The War in the Air
Encyclopedia
The War in the Air is a novel by H. G. Wells
, written in 1907, serialized and published in 1908 in the Pall Mall Magazine. Like many of Wells’s works, it is notable for its prophetic ideas, images, and concepts, in this case, the use of the aircraft
for the purpose of warfare and the coming of World War I
. The novel's hero is Bert Smallways, a forward-thinking young man, a "kind of bicycle engineer of the let's-have-a-look-at-it and enamel chipping variety."
and Japan
form a "Confederation of Eastern Asia"; Germany
is aggressive and thrusting; and the United States is a country torn apart "in violent conflict between Federal and State governments upon the question of universal service in a defensive militia." The British Empire
is a more pacific power, whose possessions are scattered across the globe, and distracted by "insurrectionary movements in Ireland
and among all its Subject Races. It had given these subject races cigarette
s, boot
s, bowler hat
s, cricket
, race meetings, cheap revolver
s, petroleum
, the factory system
of industry
, half penny
newspapers in both English and the vernacular
, inexpensive university degree
s, motor-bicycle
s and electric tram
s…" France
and the Latin Powers (Italy
, Spain
, Portugal
) are militarized, but reluctant to fight; Russia
is divided within itself, torn apart by conflict between revolutionaries and reactionaries. Other smaller states have armed themselves as best they can.
War erupts when German aerial forces, built and supported by aeronautical parks and foundries, and consisting of airship
s and Drachenflieger, attempt to seize control of the air before the Americans build a large-scale aerial navy. The Germans assume that the Chinese and Japanese have no air forces. Tensions between Japan
and the United States
, exacerbated by the issue of American citizenship being denied to Japanese immigrants, also lead to war. The "Confederation of Eastern Asia" (China and Japan) turns out to possess aerial forces, and their aircraft and tactics have been seen as a portent to the kamikaze
of World War II
. The United States therefore has to fight on two fronts: the Eastern and the Western, in the air as well on sea.
Bert Smallways becomes entangled in the German plot to bomb New York City when he accidentally falls into the hydrogen balloon of Alfred Butteridge, a British aviator who is apparently the only man with the "secret of the flying machine". (Aircraft development has been mainly limited to airships and what appear to be single-use semi-gliders that have to be launched from an airship (the Drachenflieger); it has not succeeded in producing a really practical heavier-than-air machine, only a few awkward devices of limited utility. Butteridge's invention is a major breakthrough in heavier-than-air flight, being highly manoeuvrable, capable of both very fast and very slow flight, and requiring only a small area to take off and land; it appears to combine the advantages of the helicopter
and the aeroplane in a manner superior to modern real-world V/STOL
craft. As such it would confer a significant military advantage to any nation that would put it into production.) The hot air balloon is whisked off and lands in the German aeronautic foundries in Franconia. Mistaken by the Germans for Alfred Butteridge, he is taken on board and questioned by the German ambassador Von Winterfeld. He also comes into the presence of Prince Karl Albert, the German commander of the plot. However, his disguise is foiled, and he becomes stuck on board the Vaterland, the German flagship. After witnessing the Battle of the North Atlantic and the bombing of New York, as well as an aerial battle between German and American forces, Bert Smallways realizes the true horror of war.
After New York City
is bombarded by the German flying machines, the Asiatic aerial forces fly over the Rocky Mountains
, and engage the Germans in dog fights above Niagara Falls
. The Asiatic air fleet is equipped with large numbers of lightweight one-man flying machines called Niais, which appear to be ornithopter
s, armed with a gun carried by the pilot firing explosive bullets "loaded with oxygen" for use against the hydrogen-filled airships. Smallways, stranded on Goat Island
in the middle of Niagara Falls, finds a crashed Niais and manages to escape from the island on it, crashlanding near Tanooda, NY. He learns that the Asiatic forces have landed "a million men" on the western seaboard, and turns the plans for Butteridge's flying machine over to the US president, who is hiding out in Pinkerville "on the Hudson".
