How did technology change on the western front?

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ARTILLERY:

Artillery bombardments by large heavy guns fired from a distance caused more casualties.

Beginning of war: not very accurate. 1/3 of shells were duds. Sometimes bombarded their own forward trenches.

End of war: artillery was much more powerful and accurate. At the Battle of the Somme the creeping barrage was developed. By 1918, artillery attacks were extremely sophisticated as well.

Artillery was the key weapon of the Great War. When better wireless communication was developed by the end of the war the artillery became more effective, laying down laying down smoke screens or giving cover fire for attackers.

GAS:

First used in April 1915 - Germans used chlorine which wafted on the wind. Initially there was panic as soldiers coughed, retched and struggled to breathe. Soon it became a regular feature.

Aim was to disable enemy troops so infantry charge could be successful.

Later, more lethal gases such as mustard gas, which burned or slowly killed victims over 4-5 weeks. By the end of the war gas masks had been developed to protect soldiers.

Killed 3,000 soldiers - main effect was psychological and fear.

MACHINE GUNS:

Weapon most people associate with appalling conditions.

Beginning of war: machine gun supported the infantry's job of defending the trench.

Guns were heavy and too big to carry. Devastatingly effective weapon as a defensive weapon.

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Could fire 8 bullets per second. Could cut down an infantry charge in minutes. Proved devastating at the Battle of the Somme 1916.

End of war: by 1915 the British had established the first dedicated Machine Guns Corps.

By 1918, most platoons had own machine guns and troops even had lightweight sub - machine guns.

Proved very effective in the capture of St