Since the first caveman picked up a stick to defeat his opponent, man has continually searched for more effective ways to win wars. Advances in technology that in many ways were created to make life easier often morph into weapons and tactics the more efficiently kill human beings. To the politician the solider is a pawn on a huge chessboard, to scientists they are lab rats and to the citizens of nations soldiers are the oft forgotten protectors of freedom. While leaders promise peace and an end to war, they continue to create for the soldier hell on Earth.
At the turn of the Twentieth Century war was still a pretty simple affair. Wars were fought on the ground and sea where the battling sides could see one another. The airplane and automobile were new and promised quicker transportation. The cavalry was still an important part of a nation’s standing army.
After the assassination of Archduke Franz Ferdinand of Austria in Sarajevo author John Keegan in his book, The First World War, describes the mobilization of the militaries in this way, “
Horses, like men, were mustering in the hundreds of thousands all over Europe in the first week of August. Even Britain’s little army called up165,000 mounts for the cavalry and draught animals for the artillery and regimental transport waggons. The Austrian army mobalised 600,000, the German 715,000 the Russian-with its twenty-four cavalry divisions-over a million. The armies of 1914 remained Napoleonic in their dependence on the horse; staff officers calculated the proportion between horses and men at 1:3 (73).
The leaders of these nations believed that this war would be fought in the same manner of wars past, and would only last six months. It became apparent as the trenches were dug and the battle lines were set that World War I would become a long and deadly affair that would forever change the ways war was fought.
The most effective armament used in the First World War as artillery. Runners and aircraft would gather information on troop positions and movement; this information would be sent to artillery units who would bombard the enemy troops. The British lobbed thousands of bombs during the war, but the Germans developed “Big Bertha” a massive piece of artillery that could fire at Paris from over 75 miles away. It was only the artillery that was improved during the war, but the shells were upgraded as well. Instead of ordinary shells, new high-explosive shells were developed. These were thin cased shells that were filled with tiny lead pellets. The improvements were such that artillery fire now could kill hundreds and thousands of men.
The machine gun, first used in the Civil War, also was improved. The German Maxim machine gun was fed by a fabric or metal belt, making it a very effective automatic weapon, its relatively small size also made it difficult for the enemy to destroy. On the opening day of the Somme offensive the British suffered a record number of single day casualties, 60,000, the great majority lost under withering machine gun fire.
Sir Winston Churchill in his book, The World in Crisis, wrote of the machine guns at Somme, “Even one machine gun is skilled resolute hands might lay five hundred men dead and dying on the ground; and along the assaulted front certainly a thousand of such scientifically related in several lines of defence awaited their prey” (655).
The British also had machine guns; however they were based on the German Maxim. The Vickers Gun was water cooled, via a jacket around the barrel which held approximately one gallon of water. The Vickers was loaded from a 250-round fabric belt mounted on a tripod. It fired some 450 rounds per minute; after some 10,000 rounds had been fired the gun barrel invariably required replacement. The difficulty with this weapon was that it took six men to operate it.
The battles on the ground in the First War World were horrifying. Men left the trenches crossing “no-man’s land” in a hail of gunfire, often getting tangled in barbwire. Even in the trenches soldiers were not safe due to the use of chemical weapons. The massive use of chemical weapons cut both ways. Gas was effective at killing and demoralizing soldiers, as well as stopping advancing attacks. However depending upon the weather conditions it could be ineffective or even blown back onto the troops that were using it as their weapon. (Keegan, 197-202).
At the beginning of the war, aircraft were used for reconnaissance, flying above the enemy lines, helping to direct the artillery bombardments or to detect and troop movements, it was soon realized though that bombs could be dropped from the planes onto the enemy causing as much damage as possible.
This led to the development of fighter planes, the Sopwith Camel was developed by the British and the Germans retaliated with the Fokker Triplane. The most famous pilots of The Great War was a German pilot named Manfred Von Richthofen, better known as the Red Baron, He was responsible for shooting down over 80 Allied aircraft before he himself was killed when his aircraft, a Fokker Triplane, was shot down over France in 1918 (Keegan, 359-360).
