How did communication improve after WW1 and what inventions

were created? What impact did these inventions have on the

world?

Communication during wartime is the process of sending commands and instructions from
leaders to their troops as well as the transfer of information from surveillance and other units
in touch with the enemy. (Bruton, “Communication Technology | International Encyclopedia
of the First World War (WW1)”, 2014). Since the beginning of military conflict,
communication has frequently been the secret to success. One of the most important
aspects of war is being able to communicate with your allies while being aware of your
enemy' locations. After all, "knowing is half the battle," as the saying goes in the military (TV
Tropes, n.d.). From flaming arrows, drum beats, smoke signals, messenger pigeons, to
modern satellite-enabled communication technologies, military communication has
significantly changed over time (Palmer, 2017). The First World War saw a rapid
advancement in communication technologies. A large portion of the world was using
electricity for the first time, and telegraphs, telephones, signal lamps, and radio were all used
to communicate.

Before WW1 communication was extremely underdeveloped. One of the first modern
communication inventions was the semaphore. The semaphore line system was created by
Claude Chappe in 1792 during the French Revolution. This was a method of communication
that involved rotating paddles and a range of visual cues. The position of the paddles
translated to the message. When the paddles are in a fixed position, the message can be
read. Once it was built, this technology quickly
surpassed a horse and rider in terms of speed
and price for sending messages. Claude
Chappe built 556 semaphore towers across
France in 1792 (I. Back, 2019). The French
military would utilise this way of communication
until the 1850s. The U.S. Navy has a
semaphore system that is similar to Chappe's,
but uses hand-held flags or coloured paddles to
transmit visual signals rather than flags that are
hoisted far overhead. Semaphore can be used
between ships at sea that are selling items with one Figure 1 diagram of semaphore (Google.com, 2018)
another. It is typically used for informal communication. The signalman utilises semaphore
flags to communicate a series of 4 letters to another by extending his arms in different
positions.The sender writes out each word of the message or transmits code letter
groupings. In addition to being simpler to send and receive, semaphore messaging can
deliver 12 to 15 words or code groups per minute by a skilled operator.
Although these inventions were creative and advanced at the time, if these were to be used
in war; to put it lightly, you would lose. These inventions were not fast, safe, practical and
financially sensible enough to last through such a horrific and devastating war, forcing
society to come up with some of the inventions that we still continue to use today (Gannon,
2014).

Before World War I, the radio was used by ships to send messages using Morse code, and
in 1912, Titanic crew members used radio to connect with other ships and land-based radio
stations. The radio works by transmitting and receiving electromagnetic waves.A very
fast-moving electronic current is what makes up the radio signal. This field is broadcast by a
transmitter using an antenna; a receiver picks up the field and converts it to the audio heard
on a radio.The radio is different from a phone because when radios are used people tune
into a listen to it and can’t respond, whereas the phone you can respond directly to the
person. Frank Conrad helped to improve the radio throughout the war to help communication
and he also continued to work after the war. The speed and accuracy provided by using
voice communication were the main advantages radio had over message systems like
Morse code. Oscillators, amplifiers, and the electron tube, among other developments in
radio technology, enabled dependable voice transmission. Early radio was commonly
referred to as "wireless," and it quickly emerged that this technology was crucial to wartime
operations (Lipscomb, 2017).

During WW1, the dynamics of trench warfare demanded faster communication between the
front lines and headquarters. At the time, existing communication techniques included:
bicycles, runners, and dogs and pigeons. In the trenches,
telephone use was frequent, but enemy sabotage or artillery
damage could quickly disconnect the connections.
The British forces' portable Morse code device helped
them to advance their field radio technology and allowed
the front line to connect with artillery units from headquarters
(Lipscomb, 2017) .The mobile Fullerphone included both figure 2 messenger dog (Lipman, 2013)
speaking and Morse code capabilities. Canisters with Messages could also be dropped to
the ground by early aircrafts. For hands-free communication, a throat microphone was
invented. The ability for pilots to communicate with ground troops and receive commands
while in the air. When ships were engaged in combat or in transit, wireless was utilised to
communicate between them easily and rapidly. Other crucial channels of communication
included heliographs, indicating flags, and morse code (Gannon, 2014).

​Another important communication invention is the telephone, an instrument designed for the
simultaneous transmission and reception of the human voice. The telephone is inexpensive,
is simple to operate, and offers its users an immediate, personal type of communication that
cannot be obtained through any other medium. As a result, it
has become the most widely used communication device in
the world (Schlenoff, 2016). The British Army used telephones and telegraph cables on the
Western Front to communicate with commanders and men
on the front lines. But these lines of communication were
easily disrupted due to the intense bombardments. Like
the very primitive wireless telegraph devices used by the
British Army, they figure 2 fuller phone were also quickly figure 3 diagram of fuller phone (Dunn,2015)
intercepted by the German Army. The "Fullerphone '' was created in 1915 and 1916 to stop
German listening on British frontline telephone connections. The British Army uses
telephone and telegraph communication the most frequently despite the possibility of
surveillance due to their speed. Both world wars saw the usage of the Fullerphone, a
portable telegraph signalling device. The mechanism was created by Algernon Clement
Fuller, a British Army Signal Corps member during World War I, to prevent the Germans
from gaining information in the trenches. This issue was solved by the Fullerphone, which
sent Morse signals with a very little possibility of being heard. They were deployed on the
Western Front for the first time in late 1915, and by 1918, they were widely used. In World
War II, the Fullerphone was also employed (“The Fullerphone”, 2014)

During the first war, the need for better electrical communications with considerably greater
capacity for the larger units and the necessity of electrical communications inside regiments,
which had previously been seen as unnecessary and impractical, became increasingly
evident (Lipscomb, 2017). Most of the communication advancements happened between the
end of WW1 and the start of WW2. The impacts that this technology had on the world were
quite huge. The inventions allowed people to communicate with each other all around the
world. During the war there was such a big demand in high tech communication needed
quickly so that sped up the need for these inventions which made a huge impact on what
communication is like today. Researchers have said if the war never happened the
technology we use now would be set back at least 5 years.

In conclusion, communication has evolved significantly since the first world war. With many
inventions being made in such a short time because of the high demand for communication
in the war. The main inventions that had the biggest impact were the field radio and the fuller
phone, these inventions improved greatly after the war and are still used today.

References

Primary sources:

A telephone central station and telegraph office behind the French lines, 1916. Credit: Scientific American,
September 9, 1916
 ____
Wireless in WW1: Marconi Pack Set Field Radio, July 15, 1915

Secondary sources:

Bruton, Elizabeth. “Communication Technology | International Encyclopedia of the First

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encyclopedia.1914-1918-online.net/article/communication_technology.

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Elon University. “1870s – 1940s: Telephone – Imagining the Internet.” ELON UNIVERSITY,

www.elon.edu/u/imagining/time-capsule/150-years/back-1870-1940/.

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Gannon, Paul. “WW1: First World War Communications and the “Tele-Net of Things.””

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Lipscomb, Palmer. Murray State’s Digital Commons the Evolution of Communications in the

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Schlenoff, Dan. “The Telephone at War, 1916.” Scientific American Blog Network, 9 Sept.

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- Ruby and Elisa