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Description
This book presents the most important of the combat knives used during the First World War. This applies to both officially imported specimens and those procured privately by soldiers. This is because many armies supplied their troops with suitable blank weapons too late or in too small numbers. The exhibition presents digging daggers and combat knives from Germany, Austria-Hungary, Italy, France, Belgium, Great Britain, Commonwealth countries and the USA. Special modifications made at the front are dealt with in a separate chapter. A short introductory text on each warring party is followed by a pictorial presentation of the various blank weapons (general views and detailed photos, historical photos show how the digging daggers were carried).
The First World War was marked by the increasing mechanisation of military affairs. Because of the great precision and firepower that artillery and machine guns had developed into, military leaders were convinced that long range combat was the future. A duel between two soldiers was considered unlikely, or at least a rarity. But the opposite was the case: the war of movement of the first months soon solidified into a war of position. Entire armies dug themselves into trenches, the fortifications that characterised the first global war of the 20th century. The narrowness of the trenches led to a development that ran counter to the industrialisation of combat: if the enemy had penetrated one's own lines, the better hand-to-hand weapons and close combat techniques often decided the duel. This led to a rediscovery of the knife, which had previously been declared dead as a weapon by the military.
The First World War was marked by the increasing mechanisation of military affairs. Because of the great precision and firepower that artillery and machine guns had developed into, military leaders were convinced that long range combat was the future. A duel between two soldiers was considered unlikely, or at least a rarity. But the opposite was the case: the war of movement of the first months soon solidified into a war of position. Entire armies dug themselves into trenches, the fortifications that characterised the first global war of the 20th century. The narrowness of the trenches led to a development that ran counter to the industrialisation of combat: if the enemy had penetrated one's own lines, the better hand-to-hand weapons and close combat techniques often decided the duel. This led to a rediscovery of the knife, which had previously been declared dead as a weapon by the military.
- Group
- Books (first-hand)
- Author
- Peter-Michel, Wolfgang
- Title
- Grabendolche. Militärische Kampfmesser des Ersten Weltkriegs
- Details
- 2nd, enlarged edition. Paperback, many bw illustrations, 225 pages.
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