Ryan Cheng

Ms Albert

History of Europe

April 18, 2022

Word Count: 1750

Question - To what extent did aircraft technology help shape military strategy during the First World
War?

Title: Aircraft Technology and How it Impacted WWI

World War I, lasting from 1914 to 1918, was the first total war that various countries engaged in
historically. Causes of the First World War include emphasis on militarism and alliances; nations
continuously built larger militaries and forged multilateral alliances, causing tensions to build up. When
Archduke Ferdinand of Austria was assassinated by a Serbian nationalist, different sides were drawn into
the conflict as they fulfilled the duty to their alliances. With more powerful militaries and advancements
in weapons, new ways of war were developed, such as trench warfare or aerial warfare. Aircraft
technology helped to shape military strategy during World War I to a large extent as it added a new
dimension to the war, created a heavier emphasis on strategic bombing and reconnaissance, and spurred
advances in relating industries.

Aircraft technology helped shape military strategy during World War I to the extent that it added
a new dimension to the war. Before WWI, war was only fought mostly in two dimensions - the placement
of troops and played a much heavier part as these positional advantages could decide battles. Having
higher ground could give one side a better view of the surrounding, which can allow them to respond to
threats faster, or the ability to shoot artillery further and control a greater area. By having airplanes
incorporated into wars, wars became three-dimensional instead of two. 1 Three-dimensional wars meant
that it was possible to accurately locate deep targets which made it possible to attack the enemy in its rear
areas.2 Positional advantages that once were critical to two-dimensional warfare became obsolete.
Aircrafts can easily circumvent the positional strongholds and either attack directly or gather information
behind enemy lines. Since enemy locations and actions were easily observed by pilots, trench warfare
became less relevant as soldiers could no longer rely on the trenches to avoid enemy fire. Planes also
allowed for the bombing of enemy trenches, which halted the use of traditional warfare tactics such as
trenches. Furthermore, to defend against threats from incoming enemy aircrafts, anti-air artillery had to be
established. More emphasis had to be put on these artillery as planes could cause more damage and be
harder to spot than traditional forms of incoming attacks. The new dimension added to war through
aircrafts led militaries to abandon outdated forms of war and shift their tactics to adapt to incoming air
attacks. 

Moreover, aircraft technology spurred advances in relating industries to the extent that the new
technologies influenced innovations used by other branches of the military. Zeppelins were a big aircraft
that was filled with hydrogen. It was first used by the Germans on May 31, 1915 against the British. Like
1
“Military Developments of World War I | International Encyclopedia of the First World War (WW1),” accessed
March 31, 2022, https://encyclopedia.1914-1918-online.net/article/military_developments_of_world_war_i.
2
“Weapons | International Encyclopedia of the First World War (WW1),” accessed April 18, 2022,
https://encyclopedia.1914-1918-online.net/article/weapons.
what Dr. Hugh Hunt said, “while shooting down a massive hydrogen balloon sounds pretty easy, actually
it was quite the opposite. If you shoot a bullet at a balloon of hydrogen all you get is a small hole.” 3 At
first, the British thought that this aircraft could be brought down just by casually shooting normal bullets;
though, they soon realized because of how much hydrogen that was in the plane, it was barely a dent
towards trying to bring the aircraft down. Because of the invention of the zeppelins, British engineers
ended up having to devise a pair of bullets that could bring the 650 ft aircraft down. 4 One which bullet’s
tip was filled with explosive material and the other ignited the hydrogen gas within the plane. 5 Because of
the creations of zeppelins, it forced the British to develop a way to counterattack and prevent further
bombings from the Germans. British developing new types of bullets is an example of how aircraft
technology impacted different sections of the military. Additionally, at first, planes were only used for
reconnaissance and machine guns were only used on land warfare such as the Maxim Gun. 6 A French
pilot named Roland Garros in January of 1915 invented the first deflector to enable machine guns to shoot
between propeller blades which was then perfected by Dutch engineer Anthony Fokker. 7 Like what
French historian Marc Bloch once said, “only the blast of the machine gun spares literally no-one.” 8
Through this invention, it impacted air warfare by quite a lot once again because by having automatic
weapons on planes, enemies on the ground were easily eliminated. Airplanes in armies provided a
substantial advantage for them as it provided them with an opportunity to observe behind enemy lines,
carry out deadly attacks, and escape quickly.
Furthermore, aircraft technology helped put a heavier emphasis on strategic bombing which
impacted military strategy and help other weapons improve during World War I to a large
extent. Airplanes at the start of the war were only used for reconnaissance, but airplanes soon could install
artillery onto planes. Petain, who led the French Army in the Battle of Verdun once said, “The artillery
conquers, the infantry occupies.”9 Artillery was a crucial weapon to have as it was a blunt instrument for
hammering large sections of the ground.10 No other types of weapons at first could be able to do such
things such as obliterating the enemy's fortifications, trench works, or even cut through barbed wires. 11
Now that artillery-like weapons were installed onto planes, it made warfare deadlier and military strategy
was impacted immensely once again. Having artillery on planes solved tons of problems as it could just
fly over enemy’s lines on a low altitude and eliminate them easily. Again, this is why trench warfare was
basically useless as the war went on, as staying in them made yourself an easy target. In addition, like the
artillery, cannons were also very impactful. Cannons were able to destroy trenches and hit enemy’s rear
positions12. Also, massive bombing became the main tactical answer to stalemates. Stalemates were pretty
common as both sides started to fight in trenches most of the time in beginning of the war and nobody
dared to go out as they would die pretty quickly. Cannons also impacted warfare as people soon

