World War I general discussion thread

[Salah]

This is a conflict I'm curious to learn more about, and that I feel doesn't receive enough attention on Historum. Thus this thread is for any general discussion of the Great War, and any of the battles, politics, personalities, weapons, and technology that played a prominent role therein.

Fire away

[tjadams]

Ahh...finally a thread I can watch & follow.
I too am fascinated about WWI and know the basic rudimentary facts, but
would like to know more. Looking forward to this thread expanding.

[Larrey]

Well, Im interested, having made it a bit of a hobby to try to keep the French end of things WWI up on occasion.

[Duguesclin]

...and the winner is:
Canon de Campagne de 75 mm L.36.3 MLE 1897 de la Premire Guerre Mondiale, 19141918

French-made rapid fire 75mm gun (1897 model).
No need to aim between two shots, no smoke, etc. Far superior to the 77mm german gun, nevertheless it is not adapted to trench warfare, where heavy artillery is required to reach bunkers (and where Germans were supreme).

Despite this it will be key in some big battles like the battle of the Marne, and of course Verdun.

It will still be in use in the french army in 1942, and will be instrumental at Bir Hakeim and El Alamein as anti-tank gun, destroying many panzers.

[Minksterella]

I don't know too much about world war one, and i would like to very much

[irishcrusader95]

a question i always ask myself on this was is what were the soldiers fighting for, the war had started because of the web of alliances that dragged each party in but what was each nation really fighting to achieve and did the soldiers ever know why they were fighting?

[Salah]

Originally Posted by irishcrusader95

a question i always ask myself on this was is what were the soldiers fighting for, the war had started because of the web of alliances that dragged each party in but what was each nation really fighting to achieve and did the soldiers ever know why they were fighting?

I wonder if a lack of a clear-cut objective is why this War seems to have such a particulary dreary demeanor.

[pbl1998]

Just came back from the Battlefields in Belgium and France-A great trip.

[Nemowork]

Originally Posted by Duguesclin

...and the winner is:
Canon de Campagne de 75 mm L.36.3 MLE 1897 de la Premire Guerre Mondiale, 19141918

French-made rapid fire 75mm gun (1897 model).
No need to aim between two shots, no smoke, etc. Far superior to the 77mm german gun, nevertheless it is not adapted to trench warfare, where heavy artillery is required to reach bunkers (and where Germans were supreme).

Despite this it will be key in some big battles like the battle of the Marne, and of course Verdun.

It will still be in use in the french army in 1942, and will be instrumental at Bir Hakeim and El Alamein as anti-tank gun, destroying many panzers.

Good reputation historically since it went into American service and American history permeates WW1 history but generally an average weapon. The German 77mm matched it in general performance if not in fire rate, the British 18pdr matched it in everything but managed to sling out a greater weight of shot. They both got slaughetered in 1914 because western direct fire weapons couldnt outgun German howitzers while they were in turn under direct fire from German infantry, machine guns and out of line of sight artillery.

It was a good gun for the wrong war, where it could sling out small rounds at a rapid rate, thats good for opposing attacking infantry but awful for the offensive where its light shells cant penterate enemy bunkers and its light HE capacity can't blow apart enemy wire.

Its a rough figure but the average 1918 4 gun Royal Artillery heavy battery could sling out more High Explosive than the entire 1914 BEF artillery support, compared to that the French 75 was notable but not entirely impressive.

Its good that it survived into American service in 1942 and 1943, the British had retired the 18pdr except for ceremonial duties and some service with the home guard, the Germans had lost the 77mm except for rear lines anti-partisan duties, most notably (Guy Sajers memoirs excepted) the spare single gun they used to defeat the Warsaw Ghetto and the Americans were mounting it on their M3 motor gun carriage and thinking they were at the cutting edge of military technology

Oh well, Kasserine was a learning experience, they got better after that!

[Nemowork]

PS Whatever i said in that post ^^^


Remind me tommorow to explain with grammer and spelling once i sober up