The Asiatic fleet also attacks a combined Anglo-Indian aerial force, capturing the Burmese airfields, and in Australia as well, capturing the Pacific islands. In Europe, the United Kingdom, France and Italy fight the German and Swiss forces, leading to the destruction of London
, Paris
, Hamburg
and Berlin
. A global financial collapse is caused by hostile nations freezing assets, and the end of the credit system. This is referred to as "the Panic" by Smallways later on. "The Panic" is followed by "The Plague" (reportedly, according to Smallways, from "...some high place or other, Thibet
, I think..."), which, combined with the world war, the effects of the Panic, and "a Moslem insurrection from Gobi to Morocco
...the jehad", results in the total collapse of organised society. In Asia "the black flag was raised at Yokohama
", indicating an anarchist takeover. Bert Smallways, wanting to return home, catches a ride on a boat, although an outbreak of "The Plague" and an "Arab ruse" at Tenerife
nearly see him killed before returning to his now desolate home. The story advances three decades into the future to find humanity resembling barbarians, maintaining a brutal feudal society after the war's destruction, although there are mentions of military bases in the north
, where a determined few are keeping the war alive.
H. G. Wells
Herbert George Wells was an English author, now best known for his work in the science fiction genre. He was also a prolific writer in many other genres, including contemporary novels, history, politics and social commentary, even writing text books and rules for war games...
, written in 1907, serialized and published in 1908 in the Pall Mall Magazine. Like many of Wells’s works, it is notable for its prophetic ideas, images, and concepts, in this case, the use of the aircraft
Fixed-wing aircraft
A fixed-wing aircraft is an aircraft capable of flight using wings that generate lift due to the vehicle's forward airspeed. Fixed-wing aircraft are distinct from rotary-wing aircraft in which wings rotate about a fixed mast and ornithopters in which lift is generated by flapping wings.A powered...
for the purpose of warfare and the coming of World War I
World War I
World War I , which was predominantly called the World War or the Great War from its occurrence until 1939, and the First World War or World War I thereafter, was a major war centred in Europe that began on 28 July 1914 and lasted until 11 November 1918...
. The novel's hero is Bert Smallways, a forward-thinking young man, a "kind of bicycle engineer of the let's-have-a-look-at-it and enamel chipping variety."
Plot summary
Wells envisages a world in which ChinaChina
Chinese civilization may refer to:* China for more general discussion of the country.* Chinese culture* Greater China, the transnational community of ethnic Chinese.* History of China* Sinosphere, the area historically affected by Chinese culture...
and Japan
Japan
Japan is an island nation in East Asia. Located in the Pacific Ocean, it lies to the east of the Sea of Japan, China, North Korea, South Korea and Russia, stretching from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north to the East China Sea and Taiwan in the south...
form a "Confederation of Eastern Asia"; Germany
Germany
Germany , officially the Federal Republic of Germany , is a federal parliamentary republic in Europe. The country consists of 16 states while the capital and largest city is Berlin. Germany covers an area of 357,021 km2 and has a largely temperate seasonal climate...
is aggressive and thrusting; and the United States is a country torn apart "in violent conflict between Federal and State governments upon the question of universal service in a defensive militia." The British Empire
British Empire
The British Empire comprised the dominions, colonies, protectorates, mandates and other territories ruled or administered by the United Kingdom. It originated with the overseas colonies and trading posts established by England in the late 16th and early 17th centuries. At its height, it was the...
is a more pacific power, whose possessions are scattered across the globe, and distracted by "insurrectionary movements in Ireland
Ireland
Ireland is an island to the northwest of continental Europe. It is the third-largest island in Europe and the twentieth-largest island on Earth...
and among all its Subject Races. It had given these subject races cigarette
Cigarette
A cigarette is a small roll of finely cut tobacco leaves wrapped in a cylinder of thin paper for smoking. The cigarette is ignited at one end and allowed to smoulder; its smoke is inhaled from the other end, which is held in or to the mouth and in some cases a cigarette holder may be used as well...
s, boot
Boot
A boot is a type of footwear but they are not shoes. Most boots mainly cover the foot and the ankle and extend up the leg, sometimes as far as the knee or even the hip. Most boots have a heel that is clearly distinguishable from the rest of the sole, even if the two are made of one piece....
s, bowler hat
Bowler hat
The bowler hat, also known as a coke hat, derby , billycock or bombin, is a hard felt hat with a rounded crown originally created in 1849 for the English soldier and politician Edward Coke, the younger brother of the 2nd Earl of Leicester...
s, cricket
Cricket
Cricket is a bat-and-ball game played between two teams of 11 players on an oval-shaped field, at the centre of which is a rectangular 22-yard long pitch. One team bats, trying to score as many runs as possible while the other team bowls and fields, trying to dismiss the batsmen and thus limit the...
