...were a number of tactics and technologies that were developed in World War I and improved in some way by the time World War II occurred. Often times, these differing technologies arose in response to previous technologies, such as mustard gas arising to counteract ongoing trench warfare. The thesis here is simple: most of the technologies and unique tactics developed in World War I and employed in World War II focused on offense capacity, allowing commanders to employ their forces in a more effective manner. The first primary example of this is the German concept of the Blitzkrieg. The Blitzkrieg, essentially, involves rushing one's forces, judiciously, at the enemy, inciting fear and confusion, especially when used as a surprise attack. The Blitzkrieg, by definition, "...advocates stressed mobility and speed over firepower, although in the form...
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...Assess the importance of the technology for the course and outcome of the First World War World War I was the first military conflict in the history of the world in which the technology played the role of such importance. Since the industrial revolution the technology had been constantly developing with a spectacular rate. In that time many ground-breaking tools and devices were invented such as steam engine, telegraph, usage of electricity or telephone. Besides these inventions that were used to improve the every-day life, there were also many others that were used in the World War I. To this group belong machine guns, barbed wire, tanks, dreadnoughts, submarines or mines. The usage of the technology had a big impact on the proceedings and the result of the World War I, because they virtually represented the power of each side participating in the conflict, influenced the morals of both soldiers and civilians and, what is vital, played a big role in the most important events of the War such as the creation and the breach of the stalemate on the West, the naval warfare, or Gallipoli campaign. Machine guns and barbed wire were very important for the course of the War due to the fact that they were part and parcel of the trenches, which were the direct cause of the failure of the Schlieffen Plan. The trenches formed a line from the North Sea to the Swiss frontier with France. That closed the door on free proceedings on the Western front, because barbed wire and machine guns...
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...A tank is a large type of armoured fighting vehicle with tracks, designed for front-line combat. Modern tanks are strong mobile land weapons platforms, mounting a large-calibre cannon in a rotating gun turret. They combine this with heavy vehicle armour providing protection for the crew of the weapon and operational mobility, which allows them to position on the battlefield in advantageous locations. These features enable the tank to have enormous capability to perform well in a tactical situation: the combination of strong weapons fire from their tank gun and their ability to resist enemy fire means the tank can take hold of and control an area of the battle and prevent other enemy vehicles from advancing, for example. In both offensive and defensive roles, they are powerful units able to perform all primary tasks[which?] required of armoured troops on the battlefield.[1] The modern tank was the result of a century of development from primitive armoured vehicles, due to improvements in technology such as the internal combustion engine, which allowed the rapid movement of heavy equipment required to construct armoured vehicles. As a result of these advances, tanks underwent tremendous shifts in capability during the World Wars of the 20th century....
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...New technology shaped war to become more complex and gruesome than ever before. Technological advancements in engineering, chemistry, and other studies had created weapons more lethal than anything prior. Millions had died pointlessly because military leaders were too slow to adapt their old fashioned strategies and tactics, to the new weapons of World War One. Out of all the new weapons in World War One. Three of the most fatal were poison gas, aircrafts, and tanks. Poison gas was created by chemist Fritz Haber. This can be seen in the following quote. “During the war Haber threw his energies and those of his institute into further support for the German side. He developed a new weapon—poison gas, the first example of which was chlorine gas”...
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...Stephen Rosen’s statement identifies one of the most challenging problems facing political and military leaders today. In an era of uncertainty, which includes a diversity of potential threats and military operations, what is the “best route” in the area of military innovation to translate limited research and development resources into capabilities to deal with current or potential threats and its allies? By the time World War I ended military theorists around the world had learned from several rude surprises. First of all, horse-drawn and foot transport really wasn't good enough in the modern world. They didn't exactly get rid of the horse but horses were extremely vulnerable to fire, and the mud characteristic of trench warfare slowed them down a bit. Men were better in mud, but not much, and could not march quickly enough. The imperatives of battle were such that soldiers had to be able to move in almost all conditions, and if breakthroughs were to be exploited, they had to move fast. 2. The realities of trench warfare came as a rude shock to officers in World War I. Machine guns, barbed wire and trenches gave overwhelming superiority to the defense. The simple fact was men could not take a defended position without enduring hideous casualties, despite incredible artillery preparations from thousands of guns. In fact the artillery barrages proved part of the problem, they tore up the earth all around the battlefield, making it all but impossible to cross. 3. The ultimate...
