![]() ![]() Heavily armed and fast, it helped to cement Britain’s naval dominance. The first was the Dreadnought, launched by the British in 1906. The other major development in military technology that occurred in the years running up to 1914 was the steam-driven battleship. It was then rapidly deployed by all the major powers. An early demonstration of the effectiveness of this weapon was in a Japanese attack on the Russian fleet in 1904. The main weapon of the submarine immediately became the torpedo, invented in Britain. At the start of the 20th century, there were about 30 military submarines. ![]() Work in France and the USA led to the first successful military submarines, with Britain, Germany and Italy quickly commissioning their own. The development of the submarine and the torpedo would also prove to be crucial. However, this only limited the development of the delivery systems rather than the gases themselves, in which Germany, Britain and France all had active research programmes. The development of weapons using poisonous gases was limited by the Hague peace conference of 1899. However, smaller and more mobile guns were preferred as these could accurately fire a shell every three seconds. By the outbreak of WWI, a single shell weighing one tonne could be propelled more than 30 kilometres. New artillery was also developed to use the new explosives. By 1914, the most widely used machine gun was the British Maxim, capable of firing a shocking 666 rounds per minute. Machine guns were also brought onto the scene, first invented in the USA. Muskets were being replaced by rifles, which were more accurate. ĭevelopments in gun manufacture were also crucial. Most successful were Poudre B and Cordite MD which burnt in such a way as to provide the required directed pressure needed to propel a projectile, without blowing up the weapon. Further work in the late 19th century especially in Prussia/Germany, Britain and France refined the materials for use in hand-guns and artillery. Gunpowder had been the explosive of choice in war for around 500 years, but new developments in organic chemistry by Alfred Nobel and others led to new materials, initially used in mining. In the years running up to the outbreak of WWI, there were several key developments in military technologies that would lead to high casualties during the war itself.Īrguably the most important were new high explosives. Both of these provided a taster for the carnage of WWI, being characterised by trench warfare in which frontal assaults against well-defended positions led to massacres of infantry soldiers. The first wars in which these new military technologies were used on a large scale included the Crimean War (1854-56) and the American Civil War (1861-65). Advances in chemistry led to new high explosives. Developments in transport were also utilised, with steel becoming standard in battleships and trains starting to be used to quickly ferry large numbers of troops to war zones. A bullet was 30 times more likely to strike its target. The guns were more reliable and hence more accurate. Mass production in factories churned out not only large numbers of standardised guns and bullets, but also boots, uniforms and tents. It was not long before the military started harnessing some of these inventions. Growing exploitation of minerals like coal and iron were especially important, as was the advent of the steam engine – especially in ships and trains. Starting in Europe, major developments transformed a wide range of industries. The late 18th and 19th centuries saw a rapid development in technology which we now, of course, refer to as the Industrial Revolution. Harnessing the Industrial Revolution for war In this article, I examine which technological developments led to the most casualties and what lessons we can draw about science, technology and the military today. The centenary is therefore an important opportunity to reflect on a conflict in which rapid developments in technology led to a huge increase in the devastation that could be caused by war. ![]() Only the Russian Civil War and World War II had higher annual death rates. ![]() As an example of the carnage, the total death toll of the war has been estimated at over 15 million people between July 1914 and November 1918 – an average of about 3.5m per year. And WWI itself is one of the most destructive wars in human history. Dr Stuart Parkinson, SGR, examines how technological innovation contributed to one of the most devastating wars in human history – and asks what lessons we should take from this.Īrticle from SGR Newsletter no.44 online publication: 5 April 2016Ģ016 is the centenary of two of the bloodiest battles of World War I: the Somme and Verdun. ![]()
0 Comments
Leave a Reply. |
AuthorWrite something about yourself. No need to be fancy, just an overview. ArchivesCategories |