WWI proved to be unlike previous wars in many ways For centuries, opposing forces had conducted...

WWI: New Military Technology

New Technologies Change the Way War is Fought

WWI proved to be unlike previous wars in many ways For centuries, opposing forces had

conducted combat face-to-face and hand-to-hand

Military technology was limited and troops fired only at targets they could see clearly

New technology made WWI more impersonal and much deadlier

WWI Becomes a War of Attrition

Both sides thought WWI would end in under a week

Instead, WWI turned into a stalemate – both sides suffered heavy losses but neither could gain an advantage

Reason for Stalemate

New weapon technology such as… Bolt-Action Rifle Machine Gun Artillery Poisonous Gas Zeppelin Tanks Planes U-Boats

Trench Warfare New weapons meant soldiers could no longer

charge each other across an open field Both sides dug trenches in the ground for

protection

Overview of Trench Warfare

Trenches were elongated pits dug 6-8 ft. into the earth, and stretching out over hundreds of miles

Trenches were only wide enough to allow two men to pass side-by-side

Trench Warfare

Duck Boards would line the bottom of the trench, to serve both as a place for the men to stand on the avoid enemy fire, and also to raise men above the mud, rats, blood, and bodily wastes that filled the bottom of the trench.

Parapets served as a rest for a gun, and the Parados protected the men from exploding shrapnel from behind the line.

Trench Warfare - Diagram

Overview of Trench Warfare

Barbed-wire was lined up in front of a trench to protect the men from attack.

Trench Warfare

Dugouts in the side of the trenches provided shelter for the men to live in, and protection from incoming artillery fire.

The entrance to a “dugout”

Trench Warfare – Dugout

Trench Warfare

Three interlocking trench lines would be used: a front line for attack and defense, a middle line of defense, and a rear line of reserves.

An encampment of tents and hospitals would be located behind the third line. Men spent anywhere from one day to two weeks on the lines before given a day of rest.

Trench Warfare

The distance between opposing trenches was called “no-man’s land”. This distance could be as short as 30 meters, or as wide as 1 mile.

Trench Warfare

On command, soldiers from a trench would charge across “no-man’s” land and attempt to overrun the opponents trench.

Once one of the sides overran an opposing trench, the defeated would either be captured, or they would retreat to another set of trenches miles away to renew the battle over a new “no-man’s” land.

A periscope would have been used to see the enemy, without putting a soldier in the direct line of fire.

Retrieving a dead soldier from “no-man’s land”

Trench Warfare

Weapons on the front included: Soldier’s would commonly use rifles, bayonets, spades, clubs, shotguns, helmets, and grenades

Armies would use larger items such as machine guns, mortars, artillery, gas, barbed-wire, aircraft, and mines