Good morning Ladies and Gentleman, did you know that the first form of weaponry tanks did not exceed a speed of 6.5km/h? (WWIFacts, 2014) In World War I, also known as the ‘Great War’, which began in August 1914, was one of the first wars to use tanks in the field of battle. Although, it was not the very first time in which tanks were used, it was still the first ever global conflict, therefore being the first ‘major’ war to make use of the new technological military weapons (BBC, 2014).
This Great War was the result of the assassination of Archduke Franz Ferdinand whom was the heir to the Austria-Hungarian throne. Before this assassination there had been increased tension between allied forces in the European Empire due to quarrelling over
…show more content…
Several weapons such as the machine gun and chemical gas were created but the development of tanks had been occurring since their time of invention in the 18th century (History Learning Site,2000). The idea of the tank had been derived from numerous farming, steam powered machines that were able to with ease, cross difficult terrain on caterpillar tracks. The first form of tank created to make use of these caterpillar tracks was the ‘Little Willie’ which later evolved into the ‘Big Willie’. This tank was one of the first to be used in battle (First World War, 2009). Although, before the 20th century and the sparking of WWI, tanks had never been used in warfare. This was because the tank had not been developed enough yet to be helpful in a field of battle. It was not until the 20th Century that tanks were given more speed and enhanced camouflaging that made them an asset to the soldiers in the military. These new and improved tanks appeared for the first time in the Battle of Flers in Courcelette, in September 1916. 49 of these tanks were sent into battle that day, by the British (First World War, 2009). Although these tanks were unable to exceed speeds of 6.5km/h, and were quite unreliable, they were still considered as an important development in technology in modern warfare and significantly impacted the outcome of WWI …show more content…
Before the tanks were introduced there was an increased need to find a weapon that could break this lack of mobility. After much frustration, they finally settled on the tank (First World War, 2009). Winston Churchill, a British politician, proposed the idea of the tank to the British Army. Unfortunately, they did not agree and Winston was forced to exceed the guidelines of his authority and proceed independently along with just the NAVY. Eventually, with the increasing need for mobility, the idea was acknowledged and plans for tank warfare had begun. Although, this new weapon had underwent several secret testings before it was formally brought into the field of battle, by the British, it was still not incredibly reliable, many even believed that it was not worth the effort. “pretty mechanical toy but very limited military value.” (Lord Kitchener, 1900’s) Furthermore, the tank’s testers also did not account for the fact that the tanks were so heavy and the ground so muddy. Therefore, the first 14 tanks released into battle were bogged and broke down. Despite this fact, a new era in warfare had begun (Military Factory,
In World War II the Germans had better tanks than the allies did. The German tanks had stronger armor. They had bigger guns, and a better gun range. They also used better tactics, and their thank crew were better trained with more skills.
During World War one, the weapons weren't all that great. But it was a time when a lot of new weapons were introduced and used very much in a deadly way. They had rifles, gas, gigantic guns, and many other things.
Tanks were a major part of World War II. Many countries had their own tanks which they used in different strategies during the war. These vehicles were invented long before there was the technology of World War II. The Germans were known for their heavy class tanks, while the Americans were recognized for their medium Sherman tanks. The Allied forces would not have won World War II if it were not for their tanks.
The first tanks came with the internal combustion engine and caterpillar tracks. These, however, were quite unreliable and broke down very frequently. The naval force devised bigger, stronger ships with bigger guns. Their new and improved submarines were imperative in this war. They aided in the strategy of war of attrition, or breaking the enemy down by attacking its personnel and supplies.[viii]
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
The British adopted the first tank prototype as a design in 1916. The tank was first used in the battle of Flers-Courcelette. The tank changed war wildly just as the machine gun did, the introduction of the tank meant that war had to adapt to the rolling bunkers. This adaption caused warfare to take new face in ways to counter the invention. Tanks are a major part of warfare today, with huge advances being made constantly to the vehicle platform and more and more warfare being seen by the vehicles as time goes on.
