Essay on Description of the New Weapons of World War One

Submitted By tmorg65
Words: 455
Pages: 2

New weapons of WW1 were tanks, aeroplanes and Dirigibles, the Vickers machine gun and poisonous gas. The tank had an interesting role in the First World War. The tank was originally called the Battle of Flers, though the tank was highly unreliable as one would expect new machines. The Mark I tank was invented in 1915.

The Aeroplane and dirigibles

Aeroplanes were firstly used in the WW1 battle in 1914. They were 13 years old during the First World War; they were recently new technology, up until the war. They were invented in 1915. A Dirigible is a type of aerostat, and it can be propelled through the air using rudders and propellers or other thrust mechanisms.

The Vickers machine gun

The Vickers machine gun or Vickers gun was founded by the British machine gun corps in 1915. It was first used in the First World War. They could fire 400-600 calibre rounds per minute.

During previous Wars single shot rifles were used. But then after the industrial revolution new technologies came into existence. Rapid firing machine guns, tanks, planes and gad all wreaked havoc on either side of the battles.

What were the effects of these weapons on the troops?

First of all they used massive wave attacks with a big amount of infantry formations. Because of this they had big trenches built and relied on artillery since assault was suicide due to the machine gun.

Finally they came out with the first tanks then assaults could continue. The tanks could assault positions and were impervious to machine gun fire.

Chemical weapons in WW1 were primarily used to demolish, injure and kill entrenched defenders. The types of weapons employed ranged from disabling chemicals e.g. tear gas and mustard gas, to lethal agents like phosgene and