Trench warfare
Trench warfare has become archetypically associated with the First World War of 1914–1918, when the Race to the Sea rapidly expanded trench use on the Western Front starting in September 1914. By the end of October 1914 the whole front in Belgium and France had solidified into lines of trenches, which lasted until the last weeks of the war. Mass infantry assaults were futile in the face of artillery fire as well as rapid rifle and machine-gun fire. Both sides concentrated on breaking up enemy attacks and on protecting their own troops by digging deep into the ground. Trench warfare also took place on other fronts, including in Italy and at Gallipoli.
German military rifles
The needle gun first made its appearance in street fighting during the May Uprising in Dresden in 1849. It also played an important role in the Danish–German War of 1864. The gun saw its heaviest use in the Austro-Prussian War of 1866 and the Franco-Prussian War of 1870-71. Because the breech-loader made it possible for a Prussian soldier to fire five (or more) shots, even while lying on the ground, in the time that it took his Austrian counterpart to fire one (and then reload while standing), it was seen as allowing the Prussians to sweep the field.