15.3.7

New Weapons

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Technology on the Western Front

Neither side was able to make progress on the Western Front. Technological developments were crucial to break the stalemate.

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Industrialisation

  • The First World War was one of the first wars to apply industrialisation to warfare.
  • This was achieved by the mass-production of weapons and by improvements in technology.
    • Key technological advancements were the machine gun, tanks and automatic rifles.
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Chemical warfare

  • By the 20th century, Germany had an advanced chemical industry. One of their key developments was poison gas.
  • Although poison gas was officially banned, Germany used chlorine gas at the Second Battle of Ypres in April 1915.
    • But poison gas was not a very effective weapon.
Illustrative background for TanksIllustrative background for Tanks ?? "content

Tanks

  • Tanks were introduced in September 1916. They were a good way to counter new weapons.
  • They could cross No Man’s Land and crush machine gun nests. But they were very unreliable.

Jump to other topics

1The Medieval World: 450-1450 AD

1.1Anglo-Saxon England

1.2The Contest for the English Throne

1.3Conquering the Holy Land, 10-96-1396 AD

1.4King John

1.5The Magna Carta & Parliament

1.6The Black Death

2Worldviews

3The Empire of Mali

4The Renaissance & Reformations, 1500-1598 AD

5The British Empire, 1583-1960 AD

6The Peasants' Revolt

7Religion in the Middle Ages

8Slavery, 1619-1833 AD

9The English Civil War, 1642-1660

10The Industrial Revolution, 1750-1840

11US Independence, 1775-1783

12The French Revolution, 1789-1815

13The British Empire, 1857–1930

14Suffrage

15World War 1, 1914-1918

16The Inter-War Years, 1919-1939

17World War 2, 1939-1945

18The Cold War, 1947-1962

19Civil Rights in the USA, 1954-1975

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