Weapons & Trench Warfare - PowerPoint Presentation

Slide1

Weapons & Trench Warfare

World War One

Total War/Modern WarfareSlide2

MythSlide3

RealitySlide4

Technological Advances from World War I

The industrialization of society from the Industrial Revolution would generate many military applications of new technology

In 1915 British Admiral Jacky Fisher wrote, “

The war is going to be won by inventions.”

Machine gun

Rapid fire artillery

Airplanes

Internal combustion engine

Tanks

Zeppelins

Gas

FlamethrowersSlide5

New Technology & WWI

New technology had not broken the “stalemate” of WWI – in fact they helped create it – the only real impact of technology was the dramatic increase in war death/injury & the impact of war on civilian populations – death tolls increased & civilian centers now became legitimate targets

Technological advancements surpassed military field strategy of “frontal assault charges” which had existed for millennia – this only increased battlefield casualties

Some significant technological developments:

Tanks – originally designed to break the stalemate of the trenches – became the future of ground warfare

Planes – war was taken to the skies

Submarines – in existence since the American Revolution – was now “perfected” Chemical Warfare – mustard gas & choking poisons were used by all sides Land Mines – used to destroy tanks Telephone & Radio – communication & coordination devices All-Steel Ships – increased size & gun capability Long-Range Artillery – used to “soften up” enemy positions Machine Guns – ended the military tactic of the “frontal assault” (not until some 11 million were dead first)Slide6

The changes of war

New weapons crippled the “frozen front”

Poison gas (mustard gas)

Hand grenades

Flame throwers

Tanks

Airplanes

Tanks

SubsSlide7

New weapons

Poison gas, other new weapons response to massive deadlock

Two systems of trenches stretched hundreds of miles, western Europe

Millions of Allied and Central Powers soldiers in trenches of Western Front

Life in trenches

Rainstorms produced deep puddles, mud

Lice, rats, bad sanitation constant problems

Removing dead bodies often impossible

Trench warfare

Trench warfare

not new ideaSoldiers had long hidden behind mounds of earthScale of 1914 Europe trench warfare never before experiencedThe World War I BattlefieldSlide8

Over the top

Soldiers ordered out of trenches to attack enemy

Sprinting across area known as “no-man’s-land” a deadly game

Thousands on both sides died, cut down by enemy guns

More effective

Other new weapons more effective than poison gas

Rapid-fire machine guns in wide use

Artillery and high-explosive shells, enormous destructive power

New weapons

Neither side able to make significant advances on enemy’s trenches

Each side turned to new weapons like poison gasValue limited, both sides developed gas masksThe World War I BattlefieldSlide9

U-BoatsSlide10

Submarines or U-BoatsSlide11

German Submarine Warfare

U-Boats

Germany suffered because of the British blockade, so it developed small submarines called U-boats to strike back at the British.

U-boats are named after the German for “undersea boat.”

In February 1915 the German government declared the waters around Great Britain a war zone, threatening to destroy all enemy ships.

Germany warned the U.S. that neutral ships might be attacked.

The German plan for unrestricted submarine warfare angered Americans, and Wilson believed it violated the laws of neutrality.

Wilson held Germany accountable for American losses.

America’s Involvement

In 1915, Germany sank a luxury passenger ship to Great Britain called the

Lusitania, killing many, including 128 AmericansAmericans were outraged, and Wilson demanded an end to unrestricted submarine warfare.The Germans agreed to attack only supply ships but later sank the French passenger ship Sussex, killing 80 people.Wilson threatened Germany again, and Germany issued the Sussex pledge, promising not to sink merchant vessels “without warning and without saving human lives.”Slide12

Submarines

On Feb 1, 1917, the Germans pursued unrestricted submarine warfare with the order “To all U-boats, sink on sight.”

In 11 months, the Germans sank 2,966 Allied or neutral ships carrying food, munitions, or men

1 in 4 British ships were sunk

This led to the USA joining the war against the Germans

British started to sail in convoys escorted by warships and sea mines to break the German submarine control of the seasSlide13

SubmarinesSlide14

This photo shows some of the early experimental submarines that were developed during World War I. The submarine was part of the modern style of warfare that was introduced in World War I. 

