Artillery In World War 1

How Artillery Affected World War 1

Artillery was one of the most important weapons in the First World War. The first modern state of the art artillery was invented in 1897 by a French team lead by General Deloye. The gun was called the gun of 75mm or French 75mm. This had some major improvements then older guns and became state of the art for many years. All of the artillery pieces of World War 1 were adopted from the French 75mm even improving on the ideas.

The first major improvement the French 75mm had was the recoil system. The recoil system absorbed the recoiling energy when the gun was fired. This meant the gun stayed in the same position, unlike other guns where after the gun was fired the troops manning the gun would have to move it back to its original place. This allowed the gun to be fired quicker and with more accuracy.

The Second improvement of the French 75mm was the ammunition. Instead of a ball and a separate powder charge. The gun used a fixed configuration shell. Which means the projectile and powder charge were together in the same shell. This meant the loading and firing of the French 75mm could be done with one man instead of the normal 3 people required. This also cut down reload time and allowed for more rounds to be fired. Finally the shells were more stable and allowed more range.

The third improvement of French 75mm was the barrel had rifling groves, which allowed the shells to travel further distance with more speed. The longer the barrel the further the shell traveled.

The final improvement of the French 75mm was the breach system. The breach system of the gun was unlike any other gun before it. The breach would open in the back you would slide the shell in and close the breach. This meant no more stuffing ammunition down the barrel of the gun. This helped improve reload time.
The role and effect Artillery had in World War was overwhelming. At the start of the World War artillery played more of a mobile role in battles. When the western front settled down and trench warfare began. The artillery became more powerful with bigger shell sizes that could destroy fortified positions. The French didn’t capitalize on the idea of bigger shell sizes and when the war became a trench war the French guns were rendered almost useless because they didn’t have enough power.
When trench warfare began artillery was really important. There were many strategies to involve the artillery. The Allies started shelling their enemy right before they assaulted the enemy trench. The Axis soon followed this strategy. Another strategy could was firing behind the trenches blocking reinforcements. The artillery could also shoot different types of ammunition such as smoke and gas into the enemy trenches.
The effects of the shelling of artillery were horrible, most of the time lethal. The shells would disintegrate soldiers and tear men in two. Shrapnel would lodge deep into men’s bodies. The side effect of the shelling was destroyed lungs and deep burns from the heat of the fire. Soldiers were also buried alive when the underground shelters the soldiers were in collapsed from the shelling. About 80% of the casualties of the World War 1 were from Artillery and effects of it.