The Changing Face of War

New Technology of WWI

20th Century Weapons,

19th Century Mindset

WWI saw the rapid deployment of large armies with new, more efficient firearms, and battlefield technology.

Advances such as the tank, machine gun, and airplane changed the way land warfare was waged.

Still, many commanders hung onto old tactics left over from the 1800’s

This resulted in massive casualties on both sides

Infantry Rifles

Countries on all sides had by now adopted

magazine fed, bolt-action rifles as the

standard infantry weapon

The most famous and arguably the best

was the German Mauser Karabiner 98

Basis for most of today’s bolt action rifles

British soldiers used the Enfield rifle

Pistols

Many officers were issued pistols, but many

enlisted men also acquired them for self-defense

This was the beginning of semi-automatic pistols.

Germany had the P08 Luger in 9mm and the C96

Broomhandle Mauser in 7.63x25mm

America started to equip its soldiers with the Colt

1911 .45 automatic

The British still used the Webley revolvers

Submachine Guns

Long Battle Rifles were too long and too slow to be used when assaulting enemy trenches

So, the Germans fielded small pistol caliber submachine guns

American Army also fielded shotguns

The Tank

First deployed by the British at the Battle

of Somme as a way to end the stalemate

of trench warfare

Was a tracked, completely armored

vehicle

Almost impervious to small arms fire, but

was somewhat unreliable, and very slow

Led to German design of Anti-tank rifle

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Image:GermanphotowithEnglishTank.jpg

The Machine Gun

First modern machine gun was invented by Hiram Maxim in 1883

This design was recoil operated so could fire at incredible speeds

Most were fed from cloth belts and required two men to operate

These guns needed water jackets to keep the barrels from melting

These weapons were used on all sides, for either defense of the line, or to lay down suppressing fire for advancing troops

Others

Armies on both sides used hand grenades

Germans and British also developed flame

throwers as psychological trench clearing

weapons

Poison gas was also used on both sides

BUT, the #1 killer of WWI was actually

Artillery

The Heroes

Both opposing sides of WWI had heroes to

inspire the men and boost morale

The Germans had Manfred von Richtofen

(more commonly known as “The Red

Baron”)

America had Sergeant Alvin York

Richtofen

Richtofen was a very skilled German pilot

In the course of the war, he shot down 80 Allied Aircraft

Even today, he is considered the “ace of aces”

No one knows for sure who killed him

For his services, he was awarded the Pour le Mèrite

Sergeant Alvin York (1887-1964)

Probably the most famous American of WWI

Assigned to the 82nd Infantry Division, which later became the 82nd Airborne

On October 8th 1918, he single-handedly killed 25 German soldiers, knocked out 35 machine guns, and captured 132 German soldiers, all with only a bolt-action rifle and a semi-automatic pistol

For his heroic actions, York won the distinguished service cross, the Medal of Honor, and the French Legion of Honor