Military Comparisons From The 1920's

“For the Common Defense, a military history of the United States from 1607-2012” is a military historic book written by Allan R. Millet, Peter Maslowski, and William B. Feis. Millet is a historian and a retired colonel of the Marine Corps. Maslowski is a professor at the University of Nebraska. Feis is a professor at Buena Vista University. This book was published in September 2012. It focuses on chronologically describing the changes of the United States military for over 400 years. Even though that is the main purpose, it does include political information. Although this book does not have an exact thesis, its purpose is to inform readers of the creation and enhancements of the US military. At almost 700 pages, this book educates about

     The history of the United States military is a very prestige, brave, heroic, and memorable one at that. Starting on September 3, 1793 the United States was officially it’s own nation and it’s own military. At that time many other countries didn’t believe that we would succeed but, now we are one of the strongest, freest, and most prestige country to possible ever be developed.

Through out the 1920’s many inventions were created that altered human civilization. Transportation was successfully mastered. Radio communication was becoming more common and medicine was saving more and more lives every day.

Before World War II, the submarine was very predictable and easily managed with detection systems, depth detection, and antisubmarine forces. The aircrafts were harder to manage, and could easily penetrate enemy territory. It was not so predictable.[xii]

The first world war was one of the most brutal and remorseless events in history; ‘the global conflict that defined a century’. Over nine million soldiers and a large amount of innocent civilians lost their lives. Empires crumbled, revolution engulfed Russia and America rose to become a dominant world power. Huge armies deployed new weapons of devastating effect from rifles and pistols to torpedoes and flame throwers. These weapons were used not only in the trenches but by tanks too. This was an advantage to those who were able to access such machinery as they could easily launch bullets and missiles at nearby enemy bases. The downfall of the tank was the fact it was unable to cross the trenches. Tanks were not the only pieces of equipment that could access this machinery but U boats and planes too. The British carried ‘bolt action rifles’ in which fired 15 rounds per minute at a minimum range of 1,400 metres away. This allowed the British to take out foes at a far greater range. By using machinery in which rules out the need for getting up close to the enemy was a great advantage during world war one. Soldiers ran from trench to trench attacking with all that they had. This resulted in a massacre as the soldiers running toward the trenches were shot down. Machinery such as machine guns and heavy artillery were the weapons used in the trenches. In modern day society, machine guns are the main weapons used by soldiers. This wasn’t the case around the 1914s. They took four

The Union and Confederate Navies were founded during the Civil War. Each Navy had its advantages and disadvantages. The Union represented the northern states. The Confederacy represented the southern states. The Union had a lot more advantages at the beginning of the conflict. First of all, they had more people, ships, and supplies. They were more organized and had hundreds of ships with many captains to guide them around enemy territories. The main thing that they lacked was cotton trading. This was a disadvantage because cotton was a main export during that time. Other than that, they really had no problem in fighting the Confederates. The Union captains needed training, because they did not have proper navigation skills.

The 1920’s should be considered a time of prosperity in American history. America was introduced to new a modern identity. There was many cultural norms in the 1920’s. The decade also saw an economic boom, through new modern industries and the automotive age. The government went back to a hands off, “Laissez-Faire”, government. The government and politics were going for the return to normalcy type of outlook.

The ways in which the United States has conducted its military operations since becoming an independent nation has largely depended upon the overall political and military objectives of each individual conflict. The United States first three hot wars after the end of World War II display the marked difference in US objectives and the operations used to achieve them better than any other modern wars in which American troops participated.

