2. The Machine Gun
• Before the War
– Great Britain
• Dismissed the use of the machine gun
• said it was an “improper form of warfare”
– France
• Thought the war could be won through an “offensive spirit”
• The will to win would push the French troops forward; little
need for the machine gun
– Germany
• The only country fighting on the western front to embrace
the machine gun
• Had produced 12,000 by the start of the war, compared with
a few hundred for the allies
3. The Machine Gun
• When the western front
became a stalemate,
the defensive war
became an important
one
• Germans embraced this
first
– Led to British and French
advances against
German machine gun
nests
4. The Machine Gun
• Machine guns were known to
overheat
– Needed to be cooled
– Two ways
• Air
– Not used until the end of the
war; not successfully until after
the war
• Water
– Made the machine gun too
heavy for advancement with
infantry
– Used in defensive positions
– When they would overheat,
the gun would jam
• Groups of machine guns would
be placed in defensive positions
together to cause the most
damage
5. The Machine Gun
• How it works
– The explosion in the
cartridge created a recoil
which served to
continuously operate the
machine gun mechanism
6. Tanks
• Before the War
– Something very similar to a tank was nearly created
during the Crimean war from 1854-1856
• Steam powered tractors using tracks were used to move
things around the battle field
• Ideas abandoned after the war’s end
– In 1899 a “motor-war car” was proposed to the British
government
• It had
– Bullet proof casing
– Two revolving machine guns
• Dismissed by the British Government; A “pretty mechanical
toy”
7. Tanks
• After stalemate had
been reached on the
Western front, new
tactic needed
– “Landship” was
proposed
– Similar to the armored
car, only with tracks
– Used a crew of 10 men
– Produced by the British
Royal Navy
8. Tanks
• Troubles
– Tanks had trouble riding
over widened trenches
– Sloppy weather slowed, or
completely stopped tanks
• Battle of Passchendaele
• Successes
– Scared the enemy as
machine gun fire had no
effect
– Found that when aided by
infantry, became an
extremely potent weapon
9. Tanks
• Germany
– Germany did not really
buy into the tank; went
against defensive war
strategy
– Adolph Hitler learned
the value of the tank
supported by infantry
• The backbone of his
“Blitzkrieg” in World
War 2
10. Airplanes
• By 1914, the start of the
war, airplanes had been
around for 9 years
• Two types
– Pusher
• Propeller on the back of
the plain
– Tractor
• Propeller on the front of
the plane
– Tractor became most
used
11. Airplanes
• Evolution
– Original use, also best use,
throughout the war was for
reconnaissance
• Would find enemy position
and radio back to the artillery
• Extremely dangerous
– From Waving to shooting
• Pistols
• Mounted machine guns
– Two person planes
• Machine gun mounted
forward
• Baron Manfred von
Richtofen
12. Airplanes
• Bombers
– Not used greatly until
the end of the war
• Winston Churchill started
using bombers in strategic
bombings
– Evolution
•
•
•
•
Grenades
Strafing
Small Bombers
Large Bombers
13. Airships
• Zeppelins
– Used by Germans
• Could fly over London and attack
the population
• Not accurate enough for
strategic bombings
