Why did aircraft play an important role in world war 1?

World War One was the first global war in which airplanes were been used to fight each other (though not the first EVER conflict- that was in the Italo-Turkish War of 1913). The first World War aircraft were typically very delicate, single engined biplanes that were equipped with a side-mounted machine gun. The German Fokker Aircraft Company perfected a technique whereby front-mounted machine-guns could be fired between the revolutions of the aircraft's propeller- initially the Allies did not have this technology, but when a Fokker aircraft was forced to surrender after having to land in Allied territory after getting lost in fog, the technical know-how became known to the Allies, who were then able to match the Germans on their own terms. Over time during World War one, airplanes started getting bigger and faster. When planes equipped with bombs were made, that's when airplanes played a huge role. Twin and even four-engine bombers were made, including by Handley-Page in England and by Gotha in Germany- London suffered badly from air raids by Gotha's, one of which notoriously bombed a school and killed a number of children and their teachers.