Technology and World War I

More than eight million soldiers were killed during World War I (1914-1918), which began with the assassination of the Archduke Francis Ferdinand of Austria-Hungary in the capital of the Austro-Hungarian province of Bosnia. When the fighting began, France, Great Britain, and Russia (known as the Allies) backed Serbia against Austria-Hungary and Germany (known as the Central Powers). Other nations later joined in a war fueled by rising nationalism and military alliances. None of the participants were fully prepared for the consequences of new technologies employed for the first time in the war. The submarine, the airplane, the machine gun, efficient long-range artillery, and high explosives all made it possible to kill more people, more quickly. Though not the most dangerous, poison gas was probably the most terrifying new technology to be used during World War I.

A muddy World War I battlefield.

The dead, after the battle of Drocourt-QuŽaut.