Tanks provided a substantial difference during the war. It increased mobility on the battlefield and in due course broke the stalemate of trench warfare (WW1 Facts 1). The vast idea of the tank was constructed in 1915 by a British Army colonel named Ernest Swinton and William Hankey, a secretary of the Committee for Imperial Defense. The first tank prototype, Little Willie, was revealed in September 1915. It was a great advancement of war technology and inspired and influenced other countries to come up with their own models. But when Little Willie hit the battlefield, it turned out to be a complete bust. It struggled to terrain the trenches and would often get caught in them. It traveled very slowly and and quickly became overheated. Because of this, the British decided to make a newer and better tank known as “Big Willie”(History 1). It quickly became known across the world that other
The United States remains a country with a rich history in several issues including strong military activities including their incursion in Iraq, Afghanistan and other volatile countries around the world. However, the devastations of the Battle of the Bulge make it as one of the deadliest and bloodiest wars that the U.S has ever witnessed in history. It led to various war tactics with artillery emerging from it and other military operation challenges. Despite its unpredictable nature and the large casualties that it realized on the side of the Americans, it positively contributed to various efficient military operations in the contemporary war battles like those taking place in Syria, Iraq, and Afghanistan among other places globally. Therefore, this essay purposefully discusses the history and outcome of the role of artillery in the Battle of the Bulge and how it relates to the evolution of the contemporary military operation.
Of all the weapons on the battlefields of World War I, machine guns were used the most and were also the deadliest. These Americanised guns were initially designed to be stationary for use in the trench warfare and needed 6 men to operate. At the beginning stages, these guns could fire around 450 rounds per minute, killing more men at a faster rate than any other weapon. The machine gun “played a decisive role”
This article talks about the ten most deadly weapons used during WWI. These ten weapons were all new in this war and have never been used prior to WWI. It does not just focus on the weaponry but also the new technology like aircrafts, U-boats, and Tanks. These new instruments for destruction had all made their introduction in the First World War, prior to this they mainly used horse on the war field which compared to a tank is not really a treat. It also speaks on the machine gun which was a major key on a battlefield. This gun allowed you to mow down troops at an alarming rate while reloading it. It was also much effected. These machine guns were also used on the aircrafts. The article even focuses on airships better known as zeppelins these
Trenches were dug to hide from these machine guns. There were three variations of machine guns used during the war, the Vickers, Hotchkis, and Lewis. Through the four years of the war saw, the machine gun become even deadlier and causing a huge stalemate on the battlefields, because troops were no longer able to use frontal attack tactics like previous wars fought (By Kristine Croto, How the Development of the Machine Gun Changed Modern Warfare Forever 19 September 2016). With this weapons system proving more lethal on the battlefield, the death counts rose quickly to levels never seen in previous battles, though nowhere near the levels associated with artillery. Machine guns saw many improvements with better accuracy and fire rates.
The term "tank" was originally a code name used by the manufacturers to keep things clandestine. The name later gained popularity and eventually stuck, replacing "landships," the tank's original name. Tanks were used all throughout the war, beginning at the Battle of Flers-Courcelette. 5. The First World War did not affect Asia greatly.
The tank was one of the deadliest weapons in World War 2. Over 331,000 tanks were produced during the war. Most of the countries fighting in the war had tanks, including the British, Americans, Germans, and the Soviets. All of these countries had tanks that outperformed their other tanks, and that outperformed the other countries tanks. One of these was the Soviet’s T-34.
The use of trench warfare, primarily along the Western Front, protected the soldiers from small arms fire and moderately from artillery. It introduced one of the most important weapons of the war, the machine gun. Before WWI, one of the most advanced weapons was the gating gun. It was hand-cranked and could deliver hundreds of rounds per minute. However, not every soldier was gifted this gun; it needed to be rolled around and required multiple riflemen to operate it. By the beginning of the war in 1914, practical machine guns were already in production since their invention by Hiram Maxim in 1884. The “Maxim gun,” was self-powered, using the recoil power of the previously fired shot to reload rather than being hand-powered. This enabled a much higher rate of fire and made the battlefield much more deadly. The machine gun was most commonly used in conjunction with poison gas, most commonly, mustard gas. World War I was the first war that saw the use of large-scale chemical weapons. There were many, different gases that had different reactions onto he body. Chlorine would cause the lungs to break down and choke its victim to death; mustard gas would blind its victims. This left the enemy open for machine gunners; the guns would be strategically mounted and provided the first defense against the enemy. Another tool used with the machine gun was barbed wire. Originally created for herding cattle, barbed wire ran for miles along the front of the
Everyone has heard about WWII but not everyone knows about the powerful weapons that were used in this time.One of those powerful weapons is the Panzerkampfwagen VI Tiger Ausf. E but it is better known as Tiger Tank 1. This tank was a very powerful and important tank in WWII.This powerful weapon was used by Germany against the Allies.