World War 1 Weapons Essay

World War 1 Modern Weapons
World War 1 is considered the first “modern” war. World War 1 was a time of military and weapon advancement. Before the war, weapon advancement was slow. As soon as demand increased, the sophistication level of weaponry came a very long way, comparing the weapons from the beginning of the war to the end. Some of the most advanced and modern weapons during World War 1 were grenades, heavy artillery, and tanks.
Grenades are small explosives in casings that are thrown or shot out of rifle attachments. They either detonate on impact or have small timers inside them. Germany was dominating in production and development of grenades before and during World War 1. “In the opening months of the First World War the British Army used Grenade No 1. This was a cast-iron canister on an 18 inch stick. Soldiers soon discovered that they were dangerous to use when in a front-line trench. There were several cases of soldiers being killed when the grenade hit the front of the trench.” Germany used a “potato masher” grenade. The grenade had a cylindrical bomb attached to a stick, the downsides were that they were awkward to handle and throw, and they also detonated prematurely or

They caused enormous damage to troops, trenches, and the landscape of the front lines. At the Battle of Somme in 1916 1.8 million shells were fired in a one week period. The largest most destructive piece of artillery was the German-built ‘Paris gun’ which was used to shell Paris from 120 kilometres