Technological advancement has completely revolutionised the war fare in the past decade. The impact of technological development in military affairs has successfully armed the forces with advanced machines that could bring havoc to civilized society. Hiroshima was one such incident. The atom bombs completely paralysed the civilisation during the World War II. Hence it may be mentioned that technological advancement has barbarised the warfare. Advancement was not limited to development of atop bombs, the devices like AK-47 rifle, aerodynamic technology and drones have power bring havoc or end of the world in near future
The essay here would therefore discuss this topic from core and then shed a light on technology and war and understand ways in which technological advancement have altered war activities. The discussion would then continue with the evaluation on the patterns of innovation in war and finally conclude it by discussing on the rise of western way of war.
I. What is it all about: technology and war?
Since early times technology has remained as the central part of war. Greeks and Romans used some of the most innovative ammunitions to win against the enemies. Technology has played an unprecedented role in military affairs and in the overall warfare. Technology has impacted in both negative and positive manner. Sociologists and historians have further argued that technology in warfare has led to severe social as well as cultural changes. This discussion was further argued under civilised and barbarised warfare under the influence of innovative technology(Geoffrey) . Though apparently civilised warfare is an oxymoron as the term war is automatically connected with loss of innocent lives, violence and destruction and it encourages barbaric behaviour. In short it is a phenomenon when human beings resort to violence and target each other for destroying innocent life and civilised cities in a frenzied way. The technological advancements have introduced innovative, sophisticated, advanced technological weapons. These technological advancements has made the warfare more barbarised and civilised in a different sense that is it has streamlined the destructive approaches and has armed the forces with ability to attack in a planned manner.
Besides introducing destructive weapons, technological advancement has introduced sophisticated and high-tech weapons. Technological experimentation and launch of advanced machineries were introduced since World War II. New weapons have increased destructiveness in the contemporary world. Advancement in aerodynamics and aero-engineering caused havoc . B-29 long-range heavy bombers and V series rockets to Nazi-Germany crippled the society for ages after the war was over. Besides technological advancements the introduction of atom bombs could be specially mentioned. Other advanced weapons like AK-47 rifles accelerated the performance of military regiments. In short, different types of weapon clearly helped in drawing a connection between the enhancement of barbarism in war and technological advancement in war (Clausewitz and Graham). The nuclear capability of America crippled Japan in a fraction of second. Thus there was enormous destruction of human lives, homes, industries and communication sin Europe and Asia. More than 40 million were killed in Second World War. Hence it could be underpinned that with the help of innovative technological weapons the war became more destructive and tragic for civilisation (Coker).
II. Patterns of innovation in war
Technological innovation has not only impacted on day to day life, but also armed the human race with sufficient destructive weapons to lead to devastation and may be end of civilisation. Though the advancement in technology has reduced the barbaric behaviour from traditional warfare, it became far more intense and effective. The Nazi-Germany incident shocked human civilisation and soon atomic bomb became prominent. Use of atomic bombs in warfare brought several changes in the existing pattern of feuds. Innovation could be of different nature. Introducing a new thought could either help in positive or negative manner. Researchers and scientists have specially indulged into developing innovative devices and improve living conditions. Innovation could be traced back in war equipment’s and weapons as well. It has been further argued that such innovation has complete changed the traditional pattern of feuds and created effective and lasting impact of weapons such as atom bombs.
According to thinker Christopher Coker technology leads to deadly violence and also causes havoc. Coker further emphasises on endless tension between the traditional ideas and also a clear understanding on ways in which the weapons are used to win against the opponent in a violent way innovation was noticed in warfare. Coker, in Warrior Geeks, presents an insight on ways in which technology help in transforming the way an individual thinks about the violence of war. The books also lays emphasis on studying various aspects such as coexistence of man and robot in the battle –spaces such as drones that help in collecting information about the opponent. With reference drawn from Greek war fare Coker emphasises that ways in which modern day fights are losing self-humanity.
Thus thinkers and researchers have time and again highlighted the negative affairs of violence and war and discussed various reasons for quitting feud and anger against each sate .