3
“Attack of the Zeppelins,” University of Cambridge, August 23, 2013,
https://www.cam.ac.uk/research/news/attack-of-the-zeppelins.
4
Tammy Gagne, World War I Technology (ABDO Publishing Company, 2017),
http://ebookcentral.proquest.com/lib/taip/detail.action?docID=5263040.
5
Gagne.
6
“100 YEARS OF MAXIM’S ‘KILLING MACHINE’ - The New York Times,” accessed April 18, 2022,
https://www.nytimes.com/1985/11/26/science/100-years-of-maxim-s-killing-machine.html.
7
Sara Pendergast, Christi ne Slovey, and Tom Pendergast, eds., World War I Reference Library, vol. 3, Primary
Sources (Detroit, MI: UXL, 2002), https://link.gale.com/apps/pub/5BUU/GVRL?sid=bookmark-GVRL.
8
Bloch, Marc. 1946. Strange Defeat. London, New York. Oxford University Press
9
“Weapons | International Encyclopedia of the First World War (WW1).”
10
“Weapons | International Encyclopedia of the First World War (WW1).”
11
“Weapons | International Encyclopedia of the First World War (WW1).”
12
“Weapons | International Encyclopedia of the First World War (WW1).”
discovered new types of gunpowder and developed more powerful ammunition to make cannons more
effective. Military strategy had to be changed from both having the creations of artillery mounted on
airplanes and cannons as they destroyed old defense methods such as barbed wire fairly easy. Thus,
strategic bombing highly effected the overall structure of the military's strategy due to the emergence of
aircraft technology.
Additionally, aircraft technology improved at a rapid rate, affecting the militaries to the extent
that people constantly strived to improve combat strategy. Aircrafts at the start of the war were only used
for reconnaissance, but slowly there were several different types of aircrafts developed for different uses
such as transport aircrafts. Transport aircrafts were developed during in between these two world wars
and this invention still plays an impact during war nowadays. 13 These types of aircraft not only could
carry huge loads of heavy items such as bombs and cargo, but they also made airborne or parachute
troops possible.14 By having airborne and parachute troops used in war, it impacted how war had to be
fought immensely. Back when people were fighting in trench wars, they only had to care one direction.
Though, parachute troops meant they had to be visually aware of their whole surrounding as parachute
troops were able to get behind into enemy territories unnoticed easily. Moreover, everybody in this war
realized how aircrafts played a crucial role in this war, which caused both sides to develop tons of
different anti-aircraft technology. From March to November 1918, attacking enemy trenches were usually
the main task for air troops but slowly casualties from people who flew aircrafts soon rose because of the
technology they created such as protective netting, projectors, barrage balloons, and incendiary
ammunition. Since planes were still important in fighting wars, planes were just made better instead of
becoming an unpopular section of the military. For example, in 1917, the Germans developed the first all-
metal aircraft called the Junkers J-1. 15 Not only was this aircraft way stronger than previous models, but it
was the first one was specifically designed for ground attack and infantry close support. Airplanes during
the beginning could only carry two people and not much load. Though having developed airplanes like a
all-metal airplane demonstrates how much airplane design improved during the war as metals are able to
withstand more firepower which meant they could do more dangerous operations such as flying low
altitude to help with the infantry. Overall, aircraft technologies became a catalyst in military
developments as it forced all nations to continuously advance their combat strategies in response to
aircraft technologies.

