1. Prepare a list of 4-5 words of vocabulary
2. Prepare a brief presentation of you disease
3. Add information about the number of people suffer the disease today
4. Comment the map at the End
10. Barbed Wire
Barbed wire was invented for livestock enclosures during the 19th century, and eventually found its way into modern warfare during the First World War. It has been estimated that a million miles of barbed wire were installed in Flanders alone that could circle the earth 40 times.
This wire proved to be a lethal weapon during the war. Wire was laid out to defend trenches and mark no man’s land, and was also used by soldiers to lure an enemy into slaughter zones filled with artillery target points and machine guns.
The wire was typically laid out in long zigzag strips or belts running parallel to the trenches. They were often several rows and dozens of feet deep. Wire fields, particularly on Germany’s densely fortified Hindenburg Line stretched as far as 300 feet (91 meters) out into no man’s land making it dark and dense even during daylight.
9. Big Bertha
At the start of the war, the German forces had two Big Berthas and a total of 12 came into service during the war. The gun could fire projectiles weighing up to 1,785 pounds to a distance of about nine kilometers (six miles). The most widely used type of shell in Big Berthas included a delayed-action fuse which exploded after penetrating up to 40 feet of concrete and earth.
The name Big Bertha was given to the artillery piece in honor of Bertha Krupp von Bohlen und Halbach, owner of the Krupp firm which made the weapon. During the Siege of Liège, Belgium, one of its projectiles completely destroyed the Fort de Loncin, demonstrating the huge capacity of Big Bertha.
8. Fokker Triplane
The Fokker Triplane is the most famous airplane of the First World War and was the German response to the famous British Sopwith Triplane. It was flown by the most famous German ace Manfred Albrecht Freiherr von Richthofen, also known as the Red Baron, who downed at least 70 allied pilots, and 19 with his Dr.1.
Despite its popularity, only 320 of the Fokker Dr.1 were produced. Some of the aces that flew the Dr.1 included Werner Voss with 48 victories, Kurt Wolff with 33 victories, and Lothar von Richthofen with 40 victories.
The top wing of the Fokker D.VI Triplane had ailerons and the lower and middle wings were attached to the fuselage. The top wing was above the fuselage and was attached by steel tube struts. Powered by a 110hp engine, the D.VI was armed with two synchronized 0.31-inch LMG 08/15 guns.
7. Artillery Gun
The First World War saw many developments in weapons like bomber aircraft, and automatic and portable machine guns, but it was dominated by artillery pieces. Their main aim was to fire explosive-filled projectiles over large distances.
Unlike infantry and cavalry, the artillery could not enter into combat independently on its own. The two main types of artillery used in war were light field artillery pulled by horses and heavier guns moved by tractors.
After 1914, field artillery mainly had cannons with flat trajectories that had calibers ranging from 7.5 to 8.4cm. Heavy artillery also included heavy mortar fire and special guns with calibers of over 30cm that were used for combat against modern armored turret fortifications.
The use of artillery increased during wartime and its number was high by the end of the war. In 1914, artillery men made up 20 percent of the French army, and by 1918 the number was up to 38 percent. Most deaths in the war were caused by artillery, which is estimated to be about two-thirds of all deaths.
6. Machine Guns: Maxim MG 08
The Maxim MG 08 or Maschinengewehr 08 was an adaptation of the original machine gun, the world’s first fully automated machine gun system developed by Sir Hiram S. Maxim in 1884. The German army made a direct copy and deployed it during the First World War.
During the Battle of the Somme on July 1, 1916, on just one day the British lost 21,000 men mostly to the German version of the machine gun. The MG 08 variant was used throughout the war and even during the Second World War.
The firing rate of the weapon depended on the lock assembly used and averaged 500 rounds per minute for the Schloss 08 and 600 rounds per minute for the Schloss 16. The gun used 250-round fabric belts of 7.92×57mm ammunition.
Because sustained firing would lead to overheating it was water-cooled using a jacket around the barrel that held approximately one gallon of water. The practical range of the MG 08 was estimated at some 2,200 yards up to an extreme range of 4,000 yards.
5. Chlorarsine and Mustard Gas
Chlorarsine is one of a group of chemical weapons classified as a vomiting agent or sneezing gas. It caused short-term but intense respiratory distress which was designed to temporarily disable and terrify the enemy troops.
