New Weapons and Technology

The First World War saw the introduction of a range of new weapons and technologies that transformed warfare. Machine guns, poison gas, tanks, and aircraft all played significant roles on the battlefield. This lesson covers the key technologies, how they were used, and their impact on the course of the war.

---

Machine Guns

The machine gun was the weapon that, more than any other, created the stalemate on the Western Front.

Aspect	Detail
Rate of fire	A single machine gun could fire 400–600 rounds per minute
Effect	Made frontal infantry assaults across open ground suicidal. A few machine guns could hold off hundreds of attackers
Limitation	Heavy and difficult to move; overheated and jammed; required a team to operate
Impact on tactics	Forced both sides into the trenches. Infantry could not advance against concentrated machine gun fire without enormous casualties

Exam Tip: The machine gun is the single most important weapon for explaining the stalemate. Always emphasise how it gave the defender a decisive advantage over the attacker.

---

Artillery

Artillery (heavy guns and howitzers) was the dominant weapon of the war. It caused more casualties than any other weapon — approximately 60% of all deaths were caused by shell fire.

Type	Description
Field guns	Mobile guns used to fire at targets in direct line of sight
Howitzers	Fired shells at a high angle to hit targets behind cover (e.g., trenches)
Heavy siege guns	Massive guns like the German "Big Bertha" that could destroy fortifications

Impact	Detail
Bombardments	Massive artillery bombardments preceded major offensives. The Somme bombardment fired 1.7 million shells over 7 days
Creeping barrage	Artillery fire moved forward in stages just ahead of advancing infantry — a key tactical innovation from 1916 onwards
Counter-battery fire	Targeting enemy artillery positions became increasingly sophisticated
Destruction	Artillery destroyed trenches, created craters, and churned the landscape into a moonscape of mud

---

Poison Gas

Poison gas was first used on a large scale by Germany at the Second Battle of Ypres in April 1915.

Type of Gas	Date of First Use	Effects
Chlorine	April 1915	Attacked the lungs, causing choking and suffocation. Greenish-yellow cloud, distinctive smell
Phosgene	December 1915	More lethal than chlorine but harder to detect (nearly odourless). Caused delayed death through lung damage
Mustard gas	July 1917	Caused severe blistering of the skin, eyes, and lungs. Not immediately lethal but incapacitated soldiers for weeks or months. Could linger in soil and clothing

Aspect	Detail
Delivery	Initially released from canisters (dependent on wind direction). Later fired in artillery shells
Countermeasures	Gas masks became standard issue. By 1918, effective respirators reduced gas casualties significantly
Casualties	Gas caused approximately 1.3 million casualties during the war, of which around 90,000 were fatal
Psychological impact	The fear of gas was often worse than its actual effect. The unpredictability and horror of gas attacks caused widespread terror

Exam Tip: Gas was more of a terror weapon than a decisive battlefield weapon. It caused significant casualties but never led to a strategic breakthrough. This is an important evaluation point in exam answers.

---

Tanks

The tank was developed by the British to break the stalemate by crossing trenches, crushing barbed wire, and providing mobile firepower.

Key Date	Event
September 1916	Tanks first used at the Battle of Flers-Courcelette (part of the Somme). 49 tanks deployed, but many broke down or got stuck
November 1917	Battle of Cambrai — 474 tanks achieved a significant breakthrough, advancing 5 miles in one day. However, gains were not held due to lack of infantry support

Strengths	Weaknesses
Could cross trenches and crush barbed wire	Extremely slow (maximum 4 mph)
Resistant to small arms fire	Mechanically unreliable; many broke down
Terrifying to enemy troops who had never seen them	Vulnerable to artillery fire
By 1918, tanks were more reliable and used more effectively	Hot, noisy, and uncomfortable for crews; carbon monoxide poisoning was common

Exam Tip: Tanks in WWI were important mainly as a proof of concept. They showed the potential for armoured warfare, but they were too slow, unreliable, and few in number to be decisive. Their full potential would only be realised in WWII.

---

Aircraft

At the start of the war, aircraft were used only for reconnaissance (observing enemy positions). By 1918, they had evolved into formidable weapons.

Role	Detail
Reconnaissance	Observing enemy positions, troop movements, and directing artillery fire
Fighter combat	Pilots engaged in dogfights (aerial combat). Famous aces included the Red Baron (Manfred von Richthofen, 80 kills) and Britain's Albert Ball
Bombing	Both sides carried out bombing raids on enemy positions, supply lines, and (later) cities
Ground attack	By 1918, aircraft strafed (machine-gunned) enemy trenches and troop columns

Key Developments

Development	Detail
Interrupter gear	Allowed machine guns to fire through the propeller arc without hitting the blades (developed 1915)
Air superiority	Whoever controlled the skies could direct artillery more accurately and bomb enemy positions
Strategic bombing	German Zeppelin airships and Gotha bombers attacked British cities, killing around 1,400 civilians

---

Key Dates

Date	Event
April 1915	First large-scale use of chlorine gas at Ypres
September 1916	First use of tanks at the Somme
July 1917	Mustard gas first used
November 1917	Mass tank attack at Cambrai

---

Exam Focus: Worked Q7 Paragraph on New Weapons

Question (Paper 1, Q7, 12 marks, AO1+AO2): Has the tank been the most important new technology of the First World War? Explain your answer.

Worked paragraph on the limited importance of tanks: Although the tank has become the iconic weapon of the First World War, it was less decisive in 1914–18 than poison gas, the machine gun, or — most importantly — artillery. The tank (originally codenamed "landship") was first used at the Battle of Flers-Courcelette on 15 September 1916 during the Somme, when 49 Mark I tanks were deployed; only around 32 reached the starting line, and of those most broke down. The Mark IV of 1917 was more reliable, and 450 tanks advanced almost four miles on the first day of the Battle of Cambrai (20 November 1917) — the first significant tank success. At Amiens (8 August 1918), over 500 tanks contributed to the "Black Day of the German Army." Yet the war was won and lost by artillery, which caused an estimated 60 per cent of all casualties on the Western Front, and by the machine gun, whose defensive dominance created the stalemate in the first place. The tank's importance was prospective: it showed the future direction of warfare without actually winning the war it appeared in.

---

Progressing Through the AQA Levels

Level 1 response (simple, 1–3 marks)

"Tanks were important because they were new. They were used at the Somme and helped win the war." — Simple; no specific detail.