World War 1 And 2 Comparison Essay

Similarities and differences between WWI and II

Both of the World Wars got their names from the global scale of their impact. New technology changed the way both wars were fought, but WWI’s outcomes also influenced WWII. Also, technologies that were first developed in WWI were improved upon during WWII and new ones were made. World War I was fought between the Allies, primarily Britain and France, and the Central Powers, Germany and Austria-Hungary and several other countries. World War II was fought between the allies, Britain, the US, and the Soviet Union, and the axis powers, Germany, Italy, and Japan. Both World Wars were fought using more advanced weaponry and technology than previously used; however, they were fought using different strategies,

trench warfare in WWI and the blitzkrieg in WWII.
Both World Wars were modern, total, and global wars. The World Wars, as the name suggests, were fought globally, in places such as Europe, Asia, and Africa, although the impact of the war did extend even further like into the U.S., which fought in both wars. Many countries devoted their economies completely to the war effort, called total war. The population of an entire nation was set to winning the war. As men left work and joined the military, women started to work in factories. The World Wars were also modern because they were fought with machine guns, tanks, airplanes, and other modern technologies. (Jones; World History 496-497)
WWI saw the development and usage of many new weapons such as heavy artillery, airplanes, and machine guns that replaced simpler weapons such as the bayonet.

Machine guns were very important weapons on the battlefield because they could fire rapidly and kill many soldiers causing soldiers in WWI to make trenches to avoid bullet fire. Airplanes were also first used for combative purposes in WWI. Flight was still very crude, so it was first used for reconnaissance purposes such as tracking German troop movements. Airplanes advanced quickly during the war, so they were also used for bombing and fighting. Mortars made many advancements during the WWI and were useful because they could be fired from the trenches. Heavy artillery, the deadliest weapon of WWI, became larger, more mobile, and more accurate. WWI was the first for many weapons, the tank and airplane especially, that changed future wars. (Llewellyn; Trueman; “Weapons of World War

I”)
WWII saw the improvement of tanks and airplanes and the use of aircraft carriers. Tanks, first developed and used by Britain in WWI, were used much more heavily in WWII. They were important to Germany’s strategy of moving fast. Additionally, airplanes were also developed further to be used as fighters, bombers, transport for soldiers and supplies. Some could be launched off of aircraft carriers, which expanded the ability to launch planes from the sea. (Llewellyn; “Weapons of World War I”)
The Western Front, which ran from Belgium to France’s border with Switzerland, was the site of trench warfare.

In response to machine guns and heavy artillery, soldiers dug trenches. The Central Powers and Allies both had a system of trenches that was composed of a series, usually three, of parallel trenches that were connected by perpendicular trenches used for communication and transportation. The opposing trench systems were separated by barbed wire and “no man’s land,” a crater marked land. The trenches were defended with machine guns and heavy artillery. The permanent positions of the trenches prevented any soldiers from conquering land. This lead to a stalemate that lasted for the rest of the war. To try and break the stalemate, the army tried blowing up enemy trenches from underground. Trench warfare lead to a long war of attrition that was finally broken by the introduction of fresh troops from the United States of America. (Hadingham; “Trench

Warfare”)
As opposed to the largely immobile war in WWI, Germany, during WWII, used a strategy we now call blitzkrieg, “lightning war.” It was used to quickly take land to avoid the tragedies of trench warfare like that of WWI. Germans used modern technologies, such as tanks, aircraft, and motor trucks, to be as mobile as possible. Using this strategy, Germany quickly conquered Poland and later the Netherlands and France. Their goal was to quickly advance through the enemy’s front. (“Blitzkrieg”; World History 537)
During World War I, new weapons and technology changed how war was fought, but military leaders were slow to change strategies, leading to trench warfare. In WWII, the German army was able to conquer quickly using a strategy now called blitzkrieg. WWII also saw the development of advanced weapons such as tanks and nukes. WWI and II were also similar in that they were both total and global wars.

Works Cited

“Blitzkrieg.” History.com, A+E Networks, 2009, www.history.com/topics/world-war-ii/ blitzkrieg. Accessed 10 October 2017.
Hadingham, Evan. “The Hidden World of the Great War.” National Geographic, vol. 226, no. 2, August 2014, pp. 116-129. EBSCOhost, doi: 97118349. Accessed 10 October 2017.
Jones, Heather. “WW1: Was it really the first world war?” BBC News, 2014, www.bbc.com/ news/magazine-28057198. Accessed 25 October 2017.
Llewellyn, Jennifer, et al. “Weapons of World War I.” Alpha History, 2014, alphahistory.com/worldwar1/weapons. Accessed 10 October 2017.
“Trench Warfare.” Encyclopaedia Britannica, 9 August 2017, www.britannica.com/topic/trench-warfare. 12 October 2017
Trueman, Chris. “Aircraft and World War One.” The History Learning Site, 17 April 2015, www.historylearningsite.co.uk/world-war-one/aerial-warfare-and-world-war-one/ aircraft-and-world-war-one/. Accessed 25 October 2017.
World History: Preparing for the Advanced Placement Examination. Perfection Learning, 2017.
“World War II Technology.” Ducksters Education Site, TSI, 2017, www.ducksters.com/history/ world_war_ii/technology_of_ww2.php. Accessed 25 October 2017.
“Weapons of World War I.” History Net, World History Group, 2014, www.historynet.com/ weapons-of-world-war-i.htm