2. Casualties
Military Military
Wounded Dead
Great Britain 2,090,212 908,371
France 4,266,000 1,375,800
U.S. 205,690 50,585
Russia 4,950,000 1,700,000
Germany 4,247,143 1,808,546
Austria- 3,260,000 922,500
Hungary
Other Combatants
3. Q: Why were the casualties so much more
devastating than in previous wars?
Tactics did not
keep up with
technology.
5. Machine guns were designed for trench
warfare.
• Greater range than any previous weapon.
• Faster rate of fire – typically 400-600
rounds per minute.
Maschinengewehr
German Machine Gun
6. Military tactics were still rooted in the 18th
century.
Frontal attacks reminiscent of the Napoleonic
era.
Failure to recognize dominant shift of
advantage to defender.
Vickers Gun
British Machine Gun
7. POISON GAS
• First used by the French, first used effectively by
the Germans .
Chlorine gas
• attacked lungs
British Gas • Phosgene gas
Bombs Exploding • slower acting attack on lungs
•Mustard gas
• nearly odorless blister agent
• did not evaporate as quickly as chlorine
or phosgene, made it a problem to capture
areas previously gassed.
8. POISON GAS
• Wind shifts could blow your chemicals back in your direction.
• By the end of the war, protective gear had made gas much less effective.
British
soldier in
protective
gear
9. TANKS
Early Tanks
• Mechanically unreliable
• Became “ditched”
But these shortcomings were quickly overcome
When the first British tanks appeared on the battlefield at Flers, the
Germans abandoned their positions.
MORE TANK STUFF
U.S. tank America
10. TANK TACTICS
Initially, tanks were used to tear down barbed wire and overrun enemy
positions for infantry occupation.
The tanks would punch through then stop, and let the infantry
move in to “mop up”.
Later strategy involved massing large numbers of tanks as the primary
attacking force.
The tanks would punch through the lines, then continue through
enemy positions to destroy enemy command and control
capabilities.
YouTube - World War One - Tanks
