Kendall Ammerman

14 September 2016

Machine Gun
In 1884 Hiram Maxim designed the first machine gun and changed the way that World
War I would be fought and war in general from that point on. The machine gun brought a new
defensive strategy as well as offensive to the war that was highly effective for multiple countries.

Before the machine gun rifles were used in war. Rifles shot one bullet at a time and then
you had to re load it. The machines gun gave soldiers the ability to shoot hundreds of bullets in
just one minute. The machine gun was rapid and could shoot continuously which gave soldiers
and countries who had them an advantage. In the war the French was able to use machine guns
as a defensive strategy and the British suffered a record high 60,000 casualties in just one day
because of this strategy. The British were attacked by one set point lined with machine guns on
their potential routes in.

When using a machine gun you dont have to take careful aim at your target as you would
if using a rife. Since the machine gun is designed to shoot continuously you can shoot the enemy
in a wave without taking time to aim at each person. This raised the number of causalities in war
rapidly.

The machine gun was the major cause of death in World War I. The machine gun gave
countries the ability to shoot down the enemy quickly and efficiently. It proved deadly from the

first day by being the primary cause of 60,000 causalities in just the first day of war. The
weapon changed the strategies and the pace of the war.