Aircraft technology played a large role in shaping warfare methods during World War I. This
technology created a new dimension in military tactics, emphasized the criticality of strategic bombing
and reconnaissance, and increased advancements in related industries. Aerial warfare that developed from
World War I also immensely impacted World War II, and any other wars from then on. Numerous fire
bombings and the atomic bombings on Japan by the end of World War II are major examples of aircraft
technology being utilized after World War II. Modified and advanced aircraft technology is constantly
being utilized in the 21st century, such as 9/11, Afghanistan War, and the conflict between Russia and
Ukraine. Compared to modern days, planes were only used for reconnaissance at the start of war, but now
aircraft have a lot of more of uses such as to transport, rescue, and research. 

13
“Weapons | International Encyclopedia of the First World War (WW1).”
14
“Weapons | International Encyclopedia of the First World War (WW1).”
15
“Weapons | International Encyclopedia of the First World War (WW1).”
 Bibliography

Audoin-Rouzeau, Stéphane. “Weapons.” New Articles RSS, October 8, 2014. https://encyclopedia.1914-

1918-online.net/article/weapons. 

Bloch, Marc, Gerard Hopkins, Georges Altman, Robert O. Paxton, and F. M. Powicke. Strange Defeat: A
Statement of Evidence Written in 1940. London: Folio Society, 2015. Quoted in Audoin-
Rouzeau, Stéphane. “Weapons.” New Articles RSS, October 8, 2014. 

Browne, Malcolm W. “100 Years of Maxim's 'Killing Machine'.” The New York Times. The New York
Times, November 26, 1985. https://www.nytimes.com/1985/11/26/science/100-years-of-maxim-
s-killing-machine.html. 

Gagne, Tammy. “World War I Technology.” proquest ebook central. ABDO Publishing Company,
September 1, 2017. https://ebookcentral.proquest.com/lib/taip/reader.action?
docID=5263040&query=Gagne%2C+Tammy.+2017.+World+War+I+Technology. 

Hunt, Hugh. “Attack of the Zeppelins.” University of Cambridge, August 23, 2013.
https://www.cam.ac.uk/research/news/attack-of-the-zeppelins#:~:text=Attack%20Of%20The
%20Zeppelins%2C%20which,success%2C%20and%20their%20ultimate%20defeat. 

Pendergast, Sara, Christine Slovey, and Tom Pendergast, eds. World War I Reference Library. Vol. 3:
Primary Sources. 4 vols. Detroit, MI: UXL, 2002. Gale eBooks (accessed February 7, 2022).
https://link.gale.com/apps/pub/5BUU/GVRL?u=twtas&sid=bookmark-GVRL.

Pendergast, Tom, Sara Pendergast, and Christine Slovey. “War at Sea.” Essay. In World War I Almanac.
Detroit: U.X.L, 2002. 

Zabecki, David T. “Military Developments of World War I.” New Articles RSS, May 7, 2015. 
https://encyclopedia.1914-1918-online.net/article/military_developments_of_world_war_i.