(Redirected from Military historian)
'Military history' is composed of the events in the
history of humanity that fall within the category of
conflict. This may range from a melee between two
tribes to conflicts between proper
militaries to a
world war affecting the majority of the
human population. Military historians record (in writing or otherwise) the events of military history.
Military activity has been a constant process over thousands of years. However, there is little agreement about when it began (Otterbein 2004). Some believe it has always been with us; others stress the lack of clear evidence for it in our prehistoric past, and the fact that many peaceful, non-military societies have and still do exist (See Otterbein, Fry and Kelly in bibliography below). In ''War Before Civilization'', Lawrence H. Keeley, a professor at the
University of Illinois, calculates that approximately 90-95% of known societies engaged in at least occasional
warfare, and many fought constantly.
[1][2][3][4]
The essential
tactics,
strategy, and goals of military operations have been unchanging throughout the past 5,000 years of our 90,000-year human history. As an example one notable maneuver is the
double envelopment, considered to be the consummate
military maneuver, executed by
Hannibal at the
Battle of Cannae in
216 BC, over 2,200 years ago. This maneuver was also later effectively used by
Khalid ibn al-Walid at the
Battle of Walaja in
633 AD,
Daniel Morgan at the
Battle of Cowpens over 1100 years later, and was described by the
Chinese military theorist
Sun Tzu, who wrote at roughly the same time as the founding of
Rome. By the study of history, the military seeks to not repeat past mistakes, and improve upon its current performance by instilling an ability in commanders to perceive historical parallels during
battle, so as to capitalize on the lessons learned. The main areas military history includes are the history of
wars,
battles, and combats, history of the military art, and history of each specific
military service.
There are a number of ways to categorize warfare. One categorization is conventional versus unconventional, where
conventional warfare involves well-identified, armed forces fighting one another in a relatively open and straightforward way without weapons of mass destruction.
"Unconventional" refers to other types of war which can involve
raiding,
guerrilla,
insurgency, and
terrorist tactics or alternatively can include
nuclear,
chemical, or
biological warfare.
All of these categories usually fall into one of two broader categories: High intensity and low intensity warfare. High intensity warfare is between two superpowers or large countries fighting for political reasons. Low intensity warfare involves counterinsurgency, guerilla warfare and specialized types of troops fighting revolutionaries.
Periods
One method of dividing such a massive topic is by cutting it into
periods of time. While useful this method tends to be inaccurate and differences in geography mean there is little uniformity. What might be described as
ancient warfare is still practiced in a number of parts of the world. Other eras that are distinct in
European history, such as the era of
Medieval warfare, may have little relevance in
East Asia.
Prehistoric warfare
The beginning of prehistoric wars is a disputed issue between
anthropologists and
historians. In the earliest
societies, such as
hunter-gatherer societies, there were no
social roles or
divisions of labor (with the exception of age or
sex differences), so every able person contributed to any
raids or defense of territory.
In ''War Before Civilization'', Lawrence H. Keeley, a professor at the University of Illinois, calculates that 87% of
tribal societies were at war more than once per year, and some 65% of them were fighting continuously. The attrition rate of numerous close-quarter clashes, which characterize
warfare in
tribal warrior society, produces casualty rates of up to 60%.
The introduction of agriculture brought large differences between farm workers' societies and hunter-gatherer groups. Probably, during periods of famine, hunters started to massively attack the villages of countrymen, leading to the beginning of organized warfare. In relatively advanced
agricultural societies a major differentiation of roles was possible; consequently the figure of professional
soldiers or militaries as distinct, organized units was born.
Ancient warfare
The first
archaeological record, though disputed, of a prehistoric battle is about seven thousand years old, and it is located on the
Nile in
Egypt, in an area known as
Cemetery 117. A large number of bodies, many with
arrowheads embedded in their skeletons, indicates that they may have been the casualties of a battle.
Much of what we know of
ancient history is the history of militaries: their conquests, their movements, and their technological
innovations. There are many reasons for this.
Kingdoms and
empires, the central units of control in the ancient world, could only be maintained through military force. Due to limited agricultural ability, there were relatively few areas that could support large communities, so fighting was common.
