What were the changes of warfare throughout the history of Europe?: 3D Gallery

What were the changes of warfare throughout the history of Europe?

Throughout European history, many changes have been made to make it how it is today. These changes included what land countries took, the government of that country, and even the roles of women. One factor that has changed, however, started from being simple to complex. Warfare has experienced dramatic changes throughout the years with the advancements of technology, both in weaponry and the strategies used.

Basic warfare during Ancient Times

During the ancient times, armies often organized themselves into different units in battles. It would create new ways of fighting against enemies like phalanxes. A phalanx was a line of well-armed soldiers that became a popular strategy during that time. Phalanxes pushed in unison to attack and decrease the enemy's exposure. Before strategies like these would be used, Greeks held rituals for the will of gods because religion was an important aspect in Greek life. After these rituals, it was routine for both teams to meet each other in a suitable area to fight on.

As warfare became more mobile, cities sought to protect their land with fortification walls and lookout towers. Sieges were planned to starve enemies into yield, but offensive strategies would give attacking soldiers advantages. For example, new artillery, stone-throwing apparatus, and even flamethrowers influenced commanders to be more aggressive in siege warfares.

Soldiers wore 70 pounds of bronze armor, but later changed to leather for how heavy it was. They also equipped 8 to 10 foot spears and small swords. When joining the military, each soldier had a slave with them that carried important resources like rations, bedding, etc. When winning battles, soldiers gained benefits like land, money, weapons, and materials.

The advancements of sieges during the Middle Ages

The Middle Ages saw the advancements for new ways of siege warfare. Since the Ancient Times, fortification evolved from having fortified walls and towers to castles. Castles protected people like local elites, lords and their families, and large armies. Although building them was time-consuming, they helped repel raiders and make cavalry useless against them. That didn't make defensive fortifications impenetrable, however. Attacking enemies used a variety of siege engines to either destroy protected forts or get over the walls. Strategic creations like scaling ladders, battering rams, and catapults gave attackers more advantages of them successfully entering the enemy's castles. However, this would cause medieval fortification to become progressively stronger and make the designers focus more on defending entrances.

The Middle Ages didn't make advancements only on sieges, however. Weapons were the most important part of a knight during wars, and the Middle Ages created huge technological advancements to them since the Ancient times. Although soldiers would still form in phalanxes, new creations like broadswords, crossbows, longbows, and war pikes helped them to not only invade castles, but also penetrate an enemy's plate armor and mail easily. Longbows and crossbows shot arrows at a great range and penetrating power, pikes made the uses of foot soldiers more important than ever, and knights were able to fight easier with broadswords as their plate armor started to improve.

Small improvements during The Renaissance

As the Bubonic Plague started to affect less people, only small changes and creations were made during the time when people were trying to rebirth both figuratively and literally. The Renaissance era managed to create weapons that were based on three categories: edged, staff, and projectile. Edged weapons included daggers that were used for closed combat and larger swords were swung with two hands, making them stronger but slower.

Projectile weapons were the most improved out of the three because firearms started to replace bows and made stronger appearances like hand cannons. When firearms became more reliable and easier to use, armor began to be made harder since armor before would crack from a shot of a pistol. One effective techniques was to thicken the armor, but it made it too heavy to wear in battle. Armor gradually became less useful and would eventually not be used at all.

The rise of firearms in the Age of Absolutism

The Age of Absolutism was the turning point of warfare in Europe because firearms started to become more common and modern professional soldiers started to become the precursor. Mortars were easy and maneuverable with just one person and they shot explosive shells high in the air that exploded on impact. They were considered as the most destructive weapon used during the English Civil War, despite their difficult aim. Cannons, on the other hand, were much heavier and harder to use than mortars, but became more effective when using it to fear the enemies rather than to actually use it. Musketeers were types of soldiers that used muskets, matchlocks more preferably, that could shoot up to 300 yards. Pikes were still common during the English Civil War since they were cheaper to make and it required less training than firearms.

