Socially and politically there are a wide range of issues that could be considered legacies of World War I, but near the top of the list has to be isolationism. After the horror and carnage of the Great War, Americans and Europeans alike had little taste for further conflict, the Central Powers because they were defeated and bankrupt, and the Allies because of the loss of treasure both human and capital. If there was one blessing of isolationsim, it is this: while Europe geared up for and began to fight another war in the 1930's America could recover after the great depression and stay out of the fight for another 2 years. Even in the armed neutrality period, Roosevelt's genius was that he was able to re-organize both the military and civilian elements of the country in order to be able to fight the war he knew was coming. Rumors have persisted that FDR had prior knowledge of the attack, the radar station on Oahu gets frequent press even now, but the fact is that the war was looming on the horizon from the day the Armistice was signed at Compiègne. The terms of the treaty were onerous and the Europeans were notorious for holding grudges. The pot had been boiling for a while when the Great Depression hit, it was little wonder indeed things turned out the way they did.
One of the major causes of World War I was the race to have the best naval fleet. All the countries believed that a great navy meant that the country was stronger than the rest. France and Germany doubled their armies in size within 35 years. This caused Great Britain to have a navy fleet at least twice the size of the second largest fleet. Even today we see the same kind of belief of having a stronger nation with a military to back it. Another thing was that Germany had to figure out who they were going to take out first. They weren’t too sure about fighting a war on several fronts. They figured that if they could take out one country faster, it would be beneficial to them. WWI also became a race to power, meaning that the nation with the most allies and strongest military would gain control over the rest of the world. Many countries didn’t want to see Germany gain control of the world, so they all formed together to take Germany down. The alliances formed by Bismarck also played an important part. Germany formed alliances with Russia and Austria-Hungary to isolate France. They didn’t want France to have allies with anyone. Germany wanted to make sure that everyone would stay neutral if the other countries were at war. Of course once Bismarck was fired, France seized the moment and found an ally with Russia and Great Britain.
The technology employed during WWI is now the standard for modern armies The First World War began as a clash of 20th century technology and 19th century tactics, with inevitably large casualties. By the end of 1917, however, the major armies, now numbering millions of men, had modernised and were making use of wireless communication, armoured cars, tanks and strategical aircraft. Infantry formations were reorganised, so that 100-man companies were no longer the main unit of maneuver. Instead, squads of 10 or so men, under the command of a junior NCO, were favoured. Artillery also under went a revolution. In 1914, cannons were positioned in the front line and fired directly at their targets. By 1917, indirect fire with guns (as well as mortars and even machine guns) was responsible for the majority of casualties. Counter-battery artillery missions became commonplace, using new techniques for spotting and ranging enemy artillery.[citation needed] Germany was far ahead of the Allies in utilizing heavy indirect fire. It employed 150 and 210 mm howitzers in 1914 when the typical French and British guns were only 75 and 105 mm. The British had a 6 inch (152 mm) howitzer, but it was so heavy that it had to be assembled for firing. Germans also fielded Austrian 305 mm and 420 mm guns, and already by the beginning of the war had inventories of various calibers of Minenwerfer that were ideally suited for trench warfare.[32]
Russian Ilya Muromets worlds first strategic bomber, 1913 Much of the combat involved trench warfare, where hundreds often died for each yard gained. Many of the deadliest battles in history occurred during the First World War. Such battles include Ypres, Marne, Cambrai, Somme, Verdun, and Gallipoli. The Haber process of nitrogen fixation was employed to provide the German forces with a constant supply of gunpowder, in the face of British naval blockade. Artillery was responsible for the largest number of casualties and consumed vast quantities of explosives. The large number of head-wounds caused by exploding shells and shrapnel forced the combatant nations to develop the modern steel helmet. The French, who introduced the Adrian helmet in 1915, led this effort. It was quickly followed by the Brodie helmet, worn by British Imperial and U.S. troops, and in 1916 by the German Stahlhelm, the distinctive steel helmet, which the design, with improvements, is still in use today. There was chemical warfare and aerial bombardment, both of which were outlawed by the 1907 Hague