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World War One Weapons
During World War One, new weapons completely revolutionized combat. Combat changed rapid passing thing into trench warfare. This primarily happened because new technology from Europe brought new types of weapons. |
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During World War One, weapons were divided in to 9 types. These were as follows:
- Machine Guns -- These weapons were first used during the American Civil War and had a devastating effect. However, during World War One, their effectiveness reached alarming levels when these guns could fire 600 bullets in one minute.
- Artillery -- These were upgraded versions of cannons. For nearly four years, the British had been using artillery to fire 170 million shells. However, the Germans developed the biggest artillery and it was called Big Bertha. Big Bertha was capable of firing into Paris from 120 kilometers away. Along with cannons, even the shells were improved into high explosive shells.
- Gas Grenades -- These were highly toxic and effective weapons. The Germans had invented three types of gas grenades and they were Chlorine gas grenade, Phosgene gas grenade and Mustard gas grenade.
- Tanks -- At first tanks were just blocks of metal that could carry around 1 to 2 soldiers and travel 5 kilometers per hour. However, scientists worked hard to improve the tanks and by 1918, the Anglo-American Mark 8 could carry 8 men, and fire 208 shells and 13,000 bullets. However, these tanks were not reliable and this was evident in the Battle of Amiens where the British used 525 tanks, and after 4 days just 25 were in working order. Rolls Royce also joined in the development of tanks and came up with its version of armored car which could travel at the speed of 88 kilometers and had 8mm machine guns.
- Planes -- During World War One, planes were new types of weapons as a result of advancement in technology dealing with warfare. Although air warfare was not considered important, mini scout planes to Zeppelins were used.
- Naval Units -- Sea warfare was important part of World War One. The British specialized in battle ships while the Germans specialized in submarines. The German submarines were equipped with torpedoes to blow up ships carrying supplies from America to Britain. On May 1, 1915, the Germans torpedoed Lusitania, a passenger liner, and killed 1,195 people. This outraged the Americans who end up joining World War One in 1917.
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Causes Of World War 1
 World War I took place primarily in Europe from 1914 to 1918 and resulted in over 40 million casualties, including 20 million military and civilian deaths. The cause of World War I is primarily the assassination of Archduke Franz Ferdinand. On June 28, 1914, a Bosnian Serb student, Gavrilo Princip, shot and killed the Archduke, who was the heir to the Austro-Hungarian throne. More..
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