Packherd2
Warlord
- Joined
- May 24, 2011
- Messages
- 116
Because nobody asked for it, here are my brief historical interpretations for each of the techs that trigger espionage in G&K
Renaissance
Astronomy
The invention of telescopes using the principals of optics was made possible by international communication. Notably, Galileo heard of Dutch telescopes in Venice, publicized the design, and presented it to the Doge. Renaissance astronomy was developed by researchers across Europe, including Galileo, Copernicus, Kepler, Brahe, and Newton, who read one another's writings in a system that directly precedes our contemporary international scientific communities.
Acoustics
The development of baroque music spread quickly across Europe. A combination of advanced architectural acoustics and political stability encouraged the diffusion of styles that came to define a pan-European musical tradition. The Venetian School, for example, took advantage of the acoustics of the Basilica San Marco and the styles created there were integrated by artists in the Low Countries and beyond.
Banking
In Europe, merchant banking developed as a means of financing long trading voyages. The expertise in international trade of Jewish refugees from Spain contributed to the demand and proliferation of such banks. In time, banking families such as the Medicis and Rothschilds would become some of the most powerful private citizens.
In Ming China, the Yongle Emperor, Zhu Di, consolidated his rule by overseeing the construction of the Forbidden City atop the previous Mongol-Yuan Imperial City. He also authorized eunuch secret police as part of his purge of Confucian scholarsthe punishment of traitors by death by a thousand cuts comes from this periodand the expeditions of Zheng He were financed under Zhu Di's patronage. (He would also oversee the construction of the Porcelain Tower.)
As in Ming China, European police forces developed from sovereign para-military forces charged with keeping the peace among private citizens in urban areas. These constabularies would eventually become wholly non-military entities but in the Renaissance period there was not a clear distinction between public policing and defense of the state.
Printing Press
Bi Sheng's invention of printing is recorded by the polymath Shen Kuo, who was a part of a political reform movement called the New Policies Group. Shen's achievements, and their diffusion, were made possible by the development of different printing methods across East Asia.
In Europe, the Printing Revolution led to the development of a literate bourgeois class that patronized the Scientific Revolution. Gutenberg's Bible was the first international bestseller, with copies sent as far as England and Sweden.
Gunpowder
As sectarian tensions continued in England, there were several plots against the Crown. The most infamous of them, the Gunpowder Plot, would have used explosives detonated under the House of Lords to assassinate King James, with the hope that a more Catholic-tolerant monarch would succeed him, even possibly seeing the return of England to the Catholic fold.
Industrial
Archaeology
The cultural allure of artifacts has been used and abused by regimes since time immemorial. The Scientific Revolution, however, encouraged the use of archaeology to accurately interpret the human past, rather than appropriate it. The global nature of such expeditions were used as cover for espionage activities, such as the case of British researcher Gertrude Bell.
Scientific Theory
The standardized development, testing, and re-evaluation of theories to explain phenomena is the cornerstone of modern civilization. The universal nature of the ideas transcend culture and even politics, leading to an internationalist class of thinkers. Whether aboard the Beagle or gathered at the Copenhagen School, the endeavors of individual scientists encourage and eventually profoundly impact international discourse.
Industrialization
The social changes brought about by the Industrial Revolution are comparable only to those of the Agricultural Revolution, which gave rise to civilization in the first place. While socialism would come to have a thoroughly internationalist nature, nearly all social changes invited counter-national political upheaval. Abolitionism, suffrage, minority rights, trade unionismall of these would at times be mediums of geopolitical intrigue.
Rifling
In military terms, rifling became commonplace with the development of Minié balls, breech-loading, and cleaner gunpowder. Prior to this, however, rifling was limited to sharpshooters and snipers. While smooth-bored muskets were lethal instruments, the accuracy of rifle-bored weapons made targeted acts easier for commoners and extended the range of experts.
