Part 14/15:
On the technological front, the year saw breakthroughs that would redefine warfare. French engineer Roland Galos’s successful shooting down of a German aircraft marked the advent of dedicated aerial combat tactics. Simultaneously, submarine attacks decimated merchant shipping, sinking dozens of vessels in a single day and claiming lives—including that of an American civilian, symbolizing the war’s expanding global impact.
Furthermore, the shifting naval strategies, combined with ongoing battles on land, underscored the changing face of WWI—an escalating conflict that involved not only soldiers but also millions of civilians displaced or affected by war’s devastation.