, race meetings, cheap revolver
Revolver
A revolver is a repeating firearm that has a cylinder containing multiple chambers and at least one barrel for firing. The first revolver ever made was built by Elisha Collier in 1818. The percussion cap revolver was invented by Samuel Colt in 1836. This weapon became known as the Colt Paterson...
s, petroleum
Petroleum
Petroleum or crude oil is a naturally occurring, flammable liquid consisting of a complex mixture of hydrocarbons of various molecular weights and other liquid organic compounds, that are found in geologic formations beneath the Earth's surface. Petroleum is recovered mostly through oil drilling...
, the factory system
Factory system
The factory system was a method of manufacturing first adopted in England at the beginning of the Industrial Revolution in the 1750s and later spread abroad. Fundamentally, each worker created a separate part of the total assembly of a product, thus increasing the efficiency of factories. Workers,...
of industry
Industry
Industry refers to the production of an economic good or service within an economy.-Industrial sectors:There are four key industrial economic sectors: the primary sector, largely raw material extraction industries such as mining and farming; the secondary sector, involving refining, construction,...
, half penny
British Half Penny coin
The British decimal half penny was first issued on 15 February 1971, the day the British currency was decimalised. In practice it had been available from banks in bags for some weeks previously....
newspapers in both English and the vernacular
Vernacular
A vernacular is the native language or native dialect of a specific population, as opposed to a language of wider communication that is not native to the population, such as a national language or lingua franca.- Etymology :The term is not a recent one...
, inexpensive university degree
Academic degree
An academic degree is a position and title within a college or university that is usually awarded in recognition of the recipient having either satisfactorily completed a prescribed course of study or having conducted a scholarly endeavour deemed worthy of his or her admission to the degree...
s, motor-bicycle
Motorized bicycle
A motorized bicycle, motorbike, cyclemotor, or vélomoteur is a bicycle with an attached motor and transmission used either to power the vehicle unassisted, or to assist with pedaling. Since it always retains both pedals and a discrete connected drive for rider-powered propulsion, the motorized...
s and electric tram
Tram
A tram is a passenger rail vehicle which runs on tracks along public urban streets and also sometimes on separate rights of way. It may also run between cities and/or towns , and/or partially grade separated even in the cities...
s…" France
France
The French Republic , The French Republic , The French Republic , (commonly known as France , is a unitary semi-presidential republic in Western Europe with several overseas territories and islands located on other continents and in the Indian, Pacific, and Atlantic oceans. Metropolitan France...
and the Latin Powers (Italy
Italy
Italy , officially the Italian Republic languages]] under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages. In each of these, Italy's official name is as follows:;;;;;;;;), is a unitary parliamentary republic in South-Central Europe. To the north it borders France, Switzerland, Austria and...
, Spain
Spain
Spain , officially the Kingdom of Spain languages]] under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages. In each of these, Spain's official name is as follows:;;;;;;), is a country and member state of the European Union located in southwestern Europe on the Iberian Peninsula...
, Portugal
Portugal
Portugal , officially the Portuguese Republic is a country situated in southwestern Europe on the Iberian Peninsula. Portugal is the westernmost country of Europe, and is bordered by the Atlantic Ocean to the West and South and by Spain to the North and East. The Atlantic archipelagos of the...
) are militarized, but reluctant to fight; Russia
Russia
Russia or , officially known as both Russia and the Russian Federation , is a country in northern Eurasia. It is a federal semi-presidential republic, comprising 83 federal subjects...
is divided within itself, torn apart by conflict between revolutionaries and reactionaries. Other smaller states have armed themselves as best they can.
War erupts when German aerial forces, built and supported by aeronautical parks and foundries, and consisting of airship
Airship
An airship or dirigible is a type of aerostat or "lighter-than-air aircraft" that can be steered and propelled through the air using rudders and propellers or other thrust mechanisms...
s and Drachenflieger, attempt to seize control of the air before the Americans build a large-scale aerial navy. The Germans assume that the Chinese and Japanese have no air forces. Tensions between Japan
Japan
Japan is an island nation in East Asia. Located in the Pacific Ocean, it lies to the east of the Sea of Japan, China, North Korea, South Korea and Russia, stretching from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north to the East China Sea and Taiwan in the south...
and the United States
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
, exacerbated by the issue of American citizenship being denied to Japanese immigrants, also lead to war. The "Confederation of Eastern Asia" (China and Japan) turns out to possess aerial forces, and their aircraft and tactics have been seen as a portent to the kamikaze
Kamikaze
The were suicide attacks by military aviators from the Empire of Japan against Allied naval vessels in the closing stages of the Pacific campaign of World War II, designed to destroy as many warships as possible....
of World War II
World War II
World War II, or the Second World War , was a global conflict lasting from 1939 to 1945, involving most of the world's nations—including all of the great powers—eventually forming two opposing military alliances: the Allies and the Axis...
