By: Brad Sleight
Timeline
Arch Duke Franz
Ferdinand was
assassinated by the
Black Hand
June 28,
1914
Germany signed an
armistice with the
Allies. The official date
of the end of World
War 1
Start of the battle of
Verdun
December 24, February 21,
1914
1916
A cease fire was called
for a Christmas
celebration
April 6,
1917
November 11, June 28,
1918
1919
The Treaty of
Versailles was signed
by Germany
The United States of
America joined World
War 1
Gas
Zeppelin
For a full view of the events of WW1,
click on the following link
http://www.historylearningsite.co.uk/timeline_of_world_war_one.htm
Gas
Types of gas used in WW1

Tear gas (French)

Chlorine gas (Germany)

First introduced by the French in
1914. Tear gas is an irritant and is not
deadly. When they first deployed this
against the Germans by using hand
grenades, the Germans didn't even know
they were using it. The Germans
retaliated with larger amounts with still no
effect. While there was a treaty in effect
before the war to stop the use of chemical
warfare (The Hague Treaty of 1899),
no one believed that tear gas was against
that.

Just a few, short months later, Germany had the
Bayer come up with a more toxic type of gas to use
against people. The result was Chlorine gas, which
was a by-product of their dye
manufacturing. Chlorine gas looked like a
greenish-gray cloud of smoke and was very
visible to the enemy. They started putting chlorine
in artillery shells in 1915. This time, the gas was
found to kill people if they went untreated from
it. Chlorine gas is a powerful irritant that can inflict
damage to the eyes, nose, throat and lungs. At high
concentrations and prolonged exposure will cause
death by asphyxiation. After they used this against
the Russians and injured over 9000 of them (killing
1000) in an attack, the Russian military got into the
act and started using gas warfare. The Germans
found out that you needed a lot of Chlorine gas to
kill their enemies and that gas masks were a
highly effective deterrent to the gas.
Types of gas used in WW1 p.2

Phosgene gas (French)

Mustard gas (Germany)

This was the next step in the chemical
warfare progression. The French
retaliated against the Chlorine gas with
phosgene. Phosgene was a potent killing
agent, deadlier than chlorine. It had a
potential drawback in that some of the
symptoms of exposure took 24 hours or
more to manifest. This meant that the
victims were initially still capable of
putting up a fight; although this could also
mean that apparently fit troops would be
incapacitated by the effects of the gas on
the following day. Colorless and having
an odor likened to "moldy hay,"
phosgene was difficult to detect, making
it a more effective weapon. Although
phosgene was sometimes used on its own,
it was more often used mixed with an
equal volume of chlorine to help it spread
across the battlefield. It killed a lot of
people, about 85% of the 100,000

As if these chemicals weren't scary enough,
mustard gas, which was first unleashed in 1917,
was introduced by Germany. It wasn't a
particularly effective killing agent (though in
high enough doses it is fatal). The reason it
was so terrifying is that mustard gas was
deaths caused by chemical weapons
during World War I.
painful, caused huge yellow blisters, and
incapacitated a person just by touching their
skin. Gas masks didn't work against this
stuff! Not only that, it didn't go away like other
gasses. When the other gasses were used against
an enemy, wind could disperse it and make it less
lethal. Not so with Mustard gas. It was heavy
and sunk into crevices and trenches, then
stayed there for weeks, months, and even
years. Because of this, the Germans found that it
was difficult to attack the enemy with Mustard
gas and then advance to their position.
Types of gas used in WW1 p.3

Lewisite (America)

In 1918, the Americans came up with a gas that was just as deadly as Mustard
gas, but invisible like Phosgene. It was created in Cleveland, Ohio and never
actually saw World War One. The war ended before it was available in enough
quantity to cause any damage. However, why waste a good gas. We sold the
technology to the Japanese to use against the Chinese prior to World War Two! It is
not known, however, if this gas was ever used against live troops. Lewisite had a
tendency to break down in moist environments (like if it was raining or there was
mud anywhere on the battlefield), so large quantities of the gas was not produced
during World War One
Planes
Fighter planes used in WW1












Nieuport 11 and 17 (French)
Sopwith Type 9400 (French)
SPAD VII and XIII (French)
Ansaldo S.V.A. Scout (Italian)
Bristol F2.B "Brisfit" (British)
Royal Aircraft SE 5 (British)
DeHaviland DH-2 and DH-4 (British)
Siemens-Shuckert D.III (German)
Fokker E-III monoplane (German)
Roland C-II "Whale" (German)
Hansa-Brandenberg W-29 (German)
Albatross D-III and D-V (German)
Bomber planes used in WW1
 Sopwith Type
 Handley
 Gotha
9400 (French)
Page O/400 (British)
GI thru GIV (German)
Scout planes in WW1
 Sopwith Type
9400 (French)
 Ansaldo S.V.A.(Italian)
Guns
Machine guns


Machine guns needed 4-6 men to work them and had to
be on a flat surface. They had the fire-power of 100
guns.
Large field guns had a long range and could deliver
devastating blows to the enemy but needed up to 12
men to work them. They fired shells which exploded on
impact.
The bolt-action rifle

The main weapon used by British soldiers in the
trenches was the bolt-action rifle. 15 rounds could be
fired in a minute and a person 1,400 meters away
could be killed.
Other weapons
Zeppelin

The Zeppelin, also known as blimp, was an airship that
was used during the early part of the war in bombing
raids by the Germans. They carried machine guns and
bombs. However, they were abandoned because they
were easy to shoot out of the sky
Tank


Tanks were used for the first time in the First World
War at the Battle of the Somme. They were developed
to cope with the conditions on the Western Front. The
first tank was called 'Little Willie' and needed a crew
of 3. Its maximum speed was 3mph and it could not
cross trenches.
The more modern tank was not developed until just
before the end of the war. It could carry 10 men, had
a revolving turret and could reach 4mph.
Torpedoes

Torpedoes were used by submarines. The Germans
used torpedoes to blow up ships carrying supplies from
America to Britain.

The Germans torpedoed the passenger liner Lusitania
on May 1st 1915 which sank with a loss of 1,195
lives. Americans were outraged and joined the war in
1917 on the side of the allies.