The 1920’s was a huge era for great inventions and technology. This period of time is referred to as the “Roaring twenties,” a decade of excitement, success and determination. This era acquired its name from the boom of thousands of ideas that were not only thought of, but brought to life. These new advances in technology changed our lives in many ways. This was an era of great prosperity, new innovations and creations. These inventions drastically changed people then and still greatly affect society today. Humans wanted change and improvement, and this

With the invention of the machine gun the fighter plane was created and the first flying “aces” arose. This was important because when both sides were entrenched it became the job of the planes to create an opening. In addition to fighter planes the creation of bombers played a vital role in the war and in subsequent wars. Planes were now able to just drop a bomb on the enemy, causing a large amount of damage. The advancements in aircraft made during wartime paved the way for future generations to create advanced airplanes with useful additions like precise maneuvering equipment and missiles. In addition, post-war advancements include the invention of the tri-motor in 1926, the first single engine plane in 1927, and the first transatlantic passenger plane also in 1927. WWI had a huge effect on the development of plane technology because without it people may have never realized the potential for air warcraft except for the few pilots with the vision of dropping bombs on the

Ideas were made realities as the country discovered more efficient tactics of warfare. On the water, the idea of being completely submerged and attacking from below came from Southerner H.L. Hunley. Hunley was “involved in the construction of several submarines, including one named after him” (Bruce). Hunley was not the first to think of the idea of a submarine but was the first to create a working model. His model consisted of “a crew of nine, eight of whom turned hand cranks along a single screw shaft that served to propel the craft” (Bruce). His invention was not flawless but was the first completely underwater machine that was ultimately deadly to the Union ships. It was the first submarine which allowed for future generations to reflect upon this first invention and improve upon it for a more effective machine. This first inkling of a thought would help achieve much greater machines decades in the future. The newly built machine was fallible and many sailors died while operating the ship. On February 17, 1864, “the Hunley sank shortly the Union screw sloop Housatonic. Although the Hunley sank shortly thereafter, it was the first submarine to claim an enemy vessel” (Bruce). The first kill from a submarine was monumental because it proved that the submarine could be a useful and feared machine lurking in the water. It had proved itself to be valuable in the time that it served and convinced the army to continue to improve upon it after the war. Following the war, the “navy continued experiments but it was not until the end of the 19th century that inventors developed a truly effective submarine” (Bruce). The military realized that the submarine had much potential that could be derived with more intensive research and analysis. Still effective today, the invention thought of centuries ago proved to be an effective killing machine. Improvements on land warfare

In addition to all the ships being produced the Americans were also coming up with newer weapons to use against the U-boats. These weapons would be used by both planes and battleships. Some of the aircrafts “were fitted with powerful

Another dynamic change of World War I on Artillery was Unit mobility. Horse drawn Artillery being the primary method of movement used by the American Artillery at the start of the War, quickly changed with the addition of self-propelled weapons and Artillery tractors. The creation of tanks as a countermeasure to trench warfare would be one of many factors to shift emphasis away from the coast. Using tractors as opposed to horses would allow greater range in American Artillery movements. These designs and innovations would help shape the American Artillery weaponry used in later American conflicts around the globe.

Tanks had been used prior to Villers-Bretonneux in World War One, with the very first use of them coming on the 15th of September, 1916, during the Battle of the Somme, by the British. They were used many times between then and Villers-Bretonneux, during various battles throughout Europe. It was, however, at Villers-Bretonneux that the first tank versus tank battle in history unfolded. The tanks involved were the British Mark IV tanks, which came in male and female versions (the female only had machine guns while the males had cannons as well), the British Mark A Whippet tanks, and the German A7V tanks. The battle ended in a tight British victory, with the driver of one of the British tanks being awarded the Military Cross for his actions. This tank battle shaped the future of warfare, both in World War One and beyond. It was significant as it provided an example of how tanks could be used to destroy an enemy’s resources and gain a strategic advantage in a battle. Without the occurrence of this tank battle, future warfare could have been vastly different to how it is

Submarines have been around for longer than most people think. The first American attempts at creating a submersible boat date back to the days of the Revolutionary and Civil Wars. These boats, however, turned out to be just as dangerous to the people on board as they were to the enemy boats. So the concept was put aside for a while. But in the 1890's two men named John Holland and Simon Lake built a practical underwater boat. The US Navy bought its first submarine from Mr. Holland on April 11, 1900, a date which is thought of as the birthday of the US submarine force. Submarines progressed in technology throughout the years and were used extensively and quite successfully in both world wars. The major breakthrough in submarine