Topic: Militarism
• Militarism is the belief that a country should have a strong military
capability and be prepared to use it aggressively to defend or
promote its interests. Leading up to World War I, imperial countries
in Europe were strong proponents of militarism. They spent more and
more money on military technology, employing more troops, and
training their soldiers. They found that to gain colonies it helped to be
militarily superior to the people they colonized and the other
industrialized countries they were competing with. As tensions in
Europe increased leading up to 1914, European countries raised and
prepared large armies, navies, and air forces to protect their
homelands.
Militarism
In militaristic nations, generals and admirals often act as de facto
government ministers or officials, advising political leaders and
influencing domestic policy. Not surprisingly, this leads to significant
increases in defence and arms spending.
Late 19th and early 20th-century militarism fuelled an arms race that
gave rise to new military technologies and increased defence spending.
Militarism also shaped culture, the press and public opinion.
Newspapers held up military leaders as heroes, painted rival nations as
dangerous aggressors and regularly speculated about the possibility of
war.
Militarism
• In the 19th century European mind, politics and military power
became inseparable, much like politics and economic management
have become inseparable in the modern world. Governments and
leaders who failed to maintain armies and navies to protect the
national interest were considered weak or incompetent.
Prussian Militarism
• Prussia was always seen as the embodiment of military prowess and
power. It was, in many ways, a state that was built by an army. Its
sense of militarism spread dramatically to its soldiers and civilians,
affecting their societies, politics, and culture.
Weapons Used
in WW1
Depth charge
• Depth charges were first developed by the
Royal Navy during World War I to combat
German submarines.
Military aircraft
• World War I was a crucible for
military aircraft development.
Between 1914 and 1918, planes
advanced from barely airworthy
craft to effective weapons
platforms. Military aircraft.
Rifle
• Infantry weapons underwent a massive change
in the late 19th century, as repeating rifles
entered widespread use. The World War I
infantryman could produce a volume of fire
that dwarfed that of his mid-19th-century
predecessors.
Zeppelin
• Zeppelin
• German airships achieved
moderate success in long-range
bombing operations, as Zeppelins
could attain higher altitudes than
the airplanes of the era.
CHEMICAL Weapons
Chemical weapons
Chemical weapons, such as
diphosgene and mustard gas,
were employed extensively
on the Western Front.
Artillery
• Artillery literally shaped the
battlefield in World War I. It
ranged in size from the French
75-mm field gun to the massive
420-mm Big Bertha and the
210-mm Paris Gun.
• Cavalry
• Despite the advances in
technology, cavalry retained a
significant role in World War I,
and horses died by the millions
in the conflict.
• Battleship
• The age of the battleship
reached its apotheosis in World
War I, as even the Dreadnought,
the archetypal “big gun” ship,
found itself outgunned. Super
dreadnoughts, such as the HMS
Orion, ruled the waves; their
reign was short, however, as
developments in naval aviation
would soon render such ships
obsolete
Battleship
• Machine guns
• Machine guns were an exceptionally lethal addition to the battlefield
in World War I. Heavy guns, such as the Maxim and Hotchkiss, made
“no man's land” a killing zone, and Isaac Newton Lewis's light
machine gun saw widespread use at the squad level and as an aircraft
armament.
Tank
• Tanks were used primarily in a supporting role. The armored vehicle
would not truly come into its own until the doctrines of J.F.C. Fuller
and Basil Liddell Hart were more widely adopted in World War II.