by Dan Blade

Created on: August 27, 2009

Artillery is universally referred to as the "King of Battle" by the military. During World War II the development of artillery would rise to new heights and calibers during the Great War for both the Allies and the Germans.

Before the war, the French had developed the 75mm artillery cannon. The caliber was not new or better, but the gun was based and built on the newest technology, which made it superior to other cannons. When France entered the war, it possessed the ability to produce these cannons with little modification. The 75mm was new, light, maneuverable, and had a high rate of fire.

The British, on the other hand, were in the middle of developing new artillery and most of their research was going into coastal defense. The main artillery piece of the British would be a 12 pounder. As the war dragged on, all combatants found the need for artillery that carried a larger charge or hurl the explosive farther, or both.

Both sides started to increase the caliber of their artillery to rain more explosives and chemicals down on the enemy's trenches and vital rear area. In order to keep up with the demand, the British stripped its coast of artillery to make field artillery pieces.

These would measure some 9.2 inches in caliber, but were not that largest artillery produced. The largest cannon fired 18 inch diameter shells, the shells of which stood over six feet tall. The 18 incher did not go in to production, and was eclipsed by the American artillery. The French relied mostly on their 75mm and put all of their efforts into producing as many of these weapons as possible.

The Germans mimicked the British, by building up to three or possible five massive artillery pieces known as the "Big Berthas", which would bombarded Paris for over a month, in an attempt to get the Allies to pursue peace. The uncertainty of these weapons is that all that was left of them are their mounting platforms some sixty miles from Paris.

It is believed the Germans dismantled the artillery with acetylene torches, and no evidence of their existence survived the war. The Allies could not respond to the "Big Berthas" until the United States entered the war. The U.S. manufactured five railroad artillery pieces; these had a barrel measuring 14 inches 50 caliber Naval batteries. The U.S. Navy was placed in charge of these weapons because only battleships ever carried artillery of such power.

World War I produced many weapons that would affect the future of combat. If it was not for the armistice, the First World War would have seen its technology kill more soldiers and civilians in 1918, than possible in the whole war. It could be said that the Great War sped up research into technology by twenty-five years.

Many of the lessons learned about artillery during the Great War would need to be relearned in the next war, but the ability to cause destruction through artillery continued.

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