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« on: March 11, 2008, 09:49 AM »
What was cool was a few years ago I was on my way home and we had the chance to stop in Germany for a while. So me and a buddy rented a car and drove to Paris. What was cool was being able to still see remnants of the trenches. I'll agree with you on the technological innovations of the time to a degree. The wide spread use of the machine gun is impressive and sadly, so was the use of chemical agents, and you can't forget the use of airpower, and tanks. I've watched a little on the Military Channel, but it's just been "20th Century Battlefields." Good show and it covers many conflicts.
It's really hard thought compare the two wars, at least for me, in terms of technology being that they both had their own innovations. WWII saw the use of jets for the first time, although in a limited role and used by Germany for the wrong purpose. We saw the first use of true "Special Operations" forces in the form of the Airborne, Ranger battalions, USMC Raiders, and UDT's.
But we can't deny that WWI was an indirect cause of WWII. The Treaty of Versailles set up Europe in such a way as to leave much animosity between countries and to guarantee a failure of the German economy. As hard as it is, you have to give Hitler credit for ingenuity for getting around the stipulations of the peace treaty and forming flying and driving clubs and for getting an entire nation back on it's feet.
As a historian, it's frustrating that there was such a gap in my college classes when it came to WWI. I wish we could have covered more than we did. I think my reasoning for following and studying WWII in as much depth as I have is due to my grandfather serving in Europe in tank destroyers and fighting from the Bulge to the end of the war. (I actually travelled over the same roads that he did and was stationed for a while very near where he did some of his heaviest fighting.)
Jesse, I wish I could talk in depth with you on the subject, but sadly I'm lacking in detailed information. Maybe we could put our two brains together and learn something here.