Some strategies were also created for each type of soldier. To aim their muskets more accurately, musketeers would kneel and crouch to aim at their enemies better before they could fire. Pike men were given sets of armor of a back and chest plate and they aimed their pikes at the chests of the enemies that were riding horses.

Improved strategies during The Age of Revolutions

The major changes of the French revolutionary armies were more of their style of fighting than their weapons. The French incorporated new formations and attacks that gave them a better flexibility on the battlefield. The column formation was one development during the revolution where the French formed in columns to maximize their fire of assaulting the infantry. Once the French attacked in the columns, there would be no stopping for them to move from the march to the attack. Attack in column also allowed the army to deploy faster and maneuver rapidly on the battlefield and the flanks from the enemy. The French also used skirmishers during battles, whom engaged targets in the enemy line to cause casualties and confusion.

When talking about the improvement of weaponry during the revolution, however, only cannons would be pioneered of new methods. Methods of cannon manufactures and mounting helped them be much lighter and more mobile to where it's possible to move them on the battlefield

The Modern turning point in WWI

Not only did World War I turn the view on modern warfare styles, but this era also created new weapons that inspired armies to still use them today. Tanks and submarines, for example, pioneered the modern way of advancing through enemy territory in a mobile way. Tanks at that time held 10 men with two machine guns. Submarines sent and received information with listening devices to locate where their enemies are while hidden. Machine guns were able to shoot fast rounds of bullets in a minute while having the view of the whole battlefield. Germans used poison gas to agonize their enemies for days and weeks, which was why they were used more as an irritant than a lethal weapon. Poison gases would be ineffective later in the war once the creations of gask masks immunized them.

When using strategies to hide behind enemies while still giving accurate shots, trenches were created to utilize those strategies. But, many soldiers would suffer in trenches because of how unsanitary it was, causing to spread diseases and make soldiers emotionally depressed. Since poison gases and tanks hard countered trenches, many countries had to find ways to keep their amount of soldiers constant. One well-known way of doing that was to spread propaganda around places to recruit new soldiers through enlistments and making them believe that fighting in the war was a dream job.

Major improvements and developments during WWII

As technology gradually advanced throughout the years, the weapons and strategies from World War I would start to improve much more during World War II. Compared to those during World War I, tanks moved much faster and was more destructive. They also had built-in radios for other soldiers to communicate with each other. Fighter planes were built to be small, fast, and maneuverable while airborne. In addition to bomber planes saving other people while causing destruction, air superiority became a key component to winning the war. For new installments with planes and submarines, apparatuses like radars and sonars helped track down enemies from miles away.

As with strategies, the French would evolve trenches into one large trench called the Maginot Line. To gain victories in battles, the Germans installed their method of warfare called Blitzkrieg where three phases would occur. They would bring heavy bombardments to their enemies with artillery, then attack with bomber and fighter planes, and finally wiping them out with armored tanks. Another country, being the USSR, used their own strategies that successfully worked against their enemies. Leningrad was a slash and burn technique where they would leave their enemies lost in their own country and wait until winter settled in.

Modern technology after World War II

After Germany surrendered in World War II, many changes have been made to maintain international peace, one being the installment of the United Nations. Many countries received changes that would benefit them, except USSR. Stalin, the leader of USSR at that time, was ignored and wasn’t given the reparations he wanted, so he decided to force out the western allies out of Berlin by blocking them in and out. This would cause a successful airlift which would fly in supplies to and out from Berlin. It would result with more alliances being created and Germany being split into two.

In the Cold War, no bloody fights occurred but rather a competition on society and weaponry. In the arms race between USSR and the US, they would debut the rise of nuclear weapons like atom bombs and missiles. Luckily, they’ve agreed to not use those nuclear weapons as it will literally result in the end of the world, hence the name Cold War.

As years progress to today, technology has tremendously improved which also made old weapons from World War I better than ever. Tanks improved in their speed, firepower, and accuracy so much that one round of shots could hit 98 percent today. Helicopters added new ways of mobility and stealth to battlefields as they could fire enemies from 60 miles away.

Username:
Password:
Submit Cancel
Not a member? JOIN NOW!

What were the changes of warfare throughout the history of Europe?