In 1881 the American inventor, Hiram Maxim, visited the Paris Electrical Exhibition. While he was at the exhibition he met a man who told him: "If you wanted to make a lot of money, invent something that will enable these Europeans to cut each other's throats with greater facility."

Here is another [version]:
In 1881, a friend of Hiram Maxim, the American inventor, told him: "If you wanted to make a lot of money, ..." (and blah, blah, bloody-blah)

and a result is...

"1st July 1916 saw the onset of the predominantly British-led Somme Offensive. Planned as a means of relieving German pressure upon the French at Verdun, and viewed by British Commander-in-Chief Sir Douglas Haig as a means of achieving a breakthrough on the Western Front, the offensive opened with significant British casualties, some 60,000 on the first day alone. The British had mistakenly expected German resistance to be crushed following a week-long preliminary bombardment of the German lines but instead found machine-gunners awaiting their infantry advance.

The Somme Offensive did not provide the much sought after breakthrough but largely resulted in continued trench stalemate, although some territorial gain was achieved by Allied forces. Casualty estimates vary widely: the Allied losses (chiefly British and French) have been put at 600,000 with German casualties estimated to be 500,000."

[from FirstWorldWar.com (emphases are mine)]