How the Airplane Changed War

How the Airplane Changed War

In many ways World War II presents post Civil War American attitudes about technology and science. Trace either the most relevant technology or scientific assumption from 1865 to 1945 showing how it changed or why it stayed the same from the Civil War for the end of World War II. (Length 3 pages)

America has faced several major wars including the Civil War, World War I and II. These wars have cause great advances in technology and different techniques of fighting. The Civil War was based on men fighting men with muskets and swords as the only fighting tool, this war cause over 600,000 Americans to loose their lives. World War I technology played a larger role with the introduction of the airplane, explosives and armored vehicle. By the end of World War II technology was fighting the war, less men were needed to fight on the ground and battles were taken to the air.

The airplane has been modified from the balloons used in the Civil War to have a powerful role in combat. During the Civil War battles were fought on the ground and people rarely took to the air. Most aircraft of the late nineteenth century were made of mechanical wings or lighter than air. Observers used balloons on the battlefield to report the status of advancing troops. Gliders were used for observations but were limited to where they could be used. During the late 1890s the American war department placed more of a focus on developing a heavier than air flying machine. In 1903 Orville Wright in North Carolina made the first fight of the modern aircraft which resulted in more research in the development of the airplane.

Before World War I European designers were working with the information of Wright brothers to ma...

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... This firestorm caused severe destruction with extreme heat at the center, which turned buildings into dust and caused hurricane force winds that effected the land for miles around the focus of the attack. These attacks devastated huge cities that supported the Japanese military.

America always wanted to be the biggest, fastest and powerful. World War II forced America to catch up rapidly to gain this rank. At the end to World War II the United States gained this rank with the severe defeat of Japan’s airforce. At the end of the war there was a large surplus of planes that were used to boost the fleet of commercial aircraft. Wars have caused death and devastation but there are some positive effects, war causes a boost of support for scientific development. Without World War I and II it is hard to say where the status of planes could be in American society.