Artillery of World War I

[1] Mortars were revived by the Germans because of their ability to shoot at an angle above 45 degrees, and they, therefore, could theoretically (although not often) drop shells directly in an enemy's trench before exploding, for maximum damage.

[2] Artillery shells were used for chemical weapon emission by the German troops in 1915, and the Allies followed their example after the Second Battle of Ypres.

This doctrine failed to account for the numerous new technologies that defined World War I, including machine guns, wire obstacles and artillery that had greatly improved.

Early in the war, the Germans attempted several attacks without adequate artillery support, with disastrous results.

While these guns lacked the capabilities of newer artillery, they could still fire large shells over long distances.

[3] Despite the advent of new technologies like aircraft, machine guns, and armored vehicles, artillery was the primary weapon of land warfare in World War I.

Artillery was the principal threat to ground troops in the war and was the main reason for the development of trench warfare.

[6] A key advancement in artillery was made by France in 1897, with the invention of long barrel recoil and its incorporation into the 75 mm field gun.

Once they saw these weapons being used by their enemy and proving effective, Britain and France quickly devised and introduced mortars of their own.

[2] World War I also saw the development of the first anti-aircraft artillery, as well as light mortars that could be carried by infantry troops.

Among the European powers, in proportion to its national income, Austria-Hungary paid the lowest attention to the development and maintenance of its army.

The armed forces of Austria-Hungary were in decline at the start of the war due to the insufficient finance of the armament.

However, due to a mix of cost-savings and tradition, they failed to adopt technological improvements, such as steel barrels.

The development of trench warfare demonstrated the need for a wider variety of artillery, which mostly entered service in 1916 and 1917.

The Germans had carefully researched previous conflicts and developed state-of-the-art technology that out-performed their rivals.

Like all countries, Germany struggled to replace artillery lost in combat, and it was forced to improvise with available materials as the war progressed.