Three well-known cases
- Canned foodA way to preserve food for a long time was sought after a prize was announced: the army needed something to feed its troops on campaign.
- WristwatchesBefore the war, people considered them a women's accessory. In the trenches, pocket watches were inconvenient, and the wrist strap won out.
- Sanitary padsThe superabsorbent material was made for dressings. Nurses began using it for another purpose, and after the war, the manufacturer began producing it.
The second case shows the mechanism better than the others. It was not about invention - wristwatches already existed. It was about war making something considered improper practical, after which there was no going back.
War rarely invents things. It removes objections - habit, propriety, and price - so within a few years, changes happen that would take decades in normal times.
What else spread the same way
Reinforced adhesive tape was made to seal ammunition boxes and hold up in the rain. After the war, builders brought it home, and it ended up on the shelves of every hardware store.
Tea bags spread as a way to serve portions quickly and without a teapot. The microwave oven grew out of radar technology, while instant glue came from an attempt to make a transparent gunsight.
There are also reverse examples, which people talk about less often. Much was delayed instead: civilian developments were frozen, production was redirected, and entire fields stood still for years.
Historians also warn against the appealing conclusion that war drives progress. A narrow set of fields needed at the front speeds up, while the overall cost of that acceleration is nowhere near worth the gain.
The reverse path is revealing, too. Some solutions devised for the front never caught on in civilian life: they were too expensive, too inconvenient, or simply unnecessary. What remains is what solved a problem that exists without war, too.
Another category is things changed by shortages. Coffee substitutes, margarine instead of butter, and paper packaging instead of tin. Some of these replacements disappeared after the war, while others stuck around because they were cheaper.
What does war do to inventions?
What should you remember about the idea that war drives progress?
Sources
- Canning, the spread of wristwatches, the industrial production of hygiene products, and reinforced adhesive tape are linked to military needs
- historians note that the acceleration affects a narrow set of fields and does not mean that progress as a whole speeds up
Next in the “Wars and Peace” series
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