The First World War served as a powerful impetus to the development of the military-industrial complex not only in the United States but also in many European countries. It is obvious that the times when wars dragged on for decades have already passed, now states wanted to get results in a few years. It became clear that it was impossible to achieve victories and the necessary advantage with human resources alone.
Many types of weapons had already been invented before the outbreak of hostilities, so many states were allowed to test their technologies on the front line. In this case, we are talking about submarines, gas weapons, planes, and tanks. Nevertheless, it is worth admitting that they had virtually no impact on the course of the war because its outcome was still decided by human resources (William, 2020). The technologies and their increased range were still raw and unfinished, so they proved extremely unsuccessful on the European front.
After the end of the war, the states did not abandon new types of weapons, despite their failure, because only with them they can maintain the balance of power on the world stage. It was necessary to abandon only chemical weapons, which are perceived as weapons of mass destruction (William, 2020). These changes were necessary because no one wanted to take the lives of millions of people every time for the sake of someone’s policy. For the United States, it also turned out to be a strong impetus for the development of weapons technologies. Already before the outbreak of World War II, they had a great military potential, which allowed them not only to fight themselves but also to provide military assistance to allied countries.
Reference
William, K. S. (2020). The First World War: A Concise Global History. Rowman & Littlefield Publishers.