Tanks were introduced into battle for the first time in 1916 by the British, these proved to be unreliable though, A later model played a vital role during the allied advances of 1918, flattening barbed wire, crossing enemy trenches and acting as shields for the advancing troops. Tanks creation of the tanks was brought about as “the trench lines on both sides reached the sea, and there was no longer any open ground for manoeuvre or any flanks to turn” (Churchill, 304).
Another interesting insight of Churchill’s was, “The armored car was the child of the air; and the Tank its grandchild. Churchill, who was involved in the creation of the tank (304-306), could see how the needs of the fighting forces changes, weapons needed to evolve to maintain or gain the advantage.
Churchill is an interesting character; he entered the Royal Military College of Sandhurst, and graduated with honors in December of 1894. Then he later saw action in Cuba, India, Egypt, Sudan, the front lines of World War I, and even took part in one of the last British cavalry charges in history (Severance, 17). He is a bridge from World War One and World War Two, where he served as Britain’s Prime Minister. It is often said that the cause of WWII was WWI, and Churchill experienced both first hand.
The advances of weaponry in World War I were improved on in World War II. The use of submarines became more deadly during the Second World War than could have possibly been imagined in 1914. The role of aircraft grew in land, sea and air. The bombs and shells of battle became even more deadly.
The submarine in its infancy in WWI became a deadly and terrifying force in WWII. In the Atlantic, where German submarines again acted against Allied convoys, this part of the war was very reminiscent of the latter part of World War I. Many British submarines were active as well, particularly in the Mediterranean and off Norway, against Axis warships, submarines and merchant shipping.
In the Pacific, the situation was reversed, with US submarines hunting Japanese shipping. By war's end, U.S. submarines had destroyed over half of all Japanese merchant ships sunk, totaling well over five million tons of shipping (Blair, 878). British and Dutch submarines also took part in attacks on Japanese shipping, mostly in coastal waters. Japanese submarines were often ineffectual, and by doctrine concentrated on attacking warships, rather than more-vulnerable merchantmen. A few German and Italian submarines operated in the Pacific Ocean, but never enough to be an important factor, inhibited by distance and difficult relations with their Japanese ally. The submarine was a silent, effective and deadly killer in both theaters in World War II.
One example of the power of artillery can be seen in the Battle of Bastogne. The HBO special “Band of Brothers,” paints an excellent picture of the terror, panic and suffering of American troops during this week. The constant bombardment of the troops was almost as much psychological warfare as it was an attempt to kill American soldiers. The American soldiers were outnumbered and lacking in cold-weather gear, ammunition, food, medical supplies, and leadership Due to some of the worst winter weather in years, the surrounded U.S. forces could not be resupplied by air nor was tactical air support available. The attitude of the 101st Airborne could be summed up in most famous quote of the battle came from the 101st’s acting commander, Brigadier General McAuliffe. When confronted with a written request from German General Luttwitz for surrender of Bastogne, he replied “NUTS!”(Ambrose, 224).
The use of aircraft to drop massive tonnages of bombs changed the complexion of war. In the past civilian targets were avoided, but the Germans bombed ports such as Liverpool and Manchester, as well as. London. The British in turn began bombing German cities in an attempt to destroy their military manufacturing capabilities. One of the most infamous bombing raids took place in Dresden. It “has been called the most barbaric, senseless act of the war” (Ambrose, 306). It is believed that 250,000 people were killed in twenty-four hours.
The Japanese near the end of the war used their aircraft as weapons. Kamikaze pilots would crash their planes into naval ships in attempts to inflict damage and hindered their capabilities. The British, Germans and Americans engaged in dogfights in aircraft that became fast and more maneuverable in the air. Planes could now strike from the oceans, thanks to aircraft carriers and air power became the deciding factor in battle.
There are two examples of how the technologies of war change man forever. The first is the atomic bomb. Its impact can still be felt today and the fear of their use by a nation or terrorist groups will be with us forever. The other example is the concentration camps designed by the Nazis for the extermination of the Jews. Man’s inhumanity to man was almost incomprehensible to the soldiers and people of that time, as it is to many today. The fear here is that many have forgotten those atrocities of the past and some even deny that they happened.
