Preview

World War I: Chemical Warfare

Satisfactory Essays
Open Document
Open Document
156 Words
Grammar
Grammar
Plagiarism
Plagiarism
Writing
Writing
Score
Score
World War I: Chemical Warfare
In the beginning of time men fought with sticks and stones. World War I brought a step change in technology with the occurrence of poison gas, machine guns, and armored tanks. Previous to World War I foot soldiers and horses were used to advance on the enemy. Chemical warfare had never been used before World War I. With this deadly and often inhuman use of chemical warfare, those exposed died painful and excruciating deaths. The machine gun was invented in 1884 but wasn't used in warfare until World War I. This invention allowed for rapid firing and therefore was able to kill or injure many more enemies during a single battle. The armored tank led to the advancement of heavy gun fire while protecting the gunman. Poison gas, machine guns, and

You May Also Find These Documents Helpful

  • Good Essays

    World War I used machine guns and hand grenades heavily, also taking advantage of the aircraft, such as aeroplanes, to bomb land/fields. They also took advantage of bullets called "parachute star-shell." "A parachute star-shell opens out. The ground lies stark in the pale light, and then the darkness shuts down again blacker than ever" (Remarque 209). Another weapon used against enemies was poisonous gas. This poisonous gas could temporary blind soldiers lying in the trenches, and in high doses, permanently blind those soldiers. "At night they send over gas. We expect the attack to follow and lie with our masks on, ready to tear them off as soon as the first shadow appears" (Remarque 104). With such high ranked artillery, attacking and killing the enemy was much easier than the past…

    • 931 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Satisfactory Essays

    Machine Guns were responsible for the deaths of thousands of soldiers who went 'over the top' as they could be moved across the landscape whilst firing and chopping down waves and waves of soldiers. The only disadvantages machine guns had were that they were very heavy and required 2 to 4 soldiers to actually use.…

    • 492 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Satisfactory Essays
  • Better Essays

    Following the increased number of casualties in World War II, proxy cold wars, and Gulf War, it became necessary to improvise military gear, which would limit the direct involvement of soldiers in a direct combat environment. Originally, a radical technology – the tank- proved decisive since soldiers could be taken to the heart of the war. However, as much as…

    • 1031 Words
    • 5 Pages
    Better Essays
  • Good Essays

    Gas Masks In Ww1

    • 276 Words
    • 2 Pages

    Not only did poisonous gas change the experiences of war, but also the type of warfare. Instead of riding around on horses freely, soldiers had to use protection in order to evade the deadly chemicals. So, quickly, both sides developed gas masks. At first, soldiers held chemically treated cotton pads over their noses and mouths. Later they wore fabric face masks soaked in chemicals, and finally soldiers on both sides wore respirators with charcoal filters.("Technology.") These gas masks were the new protection which the soldiers used to protect themselves from poison. World War I turned into a fight to see who was more protected, it changed from the constant battering of the opposing team to a more protective, held back type of fighting. War…

    • 276 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    Why did they eventually enter the war? 3. One technology developed during World War I was poison gas (along with gas masks). Originally, chlorine gas was used and it killed many unsuspecting soldiers (including some of those that used it). To better control the gas and prevent the deaths of the attackers, gas masks were developed and the poison was sent in artillery shells.…

    • 538 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    Towards the start of World War II the weapons of World War I became outdated, and newer weapons were to be developed for a further shooting range. During World War I, the average soldier held a Bolt Action rifle, but due to the slow reloading, semi automatic assault rifles, and small machine guns became common among soldiers on the battlefield. This small advancement in the speed of reloading and rapid fire caused a lot more casualties and lead to a far more bloody war. Explosives such as grenades and bombs were made even more deadly, and gas bombs became more accurate when dropped. Anti-tank weapons had to be developed to overcome the German tank invasions, so soldiers began carrying bazookas and rifles with armor piercing bullets. Also, the German flamethrower was drastically changed and formed into an accurate and efficient weapon. These changes in weaponry definitely lead to a deadly war, and caused the growth of the war even more than it would have been. The most advanced weapon, and perhaps the most deadly that changed the whole course of warfare and World War II was the introduction of the atomic bomb. The radar was also another invention that changed the whole course of World War II. The radar made it easier to spot enemies and track them miles before they arrived. This helped in becoming more precise on targeting enemy aircrafts and other vehicles. It allowed the Germans to track incoming German aircrafts, which gave them the great advantage of shooting them down before they…

    • 1069 Words
    • 5 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    technology in w11

    • 685 Words
    • 3 Pages

    The inventions of the repeating machine gun, the development of poison gas, and the introduction of the first tanks caused armies to fight using the bunkering method. This allowed men to huddle in trenches along what are called skirmish lines and throw, lob, and fire by other means weapons to cause damage while men were protected by about 4 to 5 feet deep earth. This caused men to fight in rear columns behind tanks can basically caused defensive fighting tactics resulting in drawn out protracted battles.…

