One of the most imporant things to understand about World War I is the momentous changes new technologies brough to warfare. Almost everymajor conflict of the past several centuries has been influenced by at least one new invention or other technology not available in earlier wars. Obvious examples range from more powerful and easier-to-use firearms, steam-powered warships, and teleghraphic communications during the 19th century to the GPS guidance tools, smart bombs and drone reconnaissaince of our modern age.
What sets World War I apart from other wars is both the large number of technological innovations used and the enormity of their impact on the conduct of the war itself. The war's new weapons, forms of transportation, and forms of communication greatly changed the ways in which all future wars would be fought. It is fair to say that military and government leaders on both sides of the war did not always know how the new technologies should be used and were often surprised by their impacts.
Read the article on WWI weapons here and watch this two-minute video here
- Look at pages on weapons in the Eyewitness World War I book
- Read Treaties, Trenches, Mud and Blood pages 61-72
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