Weapons and
armor, designed to be sturdy, tended to last longer than other artifacts, and thus a great deal of surviving artifacts recovered tend to fall in this category as they are more likely to survive. Weapons and armor were also mass-produced to a scale that makes them quite plentiful throughout history, and thus more likely to be found in archaeological digs. Such items were also considered signs of posterity or virtue, and thus were likely to placed in tombs and monuments to prominent warriors. And
writing, when it existed, was often used for kings to boast of military conquests or victories.
Writing, when used by the common man, also tended to record such events, as major battles and conquests constituted major events that many would have considered worthy of recording either in an epic such as the
Homeric writings pertaining to the Trojan War, or even personal writings. Indeed the earliest stories center around warfare, as war was both a common and dramatic aspect of life; the witnessing of a major battle involving many thousands of soldiers would be quite a spectacle, even today, and thus considered worthy both of being recorded in song and art, but also in realistic histories, as well as being a central element in a fictional work. Lastly, as nation-states evolved and empires grew, the increased need for order and efficiency lead to an increase in the number of records and writings. Officials and armies would have good reason for keeping detailed records and accounts involving any and all things concerning a matter such as warfare that in the words of
Sun Tzu was "a matter of vital importance to the state". For all these reasons, military history comprises a large part of ancient history.
Notable militaries in the ancient world included the
Egyptians,
Babylonians,
Persians,
Greeks (notably the
Spartans and
Macedonians),
Indians (notably the
Magadhas,
Gangaridais and
Gandharas),
Chinese (notably the
Qins),
Xiongnu,
Romans, and
Carthiginians.
The
fertile crescent of
Mesopotamia was the center of several prehistoric conquests. Mesopotamia was conquered by the
Sumerians,
Akkadians,
Babylonians,
Assyrians and
Persians.
Iranians were the first nation who introduced
cavalry into their army.
[5]
Egypt began growing as an ancient power, but eventually fell to the
Persians,
Greeks,
Romans,
Byzantines and
Arabs.
The earliest recorded battle in
India was the
Battle of the Ten Kings. The
Indian epics ''
Mahabharata'' and ''
Ramayana'' are centred around conflicts and refer to military formations, theories of warfare and esoteric weaponry.
Chanakya's ''
Arthashastra'' contains a detailed study on ancient warfare, including topics on
espionage and
war elephants. Alexander the Great invaded Northwestern India and defeated King
Porus in the
Battle of the Hydaspes River. The same region was soon conquered by
Chandragupta Maurya after defeating the Macedonians and
Seleucids. He also went on to conquer the
Nanda Empire and unify Northern India. Most of
Southern Asia was unified under his grandson
Ashoka the Great after the
Kalinga War, though the empire collapsed not long after his reign.
In
China, the
Shang Dynasty and
Zhou Dynasty had risen and collapsed. This led to a
Warring States Period, in which several states continued to fight with each other over territory.
Confucius and
Sun Tzu wrote various theories on ancient warfare (as well as international diplomacy). The Warring States era philosopher
Mozi (
Micius) and his
Mohist followers invented various siege weapons and siege crafts, including the Cloud Ladder (a four-wheeled, protractable ramp) to scale fortified walls during a siege of an enemy city. China was first unified by
Qin Shi Huang after a series of military conquests. His
empire was succeeded by the
Han Dynasty, which later came into conflict with the
Xiongnu, and collapsed into an era of continuous warfare during the
Three Kingdoms period.
The
Achaemenid Persian Empire was founded by
Cyrus the Great after conquering the
Median Empire,
Neo-Babylonian Empire,
Lydia and
Asia Minor. His successor
Cambyses went onto conquer the
Egyptian Empire, much of
Central Asia, and parts of Greece, India and
Libya. The empire later fell to
Alexander the Great after defeating
Darius III. After being ruled by the
Seleucid dynasty, the Persian Empire was subsequently ruled by the
Parthian and
Sassanid dynasties, which were the
Roman Empire's greatest rivals during the
Roman-Persian Wars.
