Advances In Weaponry During World War I

Advances in weaponry before and during World War I dramatically impacted the war as well as the people fighting in it. Weaponry advanced heavily during the early 20th century, and World War I was the first major war in which these new weapons could be tested. No one could foresee the damage these weapons would cause, and no one expected the amount of deaths which would result from these weapons.

Traditionally war was fought with horses and swords, and starting in the eighteenth century, rifles ("18th Century Warfare"). Soldiers would ride on horses and fight combat hand to hand. Before World War I, military strategists were trained to rely heavily on specially trained foot soldiers who would fight hand to hand (Technology). The strategists really had no idea how heavy an impact these new weapons would have on the war.

Perhaps the most impactful weapon during World War I was the machine gun. It was originally invented in 1884 by american

At the beginning of the war in 1914, Germany had 33 submarines ready for use in battle. However Kaiser Wilhelm demanded “restricted” submarine warfare. Meaning that there were restrictions on where Germany was able to sink enemy ships and what ships they were allowed to sink(Abayawickrema). However, starting in 1915, Germany lifted these restrictions and started sinking ships bring supplies to the allies in neutral waters. In 1915, a German submarine sank the passenger ship Lusitania, killing upwards of 1000 of the ship’s passengers, including 128 americans. This caused America to threaten to join the war. Germany didn't want The United States to join the war, so they promised to warn ships before attacking. However, in 1917, Germany realized that they had little chance of winning if they did not fully utilize these submarines, so they decided to return to unrestricted submarine warfare. So in 1917, The United States officially declared war on