Weapons Evolution The Evolution of Weapons from WWI to WWII

Two global wars dominated the twentieth century. The history of the world from 1900 to 1999 cannot be seen in a simple examination of the war years which essentially lasted from 1915 to 1945, but this period is so dominant in its creation of geopolitical boundaries, technology and alliances that it can be termed as the seminal period of the age. Because the two wars happened in such close conjunction it is also possible to take the period as one singular event. The fact that the second was an extension of the first also lends to this conclusion. Some may believe it is faulty logic to call one thirty year period early in a century the most poignant time within that century, but given the multiple impacts this period had on the entire world it is no stretch.

The dominance of Europe was in decline even before the wars, but as a consequence of the fighting on European soil and the development of weapons technology two new superpowers emerged. The United States was not yet seen as the global force that it would become because prior to the First World War the country maintained a largely isolationist stance. Due to the fact that the U.S. was isolated from other world powers it was an easy guise to maintain. Even though technology such as the airplane slightly predated the initial conflict, it was not at a stage where it was available for long-range commercial use. The other power that emerged, Russia, was having its own problems during WWI and did not figure into that war. However, the country became a major factor in the arms race that would dominate the second half of the twentieth century which was begun during WWI.

Strength and ambition were major reasons that the U.S. And USSR developed, but they also believed that the separate ideologies which controlled their

This reliance on personal belief was also the reason that different societies fell into war in the first place. The Germans leaders began the conquest of the First World War because they saw "might as right." This thinking continued through the second War with the Germans and the other members of the Axis, and caused the reaction of the Allied powers in both wars. The means used to project this might were the weapons which existed and those that were developed as technology progressed.
Nations, and individuals, place importance on different methods of developing technology, so the inventions often have diverse purposes and looks. However, when the goal is to project power, the research either devises weapons intentionally or uses existing technology in its quest for better weapons. Due to the nature of the period under discussion, many machines whose inventors had no notion of creating a weapon ended as primary defenses during the two great wars. It is difficult to divorce the technology of the time from the weapons that emerged.

From this time period five distinctive weapon types were developed that had different uses for the theaters in which they were deployed. The world's navies were surface fleets which relied on relatively small vessels to provide their impact. However, this usage changed as the ability to forge underwater warfare in a safer manner was realized, and much larger ships that could project aerial power were designed. The army began the World War I period still using horses as a primary offensive force, trench warfare as the proper way to fight a defensive war and inaccurate weapons that could deliver payloads very short distances. By the end of World War II the horse was largely gone, replaced by motor-driven vehicles, weapons were able to zero in much more accurately due to radar…