What was the significance of aviation in World War 1?

Answer 1

It started as an observation platform and rapidly evolved into a weapon. By the end of the war it was realized that if you control the skies above a battlefield you will win the battle.

Great War began in 1914, all of the belligerent nations had air forces of one type or another. France had 140 aircraft, Germany about 250 and Great Britain about 180. All were largely derived from existing civilian designs, and when compared with our modern aircraft, these machines were flimsy, difficult to fly, short ranged and slow.

Even with those limitations, aircraft were absolutely crucial in influencing the outcome of World War One. On August 22, 1914, two British aircraft returned to their base with news of a huge column of the German First Army passing through Gramont. The first airman to be wounded in air combat, Sgt. Maj. D.S. Jillings of No. 2 Squadron, was in the second aircraft that landed that day. The German movement was the beginning of a turn to the east by Gen. Alexander von Kluck; it was part of the famous Schlieffen plan to envelope the British and French armies as Paris was bypassed to the north.

Incredibly, British headquarters believed the air-born gathered information, and the long-suffering Tommies held their ground long enough for the French to escape. Then, on August 31st, additional Royal Flying Corps aircraft saw von Kluck turn to the southeast in an apparent move to envelope Paris. Armed with - and believing - this knowledge, the British and French were able to establish defensive positions around the French capitol. The resulting Battle of the Marne halted the German advance, and reversed the course of the war. Kaiser Wilhelm's dreams of defeating France in six weeks and then turning to defeat Russia were over. Germany was caught up in a fatal war on two fronts. Thus, in the first month of the Great War, aircraft - primitive as they were - made a decisive contribution to its outcome.

While the above story is true, it vastly overrates the importance of aircraft in WW1 (and, frankly, even in the two battles mentioned). In the opening stages of WW1 in 1914, when the war was still one of fluid movement, aerial reconaisance was at the very best, spotty and uncoordinated, and provided little useful intelligence that was not otherwise available. The incredibly short range of aircraft, the lack of aerial Photography, and other technical limitations meant that recon was at best a hit or miss proposition. The complete lack of an organized aerial recon force only emphasized this problem. While some good intelligence was gained, it merely supplemented that gleened by cavalry and other traditional recon units.

Later in the war, when the aerial corps was organized efficiently, and some technical improvements helped with a few of the limitations, aerial recon became more reliable. However, by then, the lines were static, and the range of aircraft was still too limited for very good strategic recon to occur (that is, battlefield recon was pretty much the limit).

The fact is, that aircraft were just too new in WW1 to have any measurable impact. Aerial recon was limited by technical means, and fighters and bombers were just in their infancy.