Research Guides: World War I: Technological Advances

Technological Advancement

5 technological innovations from WW1
War has always had a tendency to accelerate innovation and invention, and WW1 – with its bizarre clash of 19th and 20th century ideas and technologies – was no exception. From industrial killing machines to feminine hygiene, here are five technological creations still used today in combat and civilian life.
Military Technology in World War I: Library of Congress
World War I was less than one year old when British writer H. G. Wells lamented the fate of humanity at the hands of "man's increasing power of destruction" (H. G. Wells, "Civilization at the Breaking Point," New York Times, May 27, 1915, 2). Although considered a father of science fiction, Wells was observing something all too real—technology had changed the face of combat in World War I and ultimately accounted for an unprecedented loss of human life.
Technological and Scientific Progress during the First World War
The Great War was a period of great advances in scientific knowledge. In addition to medicine and surgery (see the 10 Lives file on this subject), the physical sciences, chemistry, and mathematics were revolutionized at the beginning of the 20th century. The large number of famous scientists at this time is indicative of the progress made in the 19th century and in the First World War. From the very beginning of the war, academics and scientists were mobilized by the various governments of the belligerent countries, like the rest of the population, and many of them participated actively in the conflict, to the extent that “even contemporaries realized they had entered the era of scientific war, according to Ernst Junger.”
The Technology of World War I
Military technology has always shaped and defined how wars were fought. The First World War, however, saw a breadth and scale of technological innovation of unprecedented impact. It was the first modern mechanized industrial war in which material resources and manufacturing capability were as consequential as the skill of the troops on the battlefield.
WWI Inventions, From Pilates to Zippers, That We Still Use Today
Small inventions made life easier during—and after—the war.

Rapid Fire Weapons

WARNING! Viewer Discretion Advised. This video contains violent images.

Guns, artillery and small bombs were the weapons of the trenches in WWI. The machine gun was the most effective. Hiram Maxim invented the machine gun in 1885. Distributed by A&E Television Networks.

Source: Films on Demand

Chemical Weapons in World War I

Chlorine gas was the first chemical weapon used in warfare by the German army. The British quickly started developing gas masks and chemical weapons. Chemical bombs can still be foumd throughout Europe.

Source: Films on Demand

WWI Artillery Weapons

WARNING! Viewer Discretion Advised. This video contains violent images.

The Paris Gun was the most technologically innovative of all the siege mortars. Trench mortars were particularly effective along the front lines. Coordinated with machine guns they were lethally effective. Distributed by A&E Television Networks.

Source: Films on Demand