It is out of the question that World War 1 was one of the most influential and history-changing conflicts of all time. That is because the technology used in WW1 was very advanced compared to the period. When digging deeper, we find that that technology was designed in synchronization with the start of the war to give an advantage over the other side of the conflict in the Battlefield. Though after the war had ended, it appears that the technology was tamed and used for various purposes that are not military uses.

1. Examples of WW1 technology

The evolution of technology on the backhand of science had brought with it extraordinary machines that were devastatingly effective in the first world war.

1.1 The zeppelins

The zeppelins, also known as the blimps, were first used in the conflict to carry various tide-changing reinforcements. From human resources to machine guns to bombs, it was the perfect killing machine for the opposition. They were mostly used by the German front against the notoriously well trained British RAF or Royal Air Force.

1.2 Gas

The use of mass murder technologies was everyday in world war 1, and they were crowd control methods to eliminate as many soldiers as possible. One of these methods was the use of poison gas or chemical weapons, and it took about 91,000 people in the process. The essential chemicals used to create this weapon was chloroform and other chloro-sulfide components. The heavy usage of this weapon led to the invention of gas masks that prevent the effects, and they were designed for soldiers as well as horses for being a reliable means of transport.

1.3 Canons and Airplanes

The most notorious weapons in WW1 were trench cannons and the airplanes. The barrels were a significant invention at the time, using the gunpowder and the biggest shells the world at that time had ever seen. They were used mainly as artillery, but their impact was quite deadly on the Battlefield. Their designs were different from one another, and the well-known cannon that took the most lives was named Big Bertha or the Howitzer in German. The Imperial German Army used it, it stood around 4.9 meters and fired shell rounds of about 43 calibers. Its range varied from 9,000 meters to 12,000.The airplanes of world war 1 were much different from the rest of the aircraft at the time. Their aim was maneuverability, not just capacity and firepower, and the designs of said airplanes match that description. The two leading groups that dominated the skies of the first world war were German air force, and the RAF on the British side. The most distinctive features between the two airplanes are the fact that the Germans used three wings on top of each other to maximize maneuverability, while the RAF had faster planes thanks to the weight loss and the engine.

1.4 Tanks

The most important weapon in the middle of the battle that all sides of the war used were the tanks. The interesting fact is that many companies at the time that made steel products and vehicles turned into making military vehicles. One of them was the smaller but deadlier Renault FT or the FT-17, and it was France’s response to the German A7V. The FT-17 was light and nimble and could get through enemy fire, while the A7V was heavily armored and littered with machine guns. They were designed to aid in the combat and take out the soldiers hiding in trenches since they could withstand their bullets. But the Ace tank that was deployed to change the tide of a battle was The Ashford.

1.5 Communication

With communication being the key to win any battle, many sides figured out their ways of sending and receiving war data. That is how many technologies of today’s world came to be. But firstly, the most primitive and creative way that was used at the first world war was the ability to send messages by strapping them to the feet of well-rehearsed pigeons or any available bird at the time. They would send coordination for dropping bombs or even rescue operations., and their accuracy or inaccuracy depended on how well trained these pigeons were. This method was used by the British and French army, while the German army had come up with a way to harness the radio waves to send and receive voice commands in real-time. At the time of the war, it was considered bleeding-edge technology that the world had never seen before. The radio used was very large and had many dials and buttons, and it was made primarily from wood. Another communication method was the usage of Morse code because it was more secure than most other methods. There were translation centers to transfer that code into bits of text that meant either information about the state of the battle or any other piece of information that mattered to the outcome of it.Related: the new age of connectivity

2. WW1 technology now

While most of the techniques used in World War 1 are now in museums, some of them are used by us daily without even knowing it. If someone gets their Airpods out of their silhouette to use them, their phone will be connected to the, and the music would start playing, that connection was the result of years of modification and development of one single technology, which is radio waves. Many of the first designed for the tanks and the airplanes transferred into the modern versions, and some design elements even stayed the same. So in recap, the use of such technology in the first world war was not intended to be used for the purposes that are used today. However, it is inevitable that no matter how bloody and distasteful it was it did affect today's modern world.

Originally published on Live Positively.