As you know, the First World War was one of the largest and bloodiest in history. The weapons of the First World War were very diverse. Almost all existing types of weapons were used in the fighting, including new ones.
Aviation
Aviation was widely used - at first it was used for reconnaissance, and then used to bombard the army at the front and in the rear, as well as to attack civilian villages and cities. For raids on the cities of England and France, in particular Paris, Germany used airships (often used weapons of the First World War, they were also called "zeppelins" - in honor of the designer F. Zeppelin).
Heavy artillery
The British in 1916 for the first time began to use a small number of armored vehicles (ie tanks) at the front. By the end of the war, they were already causing great damage to the German army. The army from France was armed with a tank called the Renault FT-17, which was used to support the infantry. Armored cars (armored vehicles equipped with machine guns or cannons) also receivedapplication in those years. During the First World War, as is known, almost all powers were armed with easel machine guns as artillery means for conducting combat operations (close combat). The Russian army had at its disposal 2 models of such machine guns (modifications of the H. S. Maxim system, an American designer) and Vickers machine guns. During the war years, the number of light machine guns used (another common weapon of the First World War) increased significantly.
Chemical weapons
Back in January 1915, chemical weapons were used for the first time on the Russian front. In pursuit of success, the participants in the hostilities did not stop at the violation of customs and laws - the First World War was so unprincipled. Chemical weapons were used on the Western Front in April 1915 by the German command (poison gases) - a new means of mass extermination. Chlorine gas was released from the cylinders. Heavy greenish-yellow clouds, creeping along the very ground, rushed towards the Anglo-French troops. Those who were in the infection radius began to suffocate. As a countermeasure, about 200 chemical plants were rapidly created in Russia. The weapons of the First World War required modernization. To ensure the success of operations, artillery was used - simultaneously with the release of gases, artillery fire was opened. Photos of weapons of the First World War can be seen in our article.
Shortly afterboth sides began using poison gases at the front, the famous Russian academician and chemist N. D. Zelinsky invented a coal gas mask that saved the lives of many thousands of people.
Navy weapons
The war, in addition to land, was also fought on the seas. In March 1915, the whole world learned the terrible news: a submarine from Germany sank the huge passenger ship Lusitania. More than a thousand civilian passengers died. And in 1917, the so-called unlimited submarine warfare of German submarines began. The Germans openly declared their intention to sink not only the ships of opponents, but also neutral countries in order to deprive England of access to allies and colonies, thereby leaving her without bread and industrial raw materials. German submarines sank many hundreds of passenger and merchant ships in England and neutral countries.
Road transport
It should be noted that the Russian army at that time was poorly provided with road transport. In total, at the beginning of hostilities there were 679 vehicles. By 1916, there were already 5.3 thousand cars in the army, and another 6.8 thousand were produced this year, because this was required by the First World War. Weapons and troops needed to be transported. These are quite impressive figures, however, for example, the French army, which was twice as small in size, had 90,000 vehicles by the end of the war.
First World War Small Arms
- Officer's pistol "Parabellum", 1908The capacity of the magazine "Parabellum" according to the standard was 8 rounds. For the needs of the fleet, it was lengthened to 200 mm, and the naval version of the weapon also had a fixed sight. "Parabellum" was the main regular officer model. All Kaiser officers were armed with this weapon.
- "Mauser" - a pistol of horse rangers. The magazine capacity was 10 rounds and the weight was 1.2 kg. The maximum range of the shot was 2000 m.
- Officer's pistol "Mauser" (application - World War I). The weapon was a small pocket type. Advantages - good accuracy of fire.
- Soldier's pistol "Dreyze" (1912). Barrel length - 126 mm, weight - 1050 g without cartridges, drum capacity - 8, caliber - 9 mm. This weapon was quite heavy and complex, but powerful enough to provide soldiers with the necessary self-defense in hand-to-hand trench combat.
- Mondragon self-loading rifle (1908) The caliber of this weapon is 7 mm, the weight is 4.1 kg, the magazine capacity was 10 rounds, and the effective range was 2000 m. It was the first self-loading rifle in history, used in battles. Oddly enough, the weapon was developed in Mexico, and the level of technical capabilities in this country was extremely low. The main disadvantage is extreme sensitivity to pollution.
- 9 mm MP-18 submachine gun (1918). The magazine capacity was 32 cartridges, caliber - 9 mm, weight without cartridges - 4.18 kg, with cartridges - 5.3 kg, automatic fire only. This weapon was designed to increase the firepower of the infantry, to conductwars in new conditions. It gave delays when firing and was sensitive to pollution, but showed greater combat effectiveness and density of fire.
