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 - Developments at the end of the 19 century led
to rifles that were smaller and capable of firing
multiple rounds
- Used regularly in trench warfare by snipers
- Crucial part of war efforts, all other weapons
were cumbersome and difficult to use
- Some problems arose as the rifles took a long
time to load


 - Brought a new element to war, as troops who
went over the top were immediately shot down by
machine gun fire Ô increased casualties
- Most British battalions were only issued with 2,
as senior officers were not convinced of its
effectiveness.
- Required a crew of 4 ʹ 6 operators, mostly used
as a defensive weapon, became more offensive as
lighter models became available.
c

 - Well suited to trenches, short range, designed to
 drop directly onto the enemy Ô an old invention
brought back.
- Could be fired from relative safety, Germans
began use early, having prepared new mortars
before the war began.



- The main rifle used by the British
was the Lee-Enfield, particularly
popular with snipers. To combat this
rifle, the German soldiers used the
Mauser rifle, a similar model.
- German͛s brought out their own
version of the Maxim͛s British
machine gun and ended up with far
more than the British (had more faith
in the invention)
- Use of mortars took Britain and
France by surprise and forced them
to scramble to find old Napoleonic
and South African mortars to use.
- In late 1915, British produced their
first mortar, caught up to the
Germans and went on to surpass
them with the Stokes mortar.
 - In August 1914, Germans used the 42cm
howitzer (Big Bertha), only four of these were
produced, and all used in the assault on Verdun.
When this failed, the guns were decommissioned.
- In 1918, the Paris Gun was used by German
armies, the largest piece of artillery used in the
war by barrel length. Used to shell Paris from
120km away. Was not a great success, accuracy
was only good enough for ͞city-sized targets͟, but
was a successful psychological weapon against
Paris, a ͞propaganda weapon͟.


 - First used for delivering bombs and espionage,
but eventually developed with machine guns and
trap doors through which bombs could be
dropped. Fixed guns did not appear until the end
of the war.
- Used in 1915 by French, soon adopted by British
and Russians. First British Fighter Plane developed
in 1916.


 - First used by the Germans on the Somme,
barbed wire entanglements were used to slow
attacking troops and channel them into a specific
͚killing zone͛. Particularly useful for trench
warfare, but were also able to stop early tanks etc.
nd
 - Germans first used Chlorine gas at Ypres on 22
April 1915. Causes death by asphyxiation.
- Both German and Allied forced then turned to
Phosgene, more potent as it did not cause
coughing fits, meaning more could be inhaled.
- French Aviation forces located the
Paris Gun with some difficulty, and
then set about using their own long
range artillery (though nowhere near
the size of its opponent) to attempt
to damage it. Bombs were also
dropped from the air onto the
placement. The Paris Gun was
eventually taken back to Germany
amid fears it would be captured
under an allied attack.
- First German planes appeared in
1916, as a reaction to the aeroplanes
used by allied powers, particularly in
surveillance.
- Also used in ͚jam tin bombs͛ (British
and Australian). The bombs were
filled with shell fragments and
barbed wire to make shrapnel.
- First gas use by Germans was
immediately condemned as
͚uncivilised͛ and used heavily in
propaganda.
- British were the first to respond to
 Mixtures of phosgene and chlorine gas then
became common.
- Mustard Gas was introduced by the Germans in
1917 and was more deadly, was fired into
trenches in shells. Causes burns on skin and
internally, blistering and bleeding. Death could
take up to 5 weeks Ô filled up hospitals with
casualties. Stayed in the ground for weeks in cold
temperatures, causing the one disadvantage ʹ
capture of enemy trenches was difficult.
- Used as a way to break the constant stalemates.
*

 - Also known as a blimp.
- Used by Germans in the early parts of the war in
bombing raids, carried bombs and machine guns

 
 - First used by German forces from October 1914
on the Western Front. Use was sporadic and not
noted by allies until 1915, when portable
flamethrowers terrified Allied forces.
- Two models were developed, a lighter, smaller
model, suitable for use by one person and a larger
model which needed more than one operator and
could sustain flames for 40 seconds. By the close
of the war, flamethrowers had also been fitted to
tanks.
- Useful at short range, but not very effective over
long distances.


 - Germans began grenade use at the outset of the
war, with 70 000 hand grenades. Bombing teams
were used to throw grenades into enemy
trenches.
- More than 50 different grenade types were
developed throughout the war, most used
grenade at the close of the war was the British
͚Mills Bomb͛, a fragmentation bomb introduced in
1915.
c - Tanks were only developed for use at the
beginning of the war, around 1915. Though the
design had been around since the late 1800͛s in
Britain, the military saw little use for them until
war eventually broke out.
- First used at the Battle of the Somme in 1916 by
the British, developed to cope with conditions of
Western Front (mud, etc). First tanks, ͚Little Willie͛
needed a crew of 3, could not cross trenches and
had a max speed of 3 mph, 2 in rough terrain as
was experienced.
- Some problems arose quickly, the tanks were
deployed before they were battle ready and
would break down or become stuck in a muddy
trench.
- More modern tanks developed toward the end
of the war. Carried 10 men, max speed of 4 mph.
- By the end of the war, the British had 2636 tanks,
the French had 3870 and the Germans, only 20.
Tanks were developed and made trench warfare
redundant, restoring movement to the battlefield.
gas, also using Chlorine gas, but had
difficulties as the gas was blown back
into British trenches.
- Allied forces followed German
developments in gas constantly,
turning to Mustard Gas once the
Germans had introduced it. However,
the Germans ended the war as the
heaviest users of gas, with the French
nd
coming in 2 .
- Allies shot them out of the sky
easily, were soon abandoned by
German army.
- Britain and France quickly adopted
the German weapon, making their
own developments to the concept.
- British made 2 ton models, built
directly into a forward trench, useful
for clearing trenches but were
abandoned as they had no further
use.
- French produced their own portable
flamethrower, superior to the
German model, used in 1917-1918.
- British had grenades, but were
slower to use them and lacking in
supplies.
- British grenades were of inferior
quality, and often would resort to
making jam tin bombs.
- The French, around 1916 also, were
independently working on tank
designs, having seen the British, but
were sceptical as to its effectiveness.
Their tanks were not used until 1917.
- In 1917, the U.S. took note of British
tank use and began their own
developments in the area.
- German developments began, albeit
slowly, after the Battle of Cambrai in
1917, where British tanks
demonstrated their first real success.
German Military operations were still
sceptical as to its battle value. It
wasn͛t until 1918 that the first
German tanks appeared, at Villers
Bretonneux