World War I
The first conflict in which automatic weapons and submachine guns reshaped trench warfare.
Context and course
When war broke out in 1914, European infantry was still equipped with bolt-action rifles (Lee-Enfield, Gewehr 98, Mosin-Nagant, Carcano) and heavy water-cooled machine guns (Maxim, Vickers, Hotchkiss). The Western Front bogged down into trench warfare and became the laboratory for a new generation of weapons.
Between 1917 and 1918 the first individual automatic weapons debuted: the Italian Beretta M1918, the German MP18 (the first true SMG), the Browning BAR automatic rifle. Semiautomatic pistols (Luger P08, Colt 1911, Beretta 1915) progressively replaced revolvers.
Belligerents
France, UK, Russia, Italy (from 1915), USA (from 1917)
Germany, Austria-Hungary, Ottoman Empire, Bulgaria
Iconic weapons of the conflict
- Beretta M1918
First Italian SMG and one of the first ever.
- MP18
German prototype of the modern submachine gun.
- Luger P08
German service pistol, symbol of the imperial army.
- Colt M1911
Sidearm of the American AEF that arrived in Europe in 1917.
- Lewis Gun
British air-cooled light machine gun.
In the ARSENALIS catalog (3)
Doctrinal legacy
Trench warfare proved that infantry needed portable short-range volume of fire: this gave rise to submachine guns, Sturmtruppen tactics and the very idea of the modern fire team.