World War I was unlike any war preceding it. In many respects, it was the first truly 'modern' war. Never before had technology been put to such destructive ends. On land, at sea and in the air, mechanized warfare was carried out with devastating efficiency. Mechanized warfare is the use of advanced machines in war. Aircraft, armored vehicles, modern artillery, machine guns—these are all examples of mechanized warfare. World War I was characterized by trench warfare, in which opposing armies dug sophisticated trenches into the ground to provide cover - and armies remained in these trenches for years! The open space between the opposing trenches was 'no man's land' because no man wanted to enter this dangerous area. Soldiers living in trenches experienced appalling conditions. WWI was a war of 'firsts'. It was the first war in which airplanes, tanks, machine guns, blimps (zeppelins), poison gas and submarines were used. It was also the first modern war characterized by genocide: the Armenian Genocide. We will be studying this tragic & horrific event in greater detail later in this unit.