The Germans used the first mustard gas in 1917. After encountering several attacks from the gas, the Allies named it Hot Stuff or H.S. or simply H by the end of the war. Mustard gas or sulfur mustard caused large blisters on the skin and lungs. Mustard gas could not be easily detected unless under a direct attack. Soldiers often detected it from its unusual smell, but gas masks often proved inadequate as the gas penetrated the filters and mask housing.
Gas shells including chlorarsine, mustard gas, and also phosgene caused about 160,526 casualties and about 4,000 deaths among British troops.
4. Phosgene and Tear Gas
Chemical warfare during the First World War included different types of chemicals. The French were the first to use them in combat against the Germans in August 1914. While the precise chemical is not known, both xylyl bromide and ethyl bromoacetate have been mentioned.
Tear gases were not designed to kill but rather render the enemy unable to defend its position. Tear gas also opened the door to more lethal chemicals like chlorine. Tear gas affected the eyes and lungs but the effect was cleared within 30 minutes of exposure.
Phosgene was the next chemical that was used alongside chlorine. It could take about 48 hours for the symptoms to appear. It caused a build-up of fluid in the lungs which resulted in death. It is estimated that as many as 85 percent of the 91,000 deaths attributed to gas during wartime were the result of phosgene or the similar agent diphosgene.
Poisonous gases caused more psychological trauma than deaths. About 1 percent of wartime fatalities and 7 percent of casualties were the result of poison gases.
3. Mark V Tank
The Mark V tank was the last and largest tank to serve in the First World War on the British side. It was a modified version of the Mark IV. Together with its variants the Mark V* and Mark V** about 1,070 were built by March 1919. The Mark V had the external features of the Mark IV including the hull, rollers, and tracks to avoid disruption of production. However, a new, more powerful drivetrain and transmission were produced in early 1917.
These systems included petrol-electric schemes, hydraulic systems, a multiple clutch system (a single driver was needed), and Wilson’s own epicyclical gearbox design (four forward gears, one reverse). A new and more powerful 19-liter six-cylinder in-line Ricardo engine (150bhp) was also fitted. Autonomy of the Mark V was 70km (45 miles) with a 450-liter fuel capacity (93 gallons), which was enough for about 10 hours on rugged terrain.
The Mark V made its combat debut at the Battle of Hamel on July 4, 1918 where it successfully supported Australian troops in action. This rebuilt the Australians’ confidence in tanks which had been badly damaged earlier at Bullecourt. Before the end of the war, the Mark V was used in eight major combats. Since the Mark V was available only during 1918 its overall effect on the war remained insignificant.
2. Airships
Airships or dirigible balloons are types of aerostat or lighter-than-air aircrafts that can navigate through air under their own power. These types of aerostat aircraft gain their lift from large gas bags which are filled with lifting gas which is less dense than the surrounding air. Airships had been used before the start of the war, but it was during the war that the airship debuted as an air weapon.
The Zeppelin was one of the first airships to be used in the war. It was created by Count von Zeppelin, a retired German army officer. During the initial days of the war, the Germans used Zeppelins filled with hydrogen, capable of traveling at about 85mph and carrying up to two tonnes of bombs.
Raids on England began during January 1915, and the Germans believed that their airship was an ideal weapon against the superiority of the British navy.
The Germans used it at the beginning to damage British morale but as the war progressed, the damage caused by airships was insignificant and the deaths amounted to a few hundred. The development of newer weapons like ammunition made airships vulnerable due to the flammable hydrogen that powered them.
1. Type 93 U-Boat
The Type 93 U-boat was one of the most lethal weapons used during the First World War by the Imperial German Navy. The name “U-boat” came from the word Unterseeboot which means “undersea boat” in German, but it was used mostly by the English to refer to German military submarines.
The Type 93 was built by the German Imperial Navy. Type 93 U-boats carried 16 torpedoes and had arrangements of deck guns. Some of the Type 81 and 87 had only one 8.8cm (3.5in) deck gun while others had a single 10.5cm (4.1in) gun with 140 rounds; some were equipped with both at the initial stage. In 1917, some of the boats were refitted with a single 10.5cm gun and 220 rounds.
