The Evolution Of Warfare During World War II

Warfare on the battlefield has been ever changing since the conception of it in the early human era. The first weapons used on the battlefield were extremely primitive but it did not take long for the evolution of warfare to begin. Human ingenuity can be extremely beneficial towards the betterment of mankind, unfortunately it can also be destructive. Eventually air threats were introduced into warfare, resulting in the need to shoot them down. The complexity of ever-changing aerial threats warranted the need for the most powerful countermeasures to be put into place known as Air Defense Artillery (ADA).

The invention of guns, handguns, artillery, field artillery – changed warfare in ways that were unimaginable those days. Effective cannons meant that castles were no longer safe. Field artillery and handguns

The development of the allied military strategy in World War II (WWII) presented challenges for the U.S. and Great Britain as they worked together to defeat the Axis powers. First, this paper will review the environment at the time of WWII when Admiral Stark penned the “Plan Dog” memorandum and MAJ Wedemeyer’s War Defense Team put together the “Victory Plan”. Next, it will look at the advantages and disadvantages of coalition operations with supporting examples. Then, a review of two major meetings between U.S. and Great Britain will identify what strategic decisions were made and the effects they have on the war. Finally, this paper will explore the foundations of strategy (Clausewitz and Sun Tzu) by which the allied forces used and

In the winter of 1944, Allied forces in Europe found themselves at the mercy of a massive German offensive. It only took days for the thirteen divisions of German armor to push the allies into such a retreat that contemporary press named the battle after the “bulge” that appeared in the Allied lines. Initially, German soldiers outnumbered the Allies 2:1, while their tanks, the Panzer IV and the Tiger II, completely outclassed their allied counterparts. However, within the weeks, the offensive collapsed. The tanks were out of gas. There was not even enough aviation fuel for the Luftwaffe to cover the retreat (Cole).

According to Merriam-Webster, a weapon is: something (such as a gun, knife, club, or bomb) that is used for fighting or attacking someone or for defending yourself when someone is attacking you. Weapons have been used for thousands of years, since the creation of man. However, its use was limited to only hunting and defending against large predatory animals. As time passed, man 's knowledge of weaponry expanded beyond a simple club and transformed into guns. Prior to the 1850s, Americans owned guns though none were used to inflict violence upon another person. “As a result, guns contributed little to the homicide rate, which was low everywhere, even in the South and on the frontier, where historians once assumed guns and murder went

They were pretty late invention but the bow and arrow was an ultimate stone age weapon, in some parts of the world they have only been in use for 30,000 years or so. This weapon needed a number of inventions to occur before it could be finalized. First of all they needed very strong tine or string, they needed a sharp stone tool to shape the bow and the arrow and the possession to split very sharp, fine stone for the arrow tips. The skill to capture or kill prey from a distance gave our stone age man a huge advantage.

     Weapons have been around from the Neanderthals of the post-ice age, to the Taliban in Afghanistan. Rocks became knives, sticks became spears, and bayonets became AK-47’s. The technology from the French and Indian War was revolutionized and manufactured by the newly opened weaponry companies. Colt

World War II. World War II began 20 short years after World War I occurred. There were many memorable and momentous events that have occurred during this World War. The events that happened before the war is just as important as the events that happened during the war. It all began with the ideas of Adolf Hitler, the leader of Germany and Head of the Nazi Party. Hitler planned on making Germany the Third Reich by expanding and creating an “Aryan” racial state. Hitler believed that the superior nations had the right to lebensraum. Lebensraum was living space through expansion. Lebensraum gave the superior individuals the ability to gain authoritarian leadership. This is how Hitler came to power. While Spain was fighting

The development of a weapon allows us to peer into its use and the thoughts behind the weapon. The macuahuitl was made out of a wood plank with a narrow handle and wide paddle. What made it dangerous was the razor-like volcanic rock protruding out of the paddle which acted like a thousand fire ants biting into the skin. The Aztecs used this weapon as the uttermost important weapon in their arsenal. Columbus was enchanted by it, which is exemplified by the fact that he arranged for one to be sent to Spain. The weapon started as a terse, one-handed weapon, and it

Handheld weapons represented a large portion of the weapons used during 16th Century warfare (Iannuzzo). Most commonly used was the sword. Throughout the middles ages, metals were developed to withstand more abuse and thus became more effective (Iannuzzo). The metals now had to strong enough to pierce through the newly developed armor of the time (Revell, "Armour"). The use of carbonized iron, which was heated, beaten, and cut the process repeated many times over to form a solid and durable and lighter than previous swords. The double edge sword was far superior in strength and sharpness of the other swords of the time (Grolier). The 16th century also brought forth the use of flamberge sword that had an undulating cutting edge, that was believed to be able to easily pierce the armor, but was too awkward for battle and was eventually abandoned. By this time the Great sword, sometimes over six feet in length, were being deployed. This sword was deadly only because of the pure size of it. The great swords required enormous strength just to hold and even more to be effective. Eventually the great sword became too awkward to use in battle just as the flamberge. These two inferior swords took a back seat to the smaller and more agile estoc sword. The estoc had a

Swords are were the most common weapons found back then. There are many different kinds of swords such as arming swords, Broadswords, falchions, and Claymore sword. They all have their ups and downs.

Rifles and their bayonets tools used in warfare but in WW1 the caused the most damage. WW1 is the first modernized war, compared to past battles the weaponry used to launch an arms race creating deadlier and more powerful weapons. As

In the time weapons where made for a specific use. With the improvements in armor the weapons they used to use started to lose their effect on the people wearing that armor. They had to make something that could damage people

In 1941, the United States, still in the throes of the Great Depression, enters World War II. With the Japanese bombing of Pearl Harbor on December 7, the U.S. Congress, after a request by President Franklin Roosevelt, declares war. War is declared not just on Japan, but also on its ally, Hitler’s Germany. Because their ages range from 33 years to 42 years, and because they are married with three of them helping to raise two children each, Paul Baumgartner, Frank Young, Orval Koehler and Frank Deppe are not drafted into the military.

The history of weapons started centuries ago when cave people initially developed a weapon called a bow and arrow, for hunting purposes. They created this weapon from yew or elm for the bow and the arrow’s shaft, and used animal ligaments, or sinew to add tension to the bow. Archeologists have also found arrow heads made of sharp rocks and angled bones from different types of animals. These artifacts are all over the world displayed beautifully in museums to make new civilization realize the important role weapons have played in daily life.