Why Is New Technology Important In World War 1
Asses the significance of new technology in influencing British victory in World War 1
‘No modern nation could fight for its life with its men in uniform only; it must mobilise.’1 In a sense this captures the significance of technology in influencing British victory in the First World War. ‘World War 1 is often depicted as a war of machines in which technology and science played a pivotal role’2 although it was not just the new technology in which significantly influenced British victory in World War 1, it is the development and evolving of older technology, such as the tank and machine guns as well as a change in the way war was fought. The nature of the fighting in World War 1 ‘represents a fundamental change in the nature of warfare’3 …show more content…
Existing technology’s had caused the stalemate, and it became clear that there was to be development of new weapons and tactics in order to break the tedious stalemate that had arose, in essence ‘Trench warfare was determined by the technology available to the military’6. This led to the technological advance of chemical warfare, with the first attack using chlorine gas in 1915 by the Germans in Ypres, which in turn led to around 70,000 casualties. Mustard gas was later developed and described as a ‘demoralising new weapon.’7 However, gas was not a deciding factor in the First World War, as ‘neither side had a marked superiority’8 which is also backed up by the idea that gas ‘proved useful in allied advances in 1918 but even here they were little more than a minor addition to the major weapons of war’9 both sides used gas and its use was dependent on which way the wind was blowing, there was a high risk that soldiers would get it blown back in their face, as was found out by British troops in the Battle of Loos in 1915. It was also suggested that damage caused by gas nowhere near as damaging of that done by artillery and …show more content…
However, Germany regarded this early failure as a complete failure of the tanks, which essentially worked to the British advantage ‘the Germans dismissed tanks on the basis of their September 1916 experience on the Somme.’18 although the invention of the tank was a paradigm shift in technology which broke stalemate it was also due to the advancement in leadership skills which meant
‘No modern nation could fight for its life with its men in uniform only; it must mobilise.’1 In a sense this captures the significance of technology in influencing British victory in the First World War. ‘World War 1 is often depicted as a war of machines in which technology and science played a pivotal role’2 although it was not just the new technology in which significantly influenced British victory in World War 1, it is the development and evolving of older technology, such as the tank and machine guns as well as a change in the way war was fought. The nature of the fighting in World War 1 ‘represents a fundamental change in the nature of warfare’3 …show more content…
Existing technology’s had caused the stalemate, and it became clear that there was to be development of new weapons and tactics in order to break the tedious stalemate that had arose, in essence ‘Trench warfare was determined by the technology available to the military’6. This led to the technological advance of chemical warfare, with the first attack using chlorine gas in 1915 by the Germans in Ypres, which in turn led to around 70,000 casualties. Mustard gas was later developed and described as a ‘demoralising new weapon.’7 However, gas was not a deciding factor in the First World War, as ‘neither side had a marked superiority’8 which is also backed up by the idea that gas ‘proved useful in allied advances in 1918 but even here they were little more than a minor addition to the major weapons of war’9 both sides used gas and its use was dependent on which way the wind was blowing, there was a high risk that soldiers would get it blown back in their face, as was found out by British troops in the Battle of Loos in 1915. It was also suggested that damage caused by gas nowhere near as damaging of that done by artillery and …show more content…
However, Germany regarded this early failure as a complete failure of the tanks, which essentially worked to the British advantage ‘the Germans dismissed tanks on the basis of their September 1916 experience on the Somme.’18 although the invention of the tank was a paradigm shift in technology which broke stalemate it was also due to the advancement in leadership skills which meant