    • 685 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    Poison Gas During Ww1

    • 261 Words
    • 2 Pages

    Germans introduced the use chemical gasses as an weapon in war. Poison gas was the most feared out of all technology weapons in WW1. The gasses could burn skin, blind, or destroy your lungs if you happen to breathed in. Back then they had crude face masks to protect people in war from the poisonous gas floating in the air. Poison gas was easier during WW1 all they had to do was throw the poisonous gas bomb.…

    • 261 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    Weaponry and warfare have been around since the beginning of time. From matter and antimatter fighting for survival to the Afghanistan war. The weaponry have slowly improved through human existence. Warfare has become normal in today's everyday life. Going back to Elizabethan England, around when Shakespeare lived, the use of different weapons revolutionized how wars were fought. including, ranged weapons, close combat weapons, and armor.…

    • 387 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Satisfactory Essays

    During World War I, the defensive weapons used by the German were way more advanced than the offensive weapons of the U.S and their allies. Although the U.S came out on top breaking through the German defenses and forcing their troops to retreat to their trenches, we suffered a great amount of casualties. The lost battalion went into Argon Forest with approximately six hundred men, they left with over four hundred dog tags and less than two hundred men because of the defensive lines advanced armory. Thousand of men were lost during world war I because military leaders were slow to adapt their old-fashioned strategies and tactics to the new weapons. New technology made war more horrible and more complex than ever before. The United States and other countries felt the effects of the war for years afterwards.…

    • 386 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Satisfactory Essays
  • Good Essays

    World Ww1 Influence

    • 1293 Words
    • 6 Pages

    America industry and factories were transformed to a full-blown war machine. Consumer America went on pause for nearly 5 years because every factory was converted to a war factory for tanks, planes, arms, ammunition, and many other war accessories. Tanks were actually a innovation because of World War I. Trench warfare was used vastly in WWI which led to a stalemate type of battles. It was very difficult to advance and gain land because crossing “no-man’s land” was nearly impossible without some sort of protection. This protection was provided by early versions of the tank (Yergin). This is one example of the many different types of innovations that were created as a direct result of World War I. This “Great War” affected more than just the medical and economical world, it affected the world politically as…

    • 1293 Words
    • 6 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Powerful Essays

    Technology in Wwi

    • 1217 Words
    • 5 Pages

    At the dawn of WWI, the industrial revolution had been raging for over fifty years. Mass production had a huge effect on the quantity and variety of weapons available to armies. New defensive weapons made winning the war, or even advancing a few miles, all but impossible for armies…

    • 1217 Words
    • 5 Pages
    Powerful Essays
  • Good Essays

    World War I commenced in 1914 with violence and tensions throughout many European countries and ended in 1918 with high numbers of casualties. With the war and alliances, came the need for new technology and innovation for warfare. Since human progress is the ability to use innovation to benefit and protect oneself, it went to a minimal extent in World War I in indicating human progress. The utility of the trench warfare and the poison gas between countries did not benefit them in terms of victory and harmed those who used it instead.…

    • 748 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    Machine guns were invented to cause a lot of casualties on both war fronts in World War One. Men who went over-the-top in trenches stood little chance when the enemy opened up with their machine guns. Machine guns were one of the main killers in the war and accounted for many thousands of deaths.…

    • 723 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    The first reason was weaponry. It was a major contribution to the number of deaths and probably what caused the most deaths because they were all very destructive one of them being the rifle, which was popularly used by the British. The rifle could fire fifteen rounds per minute and could shoot a person 1400 meters away. The machine gun was another popular gun to use from the safety of the trenches, as it needed 4-6 men to work on them and it had the firepower of 100 guns. But the war had more than just guns. Along the trenches were barbed wires to protect the soldiers. But sometimes the soldiers would get tangled up in them and bleed to death. The same happened to the enemies. Trench warfare led to the development of the concrete pillbox, a hardened blockhouse that could be used to deliver machine gun fire. They could be placed across a battlefield with interlocking fields of fire. The German army was the first to use chlorine gas at the battle of Ypres in 1915. Chlorine gas causes a burning sensation in the throat and chest pains. But if the wind is in the wrong direction it could end up killing your own troops rather than the enemy. Mustard gas was the most deadly weapon used. It was fired into the trenches in shells. It is colorless and takes 12 hours to take effect. Effects include: blistering skin, vomiting, sore eyes, internal and external bleeding. Death can take up to 5 weeks. Trench warfare was primarily a defensive tactic, placing soldiers low in the trench for…

    • 929 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Good Essays