Weapons of WW I

New Weapons of WWI:

• Machine Gun•Aircraft•Artillery •U-Boats•Poison Gas•Tanks•Zeppelins

The Machine Gun• Invented by Hiram Maxim in

1884• Maxim Machine gun used

energy from recoil to reload itself

• 1910 John Browning invented his own machine gun.

• Browning machine gun used gas from spent shell to reload itself

Hiram Maxim

John Browning

How did the Machine Gun Effect the War?

• Guns could fire 600 rounds a minute

• 1 soldier was now able to kill hundred with 1 weapon.

• Created a need for trenches.

• Made for huge casualties in battle.

• Helped create a stalemate.

German machine-gun section with gasmasks (Verdun, 1916)

Machine Gun

WWI Aircraft• Wright Brothers first flight in 1903.• WWI first combat aircraft• Attached machine guns to the plane• Dropped bombs from the planes• Planes used for scouting• First dog fights

How Did Aircraft Effect the War?

• Were now able to scout the enemy's position quickly.• Created a need for anti aircraft weapons.• Made it possible to attack targets hundreds of miles

away.

Collision:

WWI AircraftAlbatros D-II

WWI AircraftVoisin V

WWI Artillery

• A large gun that can fire shells at great distances. (Modern day cannons)

• Could fire a 1,000 pound shell over 11 miles.• Could fire explosives into towns, and trenches

What Effect did Artillery have in the War?

• Made it possible to fire huge shells into trenches. No hiding from these

• Were now able to bomb targets from over ten miles away.• Both sides fired artillery 24 hours a day.• Caused Psychological damage to soldiers. (Shell Shock)

WWI ArtilleryHowitzer

WWI Artillery“Big Bertha” Gun

U-Boats

• First submarine used in American Civil War.

• 1913 Germany developed first diesel powered submarine

• Submarines used torpedoes (under water missiles) to destroy other subs and ships.

• Were able to stay under water for only a couple hours.

What effect did U-Boats have on the War?

• Submarines were able to sneak under water and sink enemy ships.

• U-Boats also laid mines that destroyed other ships.

• Ships started the convey system

U-Boats

U-Boat

Flamethrowers

Members of a German flamethrower section (Verdun, 1916)

German attack with flame throwers

Poison Gas

• French were first to use tear gas on the Germans• Germans used Chlorine gas on the French in 1915• This gas led to choking to death• British used gas in 1915

Aerial view of a gas attack on the Verdun battlefield

Poison Gas• Mustard Gas first used by Germany in 1917• Mustard gas would burn the flesh, eyes, and lungs.

"If you see's it rotate it, If you smells it you's too late mate".

What effect did Poison Gas have on the War?

• Killed thousands of soldiers.

• Created a need for the gas mask.

• There was no escape in the trenches.

British soldiers blinded by gas attacks

Poison Gas

Mustard GasMustard Gas Wounds from Iran/Iraq War 1979-88

• The tank was designed to protect soldiers from machine fire. (to help them advance)

• Made it possible to cross “No Mans Land”• Could drive over barbed wire and trenches.• 1915 “Little Willey” Tank developed• Tanks were slow, broke down a lot, and often unsafe.

WWI Tanks: French Tank

What effect did the tank have on the War?

• Made it possible to cross no mans land.• Could withstand most machine gun fire.• Was able to drive over enemy trenches and fire

machine gun fire into them.• Huge machines that destroyed the moral of the

enemy.

“Little Willey” Tank

Mark I (Big Willie)

Renault FT-17 tanks being operated by the US Army in France. Light tanks with a crew of only two, these were mass-produced during World War I.

Mark VIII “Liberty” Tank

Communication

• 1898 Marconi established wireless telegraph system in London

• Adopted by British forces in WWI

• Some large aircraft carried radios to call in enemy positions

• Were very heavy and bulky

Other WeaponsBrowning Automatic Rifle “BAR”

The Bayonet

• A Knife attached to the barrel of a gun

• Used for close quarter fighting/stabbing

Bayonet

Zeppelins:Germans first used these large gas-filled balloons to reach over France and bomb England.

Terrible aimIt really just hurt England’s moral.Both sides ended up using themHad little effect