In the “architecture” of the wars of the 20th century, barbed wire was one of the most important structural elements. It served both for the formation of belts of obstacles on the front line and for the surrounding concentration camps; the “thorn” quickly acquired not only pragmatic, but also symbolic meanings, turning into an emblem of war and violence.
However, barbed wire was not a wartime invention at all. Its homeland is considered the United States, where in the second half of the 19th century lands in the west of the country were rapidly developed. The prototype of modern barbed wire is considered to be a curious invention of some farmer Henry Rose, who invented to attach a piece of board with sharpened pieces of wire to a cow's head so that the animal would hurt itself when trying to get through the fence. After a while, the simple-minded peasant realized that it is much easier to attach such elements not to the forehead of the animal, but to the fence itself. His invention, on display in 1873, inspired Glidden Joseph, Isaac Ellwood, and Jacob Heisham to create a wire fence with sharp pieces of wire attached to it. Since then, wire production has developed rapidly.
If during the Boer War, barbed wire played a huge strategic role, delimiting large areas of space, then in the Russo-Japanese War, the role of the wire was predominantly tactical: it was used to protect the trenches. At the same time, during the conflict of 1904-1905, electricity was first turned on in some sections of the barbed wire.
Wired fortifications became so popular that, in the face of a shortage of barbed wire, they began to replace it with barbed tape - another invention of the First World War. The barbed tape, of which Germany became its home, although initially less durable than wire, inflicted more dangerous wounds. Army barbed tape is used in several modifications today. Thus, it was the First World War that became the time of the creation of all the most effective designs of wire fences, many of which are still in use.
The widespread use of barbed wire also demanded the invention of effective ways to overcome it. The cutting was the obvious one. Wearing protective leather jackets and trousers, chain mail masks and gloves, soldiers equipped to cut barbed wire look like medieval knights in surviving photographs. When the wire was energized, specially prepared cutters were insulated with bicycle tires.
