Innovations
"The day after the Armistice they got the word to turn in their Chauchats and draw Browning Automatic Rifles. That BAR was so much better than that damned Chauchat. If we'd only had the BAR six months before, it would have saved so many lives [1]."
– Lt. Lemuel C. Shepherd, 5th Marine Regiment.
When taking into account that the U.S. military used fully-automatic weapons and dispersed tactics, it can be argued that the First World War was the first modern war. During the early 20th century, industrialization around the world helped reimagine the way combat was carried out. It was nonetheless a juxtaposition between traditional and modern warfare: centuries-old tactics and revolutionary weapons technology [2].
As the deadliest battle during the war, the Meuse-Argonne Offensive exemplified the dramatic shift in combat. It is estimated that the United State's first attack on September 16, 1918 used more explosives in three hours than what was used during the Civil War [3]. |
Weapons Technology
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Sources: GazDetect, Courtesy Brooke USA, Encyclopedia Britannica, and Imperial War Museums/Wikimedia Commons.
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Military Tactics
Initially practiced by the German army, static positions and trench warfare allowed soldiers to use “empty battlefields” in order to strategically disperse and use camouflage technology to remain hidden. Connecting open warfare with special weapons, U.S. Army tactical doctrine published by the War Department in 1917 recommended the use of fire-and-maneuver, use of cover for grenadiers, and small formations. Through the use of trench raids, troops dispersed in groups of two and three in order to avoid enemy fire [5]. By the time this offensive concluded, Pershing’s army implemented suppression and maneuver with special weaponry to its open-warfare concept which would later expand the U.S. military’s doctrine legacy [6].
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The following short film includes a mix of archival footage and a dramatization of the events during the Meuse-Argonne Offensive. In addition to bringing an immersive experience for the viewer, it presents how weapons technology and military tactics were used during combat.
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Sources
- Matt Deegan, "The Weapons of the Meuse-Argonne Offensive." abmc.gov, https://www.abmc.gov/education/teaching-aid/weapons-meuse-argonne-offensive
- Deegan, "The Weapons of the Meuse-Argonne Offensive."
- Deegan, "The Weapons of the Meuse-Argonne Offensive."
- Hamner, “Combat,” 109-110.
- U.S. War Department, 1917b (28 April), Notes on Grenade Warfare: Compiled from Data Available on February 15, 1917, Army War College. Document Number 576, quoted in Jeffrey LaMonica, “Infantry Tactics in the Meuse-Argonne” in A Companion to the Meuse-Argonne Campaign, ed. Edward G. Lengel (Hoboken: John Wiley & Sons Inc., 2014) 367.
- LaMonica, “Infantry Tactics in the Meuse-Argonne,” 371.