In
Greece, several
city-states emerged to power, including
Athens and
Sparta. The Greeks successfully stopped two
Persian invasions, the first at the
Battle of Marathon, where the Persians were led by
Darius the Great, and the second at the
Battle of Salamis, a naval battle where the Greek ships were deployed by orders of
Themistocles and the Persians were under
Xerxes I, and the land engagement of the
Battle of Plataea. The
Peloponnesian War then erupted between the two Greek powers
Athens and
Sparta. Athens built a long wall to protect its inhabitants, but the wall helped to facilitate the spread of a plague that killed about 30,000 Atheninans, including
Pericles. After a disastrous campaign against
Syracuse, the Athenian navy was decisively defeated by
Lysander at the
Battle of Aegospotami.
The
Macedonians, underneath
Philip II of Macedon and
Alexander the Great, invaded
Persia and won several major victories, establishing Macedonia as a major power. However, following Alexander's death at an early age, the empire quickly fell apart.
Meanwhile,
Rome was gaining power, following a rebellion against the
Etruscans. At the three
Punic Wars, the Romans defeated the neighboring power of Carthage. The
First Punic War centered around
naval warfare over
Sicily; after the Roman development of the
corvus, the Romans were able to board Carthaginian ships. The
Second Punic War started with
Hannibal’s invasion of
Italy by crossing the
Alps. He famously won the encirclement at the
Battle of Cannae. However, after
Scipio invaded Carthage, Hannibal was forced to follow and was defeated at the
Battle of Zama, ending the role of Carthage as a power. The
Third Punic War was a failed revolt against the Romans.
In
54 BCE the Roman triumvir
Marcus Licinius Crassus took the offensive against the
Parthian Empire in the east. In a decisive battle at
Carrhae Romans were defeated and the golden
Aquila (legionary battle standards) was taken as trophy to
Ctesiphon. The result was one of the worst defeats suffered by the Roman Republic in its entire history. Romans after this defeat learnt the impotance of cavalry from Iranians and introduced it into their army, just as nearly a thousand year earlier the first Iranian to reached the
Iranian Plateau introduced the
Assyrians to a similar reform.
5
Rome quickly took over the Greeks and were expanding into
Gaul, winning battles against the
barbarians. By the time of
Marcus Aurelius, the Romans had expanded to the Atlantic Ocean in the west to
Mesopotamia in the east. However, Aurelius marked the end of the
Five Good Emperors, and Rome quickly fell to decline. The
Huns,
Goths, and other barbaric groups invaded Rome, which continued to suffer from
inflation and other internal strifes. Despite the attempts of
Diocletian,
Constantine I, and
Theodosius I, western Rome collapsed. The
Byzantine empire continued to prosper, however.
Medieval warfare
When
stirrups came into use some time during the
dark age militaries were forever changed. This invention coupled with technological, cultural, and social developments had forced a dramatic transformation in the character of warfare from
antiquity, changing
military tactics and the role of
cavalry and
artillery. Similar patterns of warfare existed in other parts of the world. In China around the
fifth century armies moved from massed infantry to cavalry based forces, copying the
steppe nomads. The
Middle East and
North Africa used similar, if often more advanced, technologies than Europe. In
Japan the Medieval warfare period is considered by many to have stretched into the
nineteenth century. In Africa along the
Sahel and
Sudan states like the
Kingdom of Sennar and
Fulani Empire employed Medieval tactics and weapons well after they had been supplanted in Europe.
In the
Medieval period,
feudalism was firmly implanted, and there existed many
landlords in Europe. Landlords often owned
castles to protect their territory.
The
Islamic
Arab Empire began rapidly expanding throughout the
Middle East,
North Africa, and
Central Asia, initially led by
Khalid ibn al-Walid, and later under the
Umayyads, expanded to the
Iberian Peninsula in the west and the
Indus Valley in the east. The
Abassids then took over the Arab Empire, though the Umayyads remained in control of
Islamic Spain. At the
Battle of Tours, the
Franks under
Charles Martel stopped short a Muslim invasion. The Abassids defeated the
Tang Chinese army at the
Battle of Talas, but were later defeated by the
Seljuk Turks and the
Mongols centuries later, until the Arab Empire eventually came to an end after the
Battle of Baghdad in 1258.
