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World War I

Eunice

World War I

Introduction

The First World War started in 1914 following the assassination of Austria’s Archduke Franz Ferdinand. Following the assassination, a war broke out across Europe, which lasted till 1918. The major parties in the war were the Central Powers, which included Germany, Austria-Hungary, and the Ottoman Empire: World War I.

On the opposite side were the allied powers, which included Great Britain, France, Russia, Italy, Japan, Romania, Canada, and the U.S. Owing to the new military technologies and trench warfare, the war led to unprecedented carnage and destruction. Although the Allied Powers won in the end, both sides suffered significant military and civilian injuries and deaths.

Technology played a significant role in influencing the outcome of World War I. In particular, aerial technology and long-range heavy bombers were at the center of the conflict. For instance, Germany leveraged aerial technology and high-tech bombers like Gotha G.V. to strike London (Corbett et al., 2024). The bombing technology stood out because of its speed and maneuverability; hence, the enemy had no chance to deploy defensive mechanisms in time to salvage the situation.

Notably, the bombing technology that Germany employed in the war was better than its previous technologies, and this shows that the nation invested significantly in the war. On the other hand, the Allied powers invested heavily in aerial technology. In particular, Britain created the Royal Air Force, an independent branch of the military operating independently from the Navy and the Army (Corbett et al., 2024). By the end of the war, the Allied powers were manufacturing five times as many aircraft as Germany, and this partly explains why they eventually won the war.

Besides, both sides dug trenches, setting the stage for a sustained war of attrition. The trenches were particularly helpful for frontline soldiers with both aggressive and defensive postures. In particular, the Allied Powers leveraged the trenches to blunt Germany’s advance from the Western front. However, the trenches would later prove to be a liability when Germany started attacking Allied Forces using poisonous gas.

America took a neutral stance at the start of the war but later became actively involved in the conflict. One of the immediate reasons for America’s entry into the war was due to the German submarine sinking of America’s fastest vessel, Lusitania (Pines, 2013). The ship that sank off the Irish Coast had 128 American passengers and others, all of whom perished in the incident (Pines, 2013). The sinking was preceded by a warning by Germany that they would sink any ship carrying a Great Britain flag in the region, but no one thought that Germany would go to the extent of sinking a military ship.

Apart from the people, the ship was carrying arms that were effectively lost in the incident. Americans were outraged following the sinking of the ship, intensifying calls for America to join the war. Also, Germany’s 1917 announcement on the resumption of unrestricted submarine warfare antagonized Americans, thus threatening American interests (Pines, 2013). Germany’s call for unrestricted submarine warfare was motivated by the thought that the war would end in a few months and that the U.S. would not have mobilized by then.

The First World War had a huge impact on medicine. Due to the high-tech weapons and chemical agents used in the war, there was a highly afflicted veteran population like never seen before. Among other effects, soldiers were blinded and suffocated by gases used by enemy soldiers in the conflict (Huang, 2024). Other injuries included facial and jaw injuries.

One of the areas of medicine that experienced development was orthopedic medicine. Most injuries were on soldiers’ faces since their lower bodies were protected by trenches. Medical practitioners came up with plastic surgery to correct deformities on soldiers’ faces (Huang, 2024). Also, the use of X-ray technology became more widespread as it helped practitioners locate bullets lodged in soldiers’ bodies.

Undoubtedly, World War I contributed to new ideas in medicine. In particular, the war laid the foundation for advancements made in psychiatric care. The experiences of the war lay the foundation for the diagnostic criteria for psychological disorders (Jones & Wessely, 2014). Previously, only physical injuries were considered as deserving of medical care. However, it emerged even non-injured soldiers on the frontline required more than rest.

There was a need to offer mental health support to help soldiers cope with the stress associated with the war (Jones & Wessely, 2014). These ideas lay the foundation for the classification of post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) as a health condition later on. Today, PTSD is considered a serious health issue that requires trauma-focused therapy.

Conclusion

In summary, trench warfare and technologically advanced weaponry in World War I led to devastating outcomes. Aircraft and long-range machine guns were used by either side to inflict serious injuries and deaths on enemy soldiers. Although the United States had taken a neutral stance, Germany’s sinking of America’s fastest vessel, Lusitania, and the declaration of unrestricted submarine warfare left America to enter the war to defeat Germany, which had now become an enemy.

Notably, the medical field experienced significant developments during the war, including advancements in orthopedic medicine through plastic surgery and the widespread use of X-ray machines. In the same breath, the war gave ideas that influence psychiatric care today, including the consideration of PTSD as a health condition.

References

Corbett, P. S., Janssen, V., Lund, J. M., Pfannestiel, T., Vickery, P., & Waskiewicz, S. (2024, September 19). U.S. History. OpenStax, OER Commons. https://openstax.org/details/books/us-history

Huang, R. (2024). World War I: A watershed for medical progression. European Journal of Humanities & Social Sciences, 12(6), 60–64. https://www.questjournals.org/jrhss/papers/vol12-issue6/12066064.pdf

Jones, E., & Wessely, S. (2014). Battle for the mind: World War 1 and the birth of military psychiatry. Lancet (London, England), 384(9955), 1708–1714. https://doi.org/10.1016/S0140-6736(14)61260-5

Pines, B. Y. (2013). America’s greatest blunder: The fateful decision to enter World War One. Hillcrest Publishing Group.

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