II. Technologies Emerged in World War II


II. World War II went down in history as the bloodiest period in human history. This devastating war, which we will not want to see again, has also surpassed the world in terms of technology. Today, II. We will list the technologies that changed the fate of World War II and affected our day.

II. World War; It was the bloodiest war in the history of humanity, on which countless books have been written, hundreds of movies have been shot, and whose effects we can still see after many years. This war, in which more than 100 million personnel from more than 30 countries directly participated, started on September 1, 1939 and ended on September 2, 1945, exactly 6 years and 1 day later.

Although there are many countries at war, the most difficult struggles from allied states with the United Kingdom, the United States, the Soviet Union and France from the Axis powers It took place between Germany and Japan. This period of war, which resulted in the death of millions of people and put the whole world in crisis in every sense, also led to the formation of many technologies that we were familiar with in the later years of the world as a result of the investments made in military technology. Today; It was developed for the first time by the states that wanted to strengthen their military and logistics power in the 2nd World War or by adding a lot of things to it, even if it was found before. Let’s talk about technology. If you are ready, let’s take a closer look at the successful technologies from World War II to the present day.

II. Technologies that changed the fate of World War II

  • Jet powered airplanes
  • Space age reaching the Moon from ballistic missiles with rocket technology
  • aircraft carriers
  • nuclear fission
  • The legendary encryption machine of the Germans: Enigma
  • Conceptual term for modern computer discarded
    • The machine that changed the course of war: Bombe
    • The first electrically powered computer with electronic data processing capability: ENIAC
  • radar technology
    • From WWII to our kitchens: Microwave ovens
  • Sonar technology
  • Savaş really developed the medical world, especially surgical interventions.

Jet powered airplanes

Gloster G.49

The war years, when military power rose at an unpredictable pace, also had incredible improvements for aircraft, one of the key factors of this war. While there were propeller planes in the 1st World War, the countries that wanted to gain superiority with the start of the 2nd World War jet engines started using it. Originally produced by Romanian engineer Henri Coandă in 1910, the jet aircraft was later developed separately by both the UK and Germany in the late 1930s.

The first of these independently designed jet engines was developed by Frank Whittle, a British resident, but the German inventor was the first to design a jet engine and power a jet airplane. Hans von Ohain it happened. Germany, developed by Hans von Ohain in 1937 HEPP 3D use the jet enginen Heinkel He 178 made a test flight with his plane, but the first successful application of the jet engine was the Power Jet W.1 jet engine developed by the British in 1941. Gloster G.49 it happened with.

Jet-powered airplanes have now become a standard in today’s military technology. In the post-war years easily exceeding the speed of sound it seems that these aircraft engines will continue to be developed for longer periods.

Space age reaching the Moon from ballistic missiles with rocket technology

V2 -Saturn 5

One of the last points of the technological development of humanity, rocket technology, today it attracts attention with its numerous variations. The world’s first modern missile samples in World War II Nazi Germany developed by V-1 and V-2 rockets is based. The name behind the modern rocket system today. Wernher von Braun These rockets, developed by A.Ş., paved the way for humanity in terms of going beyond the Earth in both military technology and science era.

Von Braun, who surrendered to the USA after Germany lost the war, is one of the largest rockets in the world, produced for manned flights, including the first man to the Moon, and even today. Saturn V He developed his rocket. In this process, the Soviets, who occupied Germany, have always had a say in the space age by applying reverse engineering to the V-2 rockets developed by German scientists and Von Braun. In fact, the Soviet Union was the state that made the firsts in the space sector until the USA’s process of sending the first man to the Moon.

Today, the technology Braun developed for Nazi Germany during World War II is one of giant intercontinental ballistic missiles. SpaceX’It continues to be used in every field, from the rockets developed by inn to reach Mars.

aircraft carriers

Aircraft carrier

aircraft carriers, They first appeared on the battle arena in the 1st World War, but were later integrated into ships that were produced before during this period. These ships, each of which is a fleet, made their real breakthrough in the Second World War. Even in 1941, Japan’s invasion of the United States. Pearl Harbor The attack was made possible by the attack of 380 aircraft taking off from an aircraft carrier. Perhaps, if Japan had not had an aircraft carrier at this time, it would not have been able to afford to attack the United States, and for this reason, Nazi Germany would have won the war, since the United States had never entered the war. (This is a thought experiment I did myself.)

Nuclear Fission

nuclear fission

Nuclear power was also a hotly debated topic before World War II, but with the outbreak of war, these studies gained momentum and turned into a weapon that would bring an end to the war. German chemist Otto Hahn In experiments conducted in Berlin in 1938, they discovered that when uranium was bombarded with neutrons, it released light elements such as barium, which had almost half the weight of uranium.

