What World War I Can Teach Us about Misjudging Tech and Social Change (2020)

Re:What World War I Can Teach Us about Misjudging Tech and S... by Nomentatus on Wednesday February 17, 2021 @05:24PM (#26172632)

This article has the right conclusion, but it misses nearly every significant technological change that had strengthened the defense - many of which, like smokeless powder, went back to the U.S. Civil War (which also had a lot of trenches by the end of the war.) Think railroad, telegraph, radio.

But it also misses what can change during a war. When the war began, a four-year war wasn't physically possible, because the Axis had no rich source of ammonia (beyond collecting human and horse urine) such as guano islands. But ammonia synthesis was invented during WWI, by a German chemist. Suddenly a long war was in the cards.

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Re:What World War I Can Teach Us about Misjudging Tech and S... by Spooky23 on Wednesday February 17, 2021 @07:12PM (#26173686)

Everyone missed the importance as the civil war, because Europeans assumed the Americans were a bunch of hicks. WW1 was about rifles and by extension machine guns and trains.

Likewise, today is similar. It’s pretty obvious how you take out a modern country. Information campaigns and taking out infrastructure over the internet are cheap and effective. Witness the complete collapse of Texas today as an example.

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Re:What World War I Can Teach Us about Misjudging Tech and S... by panta82 on Wednesday February 17, 2021 @06:57PM (#26173581)

Not impressed by their historic cherry-picking. Railroads were just one of numerous advancements planners were counting on. For example, it went hand in hand with mass mobilization at a scale that was previously impossible.

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Re:What World War I Can Teach Us about Misjudging Tech and S... by baybal2 on Wednesday February 17, 2021 @06:48PM (#26173496)

One more,

British had its long range gunnery using advanced mathematics super secret, and though nobody else can do beyond the horizon accurate artillery fire besides them.

Unknowingly, so were Germans.

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Re:What World War I Can Teach Us about Misjudging Tech and S... by bollu on Thursday February 18, 2021 @01:31AM (#26176651)

Interesting, I'd love a book recommendation :)

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Re:What World War I Can Teach Us about Misjudging Tech and S... by mattmanser on Wednesday February 17, 2021 @06:05PM (#26173070)

They repeatedly discuss railways and WW1. Repeatedly.

And they clearly are using that as an illustration of ONE of the technologies that mirrors today's revolution. I just feel we read different articles if you don't think they covered this.

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