. The United States therefore has to fight on two fronts: the Eastern and the Western, in the air as well on sea.
Bert Smallways becomes entangled in the German plot to bomb New York City when he accidentally falls into the hydrogen balloon of Alfred Butteridge, a British aviator who is apparently the only man with the "secret of the flying machine". (Aircraft development has been mainly limited to airships and what appear to be single-use semi-gliders that have to be launched from an airship (the Drachenflieger); it has not succeeded in producing a really practical heavier-than-air machine, only a few awkward devices of limited utility. Butteridge's invention is a major breakthrough in heavier-than-air flight, being highly manoeuvrable, capable of both very fast and very slow flight, and requiring only a small area to take off and land; it appears to combine the advantages of the helicopter
Helicopter
A helicopter is a type of rotorcraft in which lift and thrust are supplied by one or more engine-driven rotors. This allows the helicopter to take off and land vertically, to hover, and to fly forwards, backwards, and laterally...
and the aeroplane in a manner superior to modern real-world V/STOL
V/STOL
Vertical and/or short take-off and landing is a term used to describe aircraft that are able to take-off or land vertically or on short runways. Vertical takeoff and landing describes craft which do not require runways at all...
craft. As such it would confer a significant military advantage to any nation that would put it into production.) The hot air balloon is whisked off and lands in the German aeronautic foundries in Franconia. Mistaken by the Germans for Alfred Butteridge, he is taken on board and questioned by the German ambassador Von Winterfeld. He also comes into the presence of Prince Karl Albert, the German commander of the plot. However, his disguise is foiled, and he becomes stuck on board the Vaterland, the German flagship. After witnessing the Battle of the North Atlantic and the bombing of New York, as well as an aerial battle between German and American forces, Bert Smallways realizes the true horror of war.
After New York City
New York City
New York is the most populous city in the United States and the center of the New York Metropolitan Area, one of the most populous metropolitan areas in the world. New York exerts a significant impact upon global commerce, finance, media, art, fashion, research, technology, education, and...
is bombarded by the German flying machines, the Asiatic aerial forces fly over the Rocky Mountains
Rocky Mountains
The Rocky Mountains are a major mountain range in western North America. The Rocky Mountains stretch more than from the northernmost part of British Columbia, in western Canada, to New Mexico, in the southwestern United States...
, and engage the Germans in dog fights above Niagara Falls
Niagara Falls
The Niagara Falls, located on the Niagara River draining Lake Erie into Lake Ontario, is the collective name for the Horseshoe Falls and the adjacent American Falls along with the comparatively small Bridal Veil Falls, which combined form the highest flow rate of any waterfalls in the world and has...
. The Asiatic air fleet is equipped with large numbers of lightweight one-man flying machines called Niais, which appear to be ornithopter
Ornithopter
An ornithopter is an aircraft that flies by flapping its wings. Designers seek to imitate the flapping-wing flight of birds, bats, and insects. Though machines may differ in form, they are usually built on the same scale as these flying creatures. Manned ornithopters have also been built, and some...
s, armed with a gun carried by the pilot firing explosive bullets "loaded with oxygen" for use against the hydrogen-filled airships. Smallways, stranded on Goat Island
Goat Island (New York)
Goat Island is a small island in the Niagara River, located in the middle of Niagara Falls between the Bridal Veil Falls and the Horseshoe Falls...
in the middle of Niagara Falls, finds a crashed Niais and manages to escape from the island on it, crashlanding near Tanooda, NY. He learns that the Asiatic forces have landed "a million men" on the western seaboard, and turns the plans for Butteridge's flying machine over to the US president, who is hiding out in Pinkerville "on the Hudson".
The Asiatic fleet also attacks a combined Anglo-Indian aerial force, capturing the Burmese airfields, and in Australia as well, capturing the Pacific islands. In Europe, the United Kingdom, France and Italy fight the German and Swiss forces, leading to the destruction of London
London
London is the capital city of :England and the :United Kingdom, the largest metropolitan area in the United Kingdom, and the largest urban zone in the European Union by most measures. Located on the River Thames, London has been a major settlement for two millennia, its history going back to its...
, Paris
Paris
Paris is the capital and largest city in France, situated on the river Seine, in northern France, at the heart of the Île-de-France region...
