Technoligical advancements during WWI

        Although the concept of tanks already existed in the 1890s, it was not until the stalemate in WWI when it became important. Early tanks made by the British were based on the catapillar track which could cross an 8 foot wide trenchand an internal combustion engine. In addition, these tanks were fitted with Lewis guns and armour plating. Their use since 1917 provided more opportunities to break the stalemate and inspired the generals to develop new tactics suitable for the tans. At the Battle of Cambrai, November 1917, these tanks contributed to the victory of the British against German troops. But early tanks were unreliable, often breaking down on the battlefield. In the Battle of Amiens, 1918, British forces went to field with 534 tanks. After several days, only a few were still present in the battlefield. Those that suffered mechanical difficulties outnumbered those disabled by enemy fire.This became the achilles heel of tanks throughout the remainder years of war (Appendix 2). Despite the fact that the tanks broke the stalemate between the two alliances, they were not a decisive factor to the success of the Triple Entente.

        Another revolutionizing weapon used was the poison gas. From tear gas to leathal mustard gas, the chemical industries underwent a suprising develoment. At the beginning of the war, Germany had the most advanced chemical industry in the world. On 3 January, 1915, 18,000 artilleries containing tear gas were fired on Russians at the Eastern Front with no success. Due to the low air temperatures, the gas froze instead of vaporizing, completely failing the mission. Another attempt was taken under the command of General von Falkenhayn, launching the first chlorine gas attack in WWI at the battle of Ypres, 1915 against the British. Although it inflicted some casualties, it was not as successful as expected. The unexpected change of wind direction forced the Germans to retreat, unable to take advantage of a surprise attack created with this new weapon. Later on, mustard gas was developed but only served the purpose of disabling the soldiers physically and mentally. With the invention of gas masks by the British  (Appendix 3), the effects of poison gas was reduced to its minimum and it only contributed to the suffering of the soldiers fought in this horrible war.

         Like most other weapons, the aircraft underwent many improvements during WWI. Early aircrafts followed the design of the Wright Flyer, the first flying plane ever. At the start of the war, these aircrafts were only used to locate enemy trenches and spy their actions behind the front line. Later on, the planes were armed with machine guns which enables them to attack enemy bases. In 1916 the interrrupter gear, invented by the Germans, allowed the machine gun to be placed right behind the propeller which lead to more precised shootings with direct fire (Appendix 4). As the stalemate developed on the ground, aircrafts were valued for their accurated bombings and gathering intelligence. Soon the Germans used these airplanes to bombard English cities in hope to frighten the civilians at home and force them to withdraw some troops from the Western Front. But this campaign was not as successful as exoected. Air warfare gradualy lost its improtance as better artilleries were developed to shoot down the big and slow airplanes. The aerial reconnaissance created by air- warfare is often blamed for the stalemate in the trenches since either side knew what strategies the enemies were planning.

        A totally new invention was introduced by the Germans shortly before the war: the submarines. With the growing German navy, these U- Boats gradually gained importance and were considered as a new threat against the British. At that time, the UK relied heavily on raw material imports from her colonies to feed its population and maintain the war industry. The German navy hoped to blockade these ships with their U- Boats in order to frighten the civilians in UK. By drawing Britain’s attention to their new weapon, the Germans also wanted to break the stalemate in the Western Front. The first fightings between these two naval powers are often known as The First battle of The Atlantic. This tactic was very successful at the beginning with 115 merchant ships sinked within three months. The Britains reacted with the consolidation of merchant ships into convoys under the presence of one or two armed navy vessels. This reduced the losses to a fairly small amount. But the Germans did not loose their confidence towards the U- Boats. An unrestricted Submarine warfare was introduced which allowed them to sink passenger ships as well. Eventually the Germans went too far with this strategy. In 1915 the Germans sinked the passenger ship Lusitania, killing 1200 people. Germany claimed that the ship transported vast amount of weapons but there is no proove for it (Appendix 5). This action provoked the Americans to join the Triple Entente against the Germans. The submarines were very effective in terms of the technological advancement, but the Germans failed to use this weapon to win WWI. Instead she created an even stronger enemy and destroyed her public image.