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The Critically Overlooked Difference Between WWI and WWII
A rural war vs. an urban war
On the surface, there are many obvious differences between World War I and World War II. Most of these lie in the difference in technology. World War II was faster, more mobile, and covered far more ground than any fighting during World War I. However, the biggest difference between the two wars does not lie in the types of weaponry or tactics used on the battlefield but rather in the appetite for destruction.
Not a single major European city was destroyed or even heavily damaged during World War I. Let that sink in for a moment. While the killing fields of the Great War produced unimaginable suffering for the men forced into the trenches, that horror never extended to the people living in Parisian flats or London townhomes. By the end of the war, material shortages and hunger were beginning to set in for regular people, but they never had to look up and wonder if a bomb or artillery shell was going to come crashing through their roof.
World War II, on the other hand, touched nearly every major population center. Nearly every major European city was damaged or destroyed during World War II, and a slew of Asian cities to boot. Cities like Dresden, London, Berlin, and Rome were all heavily damaged. Even lesser European capitals like Vienna and…
