Overview

At the end of the nineteenth century, a new military technology appeared on the scene that would fundamentally change the way warfare was conducted, and which would lead to some of the most tremendous slaughters of human beings ever witnessed. That technology was the machine gun, and it changed warfare by making it possible for a handful of men to kill thousands in only minutes.

Background

For centuries, battles had been conducted between two massed armies, with the goal of the attacking army being to break the defensive line of the other. While bows and arrows, cavalry, and even artillery could be used to weaken the line...