The German navy had approximately 100 submarines in service during WWI. Initially the Germans used submarines to threaten the Allies' economic blockade. In 1917 the German Kaiser declared unrestricted U-boat warfare against the allies, including neutral ships in British waters. In response, the Allies established armed convoys to protect merchant ships and increased production of mines and depth charges.

The sinking of neutral ships, like the Lusitania in 1915, polarized public opinion (against the Germans) about the war, and was a major factor in the decision of the United States to join the Allied caused.

Photo:

Courtesy Queen’s University Archives

Changing TechnologySlide15
Slide16

Allied Ships Sunk by U-BoatsSlide17

German Miscalculation

Germany resumed unrestricted submarine warfare in early 1917

Notified US of decision Jan 31

Sunk several US ships in Feb and Mar

US declared war on April 6, 1917

At the same time Russia was withdrawing from the war (Remember from Lesson 11), the US was entering

Germany failed to end war before the US entered itSlide18

The Caption Reads: Novel Coastwise Scenery: Since it was given out that the German barbarians were refusing to fire on cathedrals, England has worked out a jolly little plan for coast defense. (From

Jugend

, Munich.) Slide19

Machine GunsSlide20

A New Kind of Warfare

Word of Germany’s invasion of Belgium quickly spread to France and other European nations.

French troops mobilized to meet approaching German divisions.

They looked much as French soldiers did over 40 years earlier, wearing bright red coats and heavy brass helmets.

The German troops dressed in gray uniforms that worked as camouflage on the battlefield.

French war strategy had not changed much since the 1800s.

French soldiers marched row by row onto the battlefield, with bayonets mounted to their field rifles, preparing for close combat with the Germans.

The Germans, however, had many machine guns, and mowed down some 15,000 French troops per day in early battle.

A well-trained German machine-gun team could set up equipment in four seconds, and each machine gun matched the firepower of 50 to 100 French rifles.

Many Europeans wrongly thought these technological advances would make the war short and that France would be defeated in two months.Slide21

Maxim Machine Gun

A gun that fires off a stream of bullets---about 10 bullets every second

One machine gun was said to be worth 80 rifles

Good for defending trenches

Weights 62kg and needs to rest on a stand

It gets hot very quickly and bullets can jam

At the start of the war, the Germans had 12,000

By the end of the war, they had 100,000Slide22

They drove men into trenches and foxholes.

War, became a battle of inches

(stalemate)

Super Killing Machines

:

Slide23

Machine Guns

Could fire over 1000 cartridges per minute

When the enemy would charge into the open, the machine guns would cut them down by the thousands

Led to the development of trenches to escape the deadly gunfireSlide24



Rapid Firing Machine GunsSlide25

Machine GunsSlide26

The Machine Gun

Germans first to mass produce it– the British thought it was not “sporting”Slide27

Industrialization & the arms race created artillery

that fired with greater power and carried much

farther than before.

ArtillerySlide28

Poisonous Gas

German military scientists experimented with gas as a weapon.

Gas in battle was risky: Soldiers didn’t know how much to use, and wind changes could backfire the gas.

Then Germans threw canisters of gas into the Allies’ trenches.

Many regretted using gas, but British and French forces began using it too, to keep things even.

Tanks

When soldiers began to carry gas masks, they still faced a stalemate.

British forces soon developed armored tanks to move into no-man’s-land.

These tanks had limited success because many got stuck in the mud.

Germans soon found ways to destroy the tanks with artillery fire.

New Weapons of War

Airplanes

Both sides used planes to map and to attack trenches from above.

Planes first dropped brinks and heavy objects on enemy troops.

Soon they mounted guns and bombs on planes.

Skilled pilots sought in air battles called dogfights.

The German Red Baron downed 80 Allied planes, until he was shot down.Slide29

CHEMICAL WARFARE

Types:

Mustard, Chlorine, & Phosgene

Drifted in the wind—often affected their own

troopsSlide30

Gruesome Gases

Lacrymators

: a type of tear gas that makes you go blind for a while. Even a tiny amount makes your eyes sting.

Sternutators:

gives you a headache and makes you sick. It arrives in a high-explosive shell before the enemy can put on the gas masks.

Suffocating

: gases that are used to kill. Breathe in these gases, and your lungs fill up with liquid. You drown in your own body fluids.

