World War I is also known as the Great War, which broke after the assassination of an Austrian Archduke Franz Ferdinand in 1914 and lasted until 1918. Armies on either side of battle brought in a new warfare technology, which had never been witnessed before. The Great Powers entered the battlefields with the expectation of war tactics used in previous wars. The Cavalry and Infantry engaged in pitch battles where the loser would sue for peace swiftly. The weapons of mass destruction caused extensive destruction such that some of the portions of fields of battles are not habitable to date. The Great War saw the introduction of machine guns, tanks, Mark V tank, and armed aircraft, among many other weapons.
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The tactics of pitch battles had been rendered obsolete by the technological advancement of weapons of mass destruction weapons. The major powers had been armed with firepower of the 21st century leading to an evenly matched battleship. Each side sought to gain an edge over their opponents, therefore, leading to further technological breakthroughs.
Before we talk about the weapons in World War I, we may need to see the history first. WWI which began in 1914 involved and created two sides of powers, The Central Power and the Allied Powers. The Central Power were consisted of Germany, Austria-Hungary, The Ottoman Empire, and Bulgaria, meanwhile the Allied Powers were Great Britain, France, Russia, Italy, Romania, Japan, Belgian, Montenegro, Portugal and United States. This global conflict began after the assassination of the heir of the Austro-Hungarian Empire, Archduke Frans Ferdinand on June 28, 1914 in Sarajevo. The assassination was initiated by a Serbian nationalist-terrorist group called the Black Hand. The heir was shot during his travel in an open car which he and his wife shot. Eventually, there were several factors that led up to the WWI.
1900s was the moment that European nations control across the globe that British and French Empires colonized regions like India, Africa, and even South East Asia, like Malaysia, Singapore, and East Indies (now Indonesia). This imperialism made results in high tension between European countries. This tension became worse when each colony acquired by coercion.There is no war when there is no tension. No wonder if when there was huge tension between European countries stayed there and no tries at all to reconcile. Back then, the spirit of important figure seemed to have great influence to the youth on independence. There are other reasons why WW started and it could be longest world war ever. We are going to let you know on the deadliest weapons and the ideology that is too different worsens the condition back then.
Nationalism also played an important role in that time, especially the Serbian nationalism which has direct link to the beginning of the WWI. Serbian got in-dependency from Austria-Hungary Empire and the Ottoman Empire and trying to control Bosnia and Herzegovina to form a unified Serbian state. With the disagreement of the Ottoman Empire, the nationalism wave continued to rise and resulted to the assassination. The assassination then triggered the anger of the Austria-Hungary Empire that they issued a warning to Serbia which later was rejected and continued by the Austria-Hungary Empire as a declaration of war. That empire then was helped by the German while the Serbia was supported by the Russia.
This support from Germany to Austria-Hungary was commonly known since there was a meeting between the high officials from each states. Germany offered military and security in the Serbia. Germany started the war by invading France and confronting Russia. In September, French and British army confronted the Germany in the northeastern France. The attack was successful to drive the German back to north. On the East, the Russian team invaded East Prussia and Poland, but stopped by the German and the Austria-Hungary forces. Back then, the weapons were developed by many countries who got to compete to get the deadliest. It was common as the ego of each country was big and the ideology and also knowledge are still narrow without opening eyes.
United States entered the World War I in 1917 with the bill passed by the Congress that allowed the US to join the war. This was started because the neutrality policy of United States was impossible to maintain in that time when the Germany attacked several neutral ships which carried civilians passengers and other commercial ships, including U.S.ships. There was also protest over the sinking ship which carried American passengers which resulted in the increasing of public opinion against Germany.
This war ended on the November 11, 1918, after 4 years of war. Germany signed an agreement of peace and no-war with the Allies in France. With the total number of death and wounded military personnel and civilians were around 40 million, Germany, Russia, Great Britain, and France had the most death. In 1919 with the Treaty of Versailles, the Allied leaders stated their intentions to build a more peaceful post-war condition. Then the Treaty of Versailles was signed on June 28, 1919. However, the treaty mission was not achieved.
This massive fights between each countries led to many disruptions, helped to spread the Spanish flu epidemic, and As the first modern war and one of the bloodiest war, this war used several military weapons including machine guns, tanks, aerial combat, and even chemical weapons.
During times of war, military science develops rapidly. Humans have proved themselves ingenious and remarkably adaptable when it comes to kill or maim their enemies in battles. The list below will explore the top four deadliest weapons used in World War 1.
