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.

WW I

The Great War

1. Tanks2. Flamethrowers3. Poison Gas4. Interrupter Gear & Air Traffic Control5. Hydrophone & depth charge6. Aircraft carrier

Tanks

Flamethrower

Poison Gas

Aviation“aeroplanes”

interrupter gear

drones

air traffic control

machine gun!most important technology

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

During the First World War the fertility rates of European nations collapsed

WW II

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.

The Devastation Wrought… WW 2● deadliest military conflict in history in absolute terms of total casualties. ● Over 60 million people were killed (~ 3% of 2.3 billion in 1940 world

population)●