Argumentative History Essay Outline: Technological Advances in World War I

Defining modern warfare and its revolutionary origin is historically difficult because each new revolution in military affairs makes the last one outdated. Gabriel and Metz suggest historians often refer to the American Civil War as the “first truly modern war,” because it was the first to benefit from and use many of the new innovations created by the increased production outputs of the Industrial Revolution.  The American Civil War was the first modern war because both sides used new technology, shaped by the industrial revolution, and produced noticeable advancements in logistics, weaponry, and communication.

World War I was the bloodiest and most brutal battle at its time, and without all the new weapons, it might not have been. World War I started in 1914 and ended in 1918. It was a war fought

Technology greatly affected the way in which wars were fought, especially in World War I. The inventions of the repeating machine gun, the development of poison gas, and the introduction of the first tanks caused armies to fight using the bunkering method. This allowed men to huddle in trenches along what are called skirmish lines and throw, lob, and fire by other means weapons to cause damage while men were protected by about 4 to 5 feet deep earth. This caused men to fight in rear or echelon columns behind tanks can basically caused defensive fighting tactics resulting in drawn out protracted battles.

The British High Command were less enthusiastic about machine gun technology, supposedly considering the weapon too "unsporting", and they lagged behind the Germans in adopting the weapon. In 1915 the Machine Gun Corps was formed to train and provide sufficient heavy machine gun teams. To match demand, production of the Vickers machine gun was contracted to firms in the USA. By 1917, every company in the British forces was also equipped with four light Lewis machine guns, which significantly enhanced their

Another dynamic change of World War I on Artillery was Unit mobility. Horse drawn Artillery being the primary method of movement used by the American Artillery at the start of the War, quickly changed with the addition of self-propelled weapons and Artillery tractors. The creation of tanks as a countermeasure to trench warfare would be one of many factors to shift emphasis away from the coast. Using tractors as opposed to horses would allow greater range in American Artillery movements. These designs and innovations would help shape the American Artillery weaponry used in later American conflicts around the globe.

Light machine guns and sub-machine guns were invented during World War I as small arms, but the larger machine guns were modernized as well. Flame throwers were used as an offensive attack against trench warfare.[ix],[x]

18. To prepare the country for World War I, what became an early focus of American industrial mass production? 31

The military technological advancements of trench warfare, poison gas, and tanks were just a few of the many important military innovations in the First World War. In WWI, the advent (no—trench warfare had existed since the American Civil War) of trench warfare slowed battles to vicious, bloody scraps over a few meters of ground, often lasting months and even years. Be sure you have a clear introduction on the AP exam. This is critical. Warfare in the nineteenth-century demanded the concentration of large masses of troops over open ground to compensate for the extremely inaccurate musket.

During the time period of 1789 to 1914, several changes began to occur within the European military. Leaders began changing their techniques on how they would approach battles, placement of their men, what kind of equipment they would utilize, along with their means of transportation, how would they communicate with others, along with several other changes. During this time period, the use of technology began to increase which had allowed for the battles to become easier for those using the new technology. There were three important changes that had occurred in the European military which included: transportation with the service of trains and railways, the newest weapons such as the breech-loading rifles, and communication by using telegraphs. With these three inventions, this had changed the outcome on wars and battles for the days to come.

This war was the first to successfully implement many aspects of technology into warfare successfully. In fact, many technologies were invented during this war to help provide the government with a more efficient killing machine that could now ravage its enemies with considerable more ease. A great example of this improvement in killing is the introduction of the repeater rifle and the minie ball. These two technologies changed the course of war from the antiquated musket world to the at the time modern and superbly advanced repeater rifle. This rifle was able to be loaded with a cartridge that was self contained and required no packing of powder into a barrel and no tedious fuses. It could fire many rounds a minute, essentially as many as the soldier could chamber into the barrel with a charging handle on the bottom of the weapon. The antediluvian muskets were cumbersome, dangerous, inaccurate, slow to fire, as well as difficult to fire even remotely accurately. A technology that could be literally heard around the nation was the telegraph. This technology allowed generals to speak with their troops and their commander-in-chief in a fraction of the time that it would take for a messenger to ride a horse all the way from the headquarters to the front lines or wherever the message was intended to end up. As

The weapons that were used in world war I took at least 2 if not more to function. A machine gun that became popular because it was equivalent to 100 guns took 4-6 men to fire, however they were dangerous to operate. The first war was mostly in fought in the same area, but the second war was fought all over the world. In world war II they took the limited tanks that were used in the prior war and made them faster and deadlier. They also used planes in both wars, during World War I the planes were used to destroy enemies bases, during World War II they were used to drop atomic bombs in hopes to end the war. The fighting conditions for the soldiers were nowhere near decent, most men in World War I were stuck in trenches covered with layers of dirt which resulted in fungus infecting the body. Men that fought during World War II were in the same harsh conditions only most men were fight over seas facing sickness and diseases as

iii. The advancement in science saw the war become sophisticated as each side tried to outwit the other in tact and equipment.

Thesis - The First World War stimulated the greatest changes in warfare because it brought about new technology, saw improved infrastructure and communication and set the pattern for twentieth century warfare.

Flamethrowers had the role in the war of “ kill or be killed”. The flamethrowers were used in trench wars. You may have heard of the bombing of Pearl Harbor, but do you know the other weapons the Japanese used? They used swords and bayonets for close combat fighting. Their close combat fighting was manly in trenches.

The first category, weapon advances, is a very important category. Leading up to the war, weapons were changing constantly. Weapons of World War One were out of date. They were becoming more accurate, and capable of longer ranges. In World War One, the average soldier carried a bolt action rifle. Bolt action rifles are accurate;