The Vietnam War introduced some guided weapons systems in an attempt to reduce civilian casualties. Helicopters became the new cavalry, as they could move troops to battle quickly, transport the injured to field hospitals, move equipment and do reconnaissance. The use of aircraft continued its evolution from WWII and Korea almost, at times, becoming the main fighting force in the jungle terrain.
While American casualties have declined in the wars of the past 40 years, the technology has made the killing of troops more efficient. In the Gulf Wars Americans were witnesses on live television of how effective smart bombs had become. One of the most memorable clips was the destruction of a bridge as a civilian vehicle was just getting off the bridge. There have been examples of aircraft sending a missile down and air vent destroy the enemy, or bunker busting bombs that can penetrate below the surface destroying hard to reach targets.
It seems that a new conflict is always just around the corner, and the military leaders are constantly reaching for the next great weapon that can end war quickly. However we have seen that wars do not end quickly or without great cost. The great advances in technology that could one day cure cancer, send humans to Mars, or even just move us place to place more efficiently will one day be used to destroy what it was to protect or cure.
As long as there are old men who lust for power and seek to advance their way of life to others, the young will sacrifice themselves for the cause. I wish it were not so. If we were taught the horrors of war instead of reducing them to video games, were you never really die and war is cool, tomorrow’s leaders would consider the consequences of sending our youth into the battlefield. In the words of Robert F. Kennedy, “Let us dedicate ourselves to what the Greeks wrote so many years ago: to tame the savageness of man and make gentle the life of this world.”
Works Cited
Gleick, James. Chaos: Making a New Science. New York: Penguin, 1987. Print.
Ambrose, Stephen E. Citizen Soldiers. New York: Simon and Schuster, 1997.
Blair, Clay Jr., Silent Victory: The U.S. Submarine War Against Japan. Annapolis: Naval Institute Press, 2001.
Churchill, Winston S. The World in Crisis 1911-1918. New York: Free Press, 1959.
Keegan, John. The First World War. New York: Knopf, 1998.
Severance, John B. Winston Churchill: Soldier, Statesman. New York: Clarion Books, 1996.
At the turn of the Twentieth Century war was still a pretty simple affair. Wars were fought on the ground and sea where the battling sides could see one another. The airplane and automobile were new and promised quicker transportation. The cavalry was still an important part of a nation’s standing army.
After the assassination of Archduke Franz Ferdinand of Austria in Sarajevo author John Keegan in his book, The First World War, describes the mobilization of the militaries in this way, “
Horses, like men, were mustering in the hundreds of thousands all over Europe in the first week of August. Even Britain’s little army called up165,000 mounts for the cavalry and draught animals for the artillery and regimental transport waggons. The Austrian army mobalised 600,000, the German 715,000 the Russian-with its twenty-four cavalry divisions-over a million. The armies of 1914 remained Napoleonic in their dependence on the horse; staff officers calculated the proportion between horses and men at 1:3 (73).
The leaders of these nations believed that this war would be fought in the same manner of wars past, and would only last six months. It became apparent as the trenches were dug and the battle lines were set that World War I would become a long and deadly affair that would forever change the ways war was fought.
The most effective armament used in the First World War as artillery. Runners and aircraft would gather information on troop positions and movement; this information would be sent to artillery units who would bombard the enemy troops. The British lobbed thousands of bombs during the war, but the Germans developed “Big Bertha” a massive piece of artillery that could fire at Paris from over 75 miles away. It was only the artillery that was improved during the war, but the shells were upgraded as well. Instead of ordinary shells, new high-explosive shells were developed. These were thin cased shells that were filled with tiny lead pellets. The improvements were such that artillery fire now could kill hundreds and thousands of men.
The machine gun, first used in the Civil War, also was improved. The German Maxim machine gun was fed by a fabric or metal belt, making it a very effective automatic weapon, its relatively small size also made it difficult for the enemy to destroy. On the opening day of the Somme offensive the British suffered a record number of single day casualties, 60,000, the great majority lost under withering machine gun fire.
