This now brings us to the circumstances that encompass the infamous First World War. The entangled alliances of the allied and central powers and the murder of Austria-Hungarian archduke Francis Ferdinand had sent all of Europe to the first war it has seen in over half a century (Archduke). The central powers of Austri-Hungary, Germany, Ottoman Empire (Turkey) were matched up against the allied might of France, United Kingdom, Serbia, United States, Russia, and most of the British Commonwealth nations in a most dreadful war with even more dreadful consequences (Archduke). As with the Russo-Japanese war, the machine gun would play a significant part in the war on land.
Tactically, the machine gun was so effective under heavily defended entrenched positions it forced the leadership to change its battle strategies (though not after many long years and many deaths). As war broke out Germany was quick to deploy its Schlieffen plan or quick defeat of its western enemies France and England (Kirchberger 58).
Advancement of Germany into Paris in late 1914 until they were stopped by the Allies at the battle of the Marne. Spartacus, illustration from Neil Demarco's The Great War.
As the Germans advanced toward Paris, they were eventually stopped by the combined might of French and British armies (Fitzsimons 6). This defeat led the Germans to retreat and dig the first trenches of the war behind the Aisne River that would last to the very end of the war (Spartacus). When allied forces attempted a 15-day frontal attack on this position they were repulsed by strong machine gun and rifle fire (Spartacus). The French and British were soon to realize that the Germans trench line could not be penetrated and likewise began to build similar trenches in preparation for the coming winter (Spartacus).
Basic parallel trench lines. Barbed wire and well dug machine gun positions made it extremely difficult for troops to attack. Spartacus, illustration from Neil Demarco's The Great War.
As the deadlock on the Western Front lingered on, parallel trench lines became more abundant and stretched out longer and deeper, from the North Sea down through Switzerland and 30 feet deep in some places (Static front). Constant machine gun outpost along these lines made sure that typical infantry assaults would gain no more than a few miles in either direction throughout the entire war.
Leadership of all the warring countries was very reluctant to change their deep-seated dogma of how war should be fought. It is a fact that some of the top generals were stubborn in realizing the tactical reform that was needed from commonly held views that offense with good morale and training were more than enough to take over any defended position (Fitzsimons 7). One of which who believed in this was British commander Douglas Haig who was very reluctant to admit the defensive power of the trenched machine gun and his belief is stated one year into the war when he is quoted in saying that, "The machine gun is a much over rated weapon..."(Trenches)
"The machine gun is a much over rated weapon..." - Douglas Haig.
Battle of the Somme. The Solid orange line represents trench lines at the beginning of the offensive and solid red line represents territory gained. Spartacus
This was the same general who led the five month allied mass offensive in the battle of the Somme in 1916 (Spartacus). This was one battle that showed that standard offensive strategies were no longer able to defeat the might of entrenched machine guns complemented with barbed wire. As with most other offensives during the war, a long preliminary bombardment took place prior to the actual attack (Fitzsimons 7). One Allied witness stated what he saw as the bombardment ended and the attack commenced, "...Germans in their deep dugouts lived, and when our waves of men went over they were met by deadly machine gun and mortar fire" (Phillip Gibbs).
"...Germans in their deep dugouts lived, and when our waves of men went over they were met by deadly machine gun and mortar fire" - Phillip Gibbs
By the end of the campaign, both sides took staggering losses with little or no compensation in territory (Kirchberger 227). Total allied casualties numbered over 600,000 with British forces even losing 58,000 in a single day, their worst ever recorded in history (Spartacus). Germany on the other hand suffered only a "mere" 500,000 (Spartacus).
I am convinced by my research that neither rifle fire or even gatling gun fire for that matter could have had the potential to repel such a massed attack the way the machine gun had done. Although it is reported that artillery fire took the most casualties in the entire span of the war (with the machine gun a close second, Kirchberger xi), I believe that this was attributed to the static positions created by the machine gun trench warfare that created immobile targets that could be easily hit by artillery fire.
