Weapons of WWI

1. Weapons of The
Great War

2. • How does this
cigarette ad reflect
life in the trenches?
Do you think that it
is accurate?
• Why does the
company portray
this image?
Images of
Trench Life

3. Information or material
spread to advance a
cause, or damage an
opponent’s cause.
What are some of
the methods that
were used to
spread
propaganda?
What are some of
the methods that
were used to
spread
propaganda?
What is one of the ways that governments would try
to gain support from it’s citizens for the war effort?

4. What new weapon do you think will change
warfare forever?
The Automatic Machine Gun

5. Mounted guns fired a rapid,
continuous stream of bullets.

6. Machine guns made it possible for a few gunners to mow
down waves of soldiers. This helped create a stalemate by
making it difficult to advance across no man’s land.
Automatic
machine
gun

7. Is Trench Warfare the Answer?

8. Trench Warfare
Trench warfare allowed
little advance from either
side creating a stalemate.
By 1916 the Germans lost
850,000 men, the French
700,000 and the British
410,000 with neither side
advancing.

9. Australians resting
up in a dug-out are
sheltered from
shelling 15 feet
underground
during the Battle of
the Somme, July
1916.
Trench Life

11. Horrors of the Trench
What conditions and hardships do you think
the soldiers had to endure?

12. Trenches were filled with dead bodies, rodents, lice, water, poison gas, and
boredom which resulted in trench fever and…

13. Trench Foot!

14. Trench Foot: The Sequel!

15. TANKS
Would the tank be an effective weapon during
World War I?

16. Armored vehicle that travels on a track allowing it to cross many
kinds of terrain.

17. Protected advancing troops as they broke through enemy
defenses. Early tanks were initially very slow and clumsy –
breaking down and awful to drive. However, they were a
huge propaganda and morale boost, proved to be very
effective by the end of the war.
Early British Tank Early French Tank

18. AIRPLANES
Invented in 1903, would the airplane be an effective
weapon during World War I?

19. One or two seat propeller plane equipped with
machine gun and bombs.

20. At first, mainly used for observation. Later, flying “Aces” engaged in
individual combat, though such “dogfights” had little effect on war.

21. “Boulogne, April 25.-- The gaseous vapor which the Germans used against the French
divisions near Ypres last Thursday, contrary to the rules of The Hague Convention,
introduces a new element into warfare.”
NEW YORK TIMES, 1915

22. “The attack of last Thursday
evening was preceded by the
rising of a cloud of vapor,
greenish gray and iridescent.
That vapor settled to the ground
like a swamp mist and drifted
toward the French trenches on
a brisk wind.”

23. “Its effect on the French was a violent nausea and faintness, followed by an utter
collapse. It is believed that the Germans, who charged in behind the vapor, met
no resistance at all, the French at their front being virtually paralyzed.”

24. POISON GAS
How effective would poison gas be during
World War I?

25. Your country just killed three enemy soldiers!

26. Lobbed by missile into enemy trenches, killing or disabling troops.
Phosgene gas was one of the most
pernicious of the new technologies
that sprang from the Great War.

27. Usually fired by the artillery, the gas would choke,
blind, then kill within 48 hours of exposure.
There were no effective treatments, and death was
painful and often a certainty.
The evil of phosgene and other gases motivated the
Great Powers to outlaw this inhumane weapon.

28. The main weakness
was that the wind
could blow it back
towards your own
side.
Gas masks protect
soldiers from poison
gas.
“Whazzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz UP!”
How can you defend against Poison
Gas?

29. Development of
gas masks lessened
the importance
of
poison gas.

31. WEAPONS FROM THE TRENCH
Periscope guns from the trenches
Mortar guns

32. FLAMETHROWERS

33. Your country just
lost one soldier!

34. Barbed Wire Fences
Why do you think barbed wire fences would be effective?

35. Balloons and
Zeppelins

36. Snipers

37. 1. What WWI weapons and tactics do you see in the
film clip? (Name at least FIVE!)
2. Write an EIGHT word sentence describing
Tristan’s experience in the war!
1. What WWI weapons and tactics do you see in the
film clip? (Name at least FIVE!)
2. Write an EIGHT word sentence describing
Tristan’s experience in the war!
“I Lost my
brother in this
meaningless
war!”
Legends of the Fall

38. Horse drawn ambulance
Field
Telephones
Long Range Guns

39. ANIMALS AT WAR

40. Goat mascot preparing for battle!

41. World War I Pigeons
Decorated For Heroism
in Battle.
Dispatches by pigeon-post: About
to release a French Army bird
with a message for headquarters.
Dispatches by pigeon-post: About
to release a French Army bird
with a message for headquarters.
Pigeons were used for
communication if telephone
lines were cut and runners were
unable to get through enemy
lines.
Pigeons were used for
communication if telephone
lines were cut and runners were
unable to get through enemy
lines.

43. Create a story to explain what is happening in this picture!
Do Now:

44. What new invention would
change naval battles forever?
The U-Boat or Submarine

45. Underwater ship that can launch torpedoes, or guided
underwater bombs.
German U-Boat Surfacing

46. Used by Germany to destroy allied shipping. U-boat attacks and
unrestricted submarine warfare helped bring the United States
into the war.
Film ClipFilm Clip

47. Film ClipFilm Clip
Create a story to explain what is happening in this picture!
The Christmas Truce