Arms Race

AIRPLANE• More useful by the end of

the war• Beginning of war: used for

spying, gathering information

• Middle of war: pilots brought bricks and dropped them over the side

• End of war: equipped with machine guns

Artillery(bombs, shells)

• Launches large projectiles

• Able to take out many men in one shot

• Strong & fast fire power• Able to clear obstacles

(i.e. barbed wire) through “No Man’s Land” land

• Caused a lot of destruction

Cavalry• Soldiers on

horseback• Useless because

most horses could not function in the mud/trenches

• German trench system was so sophisticated it had stables to house horses

Chlorine gas First used by the Germans on April 22, 1915

at Battle of Ypres Destroyed the respiratory organs of its

victims and this led to a slow death by asphyxiation (not being able to breathe)

The first defence against gas were mainly rags soaked in water or urine. Later, relatively effective gas masks were developed, and these greatly reduced the effectiveness of gas.

Deadly, BUT dependent on wind direction because if the wind shifted it could kill your own troops

It is believed that poisonous gas caused approximately 1 million causalities (dead and injured)

Dreadnought

• Used for bringing supplies overseas. • It was an easy target for U-boats (submarines)• Usually travelled in convoys, groups of ships

for protection

Flame Thrower• Only projected a

few metres, so practically useless in trenches

• Only useful when enemy attacked your trench

• First used by Germans

machine gunMost important weapon in trench

warfareFast, easy to reload, fired at long

rangeThe machine gun changed

warfare with its quick destruction of many soldiers – for example, it fired up to 600 bullets per minute

The machine gun led to seemingly endless war in the trenches

At the time, machine guns were called “weapons of mass destruction”

Tank• Useless at start

because they would often get stuck in mud

• Well developed by end of war

• First used in Battle of Somme, scaring the Germans who had never seen a tank

• Could be used as shield

Repeating rifle• It shot long distances• Very hard to reload in the

trenches due to the mud, which would cause the rifle to jam

• Canadian soldiers used the Ross Rifle, which was excellent for sharp shooting, but jammed easily

• They began taking the Lee Enfield Rifle from the British because it would not jam as often.

Submarine (u-boat)

Very effective at destroying supply ships crossing the Atlantic. Initially, the Germans used submarines to blockade Britain –

i.e., to stop Britain (an island) from receiving shipments of food In 1917, the Germans introduced Unrestricted Submarine

Warfare against the allies and neutral ships The sinking of neutral ships, such as the American “Lusitania”

in 1915, led the U.S. to join the war on the side of the allies