Evaluate The Role Played By Soldiers During Word War 1 (Essay Sample)

World War I soldier
Name
Institutional Affiliation
World War I soldier
More than 65 million men participated in the World War I. They were from 30 countries, and almost 10 million among them lost their lives in the battle. The Allies lost almost 6 million soldiers. The central powers lost about 4 million men. Even when many people thought that American troops could not have participated in the World War I at all, the roles which the American troops played during the second Battle of Marne, and the engagements with the Germany soldiers. The kinds of ammunition used by these troops during the First World War and the different experiences these solders had gained during the war.
The Second Battle of Marne, or Battle of Reims was fought between 15th of July to 6th August 1918 was German’s last offensive battle on the Western Front in the World War I. This attack failed when Allied counterattack by French soldiers with American forces, together with hundreds of tanks overwhelmed the troops of Germany from their right flank, inflicting severe casualties. This defeat of Germany troops marked the beginning of relentless Allied advance, culminating in the Armistice with Germans almost a hundred days later. The failure of Germans in breaking the through or destroying the Allied Armies in the field gave a chance for Ferdinand Foch, the Supreme Commander of Allied Armies to continue with planned major counteroffensive on July 18th. 24 of French divisions together with 92nd Infantry Division (United States) and 93rd Infantry Division (United States) under command from French together with other Allied troops including eight large Divisions of United States under the United States Command and over 300 tanks placed an attack on the newly formed German Salient. Their preparations (Allied) were very important in countering German Offensive. It has been believed that Allies had complete knowledge of German attack in regard to capabilities and intentions. They knew the major points of the plans of German troops down to the time. This battle became to be known as the start for the end of Germany (Morrow, 2015).
World War I has been labeled as the first true modern war, a conflict which was between the most industrialized countries and whom applied modern ammunition. This war saw the emergence of very powerful machines termed as weapons such as machine guns, artillery, and war planes. And the decline of ancient weapons which existed during the 19thy century such as bayonets and sabers.
The rifle was standard issue for infantrymen from every country. This was because it was economical to manufacture, easy to cart, reliable, and accurate. British soldiers were provided with the Lee-Enfield 303 and Germans had the 7.92mm Mauser. They were recognized for their long range and durability had capability of accurately firing around 500 miters and the Enfield could fire and kill a person standing two kilometers away. Such extensive range was mostly shattered during the Western Front where the space between the trenches was as low as 40 miters. Rifle maintenance, cleaning, and drilling occupied a great deal of the infantry troop’s daily work.
In the World War I, revolvers and pistols were mainly given to officers and the enlisted soldiers were only given if they were assigned special duties such as the tank crews and the military police work, places were rifles would be unwieldy. With the most famous pistol in the World War I bring the German-made Luger which had a distinctive shape, seven shot magazine, and narrow barrel. British troops received the Webley Mark IV, which was consistent and which could fire even when covered with mud although it was difficult to fire perfectly and also very heavy. This reason made many British soldiers to end up using the captured Lugers. Pistols were not usually important weapon although sometimes they were necessary as concealed weapons or for the trench close combat.
There were few machine guns which were deployed in the Battle than the way it has been commonly understood. Such ammunition when used, they often proved to be dangerous. At the break out of the war, Germans were at the top hand in both the quantity and the quality of the machine guns which they possessed. By 1914, they had more than ten thousand thousand units while the French and Britain had fewer than a thousand units each. These machine guns had the capability of firing even up to 500 times in a minute, but they were very heavy, cumbersome and needed utmost 3 well trained soldiers to operate effectively. While firing rapidly, they could overheat requiring air-based cooling or water to prevent them from exploding or jamming (Smith, 2014).
For the average infantryman serving who served in these trenches from 1914 – 1918 Great War followed a rotating pattern out and in the tren...