One of the reasons for all the bracing on early planes was that they had to be as light as possible, which meant thin, flexible wings made of a wood or metal tubing framework covered with canvas. The external bracing and (just barely visible) bracing wires on this Rumpler Taube (dove) carried much of the load. Aircraft engines developed as quickly as airframe design, and as engines grew more powerful airframes could use bigger, more robust internal frameworks with less need for external bracing. (Wikimedia Commons https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Bundesarchiv_Bild_146-1972-003-64,_Flugzeug_Rumpler-Taube_nach_dem_Start.jpg)