European Warfare Throughout History: 3D Gallery

The Crusader's Long Fight

Designer: Domenico Paradisi
Medium: Wool, silk
Dimensions: 144 in x 230 in
Date Designed: 1689-93
Date Woven: 1732-39

Paradisi's tapestry above shows the Crusaders reaching the “Holy Land” of Jerusalem. Between the years 1095-1291, a total of eight Crusades occurred. The Western European Christians were fighting the Muslim Empire to retake Jerusalem. The tapestries show the moment the Crusaders reach Jerusalem. The Crusades were stretched over such a long period of time and the results were unsatisfactory. One of the reasons the crusades took so long was because of the travel time. Around 1095 a group of Arabs took control of Jerusalem and closed the city to Jews and Christians. Then, Pope Urban II called for the people of Western Europe to take back Jerusalem for the Christians. Around 30,000 men, specifically from France, left to travel to Jerusalem from Western Europe,. It took them two full years of intense, dangerous travel to get to Jerusalem. Though many suffered from death and lethargy they were able to fight for Jerusalem. It took them two whole months, but they finally won back the city. This did not last for long. After attempting multiple Crusades the Western Europeans stopped recruiting people to fight because the Muslims kept defeating them. The only result of this 200 year long conflict was thousands of deaths and cultural diffusion. The length of this war is not a characteristic of modern time warfare. Many years of the Crusades were used for travel time, this is something that is disregarded for in following wars due to the increase in technology and efficiency upgrade in transportation.

Who Fought During Feudalism?

The copper alloy sculpture resembles a knight upon his horse. Knights such as he were used as military personnel in Europe's feudal society. Europe transitioned to a feudal society in the 10th century and faded out of feudalism around the 15th century. Feudalism was introduced to Europe when the Western Roman Empire fell, but, it truly flourished in Europe around the 10th century. The Europeans accepted and agreed with feudalism for a majority of reasons. Feudalism appealed to the Europeans because of the sense of security it brought them. Feudalism broke down the central government and divided Europe into small sections that overtime formatted into towns. The people of Europe were fond of this because with a big empire did not receive much protection and attention from their government. With the central government gone the church filled the void and became powerful. But the loss of the central government was a reason for its decline in the 15th century. This occurred because the people did not know who to listen to. During Feudalism the people abandoned city life and focused on agriculture. In Europe's feudal society everyone had mutual obligations and had their own role. The concrete social pyramid consisted of the King and aristocrat as the highest, then Lords, Vassals, Knights, and Peasants. The knights were the second to last class. They gave protection and military service to the other classes. In this society, there was no social mobility. The knights were the only people fighting and they were used by higher classes to protect themselves and their hierarchy. This made military and war involved in only the knight's lives. This exclusive involvement changes in modern times because technology publicizes war to the non-military trained population through propaganda, news, mobilization of weaponry/wars and education.

Beginning Of The Bloody Revolution

The French Revolution happened from 1787 to 1799, but, the revolution became violent in 1789 with the spark being the Storming of the Bastille. As rumors spread around France about Louis XVI's malevolous behaviors the citizens became threatened. People yearned for the sense of protection so they turned to weapons as their source. The people had no money to buy weapons so they decided to raid the Bastille, a prison in which prisoners and weapons are stored. The mob stormed the Bastille, gained weaponry, freed seven prisoners and ninety-seven rioters were killed. In the print of Siége de la Bastille: le 14 juillet 1789 the intensity of the invasion of the Bastille is shown. This sparked the beginning of a bloody revolution. The storming of the Bastille occurred because the people of France felt responsible for their own safety and did not trust the government. This is very different from just a couple centuries ago when the people solely relied on the knights as protection. The storming of the Bastille does not only spark the start of the French Revolution, but it also was the start of the civilians becoming involved in warfare and in their own protection.

Trench Warfare: Not Very Glamorous

This picture shows British soldiers in a WWI trench. Trench warfare first began with the French, but soon became a popular strategy used along the western front. Trench warfare was a war tactic used in which soldiers attacked from a system of trenches dug in the ground. The trenches were close to the enemy lines. The web of trenches were made of communication trenches and trenches used for transport. Frontline trenches were commonly used for fighting. The trenches were a source of protection from the enemy. Trench warfare turned the open fighting war into a defensive war. Trenches were most commonly used during World War I, especially on the Western Front. They were a very non-mobile war strategy that was ended around the time of World War II due to technological advancements that made trenches less protective. Weapons such as fighter planes, bomber planes, poison gas, and tanks made the trenches less effective. Along with weapons, the problem with trenches was that disease spread very quickly in them because the conditions of the trench were dangerously unsanitary. Once trench warfare faded out, the start of more mobile warfare began.