Military Science
Nearly everything, from telephony, to photography, to geology, to logistics, has been studied through the context of military needs. As in other fields, this academic nature breeds an open, international culture. Modern military theorists have pursued integrative concepts of war-making, such as Clausewitz's assertion that war is the advancement of politics by other means, or used their professional talents to advance causes, such as Steuben's and Kościuszko's participation in the American Revolution.
Fertilizer
The development of fertilizer was a direct outcome of international industrial-capitalist research. The impulse was, in part, due to the political challenges of acquiring guano, an early source of the chemical constituents needed for industrialized agriculture.
In turn, the industrial synthesis of these same constituents led to both the increased agricultural output of the Green Revolution and the development of modern chemical warfare. Nobel laureate Fritz Haber's methods of synthesizing chemicals made industrial fertilizer possible but he enthusiastically supervised the development and deployment of chemical weapons against British and Russian troops. Later, America would use a byproduct of industrial fertilizer production, Agent Orange, as a defoliant, destroying the crops that fed civilians and gave cover to combatants.
Modern
Refrigeration
The conservation of perishables for long-distance trade and the expansion of climate controlled buildings are the two most culturally significant effects of mechanical refrigeration technology. This has permitted the expansion of fishing and oil exploration enterprises into the deep Arctic and Antarctic regions, and it is a prerequisite to the domestic cultural platform on which later global culture would develop. While refrigeration is not directly related to the development of submarine ships, the industrial development of non-perishable foods is critical to the invention of long-duration covert submarine reconnaissance.
Radio
The invention of mass culture cannot be understated, but the technological capacity to transmit that culture across distances, irrespective of most political or physical barriers, is truly revolutionary. The use of broadcasting to spread propaganda within rivals' territories was made famous in the 20th Century by the the United States' Voice of America and Japan's Tokyo Rose.
Replaceable Parts
The American System of assembling muskets is a misnomer. Although it was not achieved by Eli Whitney, it was notably employed by armories in the United States. When coupled with the assembly line, standardized components permitted the creation of weapons that could be assembled almost anywhere. These principles later were used to design modern timepieces. Accurate mechanical timekeeping made complex operations in various locations easier to execute.
Flight
While powered stable-wing flight would come to be fundamental in warfare, lighter-than-air vehicles were first employed in battlefield reconnaissance. Later developments, such as the Zeppelin, led to the first rapid international travel.
Railroad
Inter- and intra-urban transportation made possible by fixed course vehicles shaped the modern development of almost every city. Suburbanization and the aggregation of industrial assets made backwater hamlets like Chicago into international centers of commerce. Easier movement of people and goods facilitated espionage and propaganda. For example, the political agitation that led to the Russian Revolution was coordinated across Europe before returning to Russia on the rails.
Atomic
Penicillin
Before the development of modern medicine, it was frequently life-threatening for people from one region to travel to another. The invention of vaccines and other pharmaceuticals allowed for humans to become truly global creatures. It was not the CIA that forced Guevara to retreat from the Congo, but dysentery.
Atomic Theory
Of the many advancements made using the scientific method, none has had a more frightful impact than the theories concerning the internal structures of an atom. While nuclear fission would play a prominent role in geopolitics, the endeavor to develop nuclear weapons was the subject of some of the most high-stakes and far-reaching espionage in history.
Radar
Echolocation, of course, is a natural capability of some animals, but among humans the use of active reflection to see objects required many technological advancements. Such intelligence has become essential in modern warfare. For example, while the impressive designs of stealth aircraft are now well-known, the telemetry that permits them to avoid enemy radar remains largely classified as a state secret.
Combined Arms
After a covert disaster in Iran, the United States military was reorganized by the Goldwater-Nichols Act. Besides integrating the management and command of the services, the policy would lead to the establishment of strategically located global command centers. The leaders of these these forward-positioned facilities, such as CENTCOM, have been compared to viceroys or proconsuls.
