Wings #4

1. Why did some world leaders and theologians feel that flying would be the end of mankind?Some world leaders and theologians felt that flying would be the end of mankind because they believed the bombings would wipe out civilization.  Prime Minister Stanley Baldwin pointed out on November 10, 1932 that “…it is well for the man on the street to realize there is power on earth that can prevent him from being bombed.”  He continued to say that the only defense was offense, “which means you have to kill more women and children than the enemy if you wish to save yourselves.” (356)  Baldwin was in agreement of many theologians, who though that God did not give man wings for a purpose.  The Spanish theologian Juan Caramuel y Lobkowitz explained that “God denied men the faculty of flight so that they might lead a quiet and tranquil life.” (356) In other words, man causes too much mischief and damage to be responsible for a gift such as the ability of flight.  Nearly three centuries before the Wright Brothers solved the problem of flight another theologian, German experimenter Johann Daniel Major, believed that flight would make “the world seem a thousandfold more hateful and more ruinous” (357) than the discovery of gunpowder.  He believed planes would be more dangerous than guns!

7. What is meant by the phrase “abandonment of all restraint” as it relates to WWII and the military tactics used by both sides?

      The phrase “abandonment of all restraint” refers to the disregard for civilian life, and that of the enemy’s, in order to achieve victory during WWII.  More specifically the strategic bombing and the atomic bomb.  The author states that “The destruction wrought by the strategic air campaigns was to some degree intentional.  The desire to punish the enemy, to bring him to his knees, was very real.”  He further explains that the technology of the day was unable to produce the degree of bombing accuracy sought by the air planners before the war.  They were therefore unable to destroy the industrial heart of the enemy with exact precision, so the “temptation to bludgeon him to death proved simply irresistible.” (426)  This bombing war ultimately resulted in the deaths millions of people; civilians including women and children, as well as the young airmen who brought the firepower.  The atomic bomb brought with it total war, “with no mercy, no quarter, and no limit to the capacity for destruction.” (425)  Was victory worth the amount of life lost?  Was the “abandonment of all restraint” the correct answer to winning the war?  This topic continues to this day to be an object of debate.

8. How did WWII transform the prewar United States aviation industry into the huge aerospace and defense industrial complex it is today?

      World War II transformed the prewar United States aviation industry into the huge aerospace and defense industrial complex it is today because of one word: necessity.  With war looming in the future it was necessary for the United States to invest in an air force.  In turn, it was necessary for the aviation industry to expand in order to meet the production quantity that was requested by the government.  This resulted in the creation of a National Defense Commission and the Defense Plant Corporation “which acquired land and built factories that were then leased to manufacturers” (433).  The result of this was that the federal government funded over ninety percent of the plant expansion of the aircraft industry during wartime.  In order to train and move forward with aviation places like McCook Field were necessary, which housed U.S. aeronautical research facilities.  The author says that “Even during an era when American commercial airplanes dominated the world’s airlines, military sales paid the bills” (440), talking about before WWII broke out.  In other words, the military played a huge role in the production of the United States aviation industry.  Because of this, it developed into the huge aerospace and defense industrial complex it is today because that was what was necessary for the United States to procure an air force and continue to have and further that air force today.