Introduction
For this unit I intend to learn some about some of the most iconic things in WWI and the impact they had. I will do this though the exploration of 5 artifacts that were used in the war.
For this unit I intend to learn some about some of the most iconic things in WWI and the impact they had. I will do this though the exploration of 5 artifacts that were used in the war.
M1911
The M1911 was the standard issue sidearm of the United States during the First World War, and many more preceding it. This firearm represents the explosion in technological advancement preceding and during the Great War. The design was simple yet reliable and incredibly cheap to manufacture. The attributes were staples of WWI. Although, this weapon stands out among others. This firearm has been in production for over 100 years as of late. The lasting legacy of this firearm shows the impact the first World War had.
German U-Boats
I chose this artifact because it was one of the most powerful and new technologies that the Germans used to fight the allies. This influential hunk of metal was later copied by most other military powers for its ability to do exceptional combat at sea.
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During WWI, naval combat sprung out of its infancy that the world knew for hundreds of years and Germany showed the world the future of where battles among the sea would progress. Germany possessed the first submarine to ever be used in battle and used it to great success, "German U-boats, though numbering only 38, achieved notable successes against British warships; but because of the reactions of neutral powers....In April 1917, 430 Allied and neutral ships totaling 852,000 tons were sunk." https://www.britannica.com/technology/U-boat .
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Barbed Wire
What began as a seemingly innocuous 19th Century innovation in livestock enclosures would eventually go on to become one of the most potent symbols of the inhumanity of the First World War. Barbed wire was a staple of trench warfare with every battlefield being littered with the stuff. This former control method for cattle changed to become the ultimate stopping force for a progressing army.
https://militaryhistorynow.com/2014/01/08/barbed-wire-war-how-one-farmers-innovation-changed-the-battlefield/ |
Zeppelins/ Airships
I chose airships/ zeppelins because they were commonplace in WWI and they had many purposes and were extremely terrifying and foreboding to anyone who laid eyes on them. They were so influential in fact, they remained popular well after the war was over.
https://www.wired.com/2014/10/world-war-i-zeppelins/ |
Although the allies used Zeppelins, Germans had a better grasp on the use of them and they were far more destructive and terrifying in Germany's hands. These massive hydrogen filled airships had the capability of bombing, but that wasn't the main power of the zeppelin. Their main power was what they did in intimidation. Like a puffer-fish, they intimidated attackers and civilians to believing they were much stronger than they actually were. "They did more damage keeping people awake than actual physical damage," says Jeffery S. Underwood, a historian at the United States Air Force Museum at Wright-Patterson Air Force Base in Ohio. Zeppelins "scared the living daylights" out of the British. The Germans believed that bombing civilians would bring panic in the cities, leading the British government to collapse—or at least pull out of the fighting and leave the French on their own on the Western Front.
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British Mark V
The British Mark V was the metaphorical peak of war time technological advancement. A hulking mass of steel and firepower. When first deployed, the Germans ran in fear over what they saw as an imperishable mobile fort. While it was soon found out how to slow/disable or even destroy these beasts, their success was nothing to scoff at. These blueprints laid out the foundation of future warfare, focused on mobility and speed (German Blitzkrieg).
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I choose this artifact because World War 1 influenced an arms race that lasted over 50 years, and along that race, there have been milestones to look at and reflect. The Mark V is a perfect example. The technological peak of advancement during the first World War showed that there was a much larger area to explore in warfare, other than infantry.
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