This is the deadliest weapon of the First World WarScience and technology08:30 | February 23, 2023

There were four types of weapons that could almost certainly kill you if you were on the battlefield in WWI.

1. phosgene gas. This gas was first used against the British in Belgium in December 1915. Of the approximately 90,000 deaths caused by gases in the First World War, about 85,000 were associated with phosgene. The fact is that when a person inhales this gas, the chemicals cause the blood to no longer provide oxygen to the body. As a result, the soldiers died from a heart attack or suffocation. In this case, the effect of this gas may appear after two days. In addition, phosgene was colorless and almost odorless.

2. French 75 mm field gun. Statistics show that most people (58%) died from artillery fire in the First World War. The French managed to solve the problem of the constant retraction of the artillery after the shot. In the 75 mm field gun of the 1897 model, the barrel bounced after the shot and the gun itself remained in place. This weapon surpassed anything that existed at that time in terms of accuracy and firepower. The rate of fire was 30 rounds per minute.

3. Type UC II mine submarines. They were created in Germany. It is believed that during the First World War, 1800 out of 7600 sunken merchant ships were sunk by only one submarine of the UC II type. In addition, only 64 submarines of this type were built. It turned out that such a submarine could sink about 30 ships. This was achieved thanks to the double-hull design. Also, in general, the new model turned out to be about three times larger than its predecessor, so it was possible to install more powerful engines in it.

4. Maxim machine gun. It was invented by Hiram Maxim in 1883. Different countries of the world produced weapons similar to this machine gun. So the Germans developed the Spandau machine gun, and in Russia they made a copy of the Vickers machine gun.