Table of Contents
IGCSE History: World War I – Technology
Did Technology Help Break the Stalemate?
Trench warfare technology had not evolved:
- Cavalry charges were used:
- 30th March 1914 one such charge ended in disaster with only 4/150 horses surviving the charge.
- Machine guns could stop these attacks with impunity.
- Horses and mules were still employed for transport.
- Messenger dogs and pigeons were still used. They had a better chance of success than other forms of communications:
- Pigeons succeeded 95% of the time.
- Telegraph lines were often broken by artillery fire.
- Radio messages could be intercepted with ease.
- Human messengers using bicycles were too slow.
- Motor vehicles were unable to pass through muddy terrain.
- The demand for homing pigeons meant that:
- Shooting them for sport was illegal.
- To shoot one would be punishable by 6 months imprisonment or a fine of £100.
Chemical warfare:
At first gas attacks were meant to incapacitate and not to kill or cause panic:
- In 1914 the French used tear gas to try and slow the German advance through Belgium.
- In October of the same year the Germans shelled the French with a gas that caused people to sneeze uncontrollably. This was done in the attempt to distract the enemy soldiers long enough to achieve a breakthrough. First gas attack occurred on the 22nd of April, 1915 on the first day in the Second Battle of Ypres:
- Germans released 150 tons of chlorine gas which was blown by the wind to the Allied trenches.
- This was the first time a poisonous gas was used.
- Initially the French thought it was a smoke screen.
- But when the gas reached them they were terrified and ran.
- The Germans did not anticipate this and so did not capitalize on their initial success.
Mustard gas, chlorine gas and phosgene were the main chemicals used.
- By 1918, though, there were 63 different types of poisonous gases that had been used.
- Chlorine gas caused choking in its victims and caused death by oxygen deprivation.
- It caused tremendous panic when first used and could kill people, however, it was yellow-green in color and so soldiers could see it and prepare for it and it had a strong smell so soldiers could detect it and escape before they inhale too much. Furthermore, it did not kill in large numbers, could be stopped by gas masks, and could be dispersed or carried back to its users by the wind.
- Phosgene gas (first used in December 1915) killed by damaging the lungs of those who inhaled large amounts of it. It did not have a strong smell and so it was nearly impossible to detect that it was there. But it did not kill in large numbers and could be dispersed or returned by the wind.
- Mustard gas or Yperite (first used in September 1917 on the Russians) killed by causing bare skin to blister and by causing both internal and external injuries.
- By the end of the war the Germans were estimated to have released the most gas. They used approximately 68 000 tons.
- By 1915 efficient gas masks were issued but these could not protect soldiers against mustard gas which attacked the skin:
- However, even though by 1915 deaths from gas attacks were becoming very rare both sides stilled used it:
- It injured soldiers and caused great disruptions.
- By 1918 filter respirators were made standard equipment and proved highly effective.
- Because of these innovations the effectiveness of gas was greatly reduced.
- Gas attacks were nerve-racking.
- Gas could be released by:
- Using the wind to blow the gas to the enemy.
- Using specialized shells to deliver it straight into enemy trenches:
- Dangerous as gas leaks were common.
- If gas attacks were followed by infantry assaults:
- Soldiers needed to wear protection:
- This was cumbersome and restricted movement as full body protection was needed to guard against mustard gas.
- Mustard gas burns bare skin.
- Machine guns were the main cause of the stalemate:
- They could kill off infantry and cavalry charges with impunity.
- Especially if these charges were focused in one area in which the barbed wire had been cut.
Tanks:
- First used in the Battle of the Somme at Flers.
- They were unsuccessful at first but were very important in the Allied breakthrough led by Haig in 1918.
- The tanks then faced many problems:
- Early ones could only travel at 6mph.
- They were difficult to maneuver.
- It was difficult for outside commanders to communicate with the tank crews inside.
- They could not overcome mud and soon became stuck in it.
- The tanks were mechanically unreliable:
- After all 17 tanks had broken down before they even managed to arrive at the Front lines at the Battle of Flers.
- Could not overcome ditches.
- Temperatures within could grow to 38°C.
- Crew had to wear leather jerkins:
- Protection against accidentally touching a hot moving part.
- Such as the engine which was not self-enclosed.
- The engine, pilot and all the soldiers were all stuck in the same “room”.
- Noise was deafening:
- Commanders used hand signals to give orders.
- Heat and cramped quarters quickly exhausted soldiers.
- The tanks could be penetrated by the newly designed K bullets and machine gunfire.
- But they could overcome barbed wire and protected their occupants from small arms fire
- Their development had been supported by Winston Churchill.
- To conceal the manufacture of these from enemy spies:
- Manufacturing was done in secret.
- Workers thought that they were making water tanks thus the name.
- At the Battle of Flers, which was an engagement during the Battle of the Somme, 49 tanks were employed. 17 tanks broke down on their way to the Front, 9 failed to work as the operation came underway, and 5 became stuck in ditches during the course of the attack. All in all only 18 tanks made it over no man’s land but these tanks performed admirably.
- They terrified the Germans, some of whom ran away, and allowed the British to advance more than 4 miles in the following 3 days even though it was only on a narrow front.
- However, there were too few tanks, bad weather, and increased German reinforcements and therefore the British could not build on their success.
- At the Battle of Cambrai in November 1917 the entire British Tank Corps of 474 tanks broke through the German lines and allowed the capture of 10 000 German prisoners, 123 artillery guns and 281 machine guns. The success was not sustained due to the lack of infantry reserves.
- In the August 1918 offensive 604 tanks assisted an Allied breakthrough and advance of 32km on the Western Front:
- Even here the tank’s problems had not been solved.
Use of planes:
- 1914, British reconnaissance planes discovered a gap between the two advancing German armies commanded by Bulow and Kluck.
- This allowed the Allies to initiate the Battle of the Marne.
- Fighter planes were developed to combat recon planes.
- Air aces:
- Pilots who had made 5 confirmed kills were heroes.
- Provided a subject for propaganda.
- Red Baron of Germany made over 80 confirmed kills:
- Baron Manfred von Richthofen.
- Captain Albert Ball of the Allies made 43 confirmed kills:
- He was shot down aged 20.
- 1918, aircraft could fly long distances without refueling:
- They could carry cameras, bombs and machine guns.
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