Trench Warfare Research Paper

Trench warfare was one of the deadliest ways of fighting World War I. One of the ways that trench warfare was so dangerous was chlorine gas. Chlorine gas caused great damage to the repertory system. If soldiers inhaled the gas it caused death by asphyxiation because their lungs filled with fluid and cause severe breathing problems. It would also cause intense irritation of the skin, the eyes, and the throat. The gas was soon contained into shells that were dropped directly into enemy trenches causing a higher death rate. Before gas masks were made soldiers used cotton cloths soaked in urine as masks because it was found that the urine left the gas useless. Another form of gaseous weaponry was mustard gas. Mustard gas was far more effective and dangerous than chlorine gas was. Mustard gas was so powerful that only a very small amount had to be added to bombing shells to work. Mustard gas’s effects took at least 12 hours to show but the affects included: blisters on the skin, vomiting, internal and external bleeding, and other harsh symptoms. Once a soldier contracted mustard gas poisoning it was very unlikely they were to live. On average it would take about four to five weeks for a soldier to die of mustard gas poisoning. Mustard gas also had a longer time span than chlorine gas because once dropped, mustard gas would remain effective in …show more content…
Barrages are bombings on enemy camps. There are different classifications of artillery barrages that vary on how many bombs are dropped in a certain time span. There are four types of artillery barrages. Box barrages are shells dropped around an enemy camp to prevent advancements by their soldiers. Pin-point barrages are shells dropped specifically onto machine gun posts or snipers. Search barrages are when information is gathered to drop shells on certain important areas in an enemy camp. Also, counter-battery barrages are when shells are dropped on enemy