These boats had a crew capacity of 39 members and had excellent seagoing capabilities with a cruising range of around 17,000km (or 9,000 nautical miles). The Type 93 boats were responsible for sinking about 3 percent of all Allied shipping sunk during the war, which was about 411,304 gross register tons (GRT). They also managed to damage 70,913 GRT and capture 235 GRT.
Top 10 Diseases That Were Common in World War I
Though many innocent souls were lost due to physical injuries sustained during battle , others suffered from diseases which arose from poor living conditions, food shortages, and lack of personal hygiene in the trenches.
This meant that people were often admitted to hospital for sickness instead of wounds and medics found themselves fighting a war against disease as well as injury. It was a rare sight to see someone escape the war without some kind of injury or decline in their overall health.
But lack of medicine and pharmaceutical knowledge meant that many diseases had no cure. If one person was infected, the disease would be instantly transmitted to those around them, which ultimately led to global epidemics and the death of countless people.
Here is a list of the top 10 diseases that were common in World War I:
1. Trench Foot
This was an infection which made soldiers’ feet turn red or blue in color. It was a major problem during the initial stages of the war and was caused by the wet, cold, and unsanitary environment. Men would stand in waterlogged trenches for long periods of time without being able to move their legs or remove their socks. If the condition worsened it would make the legs numb and lead to gangrene and often amputation.
The only solution to this problem was for the soldiers to be able to rinse their wounds in lukewarm water, dry their feet, and change their socks several times a day. The number of cases of trench foot rose to over 75,000 in the British Army and around 2,000 in the US Army. But improvements in the quality of soldiers’ boots significantly reduced those numbers towards the end of the war.
2. Trench Fever
Trench fever was also known as quintan fever and was caused by a bacterium called Bartonella quintana found in body lice. Body lice would breed and grow in the soldiers’ clothing by clinging on to the seams of the cloth.
In order to get rid of the lice, soldiers would run flames along the seams of their clothes. It was easily transmissible amongst soldiers and lasted for a period of five days. The symptoms included muscle aches, headaches, high temperature, sores on the skin, and continuous attacks of fever.
Soldiers could contract the disease more than once and the number of infections rose to nearly one million at its peak. The disease was also linked to poverty, overcrowding, displacement of resources and homelessness, and could affect the civilian population as well.
If a soldier was diagnosed with the disease it meant he would be off duty for a minimum of three months and his country would lose a valuable resource. On the other hand, its low mortality rate also made it a savior for many men who would have otherwise lost their lives on the battlefield.
3. Typhoid and Typhus Fever
Though their names may sound similar, these diseases are not the same. Typhoid fever was a bacterial infection caused by the bacterium Salmonella typhi and it was one of the deadliest diseases of World War I. Its symptoms included sweating, diarrhea, and a high temperature. Typhoid fever sufferers would become extremely dehydrated and had to endure excruciating pain.
Typhus fever, also referred to as gaol fever or ship fever, on the other hand, was transmitted amongst soldiers through body lice called Pediculus humanus; the core organism or virus was called Rickettsia prowazekii. The disease came about due to bad hygiene.
During the war, a massive number of deaths occurred because of typhus fever and since there were no antibiotics, the mortality rate varied from 10 to 80 percent. Countries like Russia reported an average of 82,000 cases every year and this number rose to 154,000 after the retreat of 1916.
4. Influenza
This was a devastating disease which resulted in more deaths than the Great War itself. People also called it the Spanish Flu or La Grippe and it was a huge epidemic immediately after the war in 1918, spreading throughout Europe. Children and people between the ages of 20 and 40 were the most prone to infection and malnutrition and poor hygiene contributed to the spread of the disease.
Victims would develop a deadly type of pneumonia and would suffer from headaches, aching muscles, a persistent, dry cough, fever, weakness, a sore throat, and blood poisoning. Once someone was infected they would usually die within three days in excruciating pain and with swelling of the body. Since there was no cure, gauze masks were distributed among populations to prevent transmission of the disease.
5. Malaria
Many soldiers and civilians were affected by malaria during the First World War. People between the ages of 18 and 48 were largely infected and many people died of the disease. Several sources indicate that British, French and Austria-Hungarian troops together had over 20 million cases and the number of deaths per month averaged 80,000.Lack of medicine and treatment facilities made it an incurable epidemic during the war. It was parasitic in nature and was made worse by unsanitary living conditions and malnutrition. After the war, death rates declined as troops were moved from infected areas to safer and better living conditions.
