WORLD WAR I
CAUSES AND COURSE OF THE WAR
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Question
[CLICK ON ANY CHOICE TO KNOW THE RIGHT ANSWER]
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They gave Germany a strong technological advantage on the Eastern Front.
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They contributed to high casualty rates by allowing troops to attack targets miles away.
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They supported Allied offensives by allowing troops to move into “no-man’s land.”
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They helped prolong the stalemate because they made it difficult for troops to advance.
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Detailed explanation-1: -What impact did rapid-fire machine guns have on the course of the war? They contributed to high casualty rates by allowing troops to attack targets miles away.
Detailed explanation-2: -The machine gun came to represent the use of technology applied to weaponry. The power it gave to a single man made the offensive doctrine of the European powers obsolete, forcing the armies on the Western Front into trenches. All of the combatants were left with the option to dig in or be annihilated.
Detailed explanation-3: -Machine guns and rapid-firing artillery, when used in combination with trenches and barbed-wire emplacements, gave a decided advantage to the defense, since these weapons’ rapid and sustained firepower could decimate a frontal assault by either infantry or cavalry.
Detailed explanation-4: -Direct Firepower↑ Following the onset of positional warfare, machine guns gained notoriety as highly effective direct-fire weapons. They could theoretically fire over 500 rounds per minute (rpm), but this was not normal in combat, where “rapid fire” generally consisted of repeated bursts amounting to 250 rpm.
Detailed explanation-5: -In 1918, a series of major German and Allied offensives broke the stalemate of trench warfare on the Western Front, resulting in the near-collapse of the German Army and the end of the fighting before the end of the year.