Final answer:
New military technologies during WW1 resulted in trench warfare, high casualties, and little territorial gain, with the use of machine guns, artillery, tanks, and airplanes changing traditional combat. Technological advances in weaponry forced a profound change in military strategy and contributed to WW1's recognition as a total war.
Step-by-step explanation:
New Military Technologies in WW1 and Their Consequences
The new military technologies used during World War I resulted in a transformation of warfare, leading to prolonged trench warfare, massive casualties, and minor territorial gains despite intense fighting. The introduction of machine guns, long-range artillery, tanks, and airplanes increased the killing power of armies, making traditional infantry attacks deadly and causing the horrific injuries and mass casualties common in the war. This mechanized weaponry necessitated new strategies such as trench warfare which in turn led to a stalemate on the battlefield where vast numbers of lives were sacrificed for negligible territorial advances.
Artillery also became remarkably more destructive and was responsible for the majority of battlefield casualties. Innovations in artillery included massive howitzers like the German "Big Bertha" and the Paris Gun, capable of shelling targets over 80 miles away, exemplifying the increased range and firepower of weapons. Furthermore, the extensive use of barbed wire and poison gas by both sides compounded the difficulties of advancing and contributed significantly to the war's atrocities.
These new technological advances in warfare proved not only to be efficient in terms of warfare but also to have a lasting impact, prompting a profound change in military strategy and marking WW1 as one of the first instances of total war. Military technology and tactics continued to evolve rapidly in the interwar period, leading to further and, at times, more devastating applications in subsequent conflicts.