Franco-Prussian War Weapons

The new weapons used in WW1 included: The Rifle used by every country involved in the war, The machine gun, Gas bombs which included chlorine in the early stages of the war then mustard gas in the later stages of the war, Flamethrowers, a Zeppelin or blimp which was a massive aircraft used by the Germans, Tanks 1st used in the battle of Somme, Planes which could dispense bullets at an incredible rate, drop bombs and even support a cannon, and submarines with torpedoes, to make easy pickings on the biggest ships. The rifle, machine gun, and the airplane were invented before WW1 but were upgraded into war machines that were devastating for soldiers.

There was a 17% difference in casualties from the Napoleonic Wars to World War I. This can be credited mainly to the new weapons. There were many different weapons in World War I, whether they were completely new or just variations and improvements of previous weapons. Some of the new weapons included machine guns, mustard gas, Zeppelins, and planes, while some of the improved weapons included the bolt-action rifle, the Howitzer, and pistols. The innovative new weapons that were introduced in World War I have forever changed the way wars were fought.

World War II is one of the most recognized battles in the history of the world. The battle originated with Germany’s invasion of Poland. This sparked the beginning of the war, though the United States was not yet involved. The U.S. came into the picture after the attack on Pearl Harbor on the morning of December 7, 1941. Though Japan was the more “direct opponent”, the United States Army Rangers, Marine Corps., and every other branch of military took on Japan and Germany.

Imagine a war so great and powerful that new weapons and ideas were created in order to fight it. This is exactly what took place during World War 1. Both sides of the war invented different types of weaponry and artillery. These weapons that were invented were never introduced to society before the war. The men going to war had no idea what the other side was going to use or not to use. The new weapons were machine guns, mortars, poison gases, tanks, airplanes, and u-boats. During the Great War there were several consequences of these new weapons. These consequences were increases in casualties, trench warfare, and massive land destructions.

The types of challenges that the Generals have faced during The Battle of Gettysburg are, location, following orders, and the weaponry. In a life or death situation, the position of where your men are stationed is crucial due to the fact if the opposite army crawls up behind or has the higher ground then there is a greater chance of getting murdered. General’s must accept the system that a more experienced General has stated and to not promote their individual procedures. Finally, the rifles, pistols, muskets, cannons and other artillery the Generals had to work with may have been difficult to shield or perform with. In conclusion, the Generals faced many complications when battling in the Battle of

Calcium floodlights were mainly used by the Union soldiers as made it easy to see and they soldiers were able to blind Confederate soldiers (8 Unusual Civil War Weapons"). One of the more creative weapons was a blanket used by Confederate soldiers (8 Unusual Civil War Weapons"). As strange as this sounds, the Confederate soldiers used the blanket to catch explosives and throw it back in the enemy's direction. My personal favorite weapon used was a hot air balloon. It was shocking when it say that hot air balloons were used to give a large view of the battlefield. (Appendix A) This was more commonly a Union weapon as the Confederacy lacked good, quality materials to build a durable balloon (“8 Unusual Civil War Weapons"). Like the machine guns and swords, rockets were actually used in the Civil War (“8 Unusual Civil War Weapons"). Although there were very few appearances from rockets, they still did help play a part by doing their job! The Confederacy used Congreve rockets as well (“Weapons”). They were around three feet and two inches long and filled with gunpowder. Although they could be powerful, they missed quite often and were pretty useless (“Weapons”). Used by both the Confederacy and the Union, underwater mines were useful to blow up the opponent's ship. Although the Union tried the underwater mines, the Confederacy had more success as they blew up dozens of the Union’s ships while the Union blew up only six Confederate ships (“8 Unusual Civil War

In August of 1861, William F. Ketchum patented the Ketchum Hand Grenade. Shortly after, in the years of 1863 and 1864, the grenade was implemented in the American Civil War.