Technology Advancements Brings New Possibilities

In World War I and World War 2 technology stupendously advanced. The technology became more efficient, mobile, and easy to use. The weapons introduced in WWI advanced in WWII creating stronger and more accurate equipment. The machine gun was one of the most groundbreaking weapons invented. Machine guns were the most efficient killing devices. They can shoot hundreds of rounds of ammunition per minute. Machine guns were introduced in WWI but became the main device used in WWII. They made war mobile and deadlier. Weapons such as poison gas, submarines, fighter planes, and tanks made the war much more mobile as well. Poison gas is gas that was released and if inhaled was fatal. Poison gas was used in trench warfare. It is used to disable an army before a fight.

Submarines are underwater vehicles that can communicate with people on land and detect ships all while submerged under water. The submarine was helpful because it allowed sneak attacks. Submarines were also part of the reason the US joined WWII. In 1917 the war shifted from land battles to sea battles, submarine warfare was commonly used by Germans. Germans announced that their submarines would sink any ships in the waters around Britain. This was known as unrestricted sub warfare. This was one of the reasons that the US joined the war on April 2, 1917.

Photographed above is a fighter plane, one of the most important weapons used in WWII. Fighter planes were airplanes that were used to fight the people on land from the sky. They allowed mass destruction of an enemy's military base or supply field. Fighter jets were widely used in WWI and WWII. In WWII bomber planes were invented and used.

Tanks are caterpillar-tracked vehicles that can go over difficult terrain. They carry guns and they brought an end to trench warfare. Tanks were first used in the Battle of Flers. They were proposed by Lieutenant Colonel Ernest Swinton in 1914. At first, they were highly unreliable because they were brand new, but they brought back mobility to the Western Front. In WWII the advancement of all those weapons, as well as the invention of radar and sonar communication, created a much more efficient and advanced war. With the invention of sonar and radar, communication was much more accurate. This made it easy to plan sneak attacks and locate an enemy. The invention of submarines, sonar, radar, bomber planes, and fighter planes opened the door to the sneak attack strategy that was used in WWII. The weapons of WWI and WWII caused more casualties, were easier to use, began new war strategies like sneak attacks and started to abandon ritual warfare and outdated warfare such as trench warfare.

Shh...Don't Tell...

Secret Police tactics were used by some of the most notorious leaders including Hitler, Joseph Stalin, Nikita Khrushchev, Leonid Brezhnev, The Reds during the Russian civil war, and East Germans. Hitler had many secret enforcement forces such as SA, his private army, SS, his personal bodyguards and the Gestapo, a secret police created by SS Chief Heinrich Himmler. The officers in the photograph are members of the Gestapo. As seen in the photo they are very serious and private people sacrificing their life to work for Hitler. The Gestapo was used to find all non-aryans around Europe and prepare them to be expelled to camps. Gestapo also arrested and killed those that spoke opposed to the Nazi party. During the Soviet era, the KGB was the secret army. Joseph Stalin, Nikita Khrushchev, and Leonid Brezhnev all used the KGB. Its duties were to protect the leading officials, the borders, and to keep a careful watch on the population. The KGB officially lasted from 1954-1991. It was greatly feared by the population and has a ruthless reputation.

The Stasi was the secret police of East Germany. Stasi was created during the Soviet occupation of Germany after World War II. Stasi was inspired by the KGB and was responsible for population surveillance and espionage on other nations. Cheka was another secret police force that was used by The Reds in the Russian civil war that killed citizens if they thought to take action against the revolution. Secret forces became much more involved during WWII. They made warfare less transparent to the people and did a good job in accomplishing their task of surveilling and controlling the people. They also protected the leader. The secret forces are very different from the historic military personnel because the secret police are not just protecting the country from foreign enemies, but they are protecting the country from their own people.

Propaganda Gains Popularity

The Uncle Sam poster was designed by James Montgomery Flagg for the US government to promote people to join the US army. This is one of the most famous pieces of propaganda and became an iconic piece of US art. Propaganda was first used by both the Allies and the central power during World War I. Propaganda was used to influence people's opinions about the war. It was also used as a tool to recruit soldiers, finance the war, to unify the country, to persuade people to ration resources and to increase production of war materials. At the beginning of WWI, before radio and televisions were ubiquitous, countries resorted to pamphlets, books, cartoons, and newspapers to spread propaganda and information around the world. All countries wanted sympathy from international countries, especially the USA. Just as the war began Britain cut Germany's communication links to makes sure the Allies had a monopoly over the information from Europe to the USA. They did this to influence the news around the world and make it biased to support the Allies’ cause.

