The Role Of Communication In World War One

Another area of technology which saw innovation in World War One was Communication. It is absolutely crucial that an army is able to communicate on the battlefield and many battles have been successful or unsuccessful because of this ability. Many forms of communication were present at this time including; runners, radios, telephones and telegraphy. Communication was extremely significant in the war as it was a key element in sending important information from commanding officers and soldiers.
Radios were used throughout the war but were impractical as they were heavy, fragile and expensive. At the time there were not very many people who were trained to use them as complicated codes had to be used. It was a very slow process because of the coding process and transmissions used which were also vulnerable to interception from the enemy, this could be a crucial disadvantage, for instance in the Battle of Tannenberg the Germans picked up on orders sent by the Russians through radio
They were more portable than radios; however telephones were only as reliable as the landlines and wires used to connect them. These were easily broken or intercepted when shell fire started or by the clumsiness of soldiers rushing around in the trenches stepping on the wires. To compensate for this unreliability other methods were used to ensure messages were delivered and received. Runners and dogs were a common choice, exposed to constant enemy fire as they crossed the open ground. This was more ineffective as it was a slow process and by the time a message was delivered to its destination it was often inaccurate or too late. More immediate messages could be used such as visual signalling, which was more reliable and quicker, but dangerous as the signallers could be exposed to enemy fire and they gave away the position of their