Tables like these show a variety of different statistics of the War. When looking at all of these statistics, figuring out what they all mean can be daunting. This speaks to the very nature of the War. It was a conflict unparalleled up to that point in history. It has been referenced as “the first modern war” for a reason. There had never before existed a war in which there was so much technology that was capable of mass human destruction. Prior to this War had been a period of enormous industrial growth around the world and with this, new and more efficient weapons of war. This conflict also marked a turning point in the production of materials to be used on the battlefield. Simply, more supplies needed to be manufactured than for any prior war. This caused many nations, especially the US to transition into wartime economies with a foundation in manufacturing for the war effort. This led to a time of economic prosperity in the near future. http://eh.net/encyclopedia/u-s-economy-in-world-war-i/ Table 2 Production of Selected Munitions in World War I Munition Total Production Peak monthly production at an annual rate Rifles 3,550,000 3,252,000 Machine guns 226,557 420,000 Artillery units 3,077 4,920 Smokeless powder (pounds) 632,504,000 NA Toxic Gas (tons) 10,817 32,712 De Haviland-4 bombers 3,227 13,200 Liberty airplane engines 13,574 46,200