Chapter 19 Section 2 Critical Thinking #3

3. In what ways did WWI represent a frightening new kind of warfare?
-the casualty figures
-new military technology
-shell shock

WWI represented a frightening new kind of warfare because of how different it was from any other war that had ever been fought. In the history of warfare, there had never been a war with consequences so disastrous. Before WWI, war was considered honorable. But the introduction of new weapons killed soldiers by the thousands, whereas in previous wars, the deadliest weapon was probably the cannon. Machine guns, tanks, and chemical warfare killed soldiers at an unprecedented rate. "Shell shock" was a problem as well, which was a complete mental collapse which many did not recover from. It was the first war that soldiers had suffered both mentally and physically on a large scale. The death toll was also something totally new; even the bloodiest wars in history didn't come anywhere close. 22 million people died, about half of them civilians, 20 million people wounded, and 10 million lost their homes and became refugees.