As most of us know, machine-guns inflicted appalling casualties during the First World War. Thousands of men, charging towards the enemy line, were mown down by the rapid fire of these devastating weapons.
In theory machine-guns in WW1 could fire up to 600 small-calibre rounds per minute. In reality they were prone to overheating and would break down without some sort of cooling system in place. Water jackets were initially used, but the guns would still overheat quite quickly and large supplies of water had to be kept on hand. As such, they were typically fired in short bursts rather than sustained fire. However, by the end of the war machine-gun design had drastically improved. They could fire double the rate that was capable in 1914 with sophisticated air-cooling systems built into the designs.
Of course, the WW1 machine gun was primarily used as a defensive weapon and, even in 1914, was extremely effective when used against charging soldiers. However, by 1915 they were light enough to be mounted onto the front of aeroplanes for
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The Maxim-gun, an oil-cooled machine-gun designed by Hiram Maxim in 1884 that didn’t require hand-cranking or any other kind of manual intervention, had been offered to the British military by Hiram. However, the British High Command rejected the inventor’s offer, believing that there was no real need for it. The Germans, on the other hand, quickly grasped the strategic advantages that it offered and began developing their own version of Maxim’s design. Consequently, when the war broke out in 1914, Germany had a much greater arsenal of machine-guns. This is reflected by articles in The Sphere, which reported in 1914 that Germany had a new type of machine-gun with a telescopic sight, and The Illustrated War News, which noted that the weapon had revolutionised German artillery
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.
Next in the development of machine guns came the Maxim, the machine gun with only one barrel. This gun with a belt of bullets that fed in one side and the empty belt came out the other side. It used the explosion from the bullets firing to load the next bullet. With the use of different
7. In the attack, what did the machine gun do to the glory of the war and individual heroism?
The machine gun is perhaps the signature weapon of trench warfare, with the image of ranks of advancing infantry being scythed down by the withering hail of bullets. The Germans embraced the machine gun from the outset - in 1904, every regiment was equipped with one machine gun - and the machine gun crews were the elite infantry units. After 1915, the MG 08/15 was the standard-issue German machine gun. Its number entered the German language as an idiomatic expression for "dead plain". At Gallipoli and in Palestine the Turks provided the infantry, but it was usually Germans who manned the machine guns.
This weapon was typically on a tripod to steady the bouncing that came with automatic fire. One of the more unpredictable attacks came from the Arisaka Bolt-Action Rifle. Rifles were recognized in WWII for their long range and accuracy. This gun could be used with or without a scope. When scoped, range was greatly increased, as the shooter could see farther distances and put a round down range with precision. Though this wasn’t the primary weapon for most of the soldiers, it was favored by snipers for its precision at long ranges.
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.
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;
With new weapons coming in and out, killing several people WW1 was the most gruesome war known to mankind.
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]
The first world war was one of the most brutal and remorseless events in history; ‘the global conflict that defined a century’. Over nine million soldiers and a large amount of innocent civilians lost their lives. Empires crumbled, revolution engulfed Russia and America rose to become a dominant world power. Huge armies deployed new weapons of devastating effect from rifles and pistols to torpedoes and flame throwers. These weapons were used not only in the trenches but by tanks too. This was an advantage to those who were able to access such machinery as they could easily launch bullets and missiles at nearby enemy bases. The downfall of the tank was the fact it was unable to cross the trenches. Tanks were not the only pieces of equipment that could access this machinery but U boats and planes too. The British carried ‘bolt action rifles’ in which fired 15 rounds per minute at a minimum range of 1,400 metres away. This allowed the British to take out foes at a far greater range. By using machinery in which rules out the need for getting up close to the enemy was a great advantage during world war one. Soldiers ran from trench to trench attacking with all that they had. This resulted in a massacre as the soldiers running toward the trenches were shot down. Machinery such as machine guns and heavy artillery were the weapons used in the trenches. In modern day society, machine guns are the main weapons used by soldiers. This wasn’t the case around the 1914s. They took four
Another very powerful gun that was used in World War II was the Submarine guns. The submarine guns are much stronger and better than normal guns due to the fact that they have better firing distances (Military History 7). The submarine gun was built mainly for endurance and for accuracy. This gun had the accuracy to fire from 800 to at least 1,000 yards away and delivers a powerful blow to its victims. One problem which the gun had was the fact that it could dislocate a soldiers arm whenever it was fired. But finally the submarine gun was improved and is now less powerful which makes it easier for firing full automatic rounds along with pistol rounds (8).
Infantry used the M-67 recoilless rifle to destroy bunkers. It was a breach-loaded single shot rifle (much like a bazooka and other
Other weapons were also developed in the 1940’s with negative outcomes. The world’s biggest gun called the “Gustav Gun” was built in World War II. Built in Essen, Germany in 1941, it weighed 1,344 tons and required a 500 man crew to manipulate it. It was so powerful that one bullet demolished a “Russian ammunition dump 100 feet below Severnaya Bay” and “a near miss capsized a large ship in the harbor”. The Gustav Gun, along with other weapons destroyed three Soviet forts: Fort Stalin, Fort Lenin, and Fort Maxim
Frau Eline, I have made the following research on various weapons used in combat. The flamethrower is possibly the most terrifying weapon put to the battlefield and it has never been seen before. The flamethrower spreads fire by launching fuel and the basic use is to clear out an enemy trench. The flamethrower has shown to be effective when firing in our pillboxes. The tanks have proven to be great shields for our light infantry, but other than that our tanks have been getting stuck in the rough mud of France. The machine gun threw all my research has been the most effective weapon of the front line. The machine gun’s rapid fire and abundant amount of ammunition, allows for our German comrades to defend the trench against the rush of
The creation of machine guns will place the United States military at a huge advantage. With the increased firepower, less soldiers will be needed to achieve the same effect that more soldiers would with older guns. Machine guns have the power of multiple rifles, and are capable of firing between 450 and 600 rounds every minute. Unlike the bolt action rifle, machine guns do not need to be continuously reloaded, so they are also able to sustain this rate of fire for a while. This makes it possible to replace up to 30 men with rifles with a team of only a few men with one machine gun. A few machine guns will have the same defensive effect as 100 soldiers holding a trench line. With its great power, killing enemy soldiers and damaging enemy vehicles