World War I
World War 1 goes by many aliases – The Great War, even “the war to end all wars” – and, during the time period, these names were justly given. World War 1 was extraordinarily devastating. Nearly all of the known world was dragged into the conflict, hence the name of the war. This war was not only devastating, but it was the first of its kind. This war shattered the traditional methods of war, rendering them useless, with the new methods of war. Not only did new methods of war blossom, but technology grew at shockingly rapid pace, introducing killing machines that would define a new era of war.
The methods of war incorporated before WWI could be considered almost civilized in comparison with the methods used during WWI. The newest tactic incorporated was known as trench warfare. This type of warfare was deathly and pushed soldiers to their limits. According to a selection from Modern Warfare by Frances Malino (4a), each opposing side dug trenches, protected the fronts with barbed wire and land mines, and tried to destroy each other from their own trenches via guns and grenades. The trenched were disease ridden and filthy, lacking food and clean water, and the soldiers had to stay in them for days, sometimes even longer. Many soldiers died fighting in the trenches, not from bullets, but from disease. As recorded from one soldier, “we ate mud, bathed mud, slept in mud, and dreamed mud.” Often times, trench warfare between opposing sides was met with long and tedious stalemates. In order to break these stalemates, something was needed – something that the opponent did not have, something that would render any skill they had at all useless – technology. The level of technology during WWI grew so rapidly that it was frightening. The same selection from Modern Warfare (4b) shows four new weapons incorporated by WWI. The tank was the first weapon to be used to end a stalemate on the Western Front during WWI. The tank had the ability to pass through...