Phosgene

: smells like rotten hay but doesn’t make your nose or your eyes itch, so you don’t know you have breathed it in until you start to choke to death

Vesicant

: British called it mustard gas. It has no smell, so the enemy don’t know they have been gassed until it is too late.Slide31

Poison GasSlide32

Poison Gas

French army used tear-gas grenades, then the Germans expanded on the poison gases

Chlorine

Gas

-destroyed the respiratory organs and led to a slow death by asphyxiation

Phosgene

Gas

-caused the victim to violently cough & choke; often a delayed reaction up to 48 hours

Mustard Gas-used later in the war in 1917; almost odorless & took 12 hours to take into effect; caused serious blisters internally & externally; remained active in the soil for several weeksGermans used 68,000 tons of poison gasFrance used almost 37,000 tonsBritain used more than 25,000 tons91,198 soldiers died due to poison gas attacks1.2 million were hospitalized due to poison gas attacksSlide33
Slide34

The most lethal of all the poisonous chemicals used during the war, it was almost odorless and took twelve hours to take effect.

Yperite

was so powerful that only small amounts had to be added to high explosive shells to be effective.

Once in the soil, mustard gas remained active for several weeks.

The skin of victims of mustard gas blistered, the eyes became very sore and they began to vomit.

Mustard gas caused internal and external bleeding and attacked the bronchial tubes, stripping off the mucous membrane.

This was extremely painful and most soldiers had to be strapped to their beds. It usually took a person four or five weeks to die of mustard gas poisoning

One nurse, Vera

Brittain

, wrote: "I wish those people who talk about going on with this war whatever it costs could see the soldiers suffering from mustard gas poisoning. Great mustard-coloured blisters, blind eyes, all sticky and stuck together, always fighting for breath, with voices a mere whisper, saying that their throats are closing and they know they will choke."Mustard GasSlide35

“Death is everywhere”

Mustard gas

Also known as yellow cross or Yperite

Carried by the wind

Burned out soldier’s lungs

Deadly in the trenches

where it would

sit at the bottomSlide36

Poison Gas

“It was our first experience with mustard gas. The men we took were covered in blisters. The size of your palm most of them. In any tender, warm place, under the arms, between the legs, and over the face and neck. All their eyes streaming, and hurting in a way that sin never hurts.”Slide37

Mustard Gas WoundsSlide38

Burned body & lungs

caused blindness, asphyxiation, & death

Chemical Warfare banned after World War I

Survivors of a Gas AttackSlide39

Poison GasSlide40

If you are caught in a gas attack without a gas helmet, you were told to:

Take out your handkerchief.

Urinate into the materials till it is soaked.

Tie it round your mouth and nose and breathe through it.Slide41

Poison GasSlide42
Slide43

Poetry from the First World War was written by soldiers who served at the Western Front.

They saw the horrors of War

first hand

.

They wrote about what they really saw.

Their poems were published just after thewar, so they were

not censored

. They are

first hand

and often

unbiased sources. Slide44

“Bombed Last Night”-a Trench Song about Poison Gas

Bombed last night, and bombed the night before.

Going to get bombed tonight if we never get bombed anymore.

When we're bombed, we're scared as we can be.

Can't stop the bombing from old Higher Germany.

They're warning us, they're warning us.

One shell hole for just the four of us.

Thank your lucky stars there are no more of us.

So one of us can fill it all alone.Slide45

“Bombed Last Night” Cont.

Gassed last night, and gassed the night before.

Going to get gassed tonight if we never get gassed anymore.

When we're gassed, we're sick as we can be.

For phosgene and mustard gas is much too much for me.

They're killing us, they're killing us.

One respirator for the four of us.

Thank your lucky stars that we can all run fast.

So one of us can take it all alone.Slide46

Poison Gas

Slide47
Slide48

WILFRED OWEN

Wilfred Owen is one of the more famous War Poets.

He was born March 18

th

, 1893.

He joined the Army in 1915 as an Officer in the “Artists Rifles”.

Wilfred Owen served in some of the worst conditions during the following months.Slide49

DULCE ET DECORUM EST

By Wilfred OwenSlide50

Bent double like old beggars under sacks,

Knock-kneed, coughing like hags, we cursed through sludge,

Till on the haunting flares we turned our backs

And towards our distant rest began to trudge.Slide51

Men marched asleep. Many had lost their boots

But limped on, blood-shod. All went lame; all blind;

Drunk with fatigue; deaf even to the hoots

Of gas shells dropping softly behind.Slide52

Gas! GAS!