Clausewitz introduced dealt with a crucial issue of war fare, the military theory and strategy on War. Researchers have time and again focussed on discussing on different patterns of warfare since historical times. Clausewitz further used the dialectics in a selected way to help in understanding the gruesome nature of the war. Other researchers have further pointed out ways in which technological advancement in weapon development has forced people to behave responsibly and develop a plan to end world wars and also control future wars . Technological advancements in future as predicted could lead to end of the world. Thus it is the responsibility of the society to think positive and end hostility in a defined manner. Thinkers and researchers have highlighted these issues in a strategic way.
III. The rise of the Western Way of War
It is best to illustrate that western warfare discipline comprised of some strict norms that revolutionized the military prowess to germinate the sense of renaissance into the mind and manners of the society or nation. Basically, classical antiquity influences the European civilization for understanding the core constitutional rights that supports some beautiful ideas like free-exchange of ideas, civil liberties, capitalism, scientific thoughts or political thoughts and so on. It is interesting to note down that battle is a term that is called a fraught subject as it deals with the principle entity of battle and its added evidences(Frank)S. Thus, this mechanism of war had followed through various levels that concern the evolutionary factors of western way of war. The advanced technology is the primary factor that employs the major goal to win a battle and it is noticed that the idea of advanced military technology was introduced at the time of World War I in the year 1914. The armies of that particular war were strongly under the foundation of exclusive weaponry phenomena which included machine guns, rifles and artilleries. It is a pity to find that the war metamorphosed into an ugliest form because soldiers were no more required to win the battles, only weapons are the sole determining factor to win (Geoffrey) .The soldiers were using their courage through machine guns and that was all what was required to win a battle together with good amount of money and war technology. The basic term for war called “soldier” was the secondary element to be concerned of now. The evolutionary scheme for war was another important factor that deals with some important factors such as training, discipline, strong judgment, command respect and some various other norms to regulate the regiment. Apparently, soldiers were under strict arena for better performance at war, and fitness is the most expressive term for soldiers to lead a battle(Cristopher). Therefore, the energetic action by the army is purely evolved through the stringent and specific training. It is observed by the researchers that the unit of an army was bonded to form a cohesive force to get victory. Even, the interior administration of the army demonstrates a lot to win a battle, as it sets a standard to conduct military achievements. Once a presentation had described that the western way of war had adopted many significant methodical actions, but their liberal interpretation was one of the important factor for reframing the quality of war which denotes “Civic militarism” for protecting the culture of the society (Frank). They had a strong adaptation of military pride and honour, and viewed freedom as a legal entity. There is a saying that every war has its own stories to stand or fall, so these series of engagement had given another evolutionary breakthrough by eliminating infantry. According to many researchers, these “ground-pounders” were absolutely banished during sixth and seventh century, but few infantry soldiers were required to perform menial tasks for the regiment. However, a systematic application of money is always advisable to march into a battle and that requires strategies of war making( Alexander). We all know that logistic support and adequate technology is something that engaged a battle for finer advancement in terms of technology.
Conclusion
The interesting idea that generates the super sense regarding nation and nationality was something invented by the Greeks of the classical era. However, besides valour, bravery, passion and martial skills what history shows us to be one of the most indispensable of all factors to win war in strategy and technology. The further technology progresses the more the way of warfare changes and with today’s technology and its state of the art weaponry and gadgets in the fore the modern warfare has drastically changed to wait and watch politics. Today’s warfare is mainly a war of information where the opponent tries to gauge what kind of modern weaponry does the other nation have in store. Nuclear power nations tend to always come to a strategic solution whereas with the other conflicts that goes on across the globe is a demonstration of superior technology that overwhelms the opposition
Works Cited
Hew Strachan, “Clausewitz and the dialectics of war,” in Strachan, ed., Clausewitz in the Twenty-First Century (2007)
Cristopher Coker, Warrior Geeks, chps 3 and 5.“Albert Marshall,”The Economist, 28 May 2005, p. 87.Print
Alexander K. Nefiodkin, “On the origin of scythed chariots,” Historia: ZeitschriftfürAlte Geschichte, n. 3, 2004, pp. 369-378
Geoffrey Parker, “The future of Western warfare”, in The Cambridge History of Warfare (2006) Cambridge University Press, 413-432. Print.
Frank G. Hoffman, "Hybrid warfare and challenges", Joint Force Quarterly, No. 1,( 2009). Print.