In
China, the
Sui Dynasty had risen and conquered the Chen Dynasty of the south. They invaded Vietnam (northern Vietnam had been in Chinese control since the Han Dynasty), fighting the troops of
Champa, who had cavalry mounted on elephants. The Sui collapsed and was followed by the
Tang Dynasty, who fought with various
Turkish groups, the
Tibetans of
Lhasa, the
Tanguts, the
Khitans, and collapsed due to political fragmentation of powerful regional military governors (jiedushi). The innovative
Song Dynasty followed next, inventing new weapons of war that employed the use of
Greek Fire and
gunpowder (see section below) against enemies such as the
Jurchens. The
Mongols under
Genghis Khan,
Ogodei Khan,
Mongke Khan, and finally
Kublai Khan later invaded and eventually defeated the Chinese Song Dynasty by 1279. The
Mongol Empire continued to expand throughout
Asia and
Eastern Europe, but following the death of
Kublai Khan, it fell apart.
Gunpowder warfare
After
Gunpowder weapons were first developed in
Song Dynasty China (see also
Technology of Song Dynasty), the technology later spread west to the
Ottoman Empire, from where it spread to the
Safavid Empire of Persia and the
Mughal Empire of India. The
arquebus was later adopted by European armies during the
Italian Wars of the early
16th century. This all brought an end to the dominance of armored cavalry on the battlefield. The simultaneous decline of the feudal system — and the absorption of the medieval city-states into larger states — allowed the creation of professional standing armies to replace the
feudal levies and mercenaries that had been the standard military component of the Middle Ages. The period spanning between the 1648
Peace of Westphalia and the 1789
French Revolution is also known as ''
Kabinettskriege'' (Princes' warfare) as wars were mainly carried out by imperial or monarchics states, decided by cabinets and limited in scope and in their aims. They also involved quickly shifting alliances, and mainly used mercenaries.
Some developments of this period:
★
Field artillery
★
Battalions
★
Infantry drill
★
Dragoons
★
Bayonets
Industrial warfare
As weapons—particularly small arms—became easier to use, countries began to abandon a complete reliance on professional soldiers in favor of
conscription. Technological advances became increasingly important; while the armies of the previous period had usually had similar weapons, the industrial age saw encounters such as the
Battle of Sadowa, in which possession of a more advanced technology played a decisive role in the outcome.
Conscription was employed in industrial warfare to increase the amount of soldiers that were available for combat. This was used by
Napoleon Bonaparte in the
Napoleonic Wars.
Total war was used in industrial warfare, the objective being to prevent the opposing nation to engage in war.
William Tecumseh Sherman's "March to the Sea" and
Philip Sheridan's burning of the
Shenandoah Valley are examples of total warfare.
Modern warfare
In modern times, war has evolved from an activity steeped in tradition to a
scientific enterprise where success is valued above methods. The notion of
total war is the extreme of this trend. Militaries have developed technological advances rivalling the scientific accomplishments of any other field of study.
However, it should be noted that modern militaries benefit in the development of these technologies under the funding of the
public, the leadership of
national governments, and often in cooperation with large
civilian groups, such as the
General Dynamics and
Lockheed Martin corporations, in the
United States. And as for "total war," it may be argued that it is not an exclusive practice of modern militaries, but in the tradition of
genocidal conflict that marks even tribal warfare to this day. What distinguishes modern military organizations from those previous is not their willingness to prevail in conflict by any method, but rather the technological variety of tools and methods available to modern battlefield commanders, from
submarines to
satellites, from
knives to
nuclear warheads.
Some of the military unit types and technologies which were developed in modern times are:
★
Ammunition
★
Armory
★
Conscription
★
Grenadier
★
Sappers and Miners
★
Marine
★
Aviation
★
Musketeer
★
Rifleman
★
Special Forces
★
Naval Combatant
★
Global Information Grid
★
Active Electronically Scanned Array
★
Network-centric warfare
★
Supercomputer
★
Space warfare
★
Cyberwar
World War I was sparked by the assassination of
Archduke Franz Ferdinand, leading to the mobilization of
Austria and
Serbia. The
Germans joined the Austrians to form the Central powers; the
French,
British, and
Russians formed the Allied powers. Following the
Battle of the Marne and the outflanking attempt of both nations in the "
Race to the Sea",
trench warfare ensued, leaving the war in a great deadlock. Major operations by the Germans at the
Battle of Verdun and by the British and the French at the
Battle of the Somme were carried out, and new technology like tanks and chlorine gas were used. Following the
USA's entrance into the war, the Germans and their allies were eventually defeated.