Convention. Both were of limited tactical effectiveness. The widespread use of chemical warfare, was a distinguishing feature of the conflict. Gases used included chlorine, mustard gas and phosgene. Only a small proportion of total war casualties were caused by gas. Effective countermeasures to gas attacks were quickly created, such as gas masks. The most powerful land based weapons were railway guns weighing hundreds of tons apiece. These were nicknamed Big Berthas, even though the namesake was not a railway gun. Germany developed the Paris Gun that was able to bombard Paris from a distance of over 100 km, though shells were relatively light at 94 kilograms (210 lb). While the Allies had railway guns, German models severely out-ranged and out-classed them. Fixed-wing aircraft were first used militarily during the First World War. They were initially used for reconnaissance and ground attack. To shoot down enemy planes, anti-aircraft guns and fighter aircraft were developed. Strategic bombers were created, principally by the Germans and British, though the former used Zeppelins as well. Towards the end of the conflict, aircraft carriers were used for the first time, with HMS Furious launching Sopwith Camels in a raid against the Zepplin hangars at Tondern in 1918. German U-boats or (submarines), were deployed after the war began. Alternating between restricted and unrestricted submarine warfare in the Atlantic, they were employed by the Kaiserliche Marine in a strategy to deprive the British Isles of vital supplies. The deaths of British merchantmen and the seeming invulnerability of U-boats led to the development of depth charges (1916), hydrophones (passive sonar, 1917), blimps, hunter-killer submarines (HMS R 1, 1917), ahead-throwing weapons, and dipping hydrophones (both abandoned in 1918). To extend their operations, the Germans proposed supply submarines (1916). Most of these would be forgotten in the interwar period until World War II revived the need. Trenches, the machine gun, air reconnaissance, barbed wire and modern artillery with fragmentation shells helped bring the battle lines of World War I to a stalemate. The infantry was armed mostly with magazine fed bolt-action rifles, but the machine gun, with the ability to fire hundreds of rounds per minute, blunted most infantry attacks. The British sought a solution with the creation of the tank and mechanised warfare. The first tanks were used during the Battle of the Somme on 15 September 1916. Mechanical reliability became an issue, but the experiment proved its worth. Within a year, the British were fielding tanks by the hundreds and showed their potential during the Battle of Cambrai in November 1917, by breaking the Hindenburg Line, while combined arms teams captured 8000 enemy soldiers and 100 guns. Light automatic weapons also were introduced, such as the Lewis Gun and Browning automatic rifle. Manned observation balloons, floating high above the trenches, were used as stationary reconnaissance platforms, reporting enemy movements and directing artillery. Balloons commonly had a crew of two, equipped with parachutes.[citation needed] In the event of an enemy air attack, the crew could parachute to safety. At the time, parachutes were too bulky to be used by pilots of aircraft and smaller versions would not be developed until the end of the war. Recognized for their value as observation platforms, balloons were important targets of enemy aircraft. To defend against air attack, they were heavily protected by antiaircraft guns and patrolled by friendly aircraft. Blimps and balloons contributed to air-to-air combat among aircraft because of their reconnaissance value. The Germans conducted air raids on England during 1915 and 1916 with airships, hoping to damage British morale and cause aircraft to be diverted from the front lines. Now most countries use airplanes and satellites for air reconnaissance. Another new weapon sprayed jets of burning fuel: flamethrowers. First used by the German army and later adopted by other forces. Although not of high tactical value, they were a powerful, demoralizing weapon and caused terror on the battlefield. It was a dangerous weapon to wield, as its heavy weight made operators vulnerable targets. Versailles Treaty After the war, the Allies imposed a series of peace treaties on the Central Powers. The 1919 Versailles Treaty ended the war with Germany. Germany was kept under blockade until it signed the treaty, which declared that Germany was responsible for the war. The treaty required Germany to pay enormous war reparations, which it did by borrowing from the United States, until the reparations were suspended in 1931. The "Guilt Thesis" became a controversial explanation of events in Britain and the United States. The Treaty of Versailles caused enormous bitterness in Germany, which nationalist movements, especially the Nazis, exploited. The treaty contributed to one of the worst economic collapses in history of Germany, sparking runaway inflation. The Versailles Treaty may have lead or greatly contributed to World War II as the German people elected and followed the Nazi party.