World War 1 or the Great War was one of the most brutal if not the most war the world has faced so far. It originated in Europe which quickly went global, the war started on the 28th of July 1914 and ended November 11th 1918. The war consisted of many weapons and deadly gases. The weapons include;

Weapons in WW1 could decide who would win and who would lose. Newer weapons were brought into the War constantly as they were the most efficient in destroying and making other weapons useless. Making them more powerful for this reason making the death count rise double- time, however, not for long…

There is a sense that modern weapons during the 20th century proved to be the most technological advancements and thus created competition in which sprawled into a new stage of warfare enlightenment. At the brink of the war and the salient of forces perhaps the most technological tool used had been the trenches. The pursuit of territorial conquest would halt at the trench lines inventing a new progression in how war is envisioned today. The disadvantages often outnumber the benefits of war, however, war managed to create a boosted in advanced warfare starting as early as the Franco-Prussian War. As the war progressed during 1914, items such as uniforms called for change. The sense of pride in nationality struck in numbers and not in bright colors. For the sake of duty and country was the most powerful drive including those who sought ground in the western lines.

The deployment of Field Artillery has been the deciding factor in almost every major conflict since the inception of Field Artillery. The Battle of Pea Ridge is no different. This conflict serves as a perfect example of how the proper use of terrain and well-placed artillery can alter the course of battle. Despite overwhelming opposition, the Union Army was not only able to stop the advancement of enemy troops but forced their retreat.

Another gun which branches from the rifle is the machine gun. The Germans were mainly the ones who would take the credit for the invention of the machine

In a war of mass destruction and huge weaponry, development of the next big offensive device was on the minds of all the leaders involved. Many of these weapons were designed in secret laboratories under the top scientists and physicists in the world. High emphasis and funding put into these designs, the developments flourished. Some of these weapons were unbelievable successes, making their way to the battlefield meeting all the expectations set by their imaginative creators. Others, however, did not make it any further than the testing unit. Numerous previously unheard of ideas were presented, several being far ahead of their time. This was cause for some of the weapons failures. Although, these were

Leading into the Fall of 1914, tactics on both sides of the line involved the rapid mobilization, maneuver and envelopment of the opposing side.10 Pre-1914 doctrine took little into account the effects of emerging new technology and their impact on both defensive and offensive operations. This disconnect between doctrine and technology contributed to the failure of early offensive operations in the Fall of 1914 and resulted in staggering casualties.11 Both sides developed doctrine that took into effect the unique terrain and technology that had been developed prior and during World War I. However by the end of the war, a combination of flexibility, decentralized control, and counterattack at every echelon made the German defensive system the most effective.12 This “elastic defense” had three unique characteristics; dedicated counter-attack force at all levels, decentralized command and control, fluid defensive belts and integrated artillery support at the Division level. Under this new doctrine, Corps headquarters had the role sustaining subordinate units, but not directing their actions during battle.13 This defense-in-depth and the lessons learned during the Verdun battles of 1918 were so successful that British forces adopted many of the German tactics with a special emphasis on their counterattack capability.10 Utilizing the new doctrine, by August 1918, Germany had made substantial gains, however had

In total, there were over 370 Union Army artillery units at Gettysburg during the battle on November 19th, 1863 (Newton, 2005). This gave the Union Army a stout advantage over the Confederate Army, who only had about 280 artillery unit’s available (Newton, 2005). Of the different pieces used, the 12 pound smooth bore Napoleon was the most common. With a range of 1,300 yards, this artillery piece was used for direct fire on enemy troops and advancing artillery (Newton, 2005). In most cases, the Napoleon used a canister shot, which consisted of one round and one charge (Newton, 2005).When massing artillery fires on enemy artillery, it was common for artillery sections to use a double canister, a canister with two rounds and one charge (Newton, 2005). This was done to increase the chance of critical damage to enemy pieces. Often times when engaging enemy artillery directly, Union artillery would focus the battery on one enemy piece at a time, using the double canister (Newton, 2005).