To what extent did technological developments ensure victory in the Second World War?

Technological developments ensured total victory depending on the time of release and whether they remained superior to the opposing forces.

World War 2 was the largest and deadliest conflict in human history, which had acclaimed over 60 million lives fought across the globe. This type of warfare was much different than the previous world war for it involved drastic changes in technology such as tanks, aircraft, and the introduction of the aircraft carrier. The military power that possesses the more advanced technology at the time and in large numbers guaranteed victory in the Second World War.

Nazi Germany was the first country to develop superior technology compared to their allied counterparts. They developed the fast and deadly panzer tanks, Messerschmitt Be-109, paratroopers, twin-engine bombers such as the Heinkel He 111 and Ju-88, and dive-bombers like the Ju-87 Stukas. These major developments doomed the Poles, Danes, Norwegians, and French from the very start. Their armies technically inferior and regardless if the Germans had used the Blitzkrieg tactics or not they would’ve beaten the Western European powers sooner or later. In fact they hadn’t used the Blitzkrieg tactics in Denmark or Norway rather by paratroopers and dominance over the skies.

The fall of France was inevitable however the British were able to survive the onslaught of the Luftwaffe. The development of radar and the establishment of the RAF with Supermarine Spitfires had allowed Britain to be saved. However here is where another factor comes in as to why the Germans lost dominance over the skies of Europe, change of plans. Hitler had decided to bomb the cities and industries believing that he had obliterated the Royal Air Force. One might say that technological superiority is not the only thing needed, well for one thing the Be-109 was on par with the spitfire and the Germans had not developed any long-range four-engine bombers, which would be able to bomb all parts of Britain. However

this still doesn’t solve as to why they failed, here I define this as a special occasion, where the intelligence wasn’t able to identify the defeat of the RAF or focus on one objective. I believe the Germans merely gave up, still able to invade Britain if they wanted to, for the British Army was still in shambles. No defense had been set up, and the Kriegsmarine or the German Navy had naval superiority. Yet the existence of radar, which allowed the British fighters and flak guns time to prepare and stop the Germans allowed Britain to be saved nevertheless. The Germans could have invaded Britain but did not seize the moment; rather it focused on other campaigns.

Operation Barbarossa is an excellent example of the true power of technological superiority on winning a war. The Germans were able to destroy most of the armies however due to Hitler’s interference failed to complete the final blow on Moscow due to the onset of winter. This did not mean necessarily that the Germans had lost the war; it shows that other factors can result in setbacks. They still had the initiative and attacked in the south towards Stalingrad. However due to the sheer numbers of Soviet weapons, tanks, and planes where planes and tanks enjoyed superiority during the counteroffensive resulted in a major German defeat. Yet another reason why the Germans truly lost to the Soviet Union (they were still on the initiative after Stalingrad) was because of Allied air superiority in the west. The large numbers of B-17 flying fortress bombers resulted in the leveling of several German factories. This had produced a lower number of the now superior German tiger tanks and other weapons, which then caused the defeat at the Battle of Kursk (1943 last German attack against Russia.) Several bombers were still being shot down by the German fighters, which could climb higher altitudes than the Allied aircraft. The creation of the P-51 Mustang allowed these bombings to continue for they were superior to all German aircraft, setting the stage for D-Day. Thus the introduction of the superior Tiger tank by the Germans in low numbers (and other weapons) caused them to lose the war.

The battle in the Atlantic (1939-1945) had initially been dominated by the German U boats however due to allied superiority with sonar and new ways of launching depth charges also guaranteed Allied naval superiority, which also set the stage for D-Day (liberation of Europe.) The Germans however had introduced new types of U boats late in the war, which could avoid sonar but by then this would prove impossible to turn the tide of the war. After D-Day and Operation Bagration in the east occurred any weapons the Nazis developed (especially since they were in low numbers) were useless to change the tide of the war. This is where the time factor comes in, the late development of the V-2 rockets and the Me262 in 1944-45 could

not have changed the war. If deployed in early 1944 in high numbers, they may have changed the war.

Now to focus on the war with Japan, they had focused on creating a more advanced army as well especially with the development of the fierce fighter the A6M Zero. Its reputation was deadly in China before the war and proved to be a formidable foe to the Allies in the Pacific. The establishment of several aircraft carriers before the war and naval/air superiority allowed the Japanese to capture and occupy most of Asia. A good example was Force Z, an undefended British fleet (they had no aircraft) sunk off the straits of Malaysia, which demonstrated to the world the lethal power of aircraft and the importance of air superiority. The Zero was on par with the F4F

Wildcat; it was well armed and had more armor, while the Zero was more agile. The introduction of the F6F Hellcat gave allied superiority over the skies and there were countless more reasons why the Japanese had lost the war. In early June of 1942, 4 Japanese aircraft carriers and 3 American aircraft carriers fought each other over long distances (fought with only aircraft, they didn’t go head to head) with the result of the loss of the 4 Japanese aircraft carriers and 1 American aircraft carrier sunk. Even with this significant victory deemed as the turning point in the Pacific theater, the Japanese would have lost regardless. The United States had superior aircraft carriers; the Japanese aircraft carriers had a weakness where the fuel tanks were stored near the surface of the ships. The USN battleships had more powerful guns and were faster (most of the United States battleships were sunk in Pearl Harbor they had to build new ones) while the Japanese had built their battleships back in the 1930s.

Moving on to a late development in the Japanese Navy (Imperial Japanese Navy or IJN) the i-600 a submarine the first and last of its kind with the ability to launch aircraft from the submarine itself (it carried several aircraft). The United States had several of their factories located along the east coast, most of the ships had to pass through American held Panama Canal, the destruction of the canal would result in

slow reinforcements to the American fleet closing in on Japan. If these submarines could destroy the canal with the aircraft they possessed, the kamikazes and remnants of the Japanese fleet could finish off the American fleet and regain the initiative, however these were completed in July 1945, after the surrender of Nazi Germany in May and with the Allied fleets at their doorstep. It was by then too late to launch and attack like such, thus these were introduced too late in the war. (They were all destroyed before the Soviets could have their hands on them.)

The Axis powers had advanced technological developments compared to their Allied counterparts in the early stages in the war, which resulted in their string of shocking victories across the world. However when the Allies had technological superiority over the Axis later in the war, the tide turned and caused the defeat of

the Axis powers. As a result, the establishment of advanced technological developments throughout the war ensures total victory to the country that possesses them.