How Did World War 1 Use New Weapons

The first world war is often remembered for its unprecedented nature of war. How this differed from the past wars was its progressively growing reliance on technology. The competitive nature of the European nations allowed opportunities for countries to flourish economically and industrially. The development of technology – hence, the creation of armaments was the next logical step for any nation, especially with the heightened tensions between the ‘great powers’ of Europe. Consequently, World War 1 became the first ever war where technology became a huge asset to the countries. However, due to the fact that technology was a relatively new feature of warfare, traditional military strategies had to be drastically altered through various trial

Technological advancement brought forth various new weaponry to be used in battle. The Machine Gun, albeit being a prototype automatic firearm, showed very promising results enough to make it part of the defensive arsenal of any army. The considerable stopping power and the rate of fire was undoubtedly its key feature, however, it refrained from being used by the advancing infantry due to its weight. Yet again, the machine gun made it very easy for the defending army to annihilate any infantry charges that may have come its way – this was the case for the British: the army led by British General Haig during the battle of the Somme (1916) was a primary example of where ‘refusal of conforming to the nature of battle’, or otherwise ‘sticking with conventional tactics’ led to the deaths of tens of thousands of soldiers. Historian Dr Michael Duffy also commented on the significance of the Machine Gun and its role in the demanding battlefield. The British ‘Vickers’ Machine Gun (1912~) required as many as 8 men to operate. It is not the most efficient weapon out there as it was extremely heavy, but this gun is known to be very reliable and has a reputation of mowing down several hundreds of enemy soldiers. The machine gun is just one out of many of the technological advancements that changed how World War 1 was