World at War

World at War: Warfare has introduced and updated many new tactics and weapons. These tactics and weapons have had a big impact on people and environments. This essay will focus on traditional warfare, WWI, WWII and the effects of warfare including environmental damage, and the increased scale of conflict. Traditional Warfare used many weapons and tactics but there are some that were used way more than others. One weapon is the sword. Swords have a long metal blade that protrudes out of a handle. Another weapon is a spear. They are made out of metal or wood. It is a skinny lightweight pole that has a sharp point at the end. One more popular weapon was the bow & arrow. The bow and arrow are a two-piece weapon.

The bow is usually made out of wood with and rope that stretches out. The arrow is a short small wooden stick with a sharp metal head. A tactic that was used often was hand to hand combat. Hand to hand combat is up close and personal and is usually fought with a sword or dagger. Another tactic is ranged combat. It is fought with weapons that are used far away from the opposition. Bow & arrows, spears, and catapults were used often. Pitched battles were also extremely popular. Pitched battles are battles that have a formally decided date and location. These tactics and weapons were the most popular and mainly used. WWI is a conflict which used many modern weapons and tactics. One modern weapon is a rifle. Rifles are firearms that are used for precision firing. They are made of wood and metal. Another modern weapon that was used is sniper rifles. Sniper rifles are used to shoot targets from a long distance. They have a scope which lets the sniper see far away. Artillery was another modern weapon that was used. They are big cannons that fire shells at trenches. Another modern weapon used in WWI is machine guns. They are capable of firing at fast speeds at incoming enemies.

They did not have the precision of rifles could maul down enemies quickly. A modern tactic that was used in WWI was trench warfare. Trenches are networks of long passages in the ground. They were used to protect soldiers from gunfire. Artillery would fire shells into the trenches, they would not protect the soldiers from everything. The trenches were extremely wet and damp, the soldiers would be in boots day in and day out. Because of this, they would develop trench foot. Another tactic that was used is planes. Planes are big vehicles with wings that can fly in the sky. They were used to watch the enemy and to see where they are and what they are doing. WWI used lots of modern weapons and tactics and these were just some of them. WW2 had a lot of upgrades to their weapons and tactics from WWI. From WWI guns and tanks were updated, guns could fire more deadly bullets, have more ammo and fire a lot more precisely and tanks could damage more and more precisely. Radar was a WWII invention and was never used WWI. With radar, the allies could know where the enemy was heading and be ready for their attacks, or they could secretly attack them. WWII also had better planes and bombers.

Their speed increased, they had more guns capable of firing at a faster rate, and the bombers could drop many new types of bombs. Aircraft carriers also had an upgrade. They became more capable of holding more ships, they were more fuel efficient, and their speed increased. In WWII, a new bomb called an atomic bomb was invented. These bombs could kill more, and they had an after effect of radiation (which no one knew about at the time). In WWII, tactics from WWI were updated and new tactics were used as well. Instead of trench warfare, air supremacy and naval warfare were being used. Planes and ships would cross land and sea to fight. Another tactic is strategic bombing. Strategic bombing is bombing which takes place at places and resources that the enemy need. That means that they lose resources. One more tactic is intelligence war. Intelligence war is a strategy that involves getting information/data from the enemy with spying and code breaking. These weapons and tactics are just some examples of the upgrades from WWI to WWII. Warfare throughout history has changed drastically and affected society in numerous ways. One effect is the increased scale of conflict. During ancient times, the number of people fighting in wars was quite small but now armies have huge amounts of people. Deaths and casualties have increased because of the use of guns. In ancient times before gunpowder, they use mostly Melee weapons and bows and these weapons weren't that fast at killing, but now the weapons we use are extremely fast and are capable of killing millions of people. In 1945, Hiroshima and Nagasaki were bombed by atomic bombs. These bombs killed thousands of innocent civilians. Warfare in the past never affected civilians but in more recent times, civilians have been involved. The atomic bombs dropped in Japan also damaged the environment. The cities crumbled down to rubble. No one knew back then but because of the bombs the cities and the oceans around them radiation levels increased. Millions of people died because of it. Effects like these from changes in warfare have impacted society greatly.

There have been a lot of changes in war but in my opinion, the development of nuclear weapons was the most significant change to war. Nuclear weapons also have a huge impact on society and our everyday lives. These bombs are capable of mass destruction and genocide and I think that one day it will kill us all. Blec, I. K. (n. d. ). World War 2 Weapons.