Information
Telecommunications
Rather than being based on any one technology, contemporary communications systems are designed on principles of openness, controllability, and reciprocity. Marshall McLuhan's theories posit that people engage not with the subjects of communications but the medium. Thus, desired outcomes of marketing or propaganda depend not on controlling the message but the means of its delivery.
Mobile Tactics
As military engagements have become more asymmetrical, the very understanding of what a battlefield or a soldier is has changed. The prevailing American philosophy, network-centric warfare, puts a premium on the exchange of information through military systems. A competing philosophy, 4th generation warfare, instead focuses on the indeterminate nature of the elements of warfare. Under both systems, political intelligencedomestic and globalis crucial.
Advanced Ballistics
Rocket flight dates to the early 20th Century, and it remains the only method by which humans can send anything, including themselves, beyond the Earth's gravitational control. ICBMs became the preferred method for the presumed delivery of nuclear weapons, and other rockets were developed to defend against ICBMs. Ironically, it was at first these anti-ballistic missiles that were the subject of high-level international politics, not the ultimate weapons which they were meant to stop.
Satellites
Sputnik was ostensibly a weather observation satellite. Its cultural influence, however, was perhaps more profound. The fear it inspired in the minds of the Soviet Union's rivals was incalculable. Later satellites would be used in diplomatic engagements against the Soviet Union. Reconnaissance from above was not new, but international agreements to avoid the militarization of space created a globally protected intelligence platform.
Robotics
The android is a cultural concept that dates back to the earliest stages of the Industrial Revolution. While anthropomorphic design remains elusive, the automation of many physical activities has drastically transformed industry. The social impacts of this change are not yet fully understood, but the re-constitution of what it means to work has altered many communities. In some cases, populations have transformed into tech hubs, like Silicon Valley, drawing talent from a global pool. But automation has also been used to conduct covert activities at a distance greater than mere kilometers.
Lasers
Optical reading devices work much as previous physical technologies did, such as the phonograph and magnetic recording. The heightened accuracy, however, permits new degrees of precision and complexity. Fiber optics allow information transmission at unprecedented rates, and super-secure recordings protect data from even the most subtle hackers.
Renaissance
Astronomy
The invention of telescopes using the principals of optics was made possible by international communication. Notably, Galileo heard of Dutch telescopes in Venice, publicized the design, and presented it to the Doge. Renaissance astronomy was developed by researchers across Europe, including Galileo, Copernicus, Kepler, Brahe, and Newton, who read one another's writings in a system that directly precedes our contemporary international scientific communities.
Acoustics
The development of baroque music spread quickly across Europe. A combination of advanced architectural acoustics and political stability encouraged the diffusion of styles that came to define a pan-European musical tradition. The Venetian School, for example, took advantage of the acoustics of the Basilica San Marco and the styles created there were integrated by artists in the Low Countries and beyond.
Banking
In Europe, merchant banking developed as a means of financing long trading voyages. The expertise in international trade of Jewish refugees from Spain contributed to the demand and proliferation of such banks. In time, banking families such as the Medicis and Rothschilds would become some of the most powerful private citizens.
In Ming China, the Yongle Emperor, Zhu Di, consolidated his rule by overseeing the construction of the Forbidden City atop the previous Mongol-Yuan Imperial City. He also authorized eunuch secret police as part of his purge of Confucian scholarsthe punishment of traitors by death by a thousand cuts comes from this periodand the expeditions of Zheng He were financed under Zhu Di's patronage. (He would also oversee the construction of the Porcelain Tower.)
As in Ming China, European police forces developed from sovereign para-military forces charged with keeping the peace among private citizens in urban areas. These constabularies would eventually become wholly non-military entities but in the Renaissance period there was not a clear distinction between public policing and defense of the state.
Printing Press
Bi Sheng's invention of printing is recorded by the polymath Shen Kuo, who was a part of a political reform movement called the New Policies Group. Shen's achievements, and their diffusion, were made possible by the development of different printing methods across East Asia.