World War II ensued after
Germany's invasion of
Poland, forcing
Britain and
France to declare war. The Germans allied with
Italy and Japan quickly defeated France and Belgium. A hasty evacuation occurred at
Dunkirk to save the Allied army from complete disaster. The Germans then attacked Russia and marched to take over the Russian resources, but were thwarted. Meanwhile, Japan had launched a surprise attack on
Pearl Harbor, leading the
United States to join the Allied powers. In Europe, the Allies opened three fronts: in the west, after securing
Normandy; in the east, aiding Russia; and in the south, through Italy. Germany eventually surrendered, upon which the Allies turned and focused troops to do
island hopping. The dropping of the
atom bombs on
Hiroshima and
Nagasaki led to the surrender of Japan and the end of the Second World War.
The
Cold War then emerged, reaching the climax at the
Cuban Missile Crisis. Hostilities never actually occurred, though the US did engage against
communist states in the
Korean War and the
Vietnam War.
Technological evolution
New weapons development can dramatically alter the face of war.
In
prehistoric times, fighting occurred by usage of clubs and spears, as early as 35,000 BC.
Arrows,
maces, and
slings were developed around 12,000 BC.
Chariots, pulled by animals like the
onager,
ox,
donkey, and later the
horse, originated around 2,000 BC.
[6] The chariot was an effective weapon for speed; while one man controlled the maneuvering of the chariot, a second bowman could shoot arrows at enemy soldiers. These became crucial to the maintenance of several governments, including the
New Egyptian Kingdom and the
Shang dynasty.
Some of the military unit types and technologies which were developed in antiquity are:
★
Slinger
★
Hoplite
★
Auxiliaries
★
Hastati
★
Principes
★
Triarii
★
Velites
The
infantry would become the core of military action. The infantry started as opposing armed groups of soldiers underneath commanders. The
Greeks used rigid, heavily-armed
phalanxes, but the
Romans used mobile
legions that were easily maneuverable.
Cavalry would become an important tool. In the
Sicilian Expedition, led by
Athens in an attempt to subdue
Syracuse, the well-trained Syracusan cavalry became crucial to the success of the Syracusans.
Macedonian
Alexander the Great effectively deployed his cavalry forces to secure victories. In later battles, like the
Battle of Cannae of the
Second Punic War, the importance of the cavalry would be repeated.
Hannibal was able to surround the Romans on three sides and encircled them by sending the cavalry to the rear of the army. There were also
horse archers, who had the ability to shoot on horseback- the
Mongols were especially fearsome with this tactic. In the
Middle Ages, armored
cataphracts continued to fight on horseback. Even in the
First World War, cavarly was still considered important; the British mobilized 165,000 horses, the Austrians 600,000, the Germans 715,000, and the Russians more than a million.
[ The First World War, , John, Keegan, Random House, Inc., 1999, ISBN 0-375-40052-4 ]
The early
Indo-Iranians developed the use of
chariots in warfare. The
scythed chariot was later invented in India and soon adopted by the Persian Empire.
War elephants were often deployed for fighting in ancient warfare. They were first used in India and later adopted by both the
Persians and
Alexander the Great against one another. War elephants were also used in the
Battle of the Hydaspes River, and by
Hannibal in the
Second Punic War against the Romans.(The effectiveness of war elephants in a battle is a matter of debate)
There were also organizational changes, made possible by better training and intercommunication.
Combined arms was the concept of using
infantry,
cavalry, and
artillery in a coordinated way. The
Romans,
Swiss, and others made advances with this, which arguably led to them being unbeatable for centuries.
Naval warfare was often crucial to military success. Early navies used sailing ships without cannons; often the goal was to ram the enemy ships and cause them to sink. There was human oar power, often using
slaves, built up to ramming speed.
Galleys were used in the
3rd millennium BC by the
Cretans. The
Greeks later advanced these ships. In
1210 BC, the first recorded naval battle was fought between
Suppiluliuma II, king of the
Hittites, and
Cyprus, which was defeated. In the
Persian Wars, the navy became of increasing importance.
