| HAS TECHNOLOGY BEEN CHANGING WARFARE? or WILL THE NEXT WAR BE LIKE YOUR FATHER'S WAR? |
| MORE INFORMATION Bibliography Find out more about nuclear weapons Nuclear Fuel Cycle Quick Reference Chart Remember the Maine, or at least remember how your technology works |
There was more to come. Machine guns had been used in a very one-sided way for a while, but when
the 20th century ushered in World War I (keeping traditional nomenclature), both sides had machine
guns, and other mechanized weapons, for the first time. Nations used to quick victories with these
mechanical marvels suddenly found themselves on the receiving end. You can check Chapter 6 for the
results, but they were not pretty. More warfare-inspired R&D followed producing the likes of aerial
bombing, tanks, and poison gas (also introduced by Wells in "The War of the Worlds). They were not
quite ready for World War I, but weapons R&D thrives under threat of war. These and other new
weapons were well-developed by World War II.
This war was complex, so much so that I have devoted several chapters to it and have still ignored
much of it. However, in World War II, bombing came of age. Massive bombing of cities and
attempts to carry out pinpoint bombing of industries played a major part. Some results of this
bombing campaign in Europe are outlined here, in Chapter 7. Some of this World War II bombing
created fires so intense that there were called firestorms. Find out what makes a firestorm in
Sidebar 1. The first of the World War II firestorms burned part of Hamburg, Germany. Find out
more about the city and what happened there in Sidebar 2.
the 20th century ushered in World War I (keeping traditional nomenclature), both sides had machine
guns, and other mechanized weapons, for the first time. Nations used to quick victories with these
mechanical marvels suddenly found themselves on the receiving end. You can check Chapter 6 for the
results, but they were not pretty. More warfare-inspired R&D followed producing the likes of aerial
bombing, tanks, and poison gas (also introduced by Wells in "The War of the Worlds). They were not
quite ready for World War I, but weapons R&D thrives under threat of war. These and other new
weapons were well-developed by World War II.
This war was complex, so much so that I have devoted several chapters to it and have still ignored
much of it. However, in World War II, bombing came of age. Massive bombing of cities and
attempts to carry out pinpoint bombing of industries played a major part. Some results of this
bombing campaign in Europe are outlined here, in Chapter 7. Some of this World War II bombing
created fires so intense that there were called firestorms. Find out what makes a firestorm in
Sidebar 1. The first of the World War II firestorms burned part of Hamburg, Germany. Find out
more about the city and what happened there in Sidebar 2.
Meanwhile, the newly developed aircraft carriers were able to project air power into areas undreamed
of only a few years earlier -- such as Pearl Harbor in the Hawaiian Islands. They also made the
American advance across the Pacific toward Japan possible. The story is here in Chapter 8.
Once the advance came close enough to Japan, about 1500 miles, large scale bombing of those islands
could begin. Find out about the result of this bombing in Chapter 9. This is quite an extension of
the lethal range of weapons from the 100 yards or so of smoothbore muskets.
The war finally came to an end after two atomic bombs were used as told in Chapter 10, which also
considers whether the war could have ended in some other way. This new bomb gave a single B29
bomber the lethal ability that a whole fleet of them possessed just a short time before. A nuclear
weapon is not just a bigger bomb, though. It has effects and abilities not even approximated by
earlier bombs. So we need to spend some time looking at them, especially since it has gone out of
fashion to think much about them. In this as yet unnumbered chapter, you can find a look at the
effects of nuclear weapons and also a peek at how many of them there are. 'nuff to make you think...
The proliferation of nuclear weapons has been a major concern lately, and any citizen and voter really
ought to take a look at what is needed to build one. Don't actually build it though! This chapter, also
not yet numbered, will tell you something about those countries building nuclear weapons and how they
do it. It is, however, not nearly detailed enough to provided an actual blueprint. Also, here are
some links to more information on nuclear weapons.
Some of these chapters are not yet numbered, because I am still working on extending this into the
very, very modern world. There is a whole zoo of modern weapons which, although not nuclear, still
extend the lethal abilities of individual people so far beyond those of earlier years that the word
"conventional" no longer describes them. However, they are generally called "conventional" anyway. I
am working on a chapter or two on these, and I am not yet sure of the order of the concluding
chapters.
Anyway, we might expect a new world war to shoot the works -- everything from nuclear weapons to
the modern non-conventional weapons to actual conventional ones. I'm still not quite sure exactly what
it might be like, but I think most of us would find ourselves in the way of some kind of "incoming".
And in the world, there are 6 billion of us.
Here is a link to the same chapter that was referenced at the top of the page. It not only describes
some previous world wars, but it also tells about some relatively recent close calls. Here is the link:
World Wars: How Many? How many More?
of only a few years earlier -- such as Pearl Harbor in the Hawaiian Islands. They also made the
American advance across the Pacific toward Japan possible. The story is here in Chapter 8.