In Europe, the Printing Revolution led to the development of a literate bourgeois class that patronized the Scientific Revolution. Gutenberg's Bible was the first international bestseller, with copies sent as far as England and Sweden.
Gunpowder
As sectarian tensions continued in England, there were several plots against the Crown. The most infamous of them, the Gunpowder Plot, would have used explosives detonated under the House of Lords to assassinate King James, with the hope that a more Catholic-tolerant monarch would succeed him, even possibly seeing the return of England to the Catholic fold.
Industrial
Archaeology
The cultural allure of artifacts has been used and abused by regimes since time immemorial. The Scientific Revolution, however, encouraged the use of archaeology to accurately interpret the human past, rather than appropriate it. The global nature of such expeditions were used as cover for espionage activities, such as the case of British researcher Gertrude Bell.
Scientific Theory
The standardized development, testing, and re-evaluation of theories to explain phenomena is the cornerstone of modern civilization. The universal nature of the ideas transcend culture and even politics, leading to an internationalist class of thinkers. Whether aboard the Beagle or gathered at the Copenhagen School, the endeavors of individual scientists encourage and eventually profoundly impact international discourse.
Industrialization
The social changes brought about by the Industrial Revolution are comparable only to those of the Agricultural Revolution, which gave rise to civilization in the first place. While socialism would come to have a thoroughly internationalist nature, nearly all social changes invited counter-national political upheaval. Abolitionism, suffrage, minority rights, trade unionismall of these would at times be mediums of geopolitical intrigue.
Rifling
In military terms, rifling became commonplace with the development of Minié balls, breech-loading, and cleaner gunpowder. Prior to this, however, rifling was limited to sharpshooters and snipers. While smooth-bored muskets were lethal instruments, the accuracy of rifle-bored weapons made targeted acts easier for commoners and extended the range of experts.
Military Science
Nearly everything, from telephony, to photography, to geology, to logistics, has been studied through the context of military needs. As in other fields, this academic nature breeds an open, international culture. Modern military theorists have pursued integrative concepts of war-making, such as Clausewitz's assertion that war is the advancement of politics by other means, or used their professional talents to advance causes, such as Steuben's and Kościuszko's participation in the American Revolution.
Fertilizer
The development of fertilizer was a direct outcome of international industrial-capitalist research. The impulse was, in part, due to the political challenges of acquiring guano, an early source of the chemical constituents needed for industrialized agriculture.
In turn, the industrial synthesis of these same constituents led to both the increased agricultural output of the Green Revolution and the development of modern chemical warfare. Nobel laureate Fritz Haber's methods of synthesizing chemicals made industrial fertilizer possible but he enthusiastically supervised the development and deployment of chemical weapons against British and Russian troops. Later, America would use a byproduct of industrial fertilizer production, Agent Orange, as a defoliant, destroying the crops that fed civilians and gave cover to combatants.
Modern
Refrigeration
The conservation of perishables for long-distance trade and the expansion of climate controlled buildings are the two most culturally significant effects of mechanical refrigeration technology. This has permitted the expansion of fishing and oil exploration enterprises into the deep Arctic and Antarctic regions, and it is a prerequisite to the domestic cultural platform on which later global culture would develop. While refrigeration is not directly related to the development of submarine ships, the industrial development of non-perishable foods is critical to the invention of long-duration covert submarine reconnaissance.
Radio
The invention of mass culture cannot be understated, but the technological capacity to transmit that culture across distances, irrespective of most political or physical barriers, is truly revolutionary. The use of broadcasting to spread propaganda within rivals' territories was made famous in the 20th Century by the the United States' Voice of America and Japan's Tokyo Rose.
Replaceable Parts
The American System of assembling muskets is a misnomer. Although it was not achieved by Eli Whitney, it was notably employed by armories in the United States. When coupled with the assembly line, standardized components permitted the creation of weapons that could be assembled almost anywhere. These principles later were used to design modern timepieces. Accurate mechanical timekeeping made complex operations in various locations easier to execute.