Sir Winston Churchill in his book, The World in Crisis, wrote of the machine guns at Somme, “Even one machine gun is skilled resolute hands might lay five hundred men dead and dying on the ground; and along the assaulted front certainly a thousand of such scientifically related in several lines of defence awaited their prey” (655).
The British also had machine guns; however they were based on the German Maxim. The Vickers Gun was water cooled, via a jacket around the barrel which held approximately one gallon of water. The Vickers was loaded from a 250-round fabric belt mounted on a tripod. It fired some 450 rounds per minute; after some 10,000 rounds had been fired the gun barrel invariably required replacement. The difficulty with this weapon was that it took six men to operate it.
The battles on the ground in the First War World were horrifying. Men left the trenches crossing “no-man’s land” in a hail of gunfire, often getting tangled in barbwire. Even in the trenches soldiers were not safe due to the use of chemical weapons. The massive use of chemical weapons cut both ways. Gas was effective at killing and demoralizing soldiers, as well as stopping advancing attacks. However depending upon the weather conditions it could be ineffective or even blown back onto the troops that were using it as their weapon. (Keegan, 197-202).
At the beginning of the war, aircraft were used for reconnaissance, flying above the enemy lines, helping to direct the artillery bombardments or to detect and troop movements, it was soon realized though that bombs could be dropped from the planes onto the enemy causing as much damage as possible.
This led to the development of fighter planes, the Sopwith Camel was developed by the British and the Germans retaliated with the Fokker Triplane. The most famous pilots of The Great War was a German pilot named Manfred Von Richthofen, better known as the Red Baron, He was responsible for shooting down over 80 Allied aircraft before he himself was killed when his aircraft, a Fokker Triplane, was shot down over France in 1918 (Keegan, 359-360).
Tanks were introduced into battle for the first time in 1916 by the British, these proved to be unreliable though, A later model played a vital role during the allied advances of 1918, flattening barbed wire, crossing enemy trenches and acting as shields for the advancing troops. Tanks creation of the tanks was brought about as “the trench lines on both sides reached the sea, and there was no longer any open ground for manoeuvre or any flanks to turn” (Churchill, 304).
Another interesting insight of Churchill’s was, “The armored car was the child of the air; and the Tank its grandchild. Churchill, who was involved in the creation of the tank (304-306), could see how the needs of the fighting forces changes, weapons needed to evolve to maintain or gain the advantage.
Churchill is an interesting character; he entered the Royal Military College of Sandhurst, and graduated with honors in December of 1894. Then he later saw action in Cuba, India, Egypt, Sudan, the front lines of World War I, and even took part in one of the last British cavalry charges in history (Severance, 17). He is a bridge from World War One and World War Two, where he served as Britain’s Prime Minister. It is often said that the cause of WWII was WWI, and Churchill experienced both first hand.
The advances of weaponry in World War I were improved on in World War II. The use of submarines became more deadly during the Second World War than could have possibly been imagined in 1914. The role of aircraft grew in land, sea and air. The bombs and shells of battle became even more deadly.
The submarine in its infancy in WWI became a deadly and terrifying force in WWII. In the Atlantic, where German submarines again acted against Allied convoys, this part of the war was very reminiscent of the latter part of World War I. Many British submarines were active as well, particularly in the Mediterranean and off Norway, against Axis warships, submarines and merchant shipping.
In the Pacific, the situation was reversed, with US submarines hunting Japanese shipping. By war's end, U.S. submarines had destroyed over half of all Japanese merchant ships sunk, totaling well over five million tons of shipping (Blair, 878). British and Dutch submarines also took part in attacks on Japanese shipping, mostly in coastal waters. Japanese submarines were often ineffectual, and by doctrine concentrated on attacking warships, rather than more-vulnerable merchantmen. A few German and Italian submarines operated in the Pacific Ocean, but never enough to be an important factor, inhibited by distance and difficult relations with their Japanese ally. The submarine was a silent, effective and deadly killer in both theaters in World War II.
