The First World War of 1914-18 ended the Edwardian Era of optimism and laid the groundwork for the balance of the 20th Century. Although civilization had experienced worldwide conflict in the 18th and 19th centuries, massive industrialization and new technologies created unprecedented casualties and destruction. New and deadly inventions and innovations entered the battlefield: fighter planes, armoured tanks, poison gas, submarine warfare, super guns that launched projectiles into the stratosphere, submachine guns that killed at eye level. And paradoxically, while technology elevated the number of casualties, front line soldiers still used weapons that would be familiar to their medieval counterparts.