Once the advance came close enough to Japan, about 1500 miles, large scale bombing of those islands
could begin. Find out about the result of this bombing in Chapter 9. This is quite an extension of
the lethal range of weapons from the 100 yards or so of smoothbore muskets.
The war finally came to an end after two atomic bombs were used as told in Chapter 10, which also
considers whether the war could have ended in some other way. This new bomb gave a single B29
bomber the lethal ability that a whole fleet of them possessed just a short time before. A nuclear
weapon is not just a bigger bomb, though. It has effects and abilities not even approximated by
earlier bombs. So we need to spend some time looking at them, especially since it has gone out of
fashion to think much about them. In this as yet unnumbered chapter, you can find a look at the
effects of nuclear weapons and also a peek at how many of them there are. 'nuff to make you think...
The proliferation of nuclear weapons has been a major concern lately, and any citizen and voter really
ought to take a look at what is needed to build one. Don't actually build it though! This chapter, also
not yet numbered, will tell you something about those countries building nuclear weapons and how they
do it. It is, however, not nearly detailed enough to provided an actual blueprint. Also, here are
some links to more information on nuclear weapons.
Some of these chapters are not yet numbered, because I am still working on extending this into the
very, very modern world. There is a whole zoo of modern weapons which, although not nuclear, still
extend the lethal abilities of individual people so far beyond those of earlier years that the word
"conventional" no longer describes them. However, they are generally called "conventional" anyway. I
am working on a chapter or two on these, and I am not yet sure of the order of the concluding
chapters.
Anyway, we might expect a new world war to shoot the works -- everything from nuclear weapons to
the modern non-conventional weapons to actual conventional ones. I'm still not quite sure exactly what
it might be like, but I think most of us would find ourselves in the way of some kind of "incoming".
And in the world, there are 6 billion of us.
Here is a link to the same chapter that was referenced at the top of the page. It not only describes
some previous world wars, but it also tells about some relatively recent close calls. Here is the link:
World Wars: How Many? How many More?
| WHAT IS THIS ALL ABOUT? |
About Me - Why would I put a site like this up?
Several centuries of warfare and development went into creating a
practical firearm. Cannons advanced to something practical first, but
they were big, heavy and clumsy for a long time. A hand-held
firearm made gradual inroads and eventually dominated the battlefield
as outlined in Chapter 2. .
By the way, this series of slide shows is not trying to be a
comprehensive technological history of warfare. Check the
bibliography for some of those. This is supposed to be a few
checkpoints to illustrate the constantly expanding reach of violent
technology as we pass from ancient times to modern times to more
modern times.
practical firearm. Cannons advanced to something practical first, but
they were big, heavy and clumsy for a long time. A hand-held
firearm made gradual inroads and eventually dominated the battlefield
as outlined in Chapter 2. .
By the way, this series of slide shows is not trying to be a
comprehensive technological history of warfare. Check the
bibliography for some of those. This is supposed to be a few
checkpoints to illustrate the constantly expanding reach of violent
technology as we pass from ancient times to modern times to more
modern times.
Well I have just been
wondering what the next
big world war will be
like. I am talking about
really big ones like
"World War II". Of
course we may think we
have become immune to
anything that silly, or
what is more likely, we
may not be thinking
about such a war at all.
wondering what the next
big world war will be
like. I am talking about
really big ones like
"World War II". Of
course we may think we
have become immune to
anything that silly, or
what is more likely, we
may not be thinking
about such a war at all.
All this research and development (R & D) produced the smoothbore musket of the Revolutionary War
and War of 1812 period. These were pretty deadly at close range especially if there were a lot of
them firing at once. But that wasn't good enough. No one could hit much with them at long range.
But there was always the possibility of a practical rifle which could spin the "ball", as they used to
call the projectile, to stabilize it and hit people at ten times the range of the older muskets. Check
out how this technology matured just in time for the US Civil War in Chapter 3. The casualties in this
war were horrible, largely due to the new rifles.
Shipbuilding was changing too during the US Civil War. This was not too far into the steamship era,
and navies were being rapidly converted. There also seemed to be little reason to resist better
protection of ships against cannonballs. Along came ironclad ships, which were still fairly new, though
not unknown, at the time of the Civil War. Some of the efforts toward using ironclads during the Civil
War might surprise you. See Chapter 4. And weapons developers had many other ideas at the time.
Breech-loading rifles were available, but not much used by the infantry. But if rifles had reached
that stage of development, why not mount a bunch of them on some kind of wheel, load them by
mechanical means, and fire them one after another to create a real hail of bullets? Of course this
was the Gatling Gun, named after the inventor, and if the Civil War had lasted a little longer, they
would have been developed to the point of increasing casualties far above the grim level they reached
anyway. The Civil War was particularly effective at promoting R&D.