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...more advanced weaponry and technology. But World War I (WWI) likely had the largest surge of advancements in weaponry and technology when it came to high-end warfare. Flamethrowers, mortars, tanks, and machine guns were all-new to the battlefield, providing niche uses, or completing tasks faster and more efficiently than other technology at the time could. It changed how wars played out forever, even if some of the more usual weaponry was more consistent, reliable, and abundant (Weapons of War - Rifles 1). Still, due to WWI’s advancements in technology and weaponry, war would never be the same....
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...Summary: This is a short story about the repercussions of war. The story starts in medias res with an old man choosing the day for a young boy's birthday. There has been a war that ended seven years ago and the pair has been hiding ever since. They were discovered by soldiers and are now filling out their documents. The old man has made a small cart for the boy for his birthday and also takes him for a trip to the countryside. In the calm countryside they discover a rusty tank, which preoccupies the boy a lot. They have lunch and afterwards a small nap. When the old man awakens the boy is gone. He immediately heads for the tank to look for him, fearing he may have drowned in the nearby stream. The boy is nowhere to be seen, but suddenly raises his head from the turret and says “Gotcha!”. (151 words) Characterization of the boy and old man: The boy has never known anything but the war-torn everyday. He has always had to search for food and shelter and has never had a birthday, just as he has missed out on a lot of activities that normal seven-year-olds participate in. He is very preoccupied with the war and the marching soldiers. His birthday gift, which the old man imagines is a grocery cart, the boy pretends to be a tank. Since the boy has never experienced anything but the post-war years he glorifies the soldiers. He has never experienced the gory and bloody truth of war, or known what soldiers do in war. Hence he also doesn't understand or appreciate what the...
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...Throughout the initiation of the various wars that took place in the year between 1845-1991, the advancement of various weapons and other technological developments also took place. As a point of importance, Chemical Gases and generally, Chemical Warfare are considered, by many historians, as a decisive weapon used against the enemies, albeit sometimes unsuccessfully. By late 1915, in World War I, gas warfare had become a psychological as well as physical weapon. Much as the artillery barrages resulted in mental breakdowns associated with “shellshock,” the constant threat of the unbeknownst exposure to even a single gas shell added to the already unbearable stress of life at the front. After the first gas attack ever near Ypres in Belgium,...
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...Even though, the technologies introduced for the first time during the First World War (1914-1918) did not influence its final outcome, due to underdevelopment typical primary failures and mistakes in using them, after innovations they had played an immensely important role in the outcome and duration of the Second World War (1939-1945). New developments in the war in the air and on the sea were introduced, therefore allowing more efficient methods of reconnaissance, transportation, naval blockades and support of the war on the land. The “traditional” (on land) type of the fights was also severely changed due to the modernization of warfare. The tanks, which were first used in the Battle of Somme ( exactly on 5th September 1916) and deemed...
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...They have lived in the ruins, for 7 years, after a war and have survived by collecting things they could find or steal. One day soldiers find them and order some documents filled out. For this he needs the boy’s unknown birthdate. The boy selects a day, and becomes entitled to have a birthday and presents. The man makes a present, a cart, for the boy, but also gives him a day away from the war. The boy likes his cart, which he calls a tank. The day away from the war becomes a day to a place the boy never has been before. At the trip he sees some soldiers and a tank witch the man does not like. 2. Characterize the boy and the old man There is not mentioned much about the two characters, we do not know their age, nationality, names or birthdays. What we know is they live by themselves, poor, in the ruins after a war. “… the old man and the boy had lived in the ruins for seven years without documents …” (l. 10-11). They survive on things they steal or dig out of the cellars of the ruins. “But the old man and the boy had found all three for the digging in the catacombs of cellars beneath the shattered city, for the filching at night.” (l. 12-14). The boy is around 7 years old, no real parents, as he was given to the old man by a refugee mother. “He told them how, on the day the war ended, a refugee woman had left a baby in his arms and never returned.” (l. 26-27). And therefore the old man became his father and role model. The boy is brave and without concerns of his...
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...Much about the Second World War is a mystery to most Americans. Technology was at a crucial point in history, weapon systems like Tanks, aircraft, and destroyers had evolved from World War I but little was known about the Artillery weapons systems. At the end of World War I the United States military suffered from one of the largest downsizes and budget cuts in American history. From these setbacks came extensive training and modernization for the Artillery. From the experiences suffered during World War I the U.S Army realized that it would have to improve its mass fires. This meant Field Artillery would have to adapt to the battlefield and restructure was needed for this to be accomplished. Prior to World War II fire direction centers...
