History- New Weapons Flashcards
New weapons were used in the First World War. Not surprisingly they made a massive difference to the way wars were fought.
Aircraft were developed throughout the war
On the Western front both sides used planes and balloons to find any weak points to attack. The Germans used airships called Zeppelins to carry out bombing raids like the May 1951 one on London. In 1915 new planes carried synchronised machine guns which wouldn’t shoot the propeller. One man could fly and handle a gun – where before they needed two pilots. Fighter planes escorted bombers on raids, attacked the enemy bombers, and fought each other, especially on the Western front. Both sides developed planes for long-distance bombing raids. The first serious raid on Britain was in May 1917–71 people were killed at Folkestone. Britain sent bombers into Germany too.
Tanks made it easier to attack on the ground
The tracks on tanks meant they could go over very rough ground, and plough through barbed wire without problems. The heavily armoured body of the tanks meant ordinary gunfire couldn’t stop them. Tanks should have allowed the British Army to break the deadlock on the trenches, but it took a while to develop effective tactics, the early tanks often broke down.
the first time tanks were used was at the Battle of the Somme in July 1916. Sir Douglas Haig sent in 49 tanks. He could’ve waited for more, but he decided it was more important to surprise the Germans, and went ahead anyway. The tank division captured 2 km of German held territory but couldn’t hold onto it.
At Cambrai on the Western front in November 1917, tanks we use more successfully. Nearly 500 advanced about 6 km into German territory, but again couldn’t hold onto their gains.
oison Gas was a deadly weapon
the Germans were the first to use chlorine gas – in the second Battle of Ypres, April to May 1915. It caused terror, and killed many. The British tried it at the battle of Loos but the wind blew some of it back on them. Chlorine has the military disadvantage of being highly visible.
In December 1915 the Germans tried phosgene, which is invisible and deadly but slow acting. At the Battle of Riga, in September 1917, they introduced mustard gas, which causes horrible blisters and internal bleeding.
The creeping barrage became standard tactic in 1916
First used on a large scale by the British at the Battle of the Somme (July- November 1916), the creeping barrage was an advancing curtain of artillery fire preceding the advancing infantry.
It was a difficult and dangerous tactic because it depended upon precise timing. When the barrage outpaced the infantry, the gap between them allowed to the Germans to re-emerge from shelter and man their positions. But when the infantry moved too fast, they ran into their own shellfire.