World War I was the first major conflict after the invention of two major technologies: powered flight and the gas-powered engine. The demands of war are the single most powerful driving force behind technological advancement, so these two technologies skyrocketed in terms of development and production. WWI, ironically, had the chance to be the most mobile war but got snarled up in trenches. The gas-powered engine allowed troops to be moved more rapidly, supplies were distributed more efficiently, and the wounded were able to get to treatment faster. The engine also was used to create the most important vehicular weapon in the modern arsenal, the tank. Powered flight made the conflict more complex, now the armies had to worry about aerial bombing, photography, and air superiority. The evolution of the aircraft was staggering due to the first war.
Weapon technology also leapt forward during this time. Firearms had to be created faster, more reliably, and cheaper. The development of the machine gun was in it's infancy before the war, but by the time the conflict was over there were dozens of types and generations of machine guns. WWI also gave birth to the sniper, one of the most feared warriors on the battlefield. Other specialized weapons that were developed were the flamethrower, the landmine (which were primitive before now), artillary, and chemical weapons. This evolution of the specialized combatant created a demand for better armor, better equipment, and better training.
The evolution of weaponry leads directly to the development of medical technology and methods. Because of the use of chemical weapons, gas masks were created and perfected. Battlefield first aid and triage had to adapt to new and horrific wounds created by barbed wire, landmines, artillary, and machine guns. Going into the war, most battles took place during the day and were organized fights, allowing medics to regroup and treat soldiers during the night or downtimes between specific battles. World War I saw an evolution in combat, fighting was almost constant. The struggle to literally gain another dozen yards on the front line got protracted into week- and even month-long fights with little to no downtime.
“If we continue to develop our technology without wisdom or prudence, our servant may prove to be our executioner.” - Omar Bradley
The legacies of the first world war have to be that it made the United States a global power, increased technology in order to kill better, and created what was known as the lost generation. At the beginning of the world war, the United States wanted to stay away from the conflict and promote peace. However when Germany wanted Mexico to side with them in taking down the U.S. and then sunk several merchant ships, the U.S. declared war on Germany. This lead to the U.S. proving it was a force to be reckoned with. Soon the British and French were asking if Americans could be used as reinforcements. The Germans underestimated the U.S. and it led to there downfall.
Many technological advances were made during the first world war in order to provide more efficient means of killing. Items such as motored planes, tanks, and armor allowed for advantages in battles. Wireless communications were introduced in order to relay commands back and forth to troops. Guns were being improved to shoot more ammunition at faster rates and chemical warfare was started in world war one with mustard gas. These developments lead to better technology for the future.
After the war was over, many of the survivors did not know what to do, they had lost all of their families and came home with nothing to do. This era was known as the lost generation, it produced some of the most influential writings of that time. Future generation have been influenced by ideas that came from the lost generation.
One of the overwhelming legacies of the Great War is the maturing of globalization. It was here that the world actually saw how intertwined the countries were with each other. It was here that normal people began to see how small the world was and how isolationism was no longer going to be a safe way of life. After the United States became involved in the war it was evident that role they would have on the world stage thereafter.
The modern battlefield also took shape in World War I. It was obvious that going face to face no longer provided the desired results. The outcome of this realization was the incorporation of aerial attacks, long range guns and naval warfare as we know it today.
Labor unions were created. The role of women changed. They got into the work force. Women activities were expanded and attitudes towards women were were changed as well. Women got the right to vote. The war lessened the gap between the rich and the poor. Greater equality was reflected in full employment. Wireless commmunications and armored tanks were used as well.Gas powered engines allowed soliders move more quickly.
9 comments:
Some legacies of World War One are:
The start of fighting in trenches.
Warfare between battleships and other ships. (Also warfare using submarines.)
