World War I has been a time of great technological advancements in war weapons and materials. This is the first war where casualties exceeded the millions and man’s power of destruction greatly increased. The fighting in wars previous to World War I was called infantry warfare, where men fought hand-to-hand and were within closer range of each other. The advancement of the machine gun allowed troops to kill their enemies faster and in greater quantities. Those equipped with machine guns could aim and shoot accurately from a further distance. The United States supplied ammunition to the Allies because of the large factories built to produce bullets, grenades and other war materials. Both sides used used chemical warfare, such as gas, but the Germans were most advanced in using it, unlike the United States. They were behind because their soldiers were not properly trained to use their gas masks and most men refused to use them because it hindered their ability to see. Mustard gas was most commonly used and perfected by the Germans, which would cause those who inhaled it to go blind and then severely burn the lungs and skin and kill them soon after. The British first used tanks in 1916, which were large, bulky automobiles armed with men and machine guns. They were able to navigate the British troops through heavy artillery fire and rough terrain on the battle field. Flamethrowers were introduced by the Germans who had found that they could easily be used to kill large amounts of the enemy in the trenches without causing any harm to the trenches themselves, which German troops would then occupy once the enemy had retreated. The Germans’ use of U-boats allowed them to destroy tons of cargo being sent to Europe by the United States and killed thousand of sailors and civilians. All of these advancements in technology have changed the way war is fought around the world and created new heights of human’s mass destruction.
By Isabelle Haake
United States Today 