Triremes were involved in more complicated sea-land operations.
Themistocles helped to build up a stronger Greek navy, composed of 310 ships, and defeated the Persians at the
Battle of Salamis, ending the Persian invasion of Greece.
[7] In the
First Punic War, the war between
Carthage and
Rome started with an advantage to Carthage because of their naval experience. A Roman fleet was built in
261 BC, with the addition of the
corvus that allowed Roman soldiers onboard the ships to board the enemy ships. The bridge would prove effective at the
Battle of Mylae, resulting in a Roman victory. The
Vikings, in the
8th century AD, invented a ship propelled by oars with a dragon decorating the prow, hence called the
Drakkar.
Fortifications are important in warfare. Early
hill-forts were used to protect inhabitants in the
Iron Age. They were primitive forts surrounded by ditches filled with water.
[8] Forts were then built out of mud bricks, stones, wood, and other available materials. Romans used rectangular fortresses built out of wood and stone. As long as there have been fortifications, there have been contraptions to break in, dating back to the times of
Romans and earlier.
Siege warfare is often necessary to capture forts.
Some of the military unit types and technologies which were used in the medieval period are:
★
Artillery
★
Cataphract
★
Condottieri
★
Fyrd
★
Janissary
★
Knight (see also:
Chivalry)
★
Crossbow
★
Pikeman
★
Samurai
★
Sipahi
Bows and
arrows were often used by combatants. Egyptians shot arrows from chariots effectively. The
crossbow was developed around 500 BC in
China, and was used a lot in the
Middle Ages.
[9] The
English/
Welsh longbow from the 12th century also became important in the
Middle Ages. It helped to give the English a large early advantage in the
Hundred Years' War, even though the English were eventually defeated. It dominated battlefields for over a century.
In the 10th century, the invention of gunpowder led to many new weapons that were improved over time.
Blackpowder was used in
China since the
4th Century, but it was not used as a weapon until the
11th century. Until the mid-15th century, guns were held in one hand, while the
explosive charge was ignited by the other hand. Then came the
matchlock, which was used widely until around the 1720s.
Leonardo da Vinci made drawings of the
wheel lock which made its own sparks. Eventually, the matchlock was replaced by the
flintlock.
Cannons were first used in Europe in the early 14th century, and played a vital role in the
Hundred Years' War. The first cannons were simply welded metal bars in the form of a cylinder, and the first cannonballs were made of stone. By 1346, at the
battle of Crécy, the cannon had been used; at the
Battle of Agincourt they would be used again.
[10]
At the beginning of the
16th century, the first European
fire ships were used. Ships were filled with
flammable materials, set on fire, and sent to enemy lines. This tactic was successfully used by
Francis Drake to scatter the
Spanish Armada at the Battle of
Gravelines,
[11] and would later be used by the Chinese, Russians, Greeks, and several other countries in naval battles.
Naval mines were invented in the
17th century, though they were not used in great numbers until the
American Civil War. They were used heavily in the
First World War and
Second World War.
The first model of
submarine was invented in 1624 by
Cornelius Drebbel, which could go to depth of 15 feet (5 m). However, the first war submarine as we presently think of it was constructed in
1885 by
Isaac Peral.
The Turtle was developed by
David Bushnell during the
American Revolution.
Robert Fulton then improved the submarine design by creating the
Nautilus (submarine).
[12]
The
Howitzer, a type of
field artillery, was developed in 17th century to fire high
trajectory explosive shells at targets that could not be reached by flat trajectory projectiles.
Bayonets also became of wide usage to infantry soldiers.
Bayonet is named after
Bayonne,
France where it was first manufactured in the 16th century. It is used often in infantry charges to fight in hand-to-hand combat. General
Jean Martinet introduced the bayonet to the French army. They were used a lot in the
American Civil War, and continued to be used in modern wars like the
Invasion of Iraq.
Balloons were first used in warfare at the end of the
18th century. It was first introduced in Paris of 1783; the first balloon traveled over 5 miles (8 km). Previously military
scouts could only see from high points on the ground, or from the mast of a ship. Now they could be high in the sky, signalling to troops on the ground. This made it much more difficult for troop movements to go unobserved.
