Hand grenade thrower on the Isonzo Front, photo taken on 10 September 1917

Hand grenades, mortars and howitzers were particularly used when the enemy could not be hit with direct fire. Despite the fact that the military knew of this area of application the industrial production in the Austro-Hungarian Empire of this weapon only began one year after the beginning of the war.

It was now becoming ever more obvious that the Austro-Hungarian army could only function with massive German assistance. Politically this chained the Danube Monarchy even more firmly to Germany and left it even less freedom to make its own decisions.