Weapons of War
Updated - Saturday, 26 July, 2003

Other sections of this site devote themselves to considerations of the causes and personalities behind the conflict.

However no history of the war would be complete without an overview of the weapons of war, in all their varying forms.  Thus this area of the site provides summary information of the tools by which the armies conducted war, and include many of the innovations war always brings to the development of weaponry.

For example, while not new the development of poison gases took on a new urgency during 1914-18.  Long-range gun development was hastened.  Some developments were more successful than others: the tank, first developed by the British, was here to stay: but the flame-thrower, aside from its initial terrifying aspect, was short-lived.

	Bayonets (click here) Chiefly used as a psychological weapon
	Flamethrowers (click here) How 'sheets of flame' terrorised the British in 1915
	Grenades (click here) Mills Bombs and Jam Pots: both forms of grenades
	Machine Guns (click here) How the German Army saw its potential before 1914
	Pistols (click here) The officer's weapon
	Poison Gas (click here) First used by the French and popularised by the Germans
	Rifles (click here) Still the infantry's greatest asset
	Tanks (click here) The design and use of tanks during wartime
	Trench Mortars (click here) An ancient weapon given fresh life in the trenches

"Coffin Nails" was a term used by British soldiers to describe cigarettes.

Original Material © Michael Duffy 2000-07, SafeSurf Rated