Advancement of technology in world war

World war 1 was like unlike any war that people had seen before it.There was
mass destruction
and the death toll was staggering,reaching about 30 million people.There was
also the use of machine guns,tanks and even poison gas in world war 1.There
was a lot of advancement in technology in world war 1 as nations tried to get
the upper hand over others.Indeed this advancement did play a role in
deciding the outcome of the war and also greatly intensified the war.
What were the main advancements and in which way did they intensify the
war
TANKS-The tanks were one of the most important developments in world
war 1.The tanks were developed to overcome the stalemate at the
western front.At the western,it was impossible to successfully attack the
enemy due to the massed rifle fire and machine gun fire from defending
trenches.Therefore a vehicle was needed that had enough armor to
sustain small arms fire and also have weapons of its own.Therefore the
first tank was born.
The history of the tank
The first tank to be made was the Mark 1 and it was invented by Great
Britain.It made its debut on the battlefield in 1916 in the battle of Battle of
Flers-Courcelette where a few of tanks were able to breakthrough the German
defenses and able to assist in capture of The villages of Flers, Courcelette and
Martinpuich.The battle of Flers-Courcelette had a huge Impact on the outcome
of the war.
However early tanks such as mark 1 were ineffective due to their slow
speed,their ineffective weapons on board,their frequent mechanical
breakdown which made them very unreliable,their relatively weak armor that
could be penetrated by large caliber arms and the fact that they easily caught
fire if directly hit by an explosive shell hence killing the whole crew. All these
factors made it extremely vulnerable against German artillery.
But with these disadvantages,it also had some useful advantages that
outweighed the disadvantages such as the fact that the Germans had never
seen a tank before. Therefore the German soldiers were greatly demoralized
because their machine guns and rifles could not effectively combat the
tank.The tanks could also breach enemy lines more effectively than infantry
and hop enemy trenches,hence making them extremely useful in trench
warfare.The tanks could also be used to shield the infantry from German
machine gunfire hence allowing the infantry to advance.
Hence they played a vital role in the war
Planes-The planes were another important development during the world war
1.The planes evolved from being slow,fragile and unarmed to
strong,sturdy,quick and armed with bombs or machine quick with a matter of
only 4 years.There were extremely useful and even provided the allies the
edge in some battles.
What were the roles of planes
At the start of the war,airplanes were only used as scouts and did not carry

offensive weapons.Many people were skeptical about airplanes and greatly

doubted their potential.Many believed that airplanes were not meant for
war.But even when assigned with the job of a scout,airplanes did much better
than the traditional use of cavalry for scouting.Airplanes had a much greater
freedom of movement,were able to operate over greater distances,were much
faster than horses and also did not have to deal with hindrances on the
ground hence making it extremely useful.
Later on,offensive weapons were finally mounted on the the airplane.But
there was the slight problem,if the machine gun was mounted on the nose
and fired through the propeller then the bullets would damage the prop.Hence
this led to the invention of the interrupter gear by Anton Fokker in 1915 which
allowed the machine gun to fire through the arc of the spinning propeller
without damaging it.Hence the modern fighter was born.

The use of airplanes greatly impacted and intensified the war.The airplanes
were able to provide useful information that could help defeat the enemy and
also bomb strategic enemy points.In fact,it was due to air reconnaissance that
the allies were able to win the first battle of Marne as the aircraft had spotted
weak points and exposed flanks in the German defense which allowed the
allies to take advantage of them.Bombers also bombed enemy cities in world
war 1,killing many people and injuring many more.Hence airplanes greatly
intensified the war.

During world war 1 many other weapons were also developed and invented
such as improved machine guns,artillery,poison gas,etc. Which greatly
intensified the war.

Bibliography

http://www.history.co.uk/shows/the-world-wars/articles/5-technologicalinnovations-from-ww1

http://www.historylearningsite.co.uk/world-war-one/the-western-front-in-worldwar-one/tanks-and-world-war-one/

http://www.firstworldwar.com/weaponry/tanks.htm

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tanks_in_World_War_I

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Aviation_in_World_War_I

http://www.historylearningsite.co.uk/world-war-one/aerial-warfare-and-worldwar-one/aircraft-and-world-war-one/