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...MODERN AMERICAN MILITARY HISTORY JULY 27, 2015 There have been many innovations developed as a result of World War Two (WWII). Many of those innovations and technologies were pushed forward in to high gear because of the need created by warfare. All types of items such as a proximity fuse (used to detonate bombs & Anti-Aircraft shells), significant advances in tanks, amphibious mobile troop carriers (DUKW), new designed aircraft carriers took over the old World War One battleships, were a direct product from the conflict. The development of the RADAR (RAdio Detection And Ranging) played a crucial role during the Battle of Britain in World War Two for the British air forces. At a time where the British only had available to them a total of 800 aircraft to try to hold back the German in which had an air force with over 3,000 planes at their ready. The use of Radar gave the British the upper hand by allow them to be able to detect the German aircraft while they were still fifty to sixty miles away. This enabled the British to only permit a limited amount of forces to fight the Germans as the approached knowing the direction, altitude, and speed of the planes as they came. In the great depths of the sea, the German U-boat had become quiet the force that was wreaking havoc on the Allied Naval ships. The U.S. Navy not only had the use of SONAR (SOund Navigating And Ranging) but the development of Bearing Deviation Indicator (BDI) was a useful tool in adding the sonar equipment...
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...Evolution War is a never ending, yet historical event. It is supposed to be used to solve conflicts. It is supposed to determine which nation will be considered the more superior nation and to determine which nation would be considered to be the weakest. Although war is supposed to be used to solve conflicts, often times instead of solving conflicts it either makes matters worse or creates new problems. According to the Merriam Webster’s dictionary, war is defined as, “a state or period of fighting between countries or groups. It is also defined as an organized effort by a government or other large organization to stop or defeat something that is viewed as dangerous or bad (War, 2016).” War consists of a lot of violence, and unfortunately we as a society, think that is the best way to get our point across and the best way to solve problems. It is a situation that affects so many people. Not just those involved in the actual fighting in the war, but their families, their friends, and each country included in the war. When we send soldiers in to fight a battle, a lot of them will not make it back home to see their loved ones again. They may not even understand or agree with the reason behind the war. They just know they were called to serve their country and that’s what they will do. Based on the history of the United States of America, we have been at war for about 90% of the time since 1776. Some of the wars that have been instrumental within our history and that I will be discussing...
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...According to most modern statistics, the first world war resulted in the combined deaths of almost 10 million soldiers out of about 65 million died, most of which died during battle, unlike most previous wars during which most died of disease, and 1/3rd of those deaths were caused by an outbreak of Spanish flu, killing more people in one year than did the black plague in four. Contrastingly, the American civil war caused almost a million deaths or more than 2 percent of the entire population of the entire north American continent at the time as opposed to little more than 1 percent of all of the armies put together, not counting civilians. The number of casualties from world war 1 and many others afterwards could have been much larger, but...
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...reason for the Russian victory in the Second World War? PLAN (POINT EXPLANATION EVIDENCE) 1.INTRO(WHO ARE WESTERN ALLIES) 2.ALLIES CREATING WAR ON TWO FRONTS 3.THE U.S, SUPPLY FOR THE USSR 4.THE USSR ITSELF 5.THE AXIS MISTAKES 6. CONCLUSION Allied forces consistent from countries which opposed the Axis powers. The main policy makers of Allies were the U.S.A., USSR and British Empire. These coalition and its cooperation helped the USSR, but importance of allied support for the USSR victory is arguable as there are several factors which oppose that statement. Allied forces were crucial for the USSR victory in the 2 World War as they created war on two fronts, which did not allow German to use all its power against the USSR. After defeat of Germans in Moscow, the USSR army advanced on the east, defatting Germans in Stalingrad, Leningrad and Kursk. However, even when Eastern was the biggest front in the 2 World War, and the USSR was fighting against bigger proportion of German soldiers, allies created pressure on Nazi army from the West and in North Africa. If the USSR would have fought against the hole Reich Army, the war for it would be lost. Also the allies were highly advanced in technology, what resulted in a lot of bombing operation from the USA and Britain. This allowed the USSR to meet less german tanks and avoid German airfares in their full presence, as the USSR was not able to produce aircrafts or tanks which would be affective against Germans. Allied...
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