, Hamburg
Hamburg
-History:The first historic name for the city was, according to Claudius Ptolemy's reports, Treva.But the city takes its modern name, Hamburg, from the first permanent building on the site, a castle whose construction was ordered by the Emperor Charlemagne in AD 808...
and Berlin
Berlin
Berlin is the capital city of Germany and is one of the 16 states of Germany. With a population of 3.45 million people, Berlin is Germany's largest city. It is the second most populous city proper and the seventh most populous urban area in the European Union...
. A global financial collapse is caused by hostile nations freezing assets, and the end of the credit system. This is referred to as "the Panic" by Smallways later on. "The Panic" is followed by "The Plague" (reportedly, according to Smallways, from "...some high place or other, Thibet
Tibet
Tibet is a plateau region in Asia, north-east of the Himalayas. It is the traditional homeland of the Tibetan people as well as some other ethnic groups such as Monpas, Qiang, and Lhobas, and is now also inhabited by considerable numbers of Han and Hui people...
, I think..."), which, combined with the world war, the effects of the Panic, and "a Moslem insurrection from Gobi to Morocco
Morocco
Morocco , officially the Kingdom of Morocco , is a country located in North Africa. It has a population of more than 32 million and an area of 710,850 km², and also primarily administers the disputed region of the Western Sahara...
...the jehad", results in the total collapse of organised society. In Asia "the black flag was raised at Yokohama
Yokohama
is the capital city of Kanagawa Prefecture and the second largest city in Japan by population after Tokyo and most populous municipality of Japan. It lies on Tokyo Bay, south of Tokyo, in the Kantō region of the main island of Honshu...
", indicating an anarchist takeover. Bert Smallways, wanting to return home, catches a ride on a boat, although an outbreak of "The Plague" and an "Arab ruse" at Tenerife
Tenerife
Tenerife is the largest and most populous island of the seven Canary Islands, it is also the most populated island of Spain, with a land area of 2,034.38 km² and 906,854 inhabitants, 43% of the total population of the Canary Islands. About five million tourists visit Tenerife each year, the...
nearly see him killed before returning to his now desolate home. The story advances three decades into the future to find humanity resembling barbarians, maintaining a brutal feudal society after the war's destruction, although there are mentions of military bases in the north
Scotland
Scotland is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. Occupying the northern third of the island of Great Britain, it shares a border with England to the south and is bounded by the North Sea to the east, the Atlantic Ocean to the north and west, and the North Channel and Irish Sea to the...
, where a determined few are keeping the war alive.
Influences
- Michael MoorcockMichael MoorcockMichael John Moorcock is an English writer, primarily of science fiction and fantasy, who has also published a number of literary novels....
's Oswald Bastable books, The Warlord of the Air, The Land LeviathanThe Land LeviathanThe Land Leviathan is a sci-fi/alternate history novel by Michael Moorcock, first published in 1974. Originally subtitled A New Scientific Romance, it has been seen as an early steampunk novel, dealing with an alternative British Imperial history dominated by airships and futuristic warfare. It is...
, and The Steel TsarThe Steel TsarThe Steel Tsar is a sci-fi/alternate history novel by Michael Moorcock, first published in 1981 by Granada. Being a sequel to Warlord of the Air and The Land Leviathan , it is the final part of Moorcock's A Nomad of the Time Streams trilogy regarding the adventures of Cpt...
are set in alternate early 20th centuries where vast wars have occurred bearing some resemblance to that described in The War in the Air.
- The War in the Air is part of the historical backdrop of Alan MooreAlan MooreAlan Oswald Moore is an English writer primarily known for his work in comic books, a medium where he has produced a number of critically acclaimed and popular series, including Watchmen, V for Vendetta, and From Hell...
and Kevin O'NeillKevin O'Neill (comics)Kevin O'Neill is an English comic book illustrator best known as the co-creator of Nemesis the Warlock, Marshal Law , and The League of Extraordinary Gentlemen .-Early career:...
's series The League of Extraordinary GentlemenThe League of Extraordinary GentlemenThe League of Extraordinary Gentlemen is a comic book series written by Alan Moore and illustrated by Kevin O'Neill, publication of which began in 1999. The series spans two six-issue limited series and a graphic novel from the America's Best Comics imprint of Wildstorm/DC, and a third miniseries...
, as described in The New Traveller's AlmanacThe New Traveller's AlmanacThe New Traveller's Almanac was a series of writings included in the back of all six issues of The League of Extraordinary Gentlemen, Volume II, covering the timeline and the world of The League of Extraordinary Gentlemen....
.