6. Diabetes
Diabetes often ended in death for many sufferers, as the discovery of insulin was still 20 years away. People and soldiers suffering from the disease had to follow strict diets which limited their food intake to a great extent. There was no cure and death would follow soon after diagnosis.
Diabetes today..
- The number of people with diabetes rose from 108 million in 1980 to 422 million in 2014. Prevalence has been rising more rapidly in low- and middle-income countries than in high-income countries.
- Diabetes is a major cause of blindness, kidney failure, heart attacks, stroke and lower limb amputation.
- Between 2000 and 2019, there was a 3% increase in diabetes mortality rates by age.
- In 2019, diabetes and kidney disease due to diabetes caused an estimated 2 million deaths.
- A healthy diet, regular physical activity, maintaining a normal body weight and avoiding tobacco use are ways to prevent or delay the onset of type 2 diabetes.
- Diabetes can be treated and its consequences avoided or delayed with diet, physical activity, medication and regular screening and treatment for complications.
7. Heart Disease
Treatment can include:
- lifestyle changes, such as regular exercise and stopping smoking
- medicines
- angioplasty – where balloons and stents are used to treat narrow heart arteries
- surgery
8. Venereal Disease
The First World War served as a breeding ground for sexually transmitted diseases. The number of these infections grew massively during the war and eventually spread to the unaffected populous. The most common sexually transmitted infections were gonorrhea and syphilis which quickly spread amongst the troops and weakened their fighting capabilities. At that time, the cure for venereal disease was very expensive, time-consuming and largely ineffective.
Soldiers’ wives were also suspected of carrying venereal disease due to extramarital relations with other soldiers or civilians. As this disease led to the weakening of the fighting force, many countries introduced strict medical policies and performed medical examinations on soldiers and prostitutes to curb the disease.
9. Tuberculosis
Tuberculosis was a vicious disease which killed many people during the war. It was caused by a slow breeding bacterium called Mycobacterium tuberculosis. There were two stages to tuberculosis: the primary and the secondary stage. It was very rare to diagnose the primary stage through chest x-rays, but if patients were diagnosed with the secondary stage of the disease then they were at high risk of suffering from lung failure.
The symptoms of the secondary stage included a cough, bloody sputum, weight loss, and a high temperature. A person with secondary stage tuberculosis would be institutionalized to stop them from spreading the disease to their family members, friends, or anyone they came into contact with. There was no effective medicine to treat the disease at that time.
A whopping 24 countries and 34 major cities were affected by tuberculosis and the death rate was at its highest towards the end of the war. At its peak in the United States, there were 150 deaths for every 100,000 people. A similar pattern was also seen in for example Ireland, Scotland, Belgium, Germany and Japan.
However, after the end of the war, these numbers quickly came down to 114 for every 100,000 people. Even though the disease gradually disappeared, it left behind physical and mental scars on the people it infected. Subsequent medical research helped to develop vaccines and prevent its outbreak in the wars that followed.
10. Shell Shock
By the end of the First World War, the British Army alone had seen more than 80,000 cases of shell shock. Shell shock was a term to describe the post-traumatic stress soldiers suffered during the war. Its symptoms included insomnia, the inability to walk or talk, and panic attacks. At the beginning of the war, shell shock was relatively rare.
However, as the war progressed, the number of cases grew, and doctors were not able to identify the exact cause of the disorder. There was speculation that the explosion of bombs caused shockwaves in soldiers’ brains. Also, it was believed that carbon monoxide from the explosions damaged the brain tissue.
Patients showing signs of shell shock were regarded as cowards, but as the number of shell shock cases increased, people tried to figure out a solution to the problem. The answer was to prescribe the affected soldier a few days’ rest and their officers were directed to discuss the issue with them, talking about both the war and their families back home.
In severe cases, sufferers were sent to casualty clearing stations for many weeks. If they still didn’t recover they would undergo several more rounds of observation until they were ready for battle again.
YEAR 2014.
Using data from the World Health Organization, we labeled every country in the world with the disease that caused the most deaths within the nation.
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