At the end of the 18th century, iron-cased rockets were successfully used militarily in India against the British by
Tipu Sultan of the Kingdom of
Mysore during the
Anglo-Mysore Wars. Rockets were generally inaccurate at that time, though
William Hale, in 1844, was able to develop a better rocket. The new rocket no longer needed the
rocket stick, and had a higher accuracy.
In the 1860s there were a series of advancements in
rifles. The first
repeating rifle was designed in 1860 by a company bought out by
Winchester, which made new and improved versions.
Springfield rifles arrived in the mid-19th century also.
Machine guns arrived in the middle of the 19th century.
Automatic rifles and
light machine guns first arrived at the beginning of the 20th century.
Also in the 1860s came the first boats that would later be known as
torpedo boats. These were first used in the
American Civil War, but generally were not successful. Several
Confederates used
spar torpedoes, which were bombs on long poles designed to attach to boats. In the later part of the 19th century, the self-propelled
torpedo was developed. The
HNoMS Rap
At the start of the World Wars, various nations had developed weapons that were a surprise to their adversaries, leading to a need to learn from this, and alter how to combat them.
Flame throwers were first used in the first world war. The French were the first to introduce the
armored car in 1902. Then in 1918, the British produced the first
armored troop carrier. Many early
tanks were proof of concept but impractical until further development. In
World War I, the British and French held a crucial advantage due to their superiority in tanks; the Germans had only a few dozen A
7V tanks, as well as 170 captured tanks. The British and French both had over several hundred each. The French tanks included the 13 ton
Schnedier-Creusot, with a 75 mm gun, and the British had the
Mark IV and
Mark V tanks.
[The First World War, pp. 410]
On
December 17,
1903, the
Wright Brothers performed the first controlled, powered, heavier-than-air flight; it went 39 meters (120 ft). In 1907, the first
helicopter flew, but it wasn't practical for usage.
Aviation became important in
World War I, in which several
aces gained fame. In 1911 an
aircraft took off from a
warship for the first time. It was a
cruiser.
Take-offs were soon perfected, but deck landings on a cruiser were another matter. This led to the development of an
aircraft carrier with a decent unobstructed flight deck.
Chemical warfare exploded into the public consciousness in
World War I but may have been used in earlier wars without as much human attention. The Germans used gas-filled shells at the
Battle of Bolimov on
January 3,
1915. These were not lethal, however. In April 1915, the Germans developed a chlorine gas that was highly lethal, and used it to great effect at
Second Battle of Ypres.
[The First World War, pp. 197-199]
World War II gave rise to even more technology. The worth of the
aircraft carrier was proved in the battles between the
United States and
Japan like the
Battle of Midway.
Radar was independently invented by the
Allies and
Axis powers. It used
radio waves to detect nearby objects.
Molotov cocktails were invented by the
Finns in 1939, during the
Winter War. The
atomic bomb was developed by the
Manhattan Project and
launched at Hiroshima and Nagasaki in 1945, ultimately ending World War II.
During the
Cold War, even though fighting did not actually occur, the superpowers- the
United States and
Russia- engaged in a
race to develop and increase the level of technology available for military purposes. In the
space race, both nations attempted to launch human beings into space to the moon. Other technological advances centered around intelligence (like the
spy satellite) and missiles (
ballistic missiles,
cruise missiles).
Nuclear submarine, invented in 1955. This meant submarines no longer had to surface as often, and could run more quietly. They evolved into becoming underwater missile platforms.
Cruise missiles were invented in Nazi Germany during World War II in the form of the V-1.
Historiography
Gaining an accurate assessment of past military encounters may prove difficult because of
bias, even in ancient times, and systematic
propaganda in more modern times. Descriptions of battles by leaders may be unreliable due to the inclination to minimize mention of failures and exaggerate when boasting of successes. Further,
military secrets may prevent some salient facts from being reported at all; scholars still do not know the nature of
Greek fire, for instance. Despite these limitations, wars are some of the most studied and detailed periods of human history.