The concept of a rapidly firing weapon had been around before the First World War. Ranging from the 18th century Puckle Gun to the mid-1800s Gatling Gun, there had been an attempt to create ammunition of such sort. However, the machine gun revolutionized the land-based attacks. The Maxim gun and Lewis Machine Gun became the mainstay of the armies on both sides of the war and altered how they fought and claimed thousands of lives.
The Maschinengewehr 08 or the Maxim MG 08 was a copy of the original machine gun. Sir Hiram S. Maxim made the first automated machine gun in 1884. During the Great War, the Germanys had made direct copies of the machine gun. On July 1, 1916, during Somme's battle, the British lost about 21,000 people on one day, mostly to the Germany version of the machine gun.
The Germans had two versions of the machine gun, The Schloss 08 and Schloss 16. The firing rate depended on the gun's lock assembly, with the Schloss 08 firing 500 rounds in a minute while the Schloss 16 firing 600 rounds. Germany's machine gun had fabric belts of 7.92*57mm with 250 rounds of ammunition. The firearm was cooled using water around the barrel using a jacket that held one gallon of water roughly to sustain overheating due to shouting. Practically, the gun had a range of between 2,200-4,000 yards.
Germany had equipped their soldiers with machine guns excessively than their counterparts since they were on self-defense after the 1914 incidences. They embraced their machine guns as they embedded them on fortified locations to mow down allied soldiers who were advancing. By modern standard, the gun was clumsy. The early version weighed about 60 pounds for the machine gun alone. Besides, there were the gun accessories and carriage that amounted to an extra hundred pounds.
A single machine gun was operated by a small team of soldiers and could repel large force, making it harder to break the stalemate. Later it was mounted on a handier stand; however, it was not easily movable. Weapons have become far much complex and sophisticated; the machine gun was among the deadliest in the Great War as their firing rate saw them mow down enemies in staggering numbers.
Every weapon has a counter. The tank was the nemesis of the machine gun. The tracked tank was well armored to survive the firing power of machine guns, breach any barrier, and knockdown barbed wires without being broken down. First tankers were unreliable, noisy, and very hot. Additionally, they were vulnerable to the artillery firing from the Germanys over the open sights. However, they were powerful enough to end World War I trench stalemate.
Different chemicals were used during the First World War. The French used it to combat the Germanys in august 1914. The exact gas was not known, but both ethyl bromoacetate and xylyl bromide are mentioned. Tear gas was not designed to kill, instead of rendering the enemy defenseless and moving out of position. Tear gas affected the eyes and the lung, but its effects cleared after about 30 minutes.
The Germanys began gas attacks on the Great War on April 22, 1915, when they fired a cylinder holding chlorine gas in Ypres. Other nations raced toward the production of battlefield gases and found a way to increase the duration and severity of the gas's effect. The use of chlorine gas affected the respiratory system and the eyes. On the other hand, mustard gas not only affected the respiratory system and eyes but also triggered burning on any bare skin. The purpose of gas was not to kill but to pollute the battlefield and produce a large number of casualties and force the adversaries out of their positions
Alongside the use of chlorine gas, phosgene gas was used during the Great War . For the symptoms to appear, it took about 48 hours. The gas caused a collection of fluid in the lungs that could result in death. Phosgene gas and other similar agent diphosgene accounted for 85% of the total number of deaths resulting from poisonous gas during the war. The toxic gas killed very few men. After treatment, most troops returned to active service; however, it incapacitated many troops and caused panic when it was used. The international laws outlawed the use of poisonous after the First World War.
United States, Russia, France, and Britain had developed submarine forces before Germany had developed their Unterzeeboats 'Undersee-boat' in 1906. The Germans used the U-boats to bridge the gap between them and Britain's naval strength. Germany had 33 U-boats in operation in 1914. Britain, an island depended on marine trade; therefore, the Germanys saw an opportunity to stave them. They sunk about 320,000 tons of Britain allied ships to the bottom of the ocean.
Among Germanys', the most deadly weapon was the Type 93 U-Boat. It marked the advent of both aerial and undersea warfare mechanization. The name "U-boat" was a name given by the English to refer to the Germanys military submarines to mean "undersea boat." The United States ships were among the casualties sunk by the U-Boat leading them to declare war against Germany in 1917.
The boats were not sailing at torpid paces of 17 knots on the surface and 9 knots on the underwater. Endurance was limited in those days; early vessels could stay underwater for just an hour before their battery running out. The ship was equipped with six torpedo tubes with 16 reloads and a 105 or 88- millimeter deck gun.
This groundbreaking technology seemed more effective than what most political and military leaders had expected. Belligerents had few unarmed wooden canvas aircraft before the Great War, which previously was used only for surveillance. However, they were used by 1914 to drop grenades on enemy troops flying over them and taking shots on other aircraft pot using pistol gun until long aircraft were armed with machine guns. Synchronization of the propeller with the machine gun by Anthony Fokker meant that it became a real weapon. Adopting the interrupter gear enabled air warfare to leap by allowing a machine gun to be mounted on aircraft without damaging the propeller.
