Trench warfare and technology -World War I

What is trench warfare?

A style of fighting used in WWI, a complicated system with many interlinking lines of trenches.

Life in trenches: consequences of Trench warfare

Dead bodies, explosives and bombs resulted in many casualties, starvation, lice, little rations, trench foot, no bathrooms or washing/ shaving, half full of mud and water, etc.

Artillery

Explosive guns, so heavy had to be transported by railroad car

Tanks

Good for mowing over barbed wire in trenches to attack the enemy lines.

Machine guns

Machine guns fired 600 bullets per minute in rapid fire and allowed soldiers to shoot down the opposing side on the war fronts without having to stop and reload.

What is stalemate?

New type of fighting known as trench Walmart. Troops would fire artillery guns and machine guns. This type of fighting was very ineffective and useless, battle lines remained unchanged in 3 years.

Were airplanes beneficial for war?

No, they were good for transporting goods, but they tended to be not stable and unreliable.

What new technology was invented in WWI?

Tanks, barbed wire, crossed trenches, machine guns, poisoned gas, u-boat (submarines), chemical warfare, fighter planes.

Chemical warfare

Tear gas: Lethal chemical attacked lungs and drowned victims in their own bodily fluids. Mustard gas: causes blistering and damage to skin

Zeppelin

Technology that had bombs thrown from the sky.

Submarines

Used by Germany (u-boats) and Britain, could sneak up stealthily on enemy navy ships. (War at seas)