10.5 War and TechnologyCompare and contrast the technologies utilized in
both World War I and World War II noting the human and environmental devastation.
Technological developments increased the extent of damage and casualties in both World War I and World War II.
The Great War
1. Tanks2. Flamethrowers3. Poison Gas4. Interrupter Gear & Air Traffic Control5. Hydrophone & depth charge6. Aircraft carrier
The Devastation Wrought...● clash of 20th-century technology with 19th-century warfare ● ineffective battles ● huge numbers of casualties on both sides. ● only in the final year of the war → effective steps
○ adapt to the modern battlefield ○ start to harness new techn
■ armored cars, th■ e first submachine guns, ■ automatic rifles
Effects● more difficult for the infantry
soldiers who did most of the fighting.
● new technologies → trench warfare
● the lack of new tactics → massive slaughter
war ended…● attrition (of men and material), ● advances on the battlefield● arrival of American troops ● breakdown of morale and productivity on the German home-front● effective naval blockade of her seaports.
● navy - huge ships and U-boots
● wireless telegraphy● radio and telephone ● powerful artillery guns
○ German Big Bertha
Rocketry● pioneered by Nazi Germany. ● V-1 or “buzz bomb” = automatic
aircraft ((“cruise missile”) ● V-2 = “ballistic missile”
○ flew into space before falling down on its target (
● “rocket team” developed these weapons for Germany
● brought to the United States after World War II,
● leader Wernher von Braun, ● helped to build the rockets ... sent
American astronauts into space & to moon.
Computers● by the British for breaking the Nazi
“Enigma” codes● by the Americans for calculating ballistics
and other battlefield equations. ● Numerous small “computers” (not all
electronic)● Early control centers aboard ships and
aircraft ● first networked, interactive computing ● ENIAC
RADAR● ability to use radio waves to detect objects at a
distance, ● barely invented at the start of the war ● became highly developed in just a few years at
sites like the “Radiation Laboratory” at MIT. ● allows people to “see” remotely, at very long
distances● idea of “surprise attack” obsolete ● allowed nations to track incoming air attacks,
guided bombers to targets, & directed anti-aircraft guns toward airplanes flying high above.
Plastic!New materials emerged to fill demand for rationed things at home;
● plastic wrap ... substitute for aluminum foil for covering food (and used for covering guns during shipping);
● cardboard milk and juice containers replaced glass bottles;
● plywood ... substitute for scarce metals, for everything from the hulls of PT boats to aircraft wings. T
A Few Civilian More Applications● food canning techniques (WW1)● wristwatch (WW1)● penicillin (WW2)● microwave oven (RADAR, WW 2)● jet engine (WW2)● jeeps (WW2)● freeze drying food (WW2)● duct tape (Ww2)● computer (WW2)
Devastation Wrought … WW 1● total number of military and civilian casualties in World War I >38 million● over 17 million deaths and 20 million wounded● among the deadliest conflicts in human history.