Military Technology Wins Wars Technology

Military Technology Wins Wars Technology does, indeed, win wars. However, to really understand the implications of this seemingly simple statement we must first remind ourselves of the real definition of technology. Using a simplified definition, we see that the systems created by North Vietnam, including the Ho Chi Minh Trail and the extensive warren of residences and hospitals and the gunnery tunnels also qualify as technology. So the statement should include how the technology is used. Appropriate technology used properly wins wars.

New military technology was instrumental in WWII, and many crediting the dropping of the atomic bomb with ending that war. The invasion of Russia by German troops was equally a failure due to inappropriate use of technology on one hand and lack of technology on the other. In Vietnam, the winning technology was used by the North Vietnamese, though it was far from new or innovative. The technology employed to defend South Vietnam was either inappropriate or it was improperly used.

In each case, whether taken battle by battle or over the course of a campaign or an entire war, the winners employed appropriate technology properly, and that made the difference. World War II covered a huge geographical area, from Great Britain to the South Pacific, including Europe, Asia, parts of the Middle East, Africa and small portions of North America. Over the course of the war advances in military technology were employed as fast as they could be developed.

Adolph Hitler had planned this war for a long time and, for some time, the German U-boats rules the seas and their fighters and bombers devastated their enemies from the air. This easily explains why the Germans started off a step ahead. America tried steadfastly to stay out of the conflict, having adopted an isolationist view, but were drawn in when the Japanese bombed Pearl Harbor. This devastated the U.S.

Navy, nearly destroying the Seventh Fleet, but the citizens pitched in and rebuilt faster than anyone imagined could be done. World War II was fought on numerous fronts in all environments: air land and sea. Land campaigns included terrain from desert to arctic ice. Clearly, the ability to develop and adapt equipment for all these different environments was a huge factor in any country's ability to sustain or defend a front. Water battles covered the Atlantic, Pacific, South Pacific and Mediterranean, plus numerous smaller bodies of water.

Hitler began the war with sneaky tactics using disguised ships and submarines to get around the British fleet. After Perl Harbor, U.S.A. rebuilt its fleet with blazing speed, turning the balance of power, especially by utilizing aircraft carriers and submarines. In the ground war several factors were of prime importance: transport and protection of troops; supply line capability and personal equipment for the troops. These included tanks and personnel carriers, air and ground transport of supplies, clothing and other necessities and rations, and firepower.

Of these, the tank figured prominently in many ground battles, and were often the key to winning or losing. Mechanized warfare with mobile tank forces could only be defeated with superior artillery or blizzards. The German tanks, while stronger and carrying more firepower, were often defeated by light, more mobile American tanks, which also used less gas. On the Russian front, the German tank grease and oil froze and the soldiers starved after peasants burned their crops.

Air power was important from the beginning of the war, and possibly was the single most important factor in the European theater. Fighters provided cover for bombers and protected ground troops and ships. Aircraft could take off from and land on the surface of aircraft carriers, giving them much more range. In the final blow of the war on Japan, long-range bombers carried the totally new technology of the atomic bomb, made possible by German refugees.

Intelligence technology was of prime importance in WWII, from radio capability, sonar and radar to codes and code-breaking technology. More important than superior manpower or battle technology was the ability to locate the enemy, and also to hide from him. Eniac was used to guide shelling, and to aid the code-breakers. Foreign powers had nothing like these huge mainframe computers, though they were slow, fragile and demanded high power consumption by today's standards. In contrast to WWII, the Viet Nam conflict was fraught with miscalculation and miscommunication.

After the initial mistake of refusing to support Ho Chi Minh, thereby driving him to the communists for support, the U.S. system of communication was responsible for far too many problems, including the presidential conception of the value of the leader, Nhu Ding Diem. Key factors in this war were the misuse of technology in the south and intelligent use of simple technology by the north.

The Battle of Diem Bin Phu was a classic miscalculation when the French thought that artillery could not be brought against them through the jungle. The North Vietnamese did just that, manually hauling big guns on jungle trails and over mountains, then followed with ammunition on bicycles. In addition they hid the guns in tunnels and set off charges in the jungle to confuse the French as to the sources of shelling. After the French left, the U.S. set up Nhu Ding Diem as president of South Vietnam.

Between him and his brother, they alienated more than half the population in short order with their repressive regime. Use of the guillotine to execute their enemies furthered popular hate until they were murdered. The use of napalm and Agent Orange by the U.S. devastated the South Vietnam populations and their land. Meanwhile, the North Vietnamese created a whole network of connected trails, residences and hospitals underground, and kept it hidden.

It was called the Ho Chi Minh Trail and was used to efficiently transport troops and supplies the length of the country. The American "Strategic Hamlets" were easily infiltrated by Vietcong, since many were sympathetic to them. The attacks on Da Nang base precipitated the final mess with the possibly mistakes of radar operators on the U.S.S. Maddox, and the car bombing of the American Embassy and Brinks Hotel in Da Nang. Operation Rolling Thunder launched the all out war as the U.S. carpet bombed North Vietnam.

This entire sequence of events was almost totally caused by improper use of inappropriate technology: chemical agents, air strikes on jungle and carpet bombing. The most effective technology, the underground tunnel systems and manual supply lines was employed by the North Vietnamese. There is not space within the bounds of a short paper to really explore this topic. The technology of World War II alone would fill a large dissertation.

However, these examples from World War II and the Vietnam War clearly show that the effective use of appropriate technology does win wars, while the reverse has the opposite effect. World War II had examples where the improper use of extremely good technology was disastrous, as in the invasion of Russia. It also shows over all that the strategic use of superior technology was ultimately the deciding factor. However, in the case of Vietnam, the wrong technology was used improperly and resulted in a mess from which the U.S.

still bears the scars. Works Cited www.questia.com/PM.qst?a=o&d=109396003 Best, Antony, Jussi M. Hanhim ki, Joseph a. Maiolo, and Kirsten E. Schulze. International History of the Twentieth Century. London: Routledge, 2004. Questia. 8 Oct. 2006 http://www.questia.com/PM.qst?a=o&d=109396005. A www.questia.com/PM.qst?a=o&d=106977474 Bull, Stephen. Encyclopedia of Military Technology and Innovation. Westport, CT: Greenwood Press,.