The Russian Revolution of 1917.
Most important: the allied powers won!
Socially and politically there are a wide range of issues that could be considered legacies of World War I, but near the top of the list has to be isolationism. After the horror and carnage of the Great War, Americans and Europeans alike had little taste for further conflict, the Central Powers because they were defeated and bankrupt, and the Allies because of the loss of treasure both human and capital. If there was one blessing of isolationsim, it is this: while Europe geared up for and began to fight another war in the 1930's America could recover after the great depression and stay out of the fight for another 2 years. Even in the armed neutrality period, Roosevelt's genius was that he was able to re-organize both the military and civilian elements of the country in order to be able to fight the war he knew was coming. Rumors have persisted that FDR had prior knowledge of the attack, the radar station on Oahu gets frequent press even now, but the fact is that the war was looming on the horizon from the day the Armistice was signed at Compiègne. The terms of the treaty were onerous and the Europeans were notorious for holding grudges. The pot had been boiling for a while when the Great Depression hit, it was little wonder indeed things turned out the way they did.
That's not all I'm going to write, I'm going to elaborate further during class.
One of the major causes of World War I was the race to have the best naval fleet. All the countries believed that a great navy meant that the country was stronger than the rest. France and Germany doubled their armies in size within 35 years. This caused Great Britain to have a navy fleet at least twice the size of the second largest fleet. Even today we see the same kind of belief of having a stronger nation with a military to back it.
Another thing was that Germany had to figure out who they were going to take out first. They weren’t too sure about fighting a war on several fronts. They figured that if they could take out one country faster, it would be beneficial to them. WWI also became a race to power, meaning that the nation with the most allies and strongest military would gain control over the rest of the world. Many countries didn’t want to see Germany gain control of the world, so they all formed together to take Germany down.
The alliances formed by Bismarck also played an important part. Germany formed alliances with Russia and Austria-Hungary to isolate France. They didn’t want France to have allies with anyone. Germany wanted to make sure that everyone would stay neutral if the other countries were at war. Of course once Bismarck was fired, France seized the moment and found an ally with Russia and Great Britain.
The technology employed during WWI is now the standard for modern armies
The First World War began as a clash of 20th century technology and 19th century tactics, with inevitably large casualties. By the end of 1917, however, the major armies, now numbering millions of men, had modernised and were making use of wireless communication, armoured cars, tanks and strategical aircraft. Infantry formations were reorganised, so that 100-man companies were no longer the main unit of maneuver. Instead, squads of 10 or so men, under the command of a junior NCO, were favoured. Artillery also under went a revolution.
In 1914, cannons were positioned in the front line and fired directly at their targets. By 1917, indirect fire with guns (as well as mortars and even machine guns) was responsible for the majority of casualties. Counter-battery artillery missions became commonplace, using new techniques for spotting and ranging enemy artillery.[citation needed]
Germany was far ahead of the Allies in utilizing heavy indirect fire. It employed 150 and 210 mm howitzers in 1914 when the typical French and British guns were only 75 and 105 mm. The British had a 6 inch (152 mm) howitzer, but it was so heavy that it had to be assembled for firing. Germans also fielded Austrian 305 mm and 420 mm guns, and already by the beginning of the war had inventories of various calibers of Minenwerfer that were ideally suited for trench warfare.[32]
Russian Ilya Muromets worlds first strategic bomber, 1913
Much of the combat involved trench warfare, where hundreds often died for each yard gained. Many of the deadliest battles in history occurred during the First World War. Such battles include Ypres, Marne, Cambrai, Somme, Verdun, and Gallipoli. The Haber process of nitrogen fixation was employed to provide the German forces with a constant supply of gunpowder, in the face of British naval blockade. Artillery was responsible for the largest number of casualties and consumed vast quantities of explosives. The large number of head-wounds caused by exploding shells and shrapnel forced the combatant nations to develop the modern steel helmet. The French, who introduced the Adrian helmet in 1915, led this effort. It was quickly followed by the Brodie helmet, worn by British Imperial and U.S. troops, and in 1916 by the German Stahlhelm, the distinctive steel helmet, which the design, with improvements, is still in use today.
