“The Greatest Generation”: A Study of World War II Technology
To some, World War II may seem like a great war that happened a long time ago, a war where however great the innovations during the war were, they are much out of date now, and so they have no impact on today’s world. But to another, who understand the world and how it grows, realize that wherever a nation is, it is in that position because of its history. This means that without all of the improvements of technology during World War II, the world as we know it today would be very much different on many levels. One of the levels which has a great impact on today’s world would be the improvements of technology. But as what was said before, almost anything new cannot be created without first developing the old. Therefore, one must look back at the past to not only find the origins of World War II, and its impact, but also to World War I, and not only did it set the groundwork this massive growth of advancement, but without these technologies, then those who won, may have lost, therefore altering history.
World War I, which from now on may be seen as WWI, may seem like a dirty war full of death and hardship, which it was, but it also was a time of great improvements in technology, technology, which eventually gave way to the massive improvements during World War II, which may now be seen as WWII. WWI saw innovations such as the tank, the flamethrower, poison gas, and a little known thing known as an interrupter gear just to name a few. Tanks were a great innovation that forever have changed the world we have today. At the beginning, men were only in the trenches, and anytime anyone wanted to gain any little amount of ground, they would get destroyed by a flurry of rifle ...
... middle of paper ...
... Web. 4 May 2014. .
Rosenberg, Jennifer. "World War II Starts." World War II Starts. About.com, n.d. Web. 4 May 2014. .
Sass, Erik. "12 Technological Advancements of World War I." Mental Floss. N.p., 17 Oct. 2013. Web. 4 May 2014. .
"Top 10 Inventions Discovered During WWII." WAR HISTORY ONLINE. N.p., 26 Dec. 2013. Web. 4 May 2014. .
"What Impact Did Technology Play in World War 2?." Answers.com. Ed. Ganderton, Peterc14, and Fixit895. N.p., n.d. Web. 4 May 2014. .
"World War II (1939-45)." Encyclopedia Britannica Online. Ed. John G. Royde-Smith and Thomas A. Hughes. Encyclopedia Britannica, 5 Dec. 2012. Web. 29 Jan. 2014.
In 1914, with the assassination of Archduke Franz Ferdinand and his wife from Austro-Hungarian Empire caused an enormous war called World War I, that killed and injured about thirty million lives. It also destroyed the economy later on. World War I changed combat tactics in a whole new way, where people would die in a blink of an eye. Commanders and soldiers did not know about the capabilities of their new arsenals. The new industrialized developed weapons devastated the battlefield with blood, mountain of corpses, and small craters. Some of the weapons that were used were machine guns, poison gas, mortars, and tanks. Soldiers described the battlefield as a nightmare. This was the start of a new era arising through warfare. A very dangerous way to bring great change to the world but was not intended. World War I brought great changes to the world but, considering the countless deaths, it was the worst war ever, an inhumane war.
Murray, Williamson R. (1998-08-13). Military Innovation in the Interwar Period (p. 242). Cambridge University Press
New advances in technology changed warfare in WW2. The change in technology since WW1 has produced such things as Atom Bomb, and new and improved sea and air warfare. New techniques had to be used because of technology, techniques such as 'mouseholing'. More people were killed because of technology, as more people died in WW2 than WW1.The technological advances in WW2 changed the battlefield completely as more deadly auxiliary was introduced.
"World War 2 was a war fought in two distinct phases. The first was the last war of a new generation. The second was emphatically the first of a new era" .
"World War II". Encyclopædia Britannica. Encyclopædia Britannica Online. Encyclopædia Britannica Inc., 2013. Web. 05 Nov. 2013. .
The Web. 04 Nov. 2013. http://www.loc.gov/teachers/classroommaterials/presentationsandactivities/presentations/timeline/depwwii/wwarii/>. " World War II (1939-1945)"
"World War Two - Causes." History on the Net. N.p., n.d. Web. 27 Nov. 2013.
The Web. The Web. 04 Feb. 2010. http://www.shmoop.com/wwi/science-technology.html>. "
...ing the Great War and the lessons learned will forever affect economic, technological and psychological futures around the world.
Other technologies that had come into use many decades prior to the outbreak of this war were widely used during the combat, and these proved to be decisive factors in forcing the outcome – machineguns, massive use of artillery (long-range), mortars, hand grenades and the barbed wire. There were other less known technologies introduced – diesel engines, motorized tractors and steam turbines. Advances were made in field of medicines; firearms sans smoke and one of the most effective weapons were high explosives.
World War II was one of the biggest wars in history for the U.S. and the world. Our world was divided between two sides. Axis(Bad Guys) and Allies(Good Guys).The world was in turmoil for six straight years. However, technological advancements helped to ensure allied victory in World War II by helping to gain tactical advantages in combat and providing a sense of fear to the Axis forces.
WWII was an era of learning and innovation, despite the ominous history behind it. Many new technologies were developed and led to many things never seen before; Jets made their first debut, experimentation with rockets started, nuclear science reached nuclear levels, peering radar, and huge metal boxes on wheels. These metal boxes have evolved so much during WWII. Tanks have had such an impact on the war, and the same is true the other way around. Each nation had a slightly different take on tanks, each evolving throughout the way, along with the way tanks were used also varied among nations, and changed significantly throughout the war.
Many countries in the western world experienced the industrial revolution. This revolution brought many jobs, opportunities, as well as technology to feed a world war. Technology evened both sides of the war. With the upbringing of heavy artillery such as machine guns, poison gas, land mines, planes able to drop precise bombs, and submarines able to attack from under the water, lessened the hand-to-hand combat time. The war was said to be the Great War, the "war to end all wars.
World War I is known as a war that occurred on extremely cruel terms; there were not many restrictions on what and when certain weapons could be used. Unfortunately, the Industrial Age brought with it many new ways to kill; the soldiers of World War I came in contact with many new weapons that they had never seen in combat.