New Weapons/Technology of WWI
Machine Guns & Poison Gas, Etc.
Machine Guns in WWI
Firing several hundred bullets per minute, machine-guns were devastating weapons, especially when used against enemy troops on open ground.
Poison Gas of WWI
Tanks in WWI
Barbed Wire in WWI
As the trench system finally stabilized, they stretched from the coast of France all the way to Switzerland. The trenches reached a length of over 645 kilometers. Methods to protect the trenches from the enemy were always sought. Thus both sides looked at using barbed wire to slow enemy soldiers from getting into the trench.
As the world became more industrialized before World War One, mass production of barbwire for cattle farms was underway. The military use of barbwire was quickly adapted, by making the barbs longer and sharper. Millions of kilometers of barbed wire were laid by both sides. In some cases, the barbed wire in front of a trench could be 30 or 40 meters wide. The only time it was safe to lay the wire was at night. Work parties of soldiers would be organized to construct or repair barbed wire in front of the trench. This was a very scary job for the soldiers. They had to be very quiet so that the enemy would not think that they were launching an attack and begin shooting at them. Special construction equipment was developed by the men to limit the noise that occurred during construction.