Today is Veterans Day in the U.S.,
Remembrance Day in the British Commonwealth, National Day in Poland, and Armistice Day in Belgium and France. The holiday marks the end
of World War I, a four-year conflict whose cease-fire took effect on the
eleventh hour of the eleventh day of the eleventh month of 1918. Once described
as "the war to end all wars", World War I tested – some say shattered – the
West's vision of a peaceful, ever-prosperous future built upon a foundation of
technological innovation. The clash of 20th military technology with 19th century
military tactics was particularly bloody.
The First Barrage
Most of World War I's 40 million casualties were caused by
artillery fire. At the beginning of the conflict, artillery was sited along the
front lines to bombard visible targets such as enemy infantry. As the war
continued, however, the armies dug them themselves into trenches, requiring both
sides to deploy spotters and develop new plans of attack. Gunners
used increasingly complicated calculations, and individual weapons were aimed
so that their shot formed part of a pattern. In 1915, the term "barrage" was
first used in the English language, in military orders for the Battle of Neuve
Chapelle.
Anti-Aircraft Guns
The world's first "box barrage" wasn't the only
artillery-related innovation of the Great War. World War I also witnessed the use
of powerful anti-aircraft guns. Although some historians argue that
anti-aircraft weapons were first used during the American Civil War, when
Confederate forces fired upon the Union's
Balloon Corps, the German arms maker Krupp perfected the ballonkanone during the Franco-Prussian War of 1870. By the start
of World War I, Krupp had developed a 75-m 12-pounder that came mounted on a
large traverse. But balloons were no longer the greatest threat from the air.
Initially, German aircraft were used to coordinate artillery
fire. To counteract this tactic, the French and Russian armies deployed 75-mm guns
of their own, typically propping the barrels on hills and pointing the muzzles
skyward. The British outfitted their own forces with an entirely new weapon,
but the Germans responded by deploying a revolving cannon. Dubbed by Allied
fliers as the "flaming onion", the German gun had five barrels and could launch
a series of 37-mm artillery shells.
Resources:
http://www1.va.gov/opa/vetsday/vetdayhistory.asp
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Barrage_(artillery)
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Barrage_(artillery)#World_War_I
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Anti-aircraft_warfare
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