Essay On The Effects Of New Weapons On World War 1

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Tyler Rudolph Dr. Von Sturm-Day Composition 1 25 October 2009 The Effects of New Weapons on World War 1, 1914-1918 World War I signified the end of the era when civilians watched their champions on the battlefield. It became a war of knowledge and people, using the brains of scientists and inventors of the homeland. They created new weapons, which consumed awesome numbers of men and in time, led to a war on the ground, sea, and air. Differences in warfare became inevitable, and made thinking and ideas very important. The nations were introduced to new weapons such as poison gas, machine guns, submarines, airplanes, more advanced artillery, and tanks ( Prior, Wilson 129). Each of these weapons changed a certain part of warfare and how the armies of the war would defeat their enemy. World War I had been sparked by many reasons, long term and short term. The ultimate long term reason for the war was the unification of Germany in 1871. It upset the balance of power in Europe achieved in 1815 (Cottrell, Browne 29). Other long…show more content…
The submarine dates back to the Civil War, where the Confederate Hunley actually sank a ship Charleston harbor in 1864. Submarines during World War 1 were very effective against the destruction of non-submerged boats because there were no means of protection against submarines. The enemies did not have sonar or electronic gear to track the submarines, making them sitting ducks and very vulnerable to a devastating attack. The only protection the fleets of boats had were submarine nets and mines that were laid in the water. Even those were easily dodged by the submarines and had no effect on their future attacks against the boats. This break in defense led to six thousand sunken vessels by all powers combined by the end of 1917. As a result, ships would develop sonar and electronic devices to detect submarines and luckily needed in World War
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