One example of the power of artillery can be seen in the Battle of Bastogne. The HBO special “Band of Brothers,” paints an excellent picture of the terror, panic and suffering of American troops during this week. The constant bombardment of the troops was almost as much psychological warfare as it was an attempt to kill American soldiers. The American soldiers were outnumbered and lacking in cold-weather gear, ammunition, food, medical supplies, and leadership Due to some of the worst winter weather in years, the surrounded U.S. forces could not be resupplied by air nor was tactical air support available. The attitude of the 101st Airborne could be summed up in most famous quote of the battle came from the 101st’s acting commander, Brigadier General McAuliffe. When confronted with a written request from German General Luttwitz for surrender of Bastogne, he replied “NUTS!”(Ambrose, 224).
The use of aircraft to drop massive tonnages of bombs changed the complexion of war. In the past civilian targets were avoided, but the Germans bombed ports such as Liverpool and Manchester, as well as. London. The British in turn began bombing German cities in an attempt to destroy their military manufacturing capabilities. One of the most infamous bombing raids took place in Dresden. It “has been called the most barbaric, senseless act of the war” (Ambrose, 306). It is believed that 250,000 people were killed in twenty-four hours.
The Japanese near the end of the war used their aircraft as weapons. Kamikaze pilots would crash their planes into naval ships in attempts to inflict damage and hindered their capabilities. The British, Germans and Americans engaged in dogfights in aircraft that became fast and more maneuverable in the air. Planes could now strike from the oceans, thanks to aircraft carriers and air power became the deciding factor in battle.
There are two examples of how the technologies of war change man forever. The first is the atomic bomb. Its impact can still be felt today and the fear of their use by a nation or terrorist groups will be with us forever. The other example is the concentration camps designed by the Nazis for the extermination of the Jews. Man’s inhumanity to man was almost incomprehensible to the soldiers and people of that time, as it is to many today. The fear here is that many have forgotten those atrocities of the past and some even deny that they happened.
The Vietnam War introduced some guided weapons systems in an attempt to reduce civilian casualties. Helicopters became the new cavalry, as they could move troops to battle quickly, transport the injured to field hospitals, move equipment and do reconnaissance. The use of aircraft continued its evolution from WWII and Korea almost, at times, becoming the main fighting force in the jungle terrain.
While American casualties have declined in the wars of the past 40 years, the technology has made the killing of troops more efficient. In the Gulf Wars Americans were witnesses on live television of how effective smart bombs had become. One of the most memorable clips was the destruction of a bridge as a civilian vehicle was just getting off the bridge. There have been examples of aircraft sending a missile down and air vent destroy the enemy, or bunker busting bombs that can penetrate below the surface destroying hard to reach targets.
It seems that a new conflict is always just around the corner, and the military leaders are constantly reaching for the next great weapon that can end war quickly. However we have seen that wars do not end quickly or without great cost. The great advances in technology that could one day cure cancer, send humans to Mars, or even just move us place to place more efficiently will one day be used to destroy what it was to protect or cure.
As long as there are old men who lust for power and seek to advance their way of life to others, the young will sacrifice themselves for the cause. I wish it were not so. If we were taught the horrors of war instead of reducing them to video games, were you never really die and war is cool, tomorrow’s leaders would consider the consequences of sending our youth into the battlefield. In the words of Robert F. Kennedy, “Let us dedicate ourselves to what the Greeks wrote so many years ago: to tame the savageness of man and make gentle the life of this world.”
Works Cited
Gleick, James. Chaos: Making a New Science. New York: Penguin, 1987. Print.
Ambrose, Stephen E. Citizen Soldiers. New York: Simon and Schuster, 1997.
Blair, Clay Jr., Silent Victory: The U.S. Submarine War Against Japan. Annapolis: Naval Institute Press, 2001.
Churchill, Winston S. The World in Crisis 1911-1918. New York: Free Press, 1959.
Keegan, John. The First World War. New York: Knopf, 1998.
Severance, John B. Winston Churchill: Soldier, Statesman. New York: Clarion Books, 1996.
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