World War 2 Military Leader Paper

Ken Wallace

World War 2 Military leader paper

Grand Canyon University HIS-231

4/5/2015

        During World War II the power of one of the sides to have superior air and sea power was a huge advantage to their war effort. Basically who ever could drop the most or strongest bombs the fastest was going to be the winner, and that is exactly how it ended. Both sides used their airplanes for multiple things such as transport, bombing, paratroopers, gliders, and dog fights. The two that come to mind most often were the bombings of Nagasaki and Hiroshima by the American forces when they dropped the first nukes ever in battle, and then also the German Blitzkrieg tactics used. This was done with Zeppelins, which the author will also talk about. In this essay the author will talk about the monumental role that air power had in World War II.

        The role of technology in the Second World War was a big one. These different advancements literally turned the tide of the war, and also forever changed the way that wars were fought. Probably one of the most vital advancements was that of air power. Before World War 2, airplanes were used for “reconnaissance activities--obtaining information, photographic, and making maps for the armies” (Higham, 2003). The early time of planes was not intended for battle, but during World War I they developed a type of gear that is able to make sure that the guns fire when there is a space between the propellers. But once the Second World War came along, planes became mainly used for bombings along with German Zeppelin ships. The Germans used the planes during the German Blitzkrieg tactics. The German Blitzkrieg tactic was when the Germans would have a bunch of planes fly over the town or city and drop a ton of bombs on them so that they were not losing any ground forces. Germany’s tactics were to defeat each enemy in separate and short campaigns. To start these campaigns they used the blitzkrieg technique where they would continuously and randomly bomb the target on separate occasions, so they could catch the target off guard. Another part of the blitzkrieg was that the planes would provide a constant air support for the tanks and mobile ground forces as they mowed over the enemy. There was also the element of paratroopers during these tactics, and this is when the troops would parachute down into battle, which would give them the advantage of dropping directly behind enemy lines. Having the airplanes focus mainly on the enemy’s armored vehicles such as tanks gives the ground forces a huge advantage and a possible moral boost to be able to only fight actual troops and not also all of the enemy tanks and what not. The blitzkrieg was taken out of their game plan though about half way through the war, because the allied forces got smart and began to have anti-aircraft weapons that were able to shoot their planes out of the sky. Other bombings were very productive for all of the other sides as well. Of course, one of the most famous would be when the American and allied forces decided to drop the nuke on Japan. Hiroshima had been a target of bombings for awhile before the nuclear bomb was dropped, and was a primary target of the B-29 bombers that flew into Japan on August 6, 1945. These planes were very big and had both offensive and defensive guns that made them a force to be reckoned with in the air, and they made it that much easier for the allies to have air superiority. Airplanes even started the war for the United States when the Japanese decided to bomb Pearl Harbor. This was the incident that brought the American forces into the Second World War, and those were the two that would also end the war as the author has said in the above writings.