Homer, in the
Iliad, described the
Trojan War. However, the
historicity of the Iliad is doubtful, as many historians believe that the Iliad is essentially legendary. Others believe that it is partly historical.
Herodotus (484 BC - 425 BC) wrote the ''
The Histories''. He is, along with Thucydides, often known as the "father of history".
[13] Thucydides (460 BC - 395 BC) is regarded as the first scientific historian by dismissing the notions of deities taking active part in history. Despite being an
Athenian, he remained an impartial historian, taking advantage of his exile to research the war from different perspectives. To do such, he carefully examined documents and interviewed eyewitnesses.
[14]
Xenophon (430 BC - 355 BC) is most known for ''
Anabasis'', in which he records the expedition of
Cyrus the Younger into
Turkey. It was one of the first books centered around the analysis of a leader.
Julius Caesar (100 BC - 44 BC) authored several military books, such as ''
Commentarii de Bello Gallico'' and ''
Commentarii de Bello Civili'', in which he comments upon his campaigns.
Some other more recent prominent military historians include:
★
Hans Delbrück (1848-1929)
★
Charles Oman (1860-1946)
★
Basil Liddell Hart (1895-1970)
★
Martin van Creveld (1946)
★
John Keegan (1934)
★
William Ledyard Rodgers (d. 1944)
★
Lynn Montross (d. 1961)
★
Cornelius Ryan
★
R. Ernest & Trevor N. Dupuy (a.k.a. Dupuy & Dupuy)
★
John Terraine (1921-2003)
★
George F.G. Stanley (1907-2002)
★
Victor Davis Hanson
See also
★
Colonialism
★
Historical reenactment
★
Manuel de Landa's ''
War in the Age of Intelligent Machines'' (1991)
★
Military science
★
Imperialism
★
Prisoner of war
★
Prisoner-of-war camp
★
Battledress
★
Militaria
★
War
★
Wargaming
★
Weapon
By region
Bibliography
★ Fry, Douglas P., 2005, ''The Human Potential for Peace: An Anthropological Challenge to Assumptions about War and Violence'', Oxford University Press.
★ Kelly, Raymond C., 2000, ''Warless Societies and the Origin of War'', University of Michigan Press.
★ Otterbein, Keith, 2004, ''How War Began''. Texas A&M University Press.
Other
★
ancient Rome
★
Roman warfare
★
Ancient Greek warfare
★
Soviet Union
Footnotes
1. War Before Civilization - Lawrence H. Keeley
2. Review: War Before Civilization
3. War before Civilization: The Myth of the Peaceful Savage
4. Gene Expression: Primitive Warfare
5. Suren-Pahlav S., ''General Surena; The Hero of Carrhae''
6. The origin of the true chariot. Extract from Anthony, David W. (September 1995). ''Horse, wagon & chariot: Indo-European languages and archaeology''. Antiquity.
7. Moerbeek, Martijn (January 21, 1998). The battle of Salamis, 480 BC. Accessed May 16, 2006.
8. The Medieval Castle. Accessed May 16, 2006.
9. Selby, Stephen (2001). A Crossbow Mechanism with Some Unique Features from Shandong, China. Accessed on May 17, 2006.
10. Calvert, J.B. (February 19, 2006) Cannons and Gunpowder. Accessed on May 18, 2006.
11. Jorge. The "Invincible" Armada. Accessed on May 18, 2006.
12. Early Underwater Warfare. California Center for Military History. Accessed on May 18, 2006.
13. Annie Warburton (November 28, 2003). Herodotus: the father of history. Accessed on May 18, 2006.
14. World History: The Human Experience, , Mounir A., Farah, McGraw-Hill, 1999, ISBN 0-02-821576-1
External links
★
Houghton Mifflin's ''Reader's Companion to Military History''
★
Why Study War?, by Victor Davis Hanson, ''City Journal,'' Summer 2007
★
America Military History and Resolution
★
Military History Encyclopedia
★
Military History Wiki
★
Military History Podcast
★
Israeli Special Forces operations and history at isayeret.com
★
Military and Service Magazines of the World's Forces, World War II
★
U.S. Army Center for Military History (CMH)
العربية
中国
Français
Deutsch
Ελληνική
हिन्दी
Italiano
日本語
Português
Русский
Español
