World War I has been called the war to end all wars, and for good reason. Thousands of lives were lost during the 4-year war and because of this; many have called World War I a war of attrition. Attrition means "the exhaustion of the enemy's forces", and this is evident in many battles during the war. World War I involved combining new technologies and 19th century tactics. The plans used were rigid and often included cavalry. Tactics included bombarding the enemy with shells for a few days before attacking; meaning to kill the enemy and cut the wires, but usually ended up alerting the enemy that there was going to be an attack. Other tactics included crossing no man's land to reach enemy trenches. No man's land was the stretch of land between the trenches, full of bomb craters and full of dead people. However, this tactic only resulted in the men being cut down by the enemy's large machine guns. New technology in World War I included machine guns, gas, tanks, bayonets, flamethrowers, rifles, and grenades. Machine guns and poison gas are two of the most famous and notorious weapons of World War I. Firing several hundred bullets per minute, the machine guns were deadly weapons, especially when used against enemy troops. First used by the Germans during the war, it quickly became a popular combat weapon. The machine guns were heavy and had to be manned by several men. The machine gun was a popular defense because it allowed the enemy to be shot down as they crossed no-man's land. Poison gas was also a new technology introduced during World War I. Although the gas was first introduced by the French, the gas used was tear gas which was more of an irritant than a poison. Poison gas was first used by Germany...... middle of paper ......Battles of the Western Front 1914-1918, nd Greatwar.co, accessed March 27, 2014, . Chemical warfare and medical response during World War I, 2008 US National Library of Medicine, accessed March 20, 2014, .Combat and Tactics, 2006 Osprey Publishing Ltd, accessed March 26, 2014, .Condon, C 1987, The Making of the Modern World, Macmillan Education Australia, South Melbourne .Duffy, M 2009 Weapons of War - Introduction, FirstWorldWar.com, accessed 26 March 2014, .The Battle of Verdun, 2013 History Learning Site, accessed 25 March. 2014, .