Arms of the First World War
This section contains the standard rifles, machine guns, pistols and edged weapons of each fighting nation, together with any special types fielded during the war. You can read about the origins and use of these as well as viewing modern and period photos and, in some cases, video footage of them in action. This is not an exhaustive list and more weapons and equipment will continue to be added.
While technology advanced rapidly in the 19th century, military strategy and tactics did not. When the empires of Europe clashed in 1914, the military commanders struggled to adapt to the new weapons available on an industrial scale. The result was an unprecedented death toll. One million British people alone were killed. Though the human cost was immense, tremendous effort was made by all sides to bring a decisive end to the fighting. Military technology was further developed, and new ways found to use it. From the bolt-action rifle to the submachine gun, these are the weapons that enabled modern warfare and defined the classes of weapon still in use today.
Allies
- Pattern 1894 Lance 1894
- Pattern 1897 Infantry Officer's Sword 1897
- Pattern 1899 Cavalry Trooper's Sword 1899
- Pattern 1908 Mark 1*, Cavalry Trooper's Sword 1912
- Welsh knife 1916
- Trench pike 1914
- Push dagger 1914
- Pritchard-Greener bayonet about 1916
- Knuckleduster knife 1915
- Lead-cored studded trench club 1915
- Magazine Lee-Enfield rifle, Mark I and Pattern 1888 bayonet 1895
- Martini-Enfield VTC carbine 1914
- Short, Magazine Lee-Enfield (SMLE) rifle - trench adapted 1916
- Short, Magazine Lee-Enfield sniper rifle with Periscopic Prism Company telescope (PPCo) sight about 1915
- Short, Magazine Lee Enfield (SMLE) rifle and Pattern 1907 bayonet 1903
- Blanch-Chevallier grenade launcher Not issued
- Browning Automatic Rifle, Model of 1918 1918
- Model of 1903 Mark 1 Springfield rifle with Pedersen Device and M1905 bayonet 1903
- Model of 1917 'Enfield' rifle and bayonet 1917
Central Powers
- Prussian Infantry Officer's Sword, Modell 1889 (Preussische Infantrerie Offizierdegen) 1889
- Modell 1889 Sword (Kavalerie Degen) 1889
- Bergmann MG 15nA light machine gun 1915
- Bergmann MP 18,1 submachine gun 1918
- Maxim MG 08 machine gun 1908
- Maxim MG 08/15 light machine gun 1915
- Mauser C96 pistol 1896
- Pistole 08 (P08) Parabellum pistol 1908
- Lange Pistole 08 (LP08) pistol and drum magazine 1914
- Schwarzlose Modell 1907/12 machine gun 1912
- Lewis light machine gun, Mark I 1913
- Bergmann MG 15nA light machine gun 1915
- Vickers-Maxim machine gun, Mark I 1912
- Maxim MG 08 machine gun 1908