Quick, Boys!Slide53

…An ecstasy of fumbling,

Fitting the clumsy helmets just in time;

But someone still was yelling out and stumbling,

And flound’ring like a man in fire or lime…

Dim, through the misty panes and thick green light,

As under a green sea, I saw him drowning.Slide54

In all my dreams, before my helpless sight,

He plunges at me, guttering, choking, drowning.Slide55

If in some smothering dreams you too could pace

Behind the wagon that we flung him in,

And watch the white eyes writhing in his face,

His hanging face like a devil’s sick of sin;

If you could hear, at every jolt, the blood

Come gargling from the froth corrupted lungs,

Obscene as cancer, bitter as the cud

Of vile incurable sores on innocent tongues, Slide56

My friend, you would not tell with such high zest

To children ardent for some desperate glory,

The old Lie:

Dulce et decorum est

Pro patria mori

. (It is good and sweet to die for your country.)Slide57

November 4

th

, 1918:

Owen and his men went ‘over the top’. He was shot and killed by German machine guns on the banks of the Sambre-Ouse Canal.

The War ended just a week later on November 11

th

.

Wilfred Owen was 25 years old.

Slide58

Gas Shell LaunchersSlide59

Loading Gas Shell LaunchersSlide60

Gas Shells ExplodingSlide61

Poison Gas Deaths: 1914-1918

Country

Non-Fatal

Deaths

Total

British Empire

180,597

8,109

188,706

France

182,000

8,000

190,000

United States

71,345

1,462

72,807

Italy

55,373

4,627

60,000

Russia

419,340

56,000

475,340

Germany

191,000

9,000

200,000

Austria-Hungary

97,000

3,000

100,000

Others

9,000

1,000

10.000

Total

1,205,655

91,198

1,296,853Slide62

Chemical Warfare

The horror and disgust at the wartime use of poison gases was so great that its use was outlawed in 1925 - a ban that, at least in theory, is still in force today.

Photos:

Courtesy Unites States Air Force Air War College

Table Source:

First

World War.comSlide63

Gas Masks

*Slide64

Poison Gas

Machine GunSlide65

Attempts to Break the Stalemate: Gas

Various efforts were made to break the stalemate

The Germans first used gas against the Russians on Jan 13, 1915 with little effect

They were more successful at Ypres on Aug 15

Even German dogs were outfitted with gas masksSlide66

Soldiers would protect themselves using Gas MasksSlide67

Fighting in Trenches

William Pressey was gassed on 7th June 1917. He survived the attack and later wrote about the experience of being gassed.

I was awakened by a terrific crash. The roof came down on my chest and legs and I couldn't move anything but my head. I found I could hardly breathe. Then I heard voices. Other fellows with gas helmets on, looking very frightened in the half-light, were lifting timber off me and one was forcing a gas helmet on me. Even when you were all right, to wear a gas helmet was uncomfortable, your nose pinched, sucking air through a canister of chemicals.

I was put into an ambulance and taken to the base, where we were placed on the stretchers side by side on the floor of a marquee. I suppose I resembled a kind of fish with my mouth open gasping for air. It seemed as if my lugs were gradually shutting up and my heart pounded away in my ears like the beat of a drum. On looking at the chap next to me I felt sick, for

green stuff

was

oozing

from the side of his mouth.

To get air in my lungs was real agony. I dozed off for short periods but seemed to wake in a sort of panic. To ease the pain in my chest I may subconsciously have stopped breathing, until the pounding of my heart woke me up. I was always surprised when I found myself awake, for I felt sure that I would die in my sleep.Slide68
Slide69
Slide70
Slide71

Surviving a gas attack

Your gas mask irritates the skin on your face and itches or it makes you feel claustrophobic. What can you do without exposing yourself to the poisonous gas?

The soldier next to you dies. What do you do with the body?

Another soldier goes berserk and throws his gas mask out of the trench. What do you do?Slide72

'Gassed'. Painting by John Singer Sargent, 1918/1919.Slide73

On your Left Side:

After World War One, the world’s nations outlawed the use of chemical weapons due to the horrors of poison gas.