Propaganda was added as a new layer of warfare. It was non-violent, yet effective.. Propaganda was at a new level of productivity once WWII began. Due to the advancement of technology propaganda was able to spread over multiple medias including photography, radio, film, TV. Propaganda was everywhere. Since the beginning of WWII Germany alone produced more than 7 million posters, 60 million newspapers, posters, leaflets, 30,000 slideshows and 45,000 movies. Propaganda was inescapable. There was no way the people of Europe and the world could ignore this war. It became a total war with the help of propaganda. Propaganda publicized wars, it was used in WWI and increasingly in WWII. It will forever be a part of contemporary warfare.

Blitzkrieg, The Lightning War

This picture resembles the intense destruction Germany’s war strategy, Blitzkrieg, caused on Polish town. Blitzkrieg means lightning war in English. This strategy used in WWI is related to lighting because it is very fast and destructive. It was developed as a result of improved weapon technology. Phase one of Blitzkrieg is heavy bombardment by artillery such as grenades, cannons and machine guns. In the first phase, the focus was to add great damage to buildings, men, and supplies so that the enemy could not counter attack right away. In phase two fighter and bomber planes from the Luftwaffe, the German Air Force, attack. They create even more weakness in an already hurt area. In phase three they send in armored tanks that would clear out the last of the enemy’s defense. Blitzkrieg’s mentality was to hit hard, hit fast, and leave no time for a counter attack. Blitzkrieg was very efficient and successful at winning battles for over two years. It is a perfect example of how the advancement of technology and weaponry improved the efficiency of war strategies. Blitzkrieg would have never been possible hundreds of years ago because of the lack of planes, guns, and communication.

Brainwashing The Boy Scouts

One of the most chilling forms of war strategies used in WWII was the brainwashing of young boys in the youth organization known as Hitler’s Youth. The picture above shows rows of young uniformed boys holding flags in support and union with the Nazis. These young boys are apart of Hitler’s Youth where they experience strenuous training to soon serve as a Nazi. Hitler's Youth began as an off branch of the Boy Scouts. Every non-Jewish boy in Germany was forced to join the Hitler Youth. Hitler’s Youth’s responsibility was to make kids believe in Hitler’s ideologies and prepare them for war as a Nazi soldier. It brainwashed millions of boys starting at the age of six. The Hitler Youth formally began in 1933 when Hitler rose to power. By the end of 1933 there were more than two million young boys involved in Hitler Youth. Three years later Hitler banned all youth groups and scouting groups other than the Hitler Youth which caused it to expand. By 1939 about 90% of all German children were involved in Hitler Youth. It allowed Hitler’s ideologies to be present in the home. Hitler Youth slowly grew from a camping, scouting core into a military training focus. The youth was subjected to intense propaganda. The young boys were reprogrammed into having full devotion towards Hitler and the Nazi’s cause. At the age of 17 the boys were forced to serve in the military as a Nazi. For the members of Hitler’s Youth this is a very honorable and exciting job. The products of Hitler’s youth is a generation of Nazi’s that sacrifised their lives and many others because of Hitler’s order. Hitler’s Youth was a very successful organization that spreaded the ideology of Hitler across the youth and their families. These young children soon became those responsible for the horrific Holocaust. This strategy was a very efficient way to train the generation of fighters and created an army of loyal soldiers that were in command. Hitler spread the war to the public and targeted it to the new generation.

Everyone Is Invited Into The Total War!

Pictured above are women working in a factory on the home front. The women that were not fighting on the front lines were working and supporting the war. Total war was a tactic first used in World War I. It was a strategy where everything in the country is aimed to assist in war efforts. Everyone played a role in helping the war. As a result, the war became more destructive because casualties increased. This was due to the blurred line between who was a soldier and who was civilian so it gave enemies leeway to kill civilians.

Total war means total mobilization. On the home front, people are helping the war as well. They are expected to ration rood, conserve electricity, gas, oil and they are also expected to have nationalism and patriotism. Total warfare is very different from the war before WWI because not everyone was previously involved. Total war usually leads to genocide. In WWI when Total War was used it led to the Armenian Genocide. Total warfare caused future warfare to become more mobile and publicized. Everyone was now involved in the war.

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European Warfare Throughout History