Technological Inventions of World War I

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Wars have been around for centuries. A typical battle was fought on land. The infantry would line up and fire at the advancing enemy. World War I was first called "the Great War" because of the number of lives lost (Coetzee 11). There were approximately nine million deaths over the course of the four years the war lasted (11). World War I began because of the assassination of "Archduke Franz Ferdinand, heir to the Austro-Hungarian throne" (17). Tensions were high and war seemed the only solution (17). The alliances in Europe were well formed by the time 1914 arrived (17). "The Central Powers" were "Germany and Austria-Hungary" (Westwell 8). "The Triple Entente" were "Britain, France, and Russia" (8). All of the countries and citizens believed in the cause of the war from the very beginning (9). That enthusiasm would quickly change once the introduction of new weapons and strategies were revealed (9). Every country involved was seeking ways to improve on the resources they needed to fight, and hopefully win the war. None of the countries involved wanted the other side to have a military advantage over the other (7). World War I had technological inventions such as machine guns, poison gas, tanks and submarines, which changed the strategy of war. The outcome of these inventions resulted in more death and destruction than previous wars.
Many have tried to improve the rapid firing power of guns throughout history (Bull 162). The first working machine gun was invented by "Hiram Maxim in the late nineteenth century" (163). World War I would be the place where the technologically advanced weapon would prove just how destructive the machine gun could be (163). The machine gun would also be used on tanks and airplanes (163). Many Euro...

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...would have continued with even more death and destruction.

Works Cited

Bull, Stephen. Encyclopedia of Military Technology and Innovation. Westport, Conn: Greenwood Press, 2004. eBook Collection (EBSCOhost). Web. 14 Apr. 2014.
Coetzee, Frans and Marilyn Shevin-Coetzee. World War I: A History in Documents. New York: Oxford UP, 2002. Print.
Ferguson, Niall. The Pity of War. New York: Basic, 1999. Print.
Gilbert, Adrian. World War I in Photographs. New York: Military Press, 1986. Print.
Haskew, Michael E. The World's Greatest Tanks: An Illustrated History. London: Amber, 2014. Print.
Lengel, Edward G. "Introducing Poison Gas." Military History 29.6 (2013): 18. Academic Search Premier. Web. 14 Apr. 2014.
Livesey, Anthony. Great Battles of World War I. New York: Macmillan, 1989. Print.
Westwell, Ian. World War I: Day by Day. New York: Chartwell, 2012. Print.

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