WW2: The World's Deadliest Conflict in Human History - Essay Sample

World War II

Between 1939 and 1945, the Second World War occurred. This war directly involved two opposing teams (the allies and the axis) of the world´s great powers in a state of total war. During the course of the war, over 100million people from a total of 30 countries were involved in the war. Presently documented as the world´s deadliest and bloodiest conflict in recorded human history, WW2 claimed the upwards of 50million casualties. The deaths occurred through a variety of conflict-related means including mass murder (the holocaust), mass starvation, diseases, and massacres. This biggest global war in recorded human history was characterized by large scale bombings and the use of nuclear weaponry. As such, World War II forms a critical historical component of geopolitical history. The crucial determinant of the war was mainly the military index of the countries, their attacking efficiency, and the technological and general military resources. In the next section, thereby, the author focuses on such technological determinants that shaped the progress of World War II and how such technologies affected the outcomes of the war.

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Technology use in World War II

The most crucial strategy in the Second World War involved the research by opposing sides into the military strength of their opponents. Intelligent military operations and exfiltration allowed the opposing forces to gain insights into the strategic and technological advantages of their rival armies. To conduct such surveillance and espionage endeavors, the teams had to use smart systems of communications. This need for quick contact instigated the original research into digital communicative technologies. As a result, the world began to discover end-to-end encrypted informational systems that would assists allies in communicating without breach by the opposition. This increased research into the informational technology alternatives initiated a revolution that ushered in the micro-electronics, post-industrial age.

While aiming at breaking the “enigma” codes by the German Nazi, Britain developed the electronics computers. This technological invention significantly changed the course of the entire society and the war in ways either parties could never have envisioned. Such computers and the ‘internet’ were initially meant to bypass the radio signals used by the opponents and offer an advantage to the Allied parties over the axis. Later, however, the electronic computers that were developed during the war would become a pervasive part of society with a ubiquitous global presence. We can thereby confidently claim that the informational technology inventions in WW2 (that birthed the microelectronics movement of the 1960s) changed the overall societal interaction spaces and social-economic processes.

The second most notable technological innovation of the Second World War was the unprecedented advancements in weaponry. From the aftermath of the First World War through to the entire course of the Second World War, the world´s greatest nations and forces engaged in intense research in modernized weaponry. From large bombing aircraft to small arms, military technology experienced profound technological changes. The Second World War was characterized by massive bombings and the use of biological and chemical warfare. The most devastating effect of the advancement in weapons research during WW2 was observed in the events in Japan that initiated the need to end the war. The nuclear bombings of twin cities in Japan (Hiroshima and Nagasaki) exposed the entirety of humanity to the destructive effects of the futuristic chemical weaponry that was a characteristic presence during the war. Since the bombings, the world continues to enter into global consensus to limit the manufacture of such nuclear weapons. The fear that such bombings and technological advancements during the war created continue to drive international cooperation agreements.

In addition to nuclear weaponry, the Second World War also created some of the fiercest fighter jets, tankers, and aircraft. For the axis, the Ludwig Prandtl laboratory at the University of Göttingen acted as a central aerodynamics research center through the first and second world wars. This center focused on theoretical research into aerodynamics and fluid dynamics, thus providing scientific background information into the innovations in aerospace weaponry. Despite their initial intentions, it is safe to conclude that such a theoretical focus of innovations set the world in a different direction in science and technology. Since the end of the war, the scientific revolution focusing on theory-grounded innovations continue to play a central role in global revolutions in the current post-industrial network society.

How did this technology affect the outcome of the war?

Technological evolutions during the war were essential determinants to the end of the Second World War. The introduction of military bombs, armored jets and vehicles swayed the fight in favor of the most advanced side of the war in terms of modern weaponry. When the Germans developed the V-1 and V-2 bombs, the allied parties responded by inventing the bouncing bomb. In the end, the atomic bomb became the undoubted winner in the war. The war was ended when the world saw the devastating consequences of the nuclear bombings in Japan. As such, it could be inferred that the most substantial advancement in weaponry (atomic technology) led to the end of the Second World War and handed the win to the allied forces. However, humanity did feel the ultimate loss created by such advancement in weaponry and made treaties to avoid such wars in future. The outcome of the World War II was thereby informed by the most influential military and technologically advanced side of the war. Finally, we must note that the war ushered in the communicational technology age. Such inventions also allowed the allied forces to win the war as they would easily intercept the encrypted communication between the axis forces.

Conclusion

In conclusion, the Second World War ushered in the digital and modern technologically-savvy age. The various military and scientific innovations around the domain of technology became an essential foundation for numerous modern innovations in science and technology. The innovations did not just help the winners to win the war but also restructured the entire society and led to the rise of the network society (the fourth global paradigm).

Bibliography

Miller, Carolyn R. “Learning from History: Learning from History: World War II and the Culture of High Technology.” Journal of Business and Technical Communication 12, no. 3 (1998): 288–315. https://doi.org/10.1177/1050651998012003002.

Mindell, David. “The Science and Technology of World War II.” 2sci-tech.org. 2sci-tech.org, 2009. https://www.ww2sci-tech.org/essays/essay2.html.

Royde-Smith, John Graham, and Thomas A. Hughes. “Forces and Resources of the European Combatants, 1939.” Encyclopædia Britannica. Encyclopædia Britannica, inc., May 6, 2020. https://www.britannica.com/event/World-War-II/Forces-and-resources-of-the-European-combatants-1939.