There was chemical warfare and aerial bombardment, both of which were outlawed by the 1907 Hague Convention. Both were of limited tactical effectiveness.
The widespread use of chemical warfare, was a distinguishing feature of the conflict. Gases used included chlorine, mustard gas and phosgene. Only a small proportion of total war casualties were caused by gas. Effective countermeasures to gas attacks were quickly created, such as gas masks.
The most powerful land based weapons were railway guns weighing hundreds of tons apiece. These were nicknamed Big Berthas, even though the namesake was not a railway gun. Germany developed the Paris Gun that was able to bombard Paris from a distance of over 100 km, though shells were relatively light at 94 kilograms (210 lb). While the Allies had railway guns, German models severely out-ranged and out-classed them.
Fixed-wing aircraft were first used militarily during the First World War. They were initially used for reconnaissance and ground attack. To shoot down enemy planes, anti-aircraft guns and fighter aircraft were developed. Strategic bombers were created, principally by the Germans and British, though the former used Zeppelins as well.
Towards the end of the conflict, aircraft carriers were used for the first time, with HMS Furious launching Sopwith Camels in a raid against the Zepplin hangars at Tondern in 1918.
German U-boats or (submarines), were deployed after the war began. Alternating between restricted and unrestricted submarine warfare in the Atlantic, they were employed by the Kaiserliche Marine in a strategy to deprive the British Isles of vital supplies. The deaths of British merchantmen and the seeming invulnerability of U-boats led to the development of depth charges (1916), hydrophones (passive sonar, 1917), blimps, hunter-killer submarines (HMS R 1, 1917), ahead-throwing weapons, and dipping hydrophones (both abandoned in 1918). To extend their operations, the Germans proposed supply submarines (1916). Most of these would be forgotten in the interwar period until World War II revived the need.
Trenches, the machine gun, air reconnaissance, barbed wire and modern artillery with fragmentation shells helped bring the battle lines of World War I to a stalemate. The infantry was armed mostly with magazine fed bolt-action rifles, but the machine gun, with the ability to fire hundreds of rounds per minute, blunted most infantry attacks. The British sought a solution with the creation of the tank and mechanised warfare. The first tanks were used during the Battle of the Somme on 15 September 1916. Mechanical reliability became an issue, but the experiment proved its worth. Within a year, the British were fielding tanks by the hundreds and showed their potential during the Battle of Cambrai in November 1917, by breaking the Hindenburg Line, while combined arms teams captured 8000 enemy soldiers and 100 guns. Light automatic weapons also were introduced, such as the Lewis Gun and Browning automatic rifle.
Manned observation balloons, floating high above the trenches, were used as stationary reconnaissance platforms, reporting enemy movements and directing artillery. Balloons commonly had a crew of two, equipped with parachutes.[citation needed] In the event of an enemy air attack, the crew could parachute to safety. At the time, parachutes were too bulky to be used by pilots of aircraft and smaller versions would not be developed until the end of the war. Recognized for their value as observation platforms, balloons were important targets of enemy aircraft. To defend against air attack, they were heavily protected by antiaircraft guns and patrolled by friendly aircraft. Blimps and balloons contributed to air-to-air combat among aircraft because of their reconnaissance value. The Germans conducted air raids on England during 1915 and 1916 with airships, hoping to damage British morale and cause aircraft to be diverted from the front lines. Now most countries use airplanes and satellites for air reconnaissance.
Another new weapon sprayed jets of burning fuel: flamethrowers. First used by the German army and later adopted by other forces. Although not of high tactical value, they were a powerful, demoralizing weapon and caused terror on the battlefield. It was a dangerous weapon to wield, as its heavy weight made operators vulnerable targets.
