How significant were technological innovations during the First World War?
World War one was a crucial turning point in war in general. At the beginning of the war cavalry played a massive part in military service and by the end of the war that was replaced with tanks. Yes, gas was used in war before hand but it was nowhere near as brutal as the chlorine gas used in World War one. Aircraft made their first appearance in war in World War and, as tanks are, they too are still used in war and in day-to-day life as well. Machine guns were made light enough for troops to carry around, also used today in war. So I am judging the significance of the innovations on not just the amount of soldiers they left dead or seriously wounded but also the
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The Germans however, were much more positive about the machine guns and placed them in front of the front line so they had a full view of the battlefield. At the Somme they caused deaths of thousands of British troops very shortly after the battle had begun. The number of British soldiers lost on the opening day of the Somme; the majority caused by machine guns. The machine gun was so effective because it suited trench warfare so well; it was on of the primary reasons why the First World War was so deadly. The ability to shoot lots of bullets in a short amount of time meant that it could stop an attack in one place, which was very significant. There was nothing except trenches to save infantry from machine guns. Although machine guns didn’t win the war they caused the most amount of deaths and casualties, therefore they were obviously successful at doing their job. At the beginning of the war, the Germans had 6000 machine guns, and the British had several hundred. By the end of the war, each side ended up with several million this really shows the significance and how vital the machine guns were for both