Weapons of World War One

A detailed Summary of Weapons of World War One

Thru 1914 and 1919 World War One was the largest and most important current event happening and during the war technology increased tremendously, but most of the innovations were directed towards weapons and harmful objects of war, such as; rifles and pistols, machine gas, and grenades these three objects of war were examples of technology that changed for the time or were invented. These three things will be discussed and analyzed throughout my paper and proven to be powerful and meaningful in this war.

Rifles and pistols like in every other war they were in existence were a large and significant part of this one too. They were more accurate and powerful thus allowing the men to hit a target from further away with a better chance of hitting where they aimed. Almost all infantry and officers in World War One carried a rifle, pistol or both. They were the most common weapon. Nearly all infantrymen in the First World War used bolt action rifles. This type of rifle had been invented by a Scottish immigrant to the United States, James Paris Lee. The bolt is the device that closes the breech of the barrel. The bolt-action rifle had a metal box, which cartridges were placed on top of a spring. As the bolt was opened, the spr

One of the more popular machine guns was the German Maxim it was widely used and developed throughout the war. The gun was designed by American Hiram Maxim and manufactured in Spandau, Germany. The Germans had 12,500 of these guns in 1914 as compared to the several hundred of the British army. The Germans would produce over 100,000 Maxims during the war. From a British magazine called "Navy and army illustrated", it says, "without the use of the machine gun the Germans would be no more".Thus stating the livelihood and defense of the German and other countries was dependant on the machine guns ability to shoot.

Grenades took a large part of the trench warfare in WWl they were very useful and powerful weapons used to take out many troops at a time. The grenade might be termed a 'niche' weapon. In effect it's a small bomb, but unlike a bomb, it's used on the ground and up close. However, as with most bombs, it is not a precise weapon, scattering destruction in all directions. It gets its name from the French word for 'Pomegranate' and during World War I and beyond it was nicknamed 'Pineapple' because of its serrated shell. Although unsuccessful in the past it was widely used in the trench warfare of WWl because when in the trench the grenade would explode injuring and killing many men at once with its shrapnel. This is a quote from the dairy of Major Ronald Schweder

Weapons in the first World War were very innovative and ahead of their time. Although a lot of the weapons were not completed being revised until after the war, they all proved worthy of killing. The rifle with great accuracy and distance was useful for long distance. The pi

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Approximate Word count = 1122
Approximate Pages = 4 (250 words per page double spaced)

Category: History