It seems that the world has been at war since the beginning of time and if we consider that there is usually a war going on somewhere at any given time, this statement might be correct. You have to wonder when man first felt that it was worth taking someone else's life to get what he wanted, because that is what war really means. I am not talking about just wars, where people are fighting for freedom, I am talking about wars of aggression. Sometimes a war is so huge that it takes in most of the countries of the world. I guess good examples of this would be World War I and World War II. Many countries had only a token involvement in World War II contrary to the common belief that everyone was fighting for their lives. To become a charter member of the U.N. (United Nations) you had to have been at war with one of the Axis countries, so maybe the point was stretched somewhat so that some countries that would not qualify were let in.

There were eight officially neutral countries during World War II. They were Argentina, Ireland, Portugal, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland, Turkey, and Vatican City. It seems that some of these, so called 'neutral' countries, were a lot more neutral than others. Modern warfare didn't really start with World War II or even World War I. It was really the American Civil War that paved the way for modern warfare and tactics along with the development of modern weapons. The Civil War saw the development of huge naval guns, iron clad ships, submarines and even machine guns in the form of the Gatling Gun, a hand cranked multi barrel gun that allowed you to shoot as fast as you could crank, but this was not the first machine gun, it was the Williams breech-loading rapid fire gun used by the Confederate Army. The Williams was a light artillery piece that fired one pound shells. Lever action rifles that held many rounds instead of one singe round and could fire with the speed of many rifles was introduced. Double action pistols like the Starr Revolver were also introduced. No longer did a person have to cock the trigger before aiming. Telescopic sights were used by snipers in the Civil War, it was the first time that they were known to have been used this way. Breach loading cannons were an innovation that are used to this day. An interesting aside is that the Confederate Army asked Starr to produce a single action revolver and mostly used these because they were cheaper.

World War I not only improved on the weapons of the Civil War, but new types of weapons were introduced to combat. Chief among these were the plane, zeppelin and tank. In the beginning of the war the plane and zeppelin, along with blimps, were only used for observation, but as observation planes from two warring sides began passing each other, someone decided to bring along a rifle and shoot at the other. As time passed they brought grenades along to drop on enemy troops and then small bombs. Gradually the planes were armed and then became fighting machines. There were great air battles and troops on the ground were strafed by machine guns attached to the planes. Tanks were essentially metal enclosures that allowed troops to cross dangerous open stretches of ground. The tanks were usually equipped with small cannons and machine guns, but were relatively slow and lightly armored when compared to their counterparts of World War II. Zeppelins and blimps were used not only for observation, but as bombers. There were also the improved versions of the weapons that were first used in the Civil War. Metal submarines prowled the seas, similar to the Huntley, the first metal submarine that was built by the Confederates. Great steel battleships road the seas, they were the descendants of the iron clads. Machine guns were now common and one had only to hold down the trigger rather than crack the weapon. It was powered by the exhaust gases released by the cartridge when it was fired. Breach loading artillery got even larger with the Germans building great rail guns.

It was 1918 when World War I ended and 1939 when World War II started. We are only talking about 21 years here, but the advances in weapons was horrific. Somehow the Germans had managed to build many different types of weapons that were years ahead of their time. The original German plan was to build up until 1945 and then declare war. If this would have happened, than the allies would have lost the war. It is almost a certainty that the Germans would have had a nuclear bomb by then. They had managed to develop, or were developing, rockets, cruise missile, guided missiles, jet planes, great tanks, a vertical takeoff plane, rocket plane, advanced submarines and some revolutionary battle ships. These weapons were way ahead of anything that was in the allied arsenal. They had the first assault rifle and it could fire automatically or single shot and more machine guns than any other army. One of their machine guns fired 1550 rounds per minute. The sound it made was enough to scare the pants off anyone that faced it. Every country had some weapon that it seemed to be best at building. The U.S. was no exception. The flying fortress and superfortress were among the best heavy bombers. The B-29 superfortress was so successful that we built 2,766 of these giants before the war ended. These planes were a far cry from anything that was used in World War I. The Germans started using jet fighters in combat in 1944, but the war had turned against them by then and they were sitting ducks on the ground. We couldn't touch them in the air, but we had such an overwhelming superiority in planes that they didn't have a chance.

Today we use many different weapons, but many of them can be traced back to the German super weapons of World War II. Everyone seems to have missiles. We have intercontinental missiles, air to air missiles, air to ground missiles and ground to air missiles. Every country is using jet fighters today. Submarines have become world destroyers and aircraft carriers pack enough punch to destroy an entire country when you consider their nuclear weapons. Tanks have progressed to the point that tanks like the Abrahams can withstand a direct hit from another tank. This was show in Iraq during one of the biggest tank battles ever held. They can also shoot accurately through smoke, fire and almost any obstacle. Smart munitions now dominate the field of battle. We can direct a missile or bomb to almost on top of the target when it used to be acceptable to hit within a 100 meters. Hand held weapons have also improved. Today a hand grenade puts out thousands of pieces vs the older grenades that put out about 36. Rifles have been improved and the AK-47, a Russian rifle is almost jam proof. It can be fired on automatic or single shot.

What will the weapons of a war twenty years from now be like? Will we have death rays and space planes and invisible tanks? Will ships that are twice as fast as anything around today whisk their way around the oceans and carry deadly cargos of missiles and frogmen to insert into the country side? Will satellites bombard us from orbit? Will there be some sort of robot soldier? Robot planes are in use already, so why not other things like robot tanks and truck? Shades of The Terminator.