1. Why did some world leaders and theologians feel that flying
would be the end of mankind?
Leaders had serious doubts about the good of flight. They
were mainly worried about the role that aviation would play in wars to come. If
nations could be attacked by air then there was not a place that would be
spared. Many lives would be taken because of this invention. They did not think
that men could be trusted to use it only in a beneficial way. They though life
would become too busy and full of trouble because of flight. Men were supposed
to be on the ground not in the air. One thinker, William Derham, said that
flight would “give ill men greater opportunities to do mischief” (p. 356).
Prime Minister Stanley Baldwin believed that a vicious cycle would be started
(p. 356). He believed that the only way to stop and aerial attack would be to
attack first. More people would be killed just to prevent yourself from being
attacked. An offensive solution was the defensive plan. This would lend itself
to always being on the prowl to prevent your nation from being attacked. A
never ending cycle would be started that would ultimately end mankind.
2. What factors influenced the development of the aircraft
carrier and what role did it play in WWII?
The creation of the aircraft carrier was due in part to the
need to quickly deploy forces to an area to carry out national policy. The
Japanese started this in China. They showed that a city that was not close to
their land could be devastated by forces based on a boat. The actual
development of the aircraft carrier was brought about by the needs of the
airplanes it was going to launch. As planes became heavier and could carry
heavier loads they needed longer decks to take off from and they needed a
system to stop them when landing. Steel cables were used to arrest the planes
as they landed and became the standard on aircraft carriers (p. 360). New types
of airplanes were also designed for the aircraft carriers which were optimized for
the types of battles in which they would be engaged. WWII was started in the US
by aircraft carriers from Japan. The planes that attacked Pearl Harbor were
launched from aircraft carriers. They were used extensively in the Pacific
theater to be able to attack islands when there were no close islands around
with useable airfields.
6. What role did strategic bombing play during the war and was
it successful?
Strategic bombing was used extensively in WWII. Both sides
in the war relied on it at some point, the Allies more so. The beginnings of
WWII came about with bombings but were not continued by the Axis powers (p.
409). The Allies relied on mass, continued strategic bombing to break the will
of the German people. During these bombings whole cities were destroyed and the
fears of many thinkers and church leaders were realized by the mass destruction
of life to prevent even more loss of life. These bombings were not very
accurate though. By the end of the war the bombings were used in a total war
fashion, attacking whole cities (p. 425). Strategic bombing was partially
successful. It was successful in that it caused mass destruction and loss of
life, but it was not nearly as accurate as it was hoped to be (p. 426).
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