Weapons of World War I

The caterpillar track made it easier to maneuver around the battlefield's muddy terrain or any type of terrain.

The tank was very unreliable because it was a new technology.

Tanks played a great part in ending trench warfare.

Tanks

Have a top speed of 4 mph on flat land The ability to turn sharply at top speed    The ability to climb a 5-feet parapet The ability to cross an eight feet gap A working radius of 20 miles A crew of ten men with two machine guns

on board and one light artillery gun.

Use by the Germans

Used for bombing raids throughout Europe.

They carried machine guns and bombs.

However, they were abandoned because they were easy to shoot out of the sky.

Zeppelin

German airship Schütte Lanz SL2 bombing Warsaw in 1914.

First time planes were used in a war.

Were first used for spying.

Later attached machine guns and bombs

Fighting between two planes became known as “dogfights” .

Planes

Germany had 29 U-Boats

Within the first 10 weeks of war, Germany sunk 5 British cruisers.

Between October 1916 and January 1917 a grand total of 1.4 million tons of allied shipping was lost to the U-Boats.

During WW1 Germany built 360 U-Boat submarines, 178 of which were lost. In total they were responsible for the loss of more than 11 million tons of allied shipping.

Submarines aka U-Boats

Stationary guns on a tripod.

Used for defense and not offense.

Fired up to 300 rounds per minute.

Took 4-6 men to operate.

Machine Guns

Used to attack enemy trenches.

To burn grass so enemies could not hide in it.

First used by Germans, then later the British and French.

Flamethrowers

Sea mines were used by the British to counter the German U-Boat. Like a landmine but for under water.

French developed a tear gas that was used at the beginning at the war, but it was the Germans who turned it into a deadly chemical weapon.

Used to clear trenches and used as a mass destruction weapon.

Had it’s issues due to changes in the wind.

Sea mines and Mustard Gas

Total War meant even if you weren’t on the battlefield you were still helping out on the home front.

Propaganda was used to motivate the population to help out anyway they could.

Many factories were used to make military vehicles to help with the demand.

The Draft was used to get men to join the army and sever their country to help meet the needs of the global war.

Total War and the Draft