World War I will never be a war without Its amazing and terrifying guns and equipment. World War I is one of the most terrifying events in the history of humans, almost 20 million people die leaving their families and friends shattered their whole life. With 30 nations participated in the war there will no plenty of safe places left to hide.
As the war arises, military science makes its way to the scene, developing different equipment for war. Many of the inventions find it`s way to the battlefield, claiming millions of both civilian and soldiers' lives, but many are just tossed in the junkyard because they can`t function properly or it`s not lethal enough. Many of the inventions brought fear to the enemies on the battlefield because of their terrifying sounds and looks. Many of this invention is still used today and some are only be found in museums. Here are some of the equipment that is widely used in World War I:
Rifles
Even though all nations used many kinds of firearms during the first world war, rifles are surely one of the most used weapons. The different rifles used in the First World War were manufactured between 1886 and 1903 during the war. Rifles are the most used because they are the most convenient, not too heavy, not too long but not so short, and they are fit to used in the trenches.
One of the most famous is the Lee-Enfield .303, this rifle was accepted and used in the service in 1902 and remain the principal long-arm rifle of the British soldier until the mid-1950s
Machine Guns
The design of the machine guns in the First World war is from Hiram Maxims in 1884. Machine guns that time can fire 450-600 rounds per minute and that is so deadly. On July 1, 1916, the British suffered 21,000 deaths by the Germans using the Spandau Machines Gun, which is the German version of the Hiram Maxims design.
Flamethrowers
The report shows that infantrymen using some sort of flaming-throwing devices can be found as far back as Ancient China and during the American Civil war some newspapers claimed that Abraham Lincoln test and tried to used flamethrowers. But the first recorder use of hand-held flamethrowers is by the Germans on February 26, 1915, on Malancourt, near Verdun.
Over the course of the war, the Germans utilized 3,000 Flammenwerfer troops, over 650 flamethrower attacks were made. The British and French developed it too but did not use it extensively as the Germans did.
Mortars
In 1915 the British introduced the Stokes Mortar Design, this mortar is far advanced beyond their earlier counterparts. The British mortar has no moving parts and could fire 22 three inches of shells per minute, with the ranges of 1,200 yards.
The Germans developed their own version of the mortar, the Minewerfer or Mine Thrower that had a 10-inch barrel and fired shells loaded with metal balls
Artillery
in the 20th-century traditional weapons, technology was increased its lethality because of the entry of the artillery due to improvements in the design, range and it`s ammunition. As the record says artillery killed more people than any other kind of weapon in World War.
Poison Gas
The First World War is also called the Chemis War because in this war new biochemical weapons are introduce by different nations to be deployed on the battlefield. On April 22, 1915, the Germans fired cylinders containing chlorine gas in the Ypres area, this is the beginning of gas attacks in the First World War.
I wrote a different article about this chlorine gas and other poison gas that is used in the First World War, here's the link
https://read.cash/@MWSA/ruthless-brains-e989ff51
Tanks
The Land Battleships go back as far as the Medieval Era, the plans for this idea are found in the drawing of Leonardo da Vinci. The weapon came to reality during the First World War. The name tank was named by the British as they secretly developing the weapon. The first British tank is named Little Willie, Weighed 14 tons and have a top speed of 3 miles per hour.
Tanks were deployed in small numbers in support of an infantry attack. But on November 20, 1917, the British launch the first massive tank formation of the war in the Battle of Cambrai. The British deployed 470 tanks for the battle, however, the French already win a war in the great war on October 23, 1917, this is the most impressive victory of the French using 76 tanks.
Sources:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mark_IV_tank
https://www.mentalfloss.com/article/63365/wwi-centennial-gas-attack-ypres
https://www.historyhit.com/important-artillery-weapons-from-world-war-one/
https://www.theworldwar.org/learn/wwi/artillery
https://www.theworldwar.org/learn/wwi/artillery
https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Stokes_mortar_AA_mounting-3.jpg
https://rarehistoricalphotos.com/flamethrowers-world-war-1/
https://weaponsandwarfare.com/2020/07/11/machine-guns-wwi-issue-organization-and-doctrine/
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lee%E2%80%93Enfield
https://www.britannica.com/event/World-War-I