However, developments in biological and chemical weapons have continued to this day.

Why has this continued? Explain your reasoning.Slide74

FlamethrowersSlide75

Flamethrowers

Fired a stream of gasoline that was ignited at the muzzle

The jet of flaming gasoline was fired onto the enemy in the trenches to kill or disable

Germans first used this as a shock weapon in 1916 to shock the Allies out of their trenchesSlide76

World War One also brought about new weapons of war as well as a new kind of warfare: Weapons such as flame throwers, poisonous gas, machine guns, tanks and air planes were employed

FLAME THROWERS

The German Army

first began experimenting with flame-throwers in 1900 and they were issued to special battalions eleven years later. The flame-thrower used pressurized air, carbon dioxide or nitrogen to force oil through a nozzle. Ignited by a small charge, the oil became a jet of flame.

Flame-throwers were first used at the Western Front in October 1914. Operated by two men, they were mainly used to clear enemy soldiers from front-line trenches. At first they had a range of 25 meters but later this was increased to 40 meters. This meant they were only effective over narrow areas of No Man's Land. Another problem was that the flame-thrower was difficult to move around and only contained enough oil to burn 40 seconds at the time. Soldiers who operated flame-throwers had a short-life span because as soon as they used them they were the target of rifle and machine-gun fire. Slide77

World War I FlamethrowerSlide78
Slide79

French Flame ThrowersSlide80

Flame

Throwers

Grenade

LaunchersSlide81

The World War I Battlefield

Tanks and Aircraft

Tanks pioneered by British

Could cross rough battlefield terrain

Reliability was a problem

Aircraft most useful

At beginning of war, mostly for observation

Soon had machine guns, bombs attached

Faster airplanes useful in attacking cities, battlefieldsSlide82

Changing Technology

Tank warfare was first introduced by France and Britain in 1916. Its role in the war gradually increased as the war progressed.

Early heavy tanks proved to be ineffective and were soon replaced by lighter versions that soon revolutionized the war. By 1917 the British and French were using 1500 tanks each. Tanks became a regular feature in all offensives and were credited with Allied successes after 1916.

Photo

:Courtesy Queen’s University ArchivesSlide83

TanksSlide84

Tanks

Invented by the British in 1916 as a mobile armored platform armed with machine guns & cannons

Designed so the English could attack enemy trenches & break the trench lines with their own fire under the protection of the tank armor

First tanks were very unpleasant & unreliable; a crew of 8 was crammed in and could not sit upright; the temperature rose to over 100’F; it was so noisy that they communicated by banging on the hull with a hammer; crew would get sick from the fumes

Most of the early tanks broke down ex: at the Battle of Cambrai the English started with 476 tanks & by the end only 100 were operating

But made enough of a difference to break the German linesSlide85

Tanks

British-first tanks

Early tank-Little Willie 1915

French Tank

German Tank – lagged behind Allies in

tank developmentSlide86
Slide87

Tanks

Battle of Somme, Sept 1916

36 of 60 tanks make it into battle

Scattered across 3 mile front

Weighting main effort?

Cambria, Nov 1917

Used in mass (300 tanks)

Opened 12x6 mile front

Amiens, August 1918

500 tanks, 13 infantry divisions, 2 cavalry divisions, 2000 artillery pieces, 800 aircraft

First modern “combined-arms” battle.Slide88

French TankSlide89

TanksSlide90

Attempts to Break the Stalemate: Tanks

The British began developing tanks in 1914 and used them in small numbers at the Somme on Sept 15, 1916

Achieved little in this initial employment

The Battle of Cambrai on Nov 20, 1917 marked the first large scale use of tanks with 474

British Mark I tank of the type used during the Battle of the SommeSlide91
Slide92

Attempts to Break the Stalemate: Tanks

At Cambrai, the British gained initial surprise and advanced three miles by the end of the first day

Deepest penetration into German lines on the Western Front since the beginning of trench warfare

On the second day, the British continued to advance but the Germans brought up four more divisions

On the third day, the British began losing what ground they had gainedSlide93

British Tank at YpresSlide94

Tanks Versus TrenchesSlide95

World War I Airplanes

Baron Manfred von Richthofen, the Red Baron, was credited with 80 confirmed kills

148th American Aero Squadron

Petite Sythe, France. (August 6, 1918)Slide96

Aviation

Used initially for reconnaissance/spotting

Wireless communication critical development in spotting.

