Impact of transport on human existence is immense. Development and success of any country in peace and war is directly dependent on the means of transport at its disposal. Throughout history the unity and strength of each country changed upon its success in developing the means and routes of transportation.
In early civilizations large rivers shaped empires. Nile and Yangtze, for example, were routes of transportation along which common people, merchants and armies moved and established themselves. They created rivers cultures which were present in any aspect of life.
In this pattern, thousands of years later, the Romans control of overland transport using engineering skills to build roads, led to the flourishing of the Roman Empire.
In the same All Inclusive pattern the British Empire had emerged thanks to British shipyards, which created for military and commercial fleet the finest vessels in the 18th and 19th centuries.
Development of transport by rail in these centuries brought about the expansion of the United States from coast to coast. Railroads were a major component in the Industrial Revolution, spread of urbanization around the world, and the development of international trade.
Today all civilized countries are investing their means developing innovative transportation systems and routes and keeping them. Government investment, subsidies, supervision of the ownership and use, make transportation very identified with nationalism.
Today it is very difficult to imagine how revolutionary was the invention of the airplane. Cradle of human life is the sea and all activity by it is natural. For thousands of years the marine transportation flourished along the coasts and rivers and shaped the ancient world.
Overland transport innovations like the wheel, which was invented more than five thousand years ago, created social, political and military revolutions whose influence exist to this day .
Aviation transportation revolution is only about two hundred years old and it lacks any cultural background. The invention of the airplane and its accelerated development was a big surprise to mankind. In Early 20th century most people still thought that heavier then air flying machines would be impossible in their lives.
All psychological thoughts were about flight’s religious sources, mythology and folklore. The thoughts of human flying were originated from selected texts that describe supernatural vision of gods and demigods, or animals. These texts are most important because of their impact on the human mind, ever attracted to them as a primary spiritual source.
Judaism described God's image as an eagle hovering over the chicks. Angels are always winged and the high ceilings of the Christian cathedrals are decorated with their figures. In Greek mythology the legend of Icarus and Daedalus is very famous, and as well known is the winged horse Pegasus. In Far East cultures dragons are flying. One of the heroes of the Koran is the angel Gabriel, appearing before Muhammad wherever he wants.
This exotic picture emerge in the mind when talking about flying in the classic context.
Compared to aviation, the stories about life on land and sea are documented very well in ancient civilizations. Kings recorded their military voyages and poets combined land and sea transportation stories in all ancient tales. The Iliad and the Odyssey, for example, which tell the story of the Trojan War and Odysseus's maritime journey, is a showcase of the competition between sea and land civilizations, each with their advantages and disadvantages.
The huge gap between land and sea cultural heritages to that of air cultural heritage widened along the ages, as land and sea transportation developed rapidly, while air transportation remained a dream.
Desire to soar in the skies and fly like birds captivated always the human imagination. But this desire to rise above earthly environment and conquer the ocean of air increased manifolds in the modern era, as technology and free mind changed the human world rapidly. What was a regular calm feature of many cultures in the ancient and medieval world became a technological obsession and race of many minds and countries by the beginning of the 20th century.
Source:
Nazi Germany Aviation as Major Cause for the Holocaust
Poetic and Healing Research
Part A – Chapter 2
Author: Avinoam Amizan
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