Preface

The outbreak of World War I in 1914 was a watershed for the technological advancement of modern weapons. Never before was a major war fought with weapons forged from the industrial revolution. There was the machine gun, as well as artillery capable of firing exploding shells from several miles away. Landmines were planted in the fields. There were armoured tanks, battleships, and even submarines firing torpedoes. From above, warplanes were dropping bombs. As a harbinger of things to come, mustard gas was also released as a chemical weapon. For four years, there was an average of five and a half thousand casualties per day. In the end, 10 million people died and 30 million were wounded, maimed, disfigured, and incapacitated for the rest of their lives. The world had changed: mankind had the technical means to mass-produce destruction.

Related Subject(s): Disarmament