Throughout history, war after war was fought by many civilizations, and wars are some of the major events that happened to shape the world today. If a war is lost, the losing country faces serious consequences that might even lead to their end. To gain an advantage in wars, many countries developed and expanded their militaries and increased their technology in weapons like bombs, airplanes, ships, and tanks. This worked and helped many countries gain the upper hand on battles. However, throughout history, there was one important thing that wasn’t a weapon that helped one side get an advantage: maps. Even though many people do not know about the importance and the significance of maps in wars, they are crucial for winning wars because they help to locate opposing forces, plan attack and defense accordingly, and can help locate destinations.
Maps were a major key in locating opposing forces. They helped the attacking forces find the opposing forces very easily and speed up the whole attack. It was a very efficient way of attacking enemies and it took a lot of them off guard. Recently, cartographic innovations allowed gunners to fire at targets they couldn’t see directly and aimed the gun at the place where the map told them. Knowing how important it is, there were a whole crew of analysts that could make and interpret maps and know where the enemies were. To speed the process along, pilots flew over the areas that they needed to map and drop the latest film from the plane in a canister, along with notes on the crew’s observations. This helped them make maps more efficiently. The mapmakers would develop the film in the field and update the maps with new targets. This was a huge difference between a strong country and a weak country. As a result, this helped them create stronger forces and smartly change and make variations according to what the maps told them. If they know about the position and the location of the enemies, they can better prepare for defense. Accordingly, this will erase the element of surprise and therefore help the defense. The defending forces can use maps to use nature and strategically put the attacking army in a trap. This will give them a better idea of how they are going to defend. With maps, they can easily know when to prepare and where to prepare. For these reasons, maps are crucial for locating opponents’ locations and to make attacking and defending more easier.
Furthermore, maps help plan attack and defense in various wars. This is very important as it can give a huge advantage to anyone who carefully plans out the strategy before taking action. Mapping helps them to prepare war knowing the steepness, distance, and any kinds of vegetation around them. Additionally, it can help identify terrain features, key locations, and potential obstacles. An example of this is when it was used by the allies in WW2. The plan for D-Day was finalized with the help of maps. The ground and air forces looked at the map that was the same which helped planning, communication and ensured a common basis for referencing map coordinates. Therefore, it was necessary that the maps contain all information needed by all parties, coordination, symbols, and color schemes in order to plan out the attack. The plan was an amazing success. They attacked city after city and dominated with their forces that landed precisely as they wanted thanks to the detailed maps that helped them plan. Consequently, this helped the Allied forces to take back France and to make Germany surrender. This marked a huge turn in the war, and the Allies were able to take back Europe. Considering these reasons, maps are crucial for the planning of any important mission.
Lastly, maps help soldiers find ways to a certain destination. Since maps show dangerous places that should be avoided, the soldiers can reach their destination safely and quickly. If there are no maps that can warn them beforehand, the soldiers would be very hesitant on going on a journey to the unknown. In the past, geography and topography maps helped to identify the places where airfields could be made. Drop zone maps were used for the airborne troops. These kinds of maps all help the soldiers and troops to find their way to a location through hardships. Without these maps, the soldiers would have been in bigger trouble and might be delayed in an important mission. Also, maps give the soldiers a more detailed view of the route they are taking. This helps the soldiers to understand where they are going and where they are currently. When they get lost, they can look at the maps and find their way back again. This helps the army to not lose any forces and attack the enemies with fast speed and efficiency. Overall, because of these benefits, maps are very important to soldiers for finding their destination.
Considering all of this, it is not wrong to say that the map was one of the most important and strongful weapons in wars. Maps can locate the opposing forces and can give a huge advantage because of how it can help the other side prepare in defense and attack. Also, it can contribute to the planning of attack and defense. Since it provides a good image of the battleground, the soldiers can plan their strategy accordingly. Finally it helps the soldiers locate destinations a lot easier and more efficiently. Thanks to maps, wars are easily won and missions are easily completed. However, without these maps to help countries fighting, they have less knowledge on how to attack, the location of enemy bases, and the danger that awaits them on the road to a destination. This might lead to losing soldiers, wasting time, and being ambushed by the enemies. Maps help with all of these problems. In general, maps are one of the most important tactics that militariescan use to gain a huge advantage against the opposing forces.
By: Dongchan Kim
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