Why is the U.S. Civil War thought to be the first modern war - Essay Example

Why is the U.S. Civil War thought to be the first modern war? In interpreting the history of feud & warfare, people on average read that General X met General Y on the battleground, X won, Y retreated, and then they met for a second time on another battleground, and so on. But strangely people come face to face with a war where the balance of power is narrated in conditions of who has the maximum miles of telegraph line and railroad, and who possesses the greater numeral of steel foundries and rolling mills.

That war was the historic U.S. Civil War, where the definitions & dimensions of conventional warfare were re-written in almost every way. Some scholars also define the US Civil War as the first modern war, & the last Ancient war (Dutch). In a lot of ways it was the earliest & truest modern battle that depended on big industries, express transportation, and telecommunications for its accomplishment.The war brought about technological creations and fresh weapons (more precisely in some instances, utilized to their optimum power for the first time).

This was the original battle where transcontinental telecommunications played a noteworthy role. The telegraph contour to California was the key in serving to keep California within the Union. Telegraphy allowed generals to be in touch rapidly with faraway forces and journalists to file stories with their newspapers, & in turn ensuring mass support for an interest in the war high by providing them a sense of direct involvement (Dutch). Even though photographs had been snapped in a few prior conflicts, this was the foremost war which was extraordinarily documented and this gave a new boost to photojournalism.

More than a million photographs were taken throughout the period of the Civil War (Dutch). Balloons had been sporadically utilized in a few previous tussles. This time they were extensively used by both sides in this Civil War, added with a telegraph line so that the observer could speak directly with the base (Dutch). Submarines were successfully implemented during this epic struggle, resulting in the scientific enhancement of the overall economy. But those machines failed to break the jinx of the prototype (Dutch, 1998).

The Civil War successfully used steam warships. The first combat amid iron-clad warships was the famous duel between the Monitor and Merrimac (Dutch). This was the primary combat within which railroads were decisive in moving large numbers of armed forces and huge amounts of supplies swiftly over long distances (Dutch). The war marked the usage of first ‘modern gun’. The predecessor of the modern day machine guns were created & introduced during this battle. It was colloquially called as the ‘Gatling gun’ (Dutch).

The US Civil War was the first war on earth which incorporated technology, creation, & science in its formulation. There were casualties, & there were anarchist vibes, but what separated this war was its approach towards warfare. An outlook towards modern technology began to spur from the introduction of this war. Mankind learnt the fact that the days of swords, arrows, shields & horses were culminating to a dead end. Reference1) Dutch, Steven, The First Modern War & the last Ancient War, 1998, September 2, 2011, from: http://www.uwgb.edu/dutchs/westtech/x1stmodw.htm