chapter 19 section 2 critical thinking 3

In what way did WWI represent a frightening new kind of warfare? Think about:
The casualty figures
New military technology
Shell shock

Before the First World War, wars were fought with dignity and respect. When WWI arrived in 1914 the new ways of war were horrific and frightening. A new advance in warfare was the invention of new technological war weapons. Some such weapons were the machine gun, the biplane (which was built to be faster and tougher), the tank, and chemical warfare. More deaths occurred because of these inventions; the biplane was refitted with machine guns to shoot down enemy planes and it was also fitted with a stronger engine and drop doors to deliver bombs on enemy territory. Tanks were built to traverse No-Man’s-Land and attack the enemy soldiers. These vehicles were built with solid steel plating to deflect enemy fire, and were also fitted with a cannon to blow up barricades. The machine gun was a deadly weapon against the trenches. Once in a while, the enemy would charge from the trench to attack the enemy trench. When this happened, the machine gun would mow down the attackers. The worst new technology was the invention of chemical weapons such as deadly gases. There were four main types of gases: nerve agents, blood agents, choking agents, and blister agents. These types of gases were used to attack the trenches. Because these gases were heavier than air, they would loom in the trenches, and infect the soldiers.
Another frightening result of the new war technologies was the mass amount of war casualties. During the battle of Somme, the British army suffered over 60,000 casualties in the first day. When the battle ended, the casualty toll reached 1.2 million. By the end of the war over 22 million people were killed, 20 million were wounded, and 10 million refugees. In the United States, only lost 48,000 men and 62,000 men were wounded.
There were many effects to the fighting in the battlefield. One of these effects was a condition known as Shellshock. This was a mental condition in which a soldier’s mental state completely collapsed. Some men saw these men as cowards and were killed due to not wanting to fight.