks impact on nature

  • psychological impact
  • eventually restored some mobility to battlefield
  • helped shift balance away from defence
  • contributed to combined arms/ new tactics
• Tanks impact on outcome

  Only when used effectively in combined arms- relied heavily on Aliies ability to outproduce Germany in an industrial capacity
• Did weaponry have a big impact on outcome?

  Not particularly on their own but when used with effective tactics like combined arms aircraft, tanks and artillery contributed to victory. The lack of impact was because the same weapons were used on both sides.
• Did weaponry have a big impact on nature?

  A massive impact- especially machine guns and artillery which led to a new approaches like trench warfare, high casualty figures and the war now favouring the defence. Gas, aircraft and tanks also had an impact on nature particularly adding a psychological element to the battles. It also had devastating impact on landscape (eg Ypres- towns completely destroyed). It also led directly to improvements in medical treatments and industrialisation.
• What weapon was responsible for the highest % of casualties?

  Artillery caused 60-70% of casualties
• What did the machine gun do to the nature of warfare?

  The advantage was with the defender
• Developments in period 1871-1914

  • magazine rifle 1855- reduced time taken to load rifle
  • metal case cartridges and smokeless propellants (using cordite)- allowed infantrymen to fire rifles without giving away position and without obscuring vision with thick cloud of smoke
  • artillery- development of high explosive shells, range expanded to 5 miles by 1914 it was 20 miles with some even 50
  • recoilless canon 1890s (automatically returned gun to original position after firing)- inc rate of fire
  • machine gun- fully automatic 1884/600 rounds per min,
• How did it affect nature?

  • trenches- zig zagged, series of trenches running back from the front line so more men could be brought up front due to firepower
  • advantage to defender
• Can other factors be argued to be more important?

  • Generalship- Doullens conference, Foch appointed to coordinate all allied forces which allows combined arms to have an impact in 1918 final push when compared to start of period when they weren’t coordinated at all
  • QS- learnt more complex manoeuvres by end of war as more experienced
  • Tactics- broke Hindenburg line and forced Germans into retreat with combined arms
  • Industrialisation- German blockade, put pressure on them to stop war, made 5000 tanks compared to 20