Wings Assignment #4

Assignment #4 Wings

Chapters 10-11

Answer three of the following questions:

1. Why did some world leaders and theologians feel that flying would be the end of mankind?

With the ability to fly also brought the ability to attack enemies from the sky. Many renaissance thinkers speculated that granting man the ability to fly would be a mistake. Johann Daniel Major, A German living in the 17^th century believed that a flying machine would be far more destructive than the discovery of gunpowder, saying, “the frequent throwing of fire and stones by the flying army, which, like…birds of prey…would otherwise raze everything to the ground.” Some politicians echoed this position between the world wars, most notably Winston Churchill. Churchill called for a ban of military flying and a single unified air force operated by the League of Nations. The Prime Minister at the time, Stanley Baldwin, shared his concerns believing that man was hopeless to defend himself against bombs dropped from the sky.

Theologians were against flying for more religious reasons. A Spanish Church leader during the 1600s named Juan Caramuel y Lobkowitz proclaimed that God had not allowed man the ability to fly so that he could live a peaceful life. No matter their reasons though, a great deal of prominent figures were terrified of the threat of bombing. As it turned out, they had every right to be afraid. Bombs dropped from flying machines killed millions during WWII, and continue to do so today. While mankind has not ended, we live in a much scarier world than before the airplane was invented. The constant threat of nuclear war and the usage of planes in terrorist attacks, such as 9/11, weigh down on us daily as a human race.

2. What factors influenced the development of the aircraft carrier and what role did it play in WWII?

Military powers first became interested in the idea of an aircraft carrier because it enabled nations to move their fleets into areas where they did not have an air base. Early attempts, like the 1918 HMS Furious launched by Great Britain, were disastrous, resulting in dozens of planes crashing into the ocean. The Japanese were a bit more successful, converting old warships into carriers that proved vital in their victorious assault on Shanghai in 1932. It was the U.S. though, that pushed the industry forward by designing a net of cables to capture returning airplanes. This system, which first debuted on the USS Langley became the standard. Over time each major power in WWII built their own aircraft carriers, and they were instrumental in the war.

Aircraft carriers were used primarily in bombing missions. Japan used them to sneak attack Pearl Harbor with the purpose of destroying the U.S.’s own fleet of carriers. In Doolittle’s raid not long after, U.S. forces successfully bombed Tokyo with the help of an aircraft carrier in the only attack on the Japanese mainland before the nukes were deployed in 1945. Both fighter planes and dive-bombers took of from aircraft carriers in the Pacific Front. Many of the famous U.S. vs. Japan naval battles were between the pilots dropping torpedoes and raining gunfire on opposing ships. As mobile aircraft bases, carriers revolutionized warfare.

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

The fighting in World War II was relentless in that no one was safe. Both the Allies and Axis powers sought to destroy the enemy in whatever way they could, which usually involved murdering civilians to break their will. Both sides ran constant strategic bombing campaigns in order to dent the opposing homeland. The German Luftwaffe incinerated London and other English cities in the Battle of Britain and would have porbably won the Western Front if it wasn’t for the Soviets coming from the East. The English likewise dropped thousands of pounds of bombs all across Germany and in North Africa to protect their Imperial Territories.

The United States may have been the most merciless of all, however. Near the end of the war the U.S. was beginning to corner Japanese forces, but the enemy refused to back down. Thus, overnight a fleet of B-29s pummeled Tokyo with two thousand tons of bombs. Eventually, when not even that caused the Japanese to surrender, the USA dropped two atomic bombs, one in a primarily civilian area, to crush Japan.

All of these strategic bombing missions are seen as controversial. Was the war really worth the cost of so many human lives? The attacks against civilians were definitely intentional. Each nation saw the people of the opposing country as evil and sought to destroy them. There was truly no restraint by any of the powers.