Although the Gatling Gun was, strictly speaking, not quite a machine gun, it had the same effect. As
Chapter 5 describes, true machine guns came along soon and played an important role in helping the
"civilized" world of the late 19th century conquer and colonize the rest of it. These weapons were so
advanced that they reminded at least one popular novelist, H. G. Wells, of weapons that might be
used in an invasion from outer space. His science fiction novel, "The War of the Worlds", which has
inspired several movies, expanded on the idea to create a heat ray, but machine guns were the
inspiration. It is strange and a bit terrifying, but by the early 2000's even the heat ray was no
longer fiction.
and War of 1812 period. These were pretty deadly at close range especially if there were a lot of
them firing at once. But that wasn't good enough. No one could hit much with them at long range.
But there was always the possibility of a practical rifle which could spin the "ball", as they used to
call the projectile, to stabilize it and hit people at ten times the range of the older muskets. Check
out how this technology matured just in time for the US Civil War in Chapter 3. The casualties in this
war were horrible, largely due to the new rifles.
Shipbuilding was changing too during the US Civil War. This was not too far into the steamship era,
and navies were being rapidly converted. There also seemed to be little reason to resist better
protection of ships against cannonballs. Along came ironclad ships, which were still fairly new, though
not unknown, at the time of the Civil War. Some of the efforts toward using ironclads during the Civil
War might surprise you. See Chapter 4. And weapons developers had many other ideas at the time.
Breech-loading rifles were available, but not much used by the infantry. But if rifles had reached
that stage of development, why not mount a bunch of them on some kind of wheel, load them by
mechanical means, and fire them one after another to create a real hail of bullets? Of course this
was the Gatling Gun, named after the inventor, and if the Civil War had lasted a little longer, they
would have been developed to the point of increasing casualties far above the grim level they reached
anyway. The Civil War was particularly effective at promoting R&D.
Although the Gatling Gun was, strictly speaking, not quite a machine gun, it had the same effect. As
Chapter 5 describes, true machine guns came along soon and played an important role in helping the
"civilized" world of the late 19th century conquer and colonize the rest of it. These weapons were so
advanced that they reminded at least one popular novelist, H. G. Wells, of weapons that might be
used in an invasion from outer space. His science fiction novel, "The War of the Worlds", which has
inspired several movies, expanded on the idea to create a heat ray, but machine guns were the
inspiration. It is strange and a bit terrifying, but by the early 2000's even the heat ray was no
longer fiction.
But maybe we should worry. For one thing, World War II is probably
misnamed. There have been more than two of these big wars, with
long intervals between them. Check this slide show for some examples
of world wars. It seems that many of the world's technological
powers have mixed it up over large sections of the world several
times, and if that is not a world war, then what is? Usually it seems
unthinkable, but sometimes the world's nations start to glare at one
another while thinking the unthinkable. The hairs on their necks stand
up, and certain groups decide they can no longer stand what other
groups represent. The consequences of not acting seem too great to
too many. So they act.
So what might it look like next time? That is going to depend on the
technology available, among other things. At least the technology
should determine the limits of how many people can be shot, stabbed,
burned, blown up, irradiated and otherwise mutilated in how short a
time. And that technology has been getting more and more efficient
especially in recent years.
To get a handle on where it might go, I have gone back into history to
try to trace the advance of war making devices and machines. The
beginning means just that -- back to what looks like the dawn of
serious warfare. You can check that out here in Chapter 1, the first
slide show.
By the way I really don't want to worry about whether people ever
lived in some sort of ideal, peaceful, primitive state. The evidence of
very ancient graves and depictions of fighting in rock art suggests a
strong escalation in the violence of warfare maybe twelve thousand or
so years ago. But of course, that doesn't mean the initial condition
was one of zero violence. There was an advance in the quality of
weapons at the time, which might be the first example of warfare
igniting serious weapons research. It wasn't the last.
misnamed. There have been more than two of these big wars, with
long intervals between them. Check this slide show for some examples
of world wars. It seems that many of the world's technological
powers have mixed it up over large sections of the world several
times, and if that is not a world war, then what is? Usually it seems
unthinkable, but sometimes the world's nations start to glare at one
another while thinking the unthinkable. The hairs on their necks stand
up, and certain groups decide they can no longer stand what other
groups represent. The consequences of not acting seem too great to
too many. So they act.
So what might it look like next time? That is going to depend on the
technology available, among other things. At least the technology
should determine the limits of how many people can be shot, stabbed,
burned, blown up, irradiated and otherwise mutilated in how short a
time. And that technology has been getting more and more efficient
especially in recent years.
To get a handle on where it might go, I have gone back into history to
try to trace the advance of war making devices and machines. The
beginning means just that -- back to what looks like the dawn of
serious warfare. You can check that out here in Chapter 1, the first
slide show.
By the way I really don't want to worry about whether people ever
lived in some sort of ideal, peaceful, primitive state. The evidence of
very ancient graves and depictions of fighting in rock art suggests a
strong escalation in the violence of warfare maybe twelve thousand or
so years ago. But of course, that doesn't mean the initial condition
was one of zero violence. There was an advance in the quality of
weapons at the time, which might be the first example of warfare
igniting serious weapons research. It wasn't the last.