Versailles Treaty
After the war, the Allies imposed a series of peace treaties on the Central Powers. The 1919 Versailles Treaty ended the war with Germany. Germany was kept under blockade until it signed the treaty, which declared that Germany was responsible for the war. The treaty required Germany to pay enormous war reparations, which it did by borrowing from the United States, until the reparations were suspended in 1931. The "Guilt Thesis" became a controversial explanation of events in Britain and the United States. The Treaty of Versailles caused enormous bitterness in Germany, which nationalist movements, especially the Nazis, exploited. The treaty contributed to one of the worst economic collapses in history of Germany, sparking runaway inflation. The Versailles Treaty may have lead or greatly contributed to World War II as the German people elected and followed the Nazi party.
World War I was the first major conflict after the invention of two major technologies: powered flight and the gas-powered engine. The demands of war are the single most powerful driving force behind technological advancement, so these two technologies skyrocketed in terms of development and production. WWI, ironically, had the chance to be the most mobile war but got snarled up in trenches. The gas-powered engine allowed troops to be moved more rapidly, supplies were distributed more efficiently, and the wounded were able to get to treatment faster. The engine also was used to create the most important vehicular weapon in the modern arsenal, the tank. Powered flight made the conflict more complex, now the armies had to worry about aerial bombing, photography, and air superiority. The evolution of the aircraft was staggering due to the first war.
Weapon technology also leapt forward during this time. Firearms had to be created faster, more reliably, and cheaper. The development of the machine gun was in it's infancy before the war, but by the time the conflict was over there were dozens of types and generations of machine guns. WWI also gave birth to the sniper, one of the most feared warriors on the battlefield. Other specialized weapons that were developed were the flamethrower, the landmine (which were primitive before now), artillary, and chemical weapons. This evolution of the specialized combatant created a demand for better armor, better equipment, and better training.
The evolution of weaponry leads directly to the development of medical technology and methods. Because of the use of chemical weapons, gas masks were created and perfected. Battlefield first aid and triage had to adapt to new and horrific wounds created by barbed wire, landmines, artillary, and machine guns. Going into the war, most battles took place during the day and were organized fights, allowing medics to regroup and treat soldiers during the night or downtimes between specific battles. World War I saw an evolution in combat, fighting was almost constant. The struggle to literally gain another dozen yards on the front line got protracted into week- and even month-long fights with little to no downtime.
“If we continue to develop our technology without wisdom or prudence, our servant may prove to be our executioner.”
- Omar Bradley
The legacies of the first world war have to be that it made the United States a global power, increased technology in order to kill better, and created what was known as the lost generation. At the beginning of the world war, the United States wanted to stay away from the conflict and promote peace. However when Germany wanted Mexico to side with them in taking down the U.S. and then sunk several merchant ships, the U.S. declared war on Germany. This lead to the U.S. proving it was a force to be reckoned with. Soon the British and French were asking if Americans could be used as reinforcements. The Germans underestimated the U.S. and it led to there downfall.
Many technological advances were made during the first world war in order to provide more efficient means of killing. Items such as motored planes, tanks, and armor allowed for advantages in battles. Wireless communications were introduced in order to relay commands back and forth to troops. Guns were being improved to shoot more ammunition at faster rates and chemical warfare was started in world war one with mustard gas. These developments lead to better technology for the future.
After the war was over, many of the survivors did not know what to do, they had lost all of their families and came home with nothing to do. This era was known as the lost generation, it produced some of the most influential writings of that time. Future generation have been influenced by ideas that came from the lost generation.
One of the overwhelming legacies of the Great War is the maturing of globalization. It was here that the world actually saw how intertwined the countries were with each other. It was here that normal people began to see how small the world was and how isolationism was no longer going to be a safe way of life. After the United States became involved in the war it was evident that role they would have on the world stage thereafter.
The modern battlefield also took shape in World War I. It was obvious that going face to face no longer provided the desired results. The outcome of this realization was the incorporation of aerial attacks, long range guns and naval warfare as we know it today.
Labor unions were created. The role of women changed. They got into the work force. Women activities were expanded and attitudes towards women were were changed as well. Women got the right to vote. The war lessened the gap between the rich and the poor. Greater equality was reflected in full employment. Wireless commmunications and armored tanks were used as well.Gas powered engines allowed soliders move more quickly.
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