Patrick Ostwald History 102-860 Murat Yasar Rise of the United Stated Research Paper World War II Every

time a country goes to war it causes a great deal of change and advancement to that country economically, politically and socially. World War II greatly contributed to the rise of the United States during the 20th century. There were many new inventions and innovations during World War II that really accelerated the United States to the forefront of the industrial and military powers in the world. Although wartime is never a proud or happy time for a country it often allows a country to develop new products that will better serve the civilian population after the war is complete. These products are often created under necessity in wartime in order to gain an advantage on your enemy but afterwords can advance your country greatly on the social front. For World War II three of these inventions were penicillin, nuclear energy, and the pressurized aircraft cabin. These products aided in the rise of the US as not only a military power during the war but also as an industrial power after the war was over. It might seem odd that a medical drug was a big invention during a wartime, and that its invention actually might have had a significant outcome on the end of the war, but when you consider the amount of injuries soldiers sustained while on the battlefield you begin to understand how a fast acting antibacterial medicine would greatly help the allies. During the early part of the war as well as

during past wars, soldiers were often times dying from simple wounds simply because war is a dirty place and trying to find a sterile environment to treat wounds in is often impossible. Therefore, soldiers would often develop infections from bacteria in there simple wounds and in turn, either develop more serious issues and be sent home, or die in the field. Originally, discovered in 1869 by Ernest Duchesne, penicillin was seen as a great way to kill by studying more of its properties and effects on mold. However, it was not until 1939 when Dr. Howard Floreys research proved the effectiveness of penicillin and with the aid of Andrew J. Moyer he developed the most powerful antibacterial substance in the world. As written in the article by Richard Coniff, World War II saw major advances in medical technology including the mass production of penicillin. On March 14, 1942, U.S. made-penicillin was used to successfully treat the first patient for septicemia, or blood poisoning. While that one treatment exhausted half of the available supply of penicillin in the entire U.S., the need for better techniques for rapidly producing penicillin on a large scale was necessary to treat soldiers fighting abroad. Scientists working around the clock manufactured 2.3 million doses of penicillin in preparation for the D-Day landings on June 6, 1944. Overall, Penicillin has had not only a great effect on the outcome of World War II but it also is obviously still widely used today to treat many bacterial symptoms. The second invention that lead to the rise of the United States during World War II was Nuclear Energy. Obviously still a highly contended topic today, the use of nuclear energy didnt start as means to generate energy at all. It all started

with the atomic bomb and the Manhattan Project. Although both sides were aware of the atom and how it could be used both as a destructive force as well as a source of great energy potential, the United States succeeded in creating a nuclear weapon first. The bombs dropped over Japan that basically ended World War II in that part of the world were the first attempts at using the power of the atom as a destructive force during war time. The invention lead to both a quicker end to the war, as well as a clean and renewable source of energy after the war was over. In the article by Ruth Sime, he discusses the effect of inventing the nuclear bomb stating The potential power stored within the Atom had been known for a long time, but it was during WWII that the race to harness its power really began. The US got there first with the Manhattan Project, which developed the first Atom bomb in history. On August 6th 1945 the bomb was dropped on Hiroshima, then on August 9th 1945 a second bomb was dropped on Nagasaki. It's estimated that between 150,000 and 244,000 people were killed as a direct result. The third invention that the United States developed during the second world war that lead to its rise, was the pressurized aircraft cabin. Prior to this invention, aircraft were not able to fly at a very high altitude due to the low level of oxygen higher up in the atmosphere. Early attempts to remedy this included pilots wearing oxygen masks, which often failed and destroyed the aircraft, killing the pilot and ending the mission. The United States developed a pressurized cabin system that would allow the pilot to maintain the level of oxygen from the lower atmosphere while he was higher in the sky. This was a great advantage over the

enemy since we were able to sneak across borders and drop bombs from a much higher altitude than the enemy aircraft. It also had a longstanding impact on the economic growth of the United States by allowing, easy, comfortable commercial aircraft service to blossom after the war. Could you imagine having to wear an oxygen mask every time you flew on a commercial flight? According to the top 10 Technical Innovations of World War 2, Flying at high altitude puts occupants of an aircraft at risk of hypoxia (poor oxygen levels in the blood), altitude sickness, decompression sickness and barotrauma (cause by pressure differences). Despite these risks, bombers at the start of WWII were only equipped with oxygen masks, which restricted movement and were prone to failure. Until the B-29 Superfortress was introduced in 1944, only experimental aircraft had been produced with pressurized cabins. For this plane, the Americans created the first cabin pressure system, with the nose and cockpit sections linked to the aft via a long tunnel, all pressurized. All of these advances have led to the Rise of the United States after World War II. They have made the United States not only a leader on the military front but also on the social, economic, and political fronts. If it was not for the United States involvement in World War II we might not be as advanced as a society as we are today. The Rise of the United States during the 20th century was greatly aided by the advancements, inventions, and innovations during World War II.

Works Cited Sime, Ruth. "The Politics Of Forgetting: Otto Hahn And The German NuclearFission Project In World War II." Physics In Perspective 14.1 (2012): 5994. Academic Search Complete. Web. 23 Apr. 2014. CONNIFF, RICHARD. "Penicillin Wonder Drug Of Wwii." Military History 30.2 (2013): 38-43. Academic Search Complete. Web. 23 Apr. 2014. "Top 10 Technical Innovations of World War 2." Best Innovations of World War 2 (WW2, Radar, Radio, V2, Bletchley). N.p., 5 Aug. 2011. Web. 23 Apr. 2014.