Strategy, Science and Weaponry - World War 1 - Essay Example

Strategy, Science and Weaponry: World War The damages caused by first and second world wars are still alive in the memories of oldpeople even though teenagers may not have many ideas about it. It should be noted that nuclear weapons were used in the Second World War whereas no serious weapons were used in the First World War. Even then the causalities in the First World War almost match with that in the Second World War. The casualties in First World War would have been unimaginable had any of the modern weapons used in that war. The new weapons like poison gas, submarines, airplanes, tanks and artillery shells etc can cause tremendous damage to all living things if any of them used in a war. This paper analyses the possible impacts of poison gas, submarines and airplanes had on World War I and how these weapons could have changed the strategies of World War I. “Considered uncivilized prior to World War One, the development and use of poison gas was necessitated by the requirement of wartime armies to find new ways of overcoming the stalemate of unexpected trench warfare” (Weapons of War - Poison Gas). Even though Germans were accused of using prohibited weapons in the First World War, French were the first one who used it in a war. Normal weapons are not capable enough to break a stalemate like situation. For example it is difficult to force the enemies to come out from trenches using normal weapons. Poison gases have the ability to spread across a region within minutes or seconds. Soldiers took shelter in trenches may not escape from the attack of poison gases. “In August 1914, they fired tear-gas grenades (xylyl bromide) against the Germans. Nevertheless the German army was the first to give serious study to the development of chemical weapons and the first to use it on a large scale” (Weapons of War - Poison Gas). It should be noted that the poison gases used in WW1 were severe and loss of death was inevitable because of the use these gases. Chlorine was one of the major poison gas used by the Germans in WW1 which caused the death of hundreds of soldiers. However, in order to escape from international laws, slow poisoning gases were developed and used in wars by many of the countries at present. In a recent battle between Israel and Palestrina, Israel was accused of using nerve gas. Initially this gas gave a pleasant breathing feeling and nobody noticed the consequences of it. However, after some time, people started to feel pain, agony and other consequences. “Those who inhaled the gas, suffered a nervous breakdown and vomited blood according to a report”(Brookes). From the above description, it is clear that modern poison gases are capable of slow killing whereas the poison gases in the past were capable of instant killing. Had the modern poison gases used in WW1, the casualties would have been more. Now take the case of submarines. Submarines are capable of independent operations below the water level. Submarines were developed fully, only after the end of WW1. If submarines were developed fully, before WW1, naval attacks would have been more effective in WW1. Battleships were used extensively by Britain, America and Germany in WW1. However, none of them used the services of submarines at that time. German navy was not strong enough to counter the threats caused by the Royal Navy. In order to resist the threats from Royal Navy, Germans declared that they will use unrestricted submarines. Even though Germany tried to use their submarines in the naval war, they failed to use it effectively because of the lack of striking power of these underdeveloped submarines. In the decade before the start of World War One it would have been reasonable to assume that the outcome would be decided at sea through the clash of the revolutionary dreadnought class of battleships. In fact this was not the case. The one clash, the Battle of Jutland of May 1916, was an inconclusive affair (the Royal Navy suffered more damage but the German fleet did not dare to venture on the high seas again) and the threat of a sea-borne German invasion of Britain never materialised (Cruickshank) In fact one of the major reasons of the failure of Germany in WW1 was their inability to counter the threats from royal navy. It should be noted that submarines and torpedoes of the current era are capable of striking the targets in a highly previsioned manner. Many of the countries have the services of submarines carrying nuclear weapons at present. If those submarines were available in WW1, the casualties would have been unimaginable. In fact the major reason for the prolongation of WW1 was the ineffectiveness of the weapons. If modern weapons were available at that time WW1 would have ended in few months. It should be noted that the use of nuclear bombs at Hiroshima and Nagasaki by America forced the parties in WW2 to think in terms of an immediate stoppage of the war. From the above discussion, it is evident that submarine use was very limited in WW1 and allied forces had superior naval power than Germany. In fact Germany caused huge damages to America and Britain because of their superior power in air strikes. In fact Germany had superior war planes compared to that of America or Britain at the time of WW1. It should be noted that the current war planes of America and Britain are superior to that of the Germans. “On April 1, 1915, French pilot Roland Garros shot down a German Albatros airplane” (World War I Aerial Combat). The history of air strikes started from there. When the above incident was happened, it was marked as a huge achievement. When we compare the capabilities of current airplanes, the above achievement is negligible. America has many war planes now which are capable of travelling at a speed more than that of the sound. “The F-35 Lightning II Joint Strike Fighter (JSF) is slated to become the backbone of the U.S. tactical aviation fleet”(Majumdar). Moreover, some of the war planes of America have the ability to stay away from the eyes of enemy’s radar system. In fact America, at present has airplanes which can operate even without a pilot. Morphing aircrafts are gaining more popularity at present. “Morphing aircraft are multi-role aircraft that change their external shape substantially to adapt to a changing mission environment during flight. Compared to conventional aircraft, morphing aircraft become more competitive as more mission tasks or roles are added to their requirements”(Weisshaar, p.1). In short, current air forces of America are superior to that of the Germans. If America had the same superiority in air strikes during WW1, the war could have been ended within weeks. To conclude, First World War extended for years because of the ineffectiveness of weapons used in that war. Had any of the modern weapons been used in that war it could have been ended within weeks or months. Germans had superior air power whereas allied forces had superior naval power during WW1. Germans used Chlorine gas as a weapon during WW1 whereas as at present slow poisoning or slow killing gases are used extensively in wars to kill enemies. Submarines were not much effective during WW1 whereas the current submarines are capable of travelling deep inside the sea and it can come up to the surface level within seconds for striking the targets. Current war planes are capable of traveling much faster than even sound. In short, new weapons are capable of striking the target more accurately and it can cause huge damages compared to the weapons used in the past. Works Cited Brookes, James. “The Israeli Poison Gas Attacks”. Web. 09 November 2011. Cruickshank, Dan. “A New Enemy”. 2011. Web. 09 November 2011. Majumdar, Dave. “New Fighter Jet: Controversial Future of the U.S. Fleet”. 2008. Web. 09 November 2011. “Weapons of War - Poison Gas”. Web. 09 November 2011. “World War I Aerial Combat”. Web. 09 November 2011. Weisshaar, Terrence A. “Morphing Aircraft Technology – New Shapes for Aircraft Design”. Web. 09 November 2011. Read More