World War 2 and Technology

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Liberty University *

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HIUS 380-D

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History

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Apr 3, 2024

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docx

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5

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William Beatty Liberty University HIUS-380 Modern Amercian Military History February 5 th , 2024 When people think of war what comes to mind? For most people things like loss of life, and destruction of any area battles are fought. But there is another thing that tends to happen leading
up to, during and after war and that is advancement in technology. World War II was the war with the most significate about of technological advancements. During this time, there was no area that did not make some sort of advancement in technology. From advances in weaponry, and artillery to medical surgery, electronics probably being the biggest next to weaponry, with advances in communications, and radar, and finally the field of intelligence. World War II took place from 1939 to 1945. This war was fought between two major groups, the Allies and the Axis. The Allies group was made up of Great Britain, Russia, China, and the United States. While the Axis group was Germany, Japan, and Italy. What makes this war so different from others is that the advances in technology did not start during the war once countries saw what they could improve or make better to get an edge over the side. The race for technology started between World War I and World War II. Though most of these were invented during the interwar period, most were not field tested or implemented until WWII. (Ritchie & Pieper, 2021, pg. 95). Advancements in the radar not only was it about being able to locate enemy targets before they found you, but it also helped in other ways for example scientists were able to uses radar to help track weather and build new weaponry that was able to use radar to tell projectiles when to go off. When weapons designers discovered a way to place tiny radar sets onto artillery shells, the proximity fuse was invented. These new fuses would explode when they neared their targets. (Science & Technology of World War II,). Another similar area that made advancements is the radio. During this time, radios were bulky and did not have a good range, but throughout the war engineers made them better in every way. Beyond hand-held use by U.S. soldiers in the field, radios were now an integral part of every major technology of the U.S. military—including but not limited to airplanes, submarines, and tanks. ( Ritchie & Pieper, 2021, pg. 96).
The field of intelligence made some major advances during this war. The race for gathering intel and developing counter measures to information from getting to the enemy. One big area of this was radio communications, each side had their own codes used to rely on important information. But each side also had personnel trying to decipher the code and obtain the vital information from the other side. The discovery of the German codes used at sea and the subsequent cracking of the codes came at the hands of the seizing of the Enigma machine by the Allies. ( Ritchie & Pieper, 2021, pg. 103). This would play a huge role in tactics and strategy for each side and trying to outsmart the other, but also not make it too obvious that any side had cracked the code of the opposing one. With all the advancements in weapons and artillery one area would need to advance just as much if not more and that would be the medical field. The medical field would have some of the biggest breakthroughs during this war. One of those breakthroughs that happened and still in use today was the medicine penicillin. During World War II it was mostly used to treat the venereal diseases gonorrhea and syphilis, which had been the scourge of armies for thousands of years (Science & Technology of World War II,). Medicine was not the only advancement in the medical field during the war, but it also had some critical advancements. The devastating scale of both world wars demanded the development and use of new medical techniques that led to improvements in blood transfusions, skin grafts, and other advances in trauma treatment. (The Scientific and Technological Advances of World War II). This was just a snapshot of the advancements made during World War II. There was so much more and most of them have made how war is fought today. Which is why the technology and advancements made during World War II are invaluable. World War II in a way led the groundwork for the way we fight wars and continue to develop new and better ways of fighting.
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