7 Surprising Technologies From World War I
WWI marked the first time technology was widely used in war. Look back 100 years at early drones, wearables, and other technologies that had lasting influence.
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Tech from the trenches in WWI
One hundred years ago -- June 28, 1914 -- a series of events began leading up to the First World War. A human tragedy of enormous scale, the world after WWI was much different than the world before. Among other distinctions, WWI arguably brought us the first technological war -- a war in which the race to develop new weapons was as feverish as that to develop new tactics. In a war that saw battle lines move little in the space of two to four years, and in which small movements in those lines came at a cost of tens of thousands of lives per meter, military leaders were desperate for any technology that could deliver even the smallest advantage over their enemies.
As is the case with most times of great change, some of the developments involved evolution of existing technology, some were based on re-application of technologies already in use for other purposes, and some were brand-spanking new developments in science and technology. We've examined all three types in this slideshow, and we think that the combination will reveal some surprises for most readers.
It's easy to believe, for example, that WWI saw the first significant use of mobile electrical devices. But if you thought that aerial drones are a product of the GoPro generation, then you're in for a surprise. It's possible you'll also be caught off guard by some of the things that were first carried in the First World War: It's one thing to coordinate the actions of huge groups with a central tech repository. It's quite another to put the means of that coordination on the arm of every team leader in the organization.
Even at a century's remove, the utter horror of this war can't be forgotten. Some of our peeks into the technologies of World War I carry a light tone, but our levity is reserved for the technologies (and the forms they took) rather than the sacrifices of those who served, or for the families, nations -- and nations that were never to be again -- that they left behind.
The political maps of the world were redrawn by what seemed to be a simple assassination a hundred years ago. Whether we stop to think of it often or not, our lives and the technology that surrounds us were similarly changed. While 100 years is a long time in tech terms, some of the technologies that made their debut (or became widespread) during the First World War continue to shape our world today. Let's take a look back at them.
(Source: Public Domain)
Right now the tech world has focused its gaze on wearable technology like Google Glass and the long-rumored "iWatch" from Apple. While the first watches to be worn on the wrist were designed in the 1880s, they were considered inappropriate for men (and most women) until the military duties of World War I required two critical things: Coordinated effort and the use of two hands. While the earliest "trench watches" still had the hinged covers inherited from pocket watches, the straps that allowed them to be securely worn on the wrist meant that checking the time became the result of a quick glance rather than an elaborate ritual. Fast forward 100 years and the same action can mean checking in on personal health data, schedule, communications, and, well, time.
(Source: Sergei Gutnikov, item from personal collection)
It's hard to imagine, but the idea for an unmanned drone followed the introduction of manned aircraft in war by only a few years. Starting in 1916, the US Navy set teams of engineers (led by Elmer Sperry and Peter Hewitt) to work on the problem of delivering a flying bomb without requiring that a crew of aviators be put in danger. They succeeded -- sort of. The first drones weren't really controlled remotely: They had gyroscopes and a barometer that would keep them on something vaguely resembling a straight line after they took off. Since imprecision in things that go "boom" wasn't a virtue (and still isn't, truth be told), they never saw combat in World War I. They became better with the addition of radio-based remote control, but by the mid-1920s the Navy had turned its attention to other things and the project was abandoned.
(Source: Public Domain)
Some electronics firms would have us believe that highly portable medical diagnostic systems are a modern miracle. The miracle part might still be true. But the "modern" is something of a question, since armies were long ago putting medical systems in trucks and automobiles and rushing them closer to the battlefield, where their effect would be most immediately felt.
Battlefield medicine had begun to inch toward our modern understanding of care in the Crimean War (in which Florence Nightingale served). The incredible advances in combat theater medical technology that allow today's military to bring so many wounded soldiers back home, though, really started in the nightmare of WWI's trench warfare.
(Source: Bibliotheque nationale de France)
There was once a time when airplanes took off and landed with their comings and goings coordinated only by jaunty gestures from gallant aviators. It didn't take very long for someone to decide that this was a recipe for disaster, and the US Army began working with the idea of putting radios in airplanes in 1915. It wasn't until 1917 that they succeeded in installing a radio that allowed pilots to communicate with one another via voice. Before that, pilots and controllers had to use Morse code -- which had to be quite exciting since there's absolutely nothing else for fighter pilots to do with their hands during flight.
(Source: Public Domain)
The irritating person chatting with her long-distance bestie during a movie. That "master of the universe" shouting sell orders at the table next to you through lunch. You have WWI to thank for both of them, because it was during the Great War that the idea of taking a phone with you came to fruition. Telephones themselves had passed the novelty stage but were still far from a fixture in every home or office. Military units, though, found that the ability to reach out and touch forward units through a voice call was far more efficient and effective than relying exclusively on carrier pigeons, telegraph, or couriers (all of which remained in service.)
(Source: National Archives)
Marconi first made wireless contact with a ship at sea in 1901. By 1914, radio had been developed to the point that it was widely used by military units. It was still, by and large, a way of communicating between relatively fixed locations: The equipment used, including batteries and antennae, were anything but small in the sense we think of today. If you think of Compaq luggables compared to today's smartwatches, you're on the right track for understanding the scale of the most portable radio units. If you remember just how incredible those early 25-pound "portable" computers were, then you start to understand just how important radio was to armies and navies in World War I.
(Source: Public Domain)
Electrical power first hit the streets (actually offices) in 1882. By 1914, electricity's utility was so well established that it became a critical factor in many of the other technologies we've discussed. Whether carried in batteries or generated on site, electricity was used by armies and navies on all sides of the war. It's important to note, though, that electricity was still seen as an unreliable technology by many in the commanding generation. Signaling, command, and control functions remained largely the domain of physical or mechanical systems throughout the First World War -- and well into the Second.
(Source: Public Domain)
Electrical power first hit the streets (actually offices) in 1882. By 1914, electricity's utility was so well established that it became a critical factor in many of the other technologies we've discussed. Whether carried in batteries or generated on site, electricity was used by armies and navies on all sides of the war. It's important to note, though, that electricity was still seen as an unreliable technology by many in the commanding generation. Signaling, command, and control functions remained largely the domain of physical or mechanical systems throughout the First World War -- and well into the Second.
(Source: Public Domain)
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