With this step nuclear fission Otto Frisch, who worked with Lise Meitner and Niels Bohr from Hahn’s team, who succeeded in developing the development, found in 1939 that as a result of the splitting reaction of the uranium nucleus by absorbing neutrons, an energy of 200 mega electron volts was released. Danish physicist Niels Bohr proved that fission occurs with Uranium 235 rather than Uranium 238, and he published the related article 2 days before World War II. These steps constitute the basic principle of nuclear energy reactors, which are still widely used today.

Until this time, nuclear fission technology was carried out through Germany. But as you know, the country that ended the war by using this power became a completely different country. In addition, many countries are currently using this power to generate energy.

Manhattan Project

While the power of nuclear energy was slowly being discovered by German scientists, studies were being carried out in the USA on how this power could be used in war. What emerged as a result of these studies was one of the most powerful things that came out of the hands of humanity. that has the potential to destroy a city nuclear bombEven today, it is among the most deterrent forces. Atomic bombs dropped on Hiroshima and Nagasaki, It was developed under the name of the Manhattan Project.

Enigma, the legendary encryption machine of the Germans

Enigma

Enigma, which kept Nazi Germany in constant communication during World War II, It was a machine that encrypts and then decrypts secret messages. The passwords produced by this machine, which was very useful at the beginning of the war, were later deciphered by the technologies developed by countries such as the United Kingdom, causing Germany to suffer great losses.

Conceptual term for modern computer discarded

Alan Turing

During World War II, there were many scientists trying to decode Enigma, which the Germans used for their encrypted messages. One of the most special names among these scientists is the British scientist. Alan Turing it happened. Alan Turing during his years at the University of Manchester Turing Machine With the definition of an algorithm, which is also known as the algorithm, it has established the conceptual foundations that include the working principle of today’s computers. Alan Turing is today considered to be the ancestor of modern computers, and World War II is thought to have played an important role in the development of this technology.

The machine that changed the course of war: Bombe

Camber

Alan Turing’s most important contribution in World War II Camber It was a machine. Developed in partnership with Turing Welchman, this machine could attack Enigma’s protected message traffic and crack the passwords of these messages. The Bombe, a cryptanalytic machine, was first installed on March 18, 1940. By the end of the war, there were more than 200 Bombe machines.

The first electrically powered computer: ENIAC

Eniac

World War II is behind us as the bloodiest history of human history, but we can say that it was very productive years when we look at the breakthroughs in technology. Among these productive years, the world’s first electrically powered computer capable of electronic data processing ENIAC there is also. Developed during World War II this computer fit in 167 square meters and weighed 30 tons.

Compared to today’s computers, this computer, which we can say that it has almost no power, was mainly used in scientific studies such as weather forecasts and atomic energy calculations. While the computer was produced, the main purpose was to use long-range cannons and missiles in calculations, but the project started in 1941. In 1945, he conducted the first test runs.was able to materialize. The real operation of the computer was found in 1947. Since World War II ended in 1945, Eniac had no effect on the course of the war, but changed the whole world in an unprecedented way.

radar technology

Radar

radar technology; in fact, it was in both the allied and axis states in the 1930s, but with the war, it was realized what great advantages this technology actually had. The old radar systems operating at low frequency were replaced by the “Magnetron” technology, which could produce microwaves in the kilowatt range, in 1940 with the breakthrough of England.

From WWII to our kitchens: Microwave ovens

Microwave oven

This technology, which is used to show the location of aircraft and ships on the battlefield, began to be used in different areas after the end of World War II. First patented in 1947 The microwave oven was 1.8 meters tall and weighed 340 kg. Microwaves can heat food by being caught between radio waves of the electromagnetic spectrum and infrared rays. From now on, remember that this technology was developed to detect fast vehicles such as warplanes from miles away while heating your food in the microwave oven.

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Sonar technology

Sonar

SonarIn its simplest form, it is a technology that enables radar technology to work even under salt water. Sonar technology, which is used to detect deadly submarines, especially silent and deep, can collect data such as size and distance of the object by calculating the point of contact of these waves by emitting continuous sound waves.

The sonar system, which was widely used in the Second World War, was first able to detect a ship in 1940 using sound waves. Sonar systems, which are now widely used, are considered one of the technologies that directly affected the Second World War.

Savaş really developed the medical world, especially surgical interventions.

Penicillin

Humanity suffered great losses in both world wars. At the beginning of these losses are lives. Of course, millions of people were injured in these wars. 2. World WarFor this reason, he played a major role in the development of the entire field of medicine, especially surgery. Treatment methods such as blood transfusions, trauma treatment, skin grafting were developed or first used during this war period.

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The necessity to treat millions of soldiers paved the way for antibacterial therapy, and penicillin appeared. Many soldiers were given this drug, as the process for mass production of penicillin was developed by US and British scientists. Penicillin remains one of the critical therapeutic tools used to prevent infection even today.