Arial combat originally a counter-reconnaissance function.

Troops on the ground don’t like the planes overhead….

By the end of the war, planes were being used to drop bombs on railways, intersections, factories, etc.

Next step in “Total War”.

Von Richtofen

“Red Baron”Slide97

“Jenny” JN-4Slide98

JaegerSlide99

War in the AirSlide100

The changes of war

Airplanes

Dog fights in the air

Bombing inaccurate

Romanticized the battlefields

Paris and London bombed

Pilots fired pistols and threw hand grenadesSlide101

The first picture is of a German plane that was used during World War I. The plane was part of the modern style of warfare that evolved during World War I. Initially, the airplane was used primarily for reconnaissance purposes, to spy on the enemy. The airplane did develop into an offensive weapon by the end of World War I.

The Second picture is a painting of a British airplane that is engaged in air combat. This airplane has a machine gun mounted on its top wing.

In 1914 the Allies had 220 airplanes, the Central Powers 258. The Germans also used Zeppelins and by 1918 had over 100 of these airships capable of bombing missions. The German Folker aircraft was an early example of a successful fighter plane. At first pilots used rifles and pistols in air battles, although machine guns were soon introduced. 

By 1916 the Allied production of aircrafts equalled the Germans and air battles between "aces" like German Richthofen "The Red Baron" (80 victories) and Bishop the Canadian (72 victories) were becoming legendary.

Photo:

Courtesy Queen’s University Archives

Changing TechnologySlide102

War in the Air

Initially used planes for reconnaissance

Then the pilots started to try to kill each other with handguns & shotguns

Fokker developed a interrupt mechanism that allowed German pilots to fire machine guns between the blades of the propeller

Germans also developed dogfight techniques using the loopSlide103

Fokker

Airplanes

Dog FightSlide104

The Airplane

“Squadron Over the Brenta”

Max Edler von Poosch, 1917Slide105

The Flying Aces of World War I

Eddie Rickenbacher, US

Francesco

Barraco, It.

Rene Pauk

Fonck, Fr.

Manfred von

Richtoffen, Ger.

[The “

Red

Baron”]

Willy Coppens deHolthust, Belg.

Eddie “Mick”

Mannoch, Br.Slide106

Life of a Pilot

The average life of a new recruit was 17 hours

The average life of a combat pilot overall was 2 weeks

British pilots were not allowed parachutes

Constant psychological strain

Those who survived, were quite cocky and became romantic war heroes; for example the Red Baron who had a total of 80 victoriesSlide107

World War I ZeppelinSlide108

The Zeppelin, or blimp as it is also known, is an airship

it was used during the early part of the war in bombing raids by the Germans.

These airships weighed12 tonnes and contained over 400,000 cubic feet of hydrogen.

They were propelled along by 2 Daimler engines, which enabled the craft to travel at speeds of up to 136mph and heights of 4250 metres!

They usually carried machine guns and around 4,400lb of bombs!

They carried out many raids and were eventually abandoned as they were easy targets for artillery.Slide109

Zeppelins

A gas-filled balloon with a motor

Slow-moving and became easy target for an enemy fighter plane

Jan 19, 1915, the Germans make the first Zeppelin airship raids to drop bombs on Britain along the east coast.

On June 7, 1915, the first Zeppelin airship is shot down over Flanders in northern France.

On Oct 14, 1915, five Zeppelins kill 71 people in London.Slide110

The ZeppelinSlide111

First Airship Raid

The Germans used the Zeppelins to bomb Britain

Would run air-raids on heavily populated business districts to kill many & cause extensive property damage in 1915 & 1916

However, if the Zeppelins were fired upon, they would blow up due to the gas and burn fiercely.Slide112

The ZeppelinSlide113

Zeppelin Shot Down over London Report:

“The crew numbered nineteen. One body was found in the field some way from the wreckage. He must have jumped from the doomed airship from a great height. So great was the force with which he struck the ground that I saw the print of his body clearly in the grass. There was a round hole for the head, then deep marks of the body, with outstretched arms, and finally legs wide apart. Life was in him when he was picked up, but the spark soon went out. He was, in fact, the commander of the airship.”