Early plains were fragile, kite-like designs using wood of lightweight, wires, and fabric. Range of 80-120 horsepower was produced by plains used in 1914 and made a maximum speed of 100 mph. In about four years, the power had almost doubled, leading to nearly doubling the rate. Pilot protection was paramount; however, they equipped themselves with parachutes regardless.
Germany had superior technology compared to its counterparts during the battle of the Somme. They had nicknamed Britain aircraft as cold meat. In 1917, Britain introduced the Sopwith Camel and SE5. The Sop Camel likely claimed the life of Red Baron when he was shot down in April of 1918.
Dirigible balloons or airships are lighter than air or aerostat that navigates on their own through the air. They gained their lift from enormous gasbags that were busted with a gas of less density than the surrounding air. Aerostats had been used beforehand; however, they debuted as weapons of war during the First World War. Throughout the Great War, the development of multiple multi-engines bombers was achieved. The Zeppelin-Staaken R.VI Germany "Giant" had four engines and a span of wings of 138 feet. The zeppelin had a bomb load capacity of 4400 lbs and a range of about 500 miles. The zeppelin was among the first airship to be used in combat.
Tank until now is the first common weapon. It could defend the armies and also it could attack the enemy back then. Tank is equipped with completed weapons and that what made Tank so powerful and dangerous. Tank could destroy the area on WW 1. One of the most popular tanks in WW 2 back then was this Tank Mark. People competed to have their own bus to ensure that there will be moreThe British Mark V tank was their heaviest tank with weight around 28 tons for the female version and 29 tons for the male version. This tank was designed in 1917 by Major Walter G. Wilson from UK. Its engine has 19 liter six cylinder in line Ricardo petrol engine, with power 5.2 hp/ton and its speed reached 5 mph maximum. This tank is deployed in the First World War, then the Russian Civil War, and the Second World War. The technology and also the way it was built had been the basic development for the next tank and it did happen in WW II. Tank technology had been taken so seriously and again became one of the deadliest in another era. Tank is super flexible for every area and loaded various weapons that could help soldiers to attack.
This aircraft was manufactured by a Dutch aircraft manufacturer. Its first flight was July 5, 1917. It could accommodate 1 crew, with length 5.77 m, height 2.95 m, maximum speed 185 km/h and stall speed 72 km/h. This aircraft was famous because it was used by Manfred van Richtofen or the Red Baron in the West Front in 1917 - 1918 and it helped him gained his last 19 victories.Anthony Fokker and Reinhold Platz were responsible in building and developing the first triplane in the world. Since 1916, they developed and research this plane for WW I. They had manufactured several planes and the characteristics of them were pretty same. The biggest problem of this plane was the speed. What made it not as fast as expected was the wing. Not saying that the wings are excessive but the weight didn't have enough balance so it reduced the speed production of this plane. Back then, war plane was not developed and built well. The technology researched deeply but cost bigger than other weapons. Despite the speed was not as expected, the equipment and the weapon attached on this Fokker Triplane was enough to attack enemies.
In building big power, German had tried to manufacture lot of kinds of weapons. The reason behind big development of weapon of course to claim German as one of the biggest countries who could win and all European countries should be submissive to them. However, war is a war. There was no such thing like submission. Each country had a same chance in making weapons. Another big weapon is Big Bertha, or officially named "Marinekanone 14 L/12." It was a giant howitzer of Germany manufactured by Krupp AG, a 400 years old German dynasty which was popular of their productions of steel, artillery, ammunition, and other military products. It had 42,600 kg weight, 10 m length, 4.7 m length, 420 mm caliber, and 8 shells an hour of rate of fire. It also had maximum firing range almost 1 km. It had the quickest time, 5 - 6 hours, to emplace compared to other siege howitzer. This howitzer fielded by the Germany from 1914 - 1918. In the World War I, it destroyed Forts Pontisse and Loncin.
The First World War saw a widespread deployment of weapons like machine guns, poisonous gas, the U-boat, tanks, and armed aircraft. Nevertheless, some of the weapons used during the Great War were very frightening. They not only created casualties and deaths but also caused psychological terror among civilians and troops. Often gas attacks would cause a wave of panic and trauma. For the first time, civilians were killed in air raids due to technological advancement. Traditional tactics of war were rendered useless, which led to an acceleration in developing more lethal weapons. The development of brutal methods of killing people fast and spreading terror resulted in one among the utmost death count in history.
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