The four years of World War I changed the use of technology, logistics, and military leadership. Some equipment had long technical prehistories before reaching practical service; radar is used as a later example of that distinction. An existing theory did not establish how a military organization would use the resulting device. John Bull offers a thought experiment in which an American Civil War officer could still recognize much of the opening battlefield of 1914 but would struggle to command in the Hundred Days of 1918. He regards that interval as an exceptionally rapid change in warfare.
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The battlefield of 1918 demanded different command skills
A hypothetical comparison between an American Civil War officer in 1914 and 1918 illustrates how quickly military command had to change.