To what extent did military technology develop during the course of World War One and how did this affect warfare?
World War One, known as ‘The Great War,’ lasted from 1914-1918 and was a time of great technological growth in military technology. During the course of World War One, the inclusion of fighter aircraft, chemical weaponry and armoured tanks resulted in dramatic changes to military warfare. Fighter aircraft affected the way the war was fought due to the large role they played in late WW1 battles and because they provided a new way of combat. Chemical weaponry’s effect was largely psychological and because of the need to protect soldiers from its effects, preventative technologies were developed and refined. Tanks became a major …show more content…
According to Simon Adams (2014. pg34), a specialist in history and politics, the invention of fighter aircraft arose when enemy aircraft tried to shoot each other down in the sky. Ian Westwell (2011. pg52), an author of books including ‘World War 1: day by day,’ commented that these initial fighter aircraft were lightweight and contained one machine gun operated by an individual situated in the back of the aircraft. Although these fighter planes could be effective, one of their major design flaws was that the machine guns could not be fired out of the front of the aircraft due to the risk of hitting the propellor blades (Hatt,C. 2000. page36). In early 1915, a French man named Roland Garros designed steel plates to be fitted on the propellor of his aircraft to deflect bullets being shot out of the front of his plane (Westwell, I. 2011. page55. Simkin, J. 1997.). A further refinement of this was achieved by Germany’s engineer Anthony Fokker in April 1915, and was renamed Interrupter gear (‘The birth of the fighter plane.’ 2008. McAndrew, M. 2005. pg219. Hatt. 2000. pg36. Westwell. 2011. pg53). The development of this technology was stimulated by the ever increasing …show more content…
The introduction of poison gas into warfare occurred on January 31, 1915, by the Germans (Sass, E. 2013.) . Their gas froze as a result of the cold temperatures, rendering their mission unsuccessful. (Sass, E. 2013.). It has been suggested by numerous sources that the first successful gas attack, which was pioneered by the Germans, occurred on April 22, 1915, in the second battle of Ypres. Many historians discuss this, including Sass, E. (2013), Daffy, M (2007), Adams,S. (2014. pg44), McAndrew, M. (2005. pg151), Westwell (2011. pg14) and Carrodus,G (2012. pg245). According to Adams (2014. pg44), on this day, French-Algerian troops noticed a cloud of gas coming towards them and McAndrew (2005. pg151.), commented that this was chlorine gas coming from cylinders situated on the German line. The effects of this gas can be found in a diary entry from 1917 by Private Harold Clegg: ‘The symptoms were as follows: blindness, deafness, loss of voice, inability to swallow, weakness, high fever, burns on exposed and delicate parts of the anatomy, choking cough and difficult breathing’ (Clegg, H. in McAndrew. 2005. Pg184). The urgent necessity to protect soldiers from gas attacks expedited the development of counteracting defence mechanisms, such as the gas mask (Trueman, C). The first true gas mask was the British Hypo Helmet, made
World War One, known as ‘The Great War,’ lasted from 1914-1918 and was a time of great technological growth in military technology. During the course of World War One, the inclusion of fighter aircraft, chemical weaponry and armoured tanks resulted in dramatic changes to military warfare. Fighter aircraft affected the way the war was fought due to the large role they played in late WW1 battles and because they provided a new way of combat. Chemical weaponry’s effect was largely psychological and because of the need to protect soldiers from its effects, preventative technologies were developed and refined. Tanks became a major …show more content…
According to Simon Adams (2014. pg34), a specialist in history and politics, the invention of fighter aircraft arose when enemy aircraft tried to shoot each other down in the sky. Ian Westwell (2011. pg52), an author of books including ‘World War 1: day by day,’ commented that these initial fighter aircraft were lightweight and contained one machine gun operated by an individual situated in the back of the aircraft. Although these fighter planes could be effective, one of their major design flaws was that the machine guns could not be fired out of the front of the aircraft due to the risk of hitting the propellor blades (Hatt,C. 2000. page36). In early 1915, a French man named Roland Garros designed steel plates to be fitted on the propellor of his aircraft to deflect bullets being shot out of the front of his plane (Westwell, I. 2011. page55. Simkin, J. 1997.). A further refinement of this was achieved by Germany’s engineer Anthony Fokker in April 1915, and was renamed Interrupter gear (‘The birth of the fighter plane.’ 2008. McAndrew, M. 2005. pg219. Hatt. 2000. pg36. Westwell. 2011. pg53). The development of this technology was stimulated by the ever increasing …show more content…
The introduction of poison gas into warfare occurred on January 31, 1915, by the Germans (Sass, E. 2013.) . Their gas froze as a result of the cold temperatures, rendering their mission unsuccessful. (Sass, E. 2013.). It has been suggested by numerous sources that the first successful gas attack, which was pioneered by the Germans, occurred on April 22, 1915, in the second battle of Ypres. Many historians discuss this, including Sass, E. (2013), Daffy, M (2007), Adams,S. (2014. pg44), McAndrew, M. (2005. pg151), Westwell (2011. pg14) and Carrodus,G (2012. pg245). According to Adams (2014. pg44), on this day, French-Algerian troops noticed a cloud of gas coming towards them and McAndrew (2005. pg151.), commented that this was chlorine gas coming from cylinders situated on the German line. The effects of this gas can be found in a diary entry from 1917 by Private Harold Clegg: ‘The symptoms were as follows: blindness, deafness, loss of voice, inability to swallow, weakness, high fever, burns on exposed and delicate parts of the anatomy, choking cough and difficult breathing’ (Clegg, H. in McAndrew. 2005. Pg184). The urgent necessity to protect soldiers from gas attacks expedited the development of counteracting defence mechanisms, such as the gas mask (Trueman, C). The first true gas mask was the British Hypo Helmet, made