• PugJesus@lemmy.worldOPMEnglish
    15·
    6 days ago

    Explanation: After some three years of European powers brutally bludgeoning, bayoneting, machine-gunning, and using chemical weapons on each other in WW1, the Americans entered the war. We, of course, immediately indulged in the same bludgeoning, bayoneting, machine-gunning, and chemical weapons as every else did, but we also brought a large quantity of pump-action shotguns to the fight, with brutal effect in the tight confines of the trenches.

    The German Empire lodged a formal complaint that the use of shotguns was against the laws of war due to the inhumane nature of the weapon. “Lol”, said everyone else, “lmao”

    • PugJesus@lemmy.worldOPMEnglish
      16·
      6 days ago

      Yep! In fact, the Germans had a long tradition of making fantastic single-shot, and double and triple ( ‘drilling’ ) barrel shotguns for hunting, even using them during WW1 - to hunt behind the front lines and supplement the food supply.

      But it was the (relatively) lightweight and fast-firing tube-fed pump-action shotguns that the Americans brought over in large numbers that were truly useful in a military context.