Flight
While powered stable-wing flight would come to be fundamental in warfare, lighter-than-air vehicles were first employed in battlefield reconnaissance. Later developments, such as the Zeppelin, led to the first rapid international travel.
Railroad
Inter- and intra-urban transportation made possible by fixed course vehicles shaped the modern development of almost every city. Suburbanization and the aggregation of industrial assets made backwater hamlets like Chicago into international centers of commerce. Easier movement of people and goods facilitated espionage and propaganda. For example, the political agitation that led to the Russian Revolution was coordinated across Europe before returning to Russia on the rails.
Atomic
Penicillin
Before the development of modern medicine, it was frequently life-threatening for people from one region to travel to another. The invention of vaccines and other pharmaceuticals allowed for humans to become truly global creatures. It was not the CIA that forced Guevara to retreat from the Congo, but dysentery.
Atomic Theory
Of the many advancements made using the scientific method, none has had a more frightful impact than the theories concerning the internal structures of an atom. While nuclear fission would play a prominent role in geopolitics, the endeavor to develop nuclear weapons was the subject of some of the most high-stakes and far-reaching espionage in history.
Radar
Echolocation, of course, is a natural capability of some animals, but among humans the use of active reflection to see objects required many technological advancements. Such intelligence has become essential in modern warfare. For example, while the impressive designs of stealth aircraft are now well-known, the telemetry that permits them to avoid enemy radar remains largely classified as a state secret.
Combined Arms
After a covert disaster in Iran, the United States military was reorganized by the Goldwater-Nichols Act. Besides integrating the management and command of the services, the policy would lead to the establishment of strategically located global command centers. The leaders of these these forward-positioned facilities, such as CENTCOM, have been compared to viceroys or proconsuls.
Information
Telecommunications
Rather than being based on any one technology, contemporary communications systems are designed on principles of openness, controllability, and reciprocity. Marshall McLuhan's theories posit that people engage not with the subjects of communications but the medium. Thus, desired outcomes of marketing or propaganda depend not on controlling the message but the means of its delivery.
Mobile Tactics
As military engagements have become more asymmetrical, the very understanding of what a battlefield or a soldier is has changed. The prevailing American philosophy, network-centric warfare, puts a premium on the exchange of information through military systems. A competing philosophy, 4th generation warfare, instead focuses on the indeterminate nature of the elements of warfare. Under both systems, political intelligencedomestic and globalis crucial.
Advanced Ballistics
Rocket flight dates to the early 20th Century, and it remains the only method by which humans can send anything, including themselves, beyond the Earth's gravitational control. ICBMs became the preferred method for the presumed delivery of nuclear weapons, and other rockets were developed to defend against ICBMs. Ironically, it was at first these anti-ballistic missiles that were the subject of high-level international politics, not the ultimate weapons which they were meant to stop.
Satellites
Sputnik was ostensibly a weather observation satellite. Its cultural influence, however, was perhaps more profound. The fear it inspired in the minds of the Soviet Union's rivals was incalculable. Later satellites would be used in diplomatic engagements against the Soviet Union. Reconnaissance from above was not new, but international agreements to avoid the militarization of space created a globally protected intelligence platform.
Robotics
The android is a cultural concept that dates back to the earliest stages of the Industrial Revolution. While anthropomorphic design remains elusive, the automation of many physical activities has drastically transformed industry. The social impacts of this change are not yet fully understood, but the re-constitution of what it means to work has altered many communities. In some cases, populations have transformed into tech hubs, like Silicon Valley, drawing talent from a global pool. But automation has also been used to conduct covert activities at a distance greater than mere kilometers.
Lasers
Optical reading devices work much as previous physical technologies did, such as the phonograph and magnetic recording. The heightened accuracy, however, permits new degrees of precision and complexity. Fiber optics allow information transmission at unprecedented rates, and super-secure recordings protect data from even the most subtle hackers.
