Where ever you may be, you are surrounded by the paraphernalia of the twenty-first century, surrounded by technology. This is because we are a product of the techno age, a product of numerous things that have been forged from steel and silicon, sweat and blood. We are children of technology, children of war. A major acceleration of technology through the motion of war began between 1939 and 1945 (Sale 2007). The most advanced and innovative forms of mathematical and technological knowledge were combined to master German Communications in the Second World War. The Enigma has been singled out by numerous war historians and great leaders as one of the best technological contributors to the war (Dabrowa, Lobodzinski 2002). This essay will explore the dynamics of the Enigma machine and look at why it was such a significant mechanism during the war. It will also outline the benefits of the device during the war and how it contributed to the future of technology.
The Enigma Machine was fabricated in 1919 by Arthur Scherbius and underwent much improvement before being implemented by the German Navy in 1926, the army in 1928, and the Air force in 1935 (Stripp 2000). A prominent American historian of cryptography said the Enigma was "the greatest secret of World War II after the atom bomb" (Kozaczuk 2001). It was originally used to keep business correspondence secret but the German Armed Forces quickly recognized its military capability (Reuvers 2006). The Enigma was an encryption device the Germans used to encode the details of field operations and to communicate with their submarine fleet (White 2005, p.138). The machine looked like a cross between a portable type-writer and a cash register and was usually enclosed in a wooden box. The input was by way of a type-writer type keyboard with twenty-six letters and the output was through a lamp-board. Inside was a complex system of gears, electric wiring and series of drums. Any letter typed by the Enigma operator on the keyboard could be transformed into an infinite variety of different letters. Encoded messages, which were a seemingly arbitrary assembly of letters, were then sent in Morse code (Cross 1994, p. 28. Chorlton 2002, p.30).By use of this machine, the Germans reigned supreme. They had power because they were able to send secret ciphers regarding combat preparation and position without being detected. Because of the lack of technology on their part, the British went into high alert and their naval crew suffered immensely. With direct communication via the Enigma, the German naval team known as the “U-Boat Wolf Pack” sunk 108 of the 340 British Naval ships (Stanley 1987, p.59). The cracking of the Enigma Code became a high-priority operation for the British and led to the organization of a specialized team of Cryptographers and mathematicians at Bletchley Park in Buckinghamshire. They began decoding Enigma messages in 1940 and continued to operate throughout the war. The Germans became brash and began to send Birthday messages through the Enigma machine to their leaders. This helped the British in deciphering the codes because they were slowly discovering what numbers where being used to certain letters. The team developed an electromechanical computer, called the 'Bronze Goddess,' which was used as the principal weapon to decode the Enigma. The electric wiring matched that of the Enigma machine and was eventually able read the German signals as they were being put through (Cross 1994, p.30). The infiltration of the Enigma machine was valuable as it revealed the capacity of human intelligence and opened the door to new ideas.
The Enigma could be seen as an unethical device for the reason that it aided the Germans in killing the British, however, it became the basis for the fabrication of many new technologies and was resposible for the success in many collective areas (Flichy 1991, p.138). It was a beneficial tool for the military for the fact that it saved thousands of lives. Although they where German lives and they were seen as the enemy, it ultimately took from the death toll. Ten years after the war the Enigmas unbreakable code became an essential part of the militaries fast and mobile radio communications system and created the foundation of martial communication today. So not only did it go on to save more lives it made the armed forces more resourceful. The Enigma didn’t merely support military defences, it greatly accelerated the development of the first computer. The most fundamental was the production of a machine called the 'Colossus'. The project was led by cryptologist Alan Turing and a small group of analysts who went on to become the world’s first computer experts and began the expansion of computing after the war (White 2005, p.138). Today, the lessons learned from cryptographers on the Enigma machine, have become significant to businesses and science and remain a valuable tool to mathematicians, strategists and the government. Things such as using a bank card, withdrawing money at the ATM and safely buying goods off the internet all involve the use of codes. Scientists use codes to explain genetics and to acquire a better understanding of how genes work and can therefore formulate effective medications and work to conquer diseases.
This Enigma machine was a technological advancement that changed the face of the Second World War and the future of technology. It proved to be an enormously complicated machine and its codes were seemingly impossible to crack, however the British cryptologists of Bletchley Park conquered the unachievable. The Enigma machine is possibly the most famous code story of today. It’s presence during the war helped to save thousands of casualties and has contributed greatly to today’s military communication. It has benefited various communal departments and has proven to be a successful device as it has been used as a backbone for the fabrication of further technological developments. The horror of military conflict is forever among us. The military will always require superior communication technology in order for it to operate lucratively and the Enigma is an example of this.
LINKS
http://www.euronet.nl/users/wilfried/ww2/secret.htm
http://www.enigmahistory.org/enigma.html
REFERANCES
Chorlton, W. 2002. 20th Century Perspectives: Weapons and Technology of World War II, Heinemann: Oxford, p.30.
Cross, R. 1994. Era of the Second World War: Technology of War: Steeds Dezelfde Vuano 1673, 1943, Wayland: England, p.28, 30.
Dabrowa, A. Lobodzinski, R. 2002. Breaking the Enigma Code: Polish Contribution to Victory, http://www.avoca.ndirect.co.uk/enigma/index.html.
Flichy, P. 1995. Dynamics of Modern Communication: The Shaping and Impact of New Communication Technologies, Sage Publications: London, p.138.
Kozaczuk, W. The Origins of the Enigma/ultra operation, http://www.enigmahistory.org/text.html#1.
Reuvers, P. 2006. Enigma, http://www.xat.nl/enigma/index.htm.
Sale, T. 2002. Codes and Ciphers in the Second World War, http://www.codesandciphers.org.uk/.
Stanley, P. 1987. Australians at War: Air Battle Europe 1939-1945, Time-Life Books: Sydney, p.59.
Stripp, A. 2000. Decoding Nazi Secrets: How the Enigma Works, http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/nova/decoding/enigma.html.
White, M. 2005. The Fruits of War, Simon and Shuster: Sydney, p.138.
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