Research Papers are a pain in the ass, unless you get to talk about killing people with weapons. (808 hits)
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Submitted by Cicciro <tommyr786.at.hotmail.com> (View user info) at 2004-03-24 03:03:26 EST
Warfare has changed from one extreme to the next over the course of mankind's history. It used to be that man had to fight hand to hand in an intimate passion-filled struggle, but things have changed. With the advent of ranged weapon popularity in the medieval period, the change of hand held weapons to decorative items and the coming of industrial technology, warfare has moved from a personal battlefield, to one where range, speed, and high death count are key.
Hand-held weapons have changed slowly over the course of one thousand years. Many popular weapons of the medieval period have become nothing more than antiques for collectors. Slowly, hand held weapons, such as the sword, the knife and the pole-arm gave way to technology and range. Their usefulness on the battlefield was stripped without a second glance.
The knife, also known as the dagger, was one of the two hand-held weapons that continued to use its purpose throughout the existence of man. The other was the club or mace. Daggers and knives are "One of the basic ways to kill or wound [...]" (Harding 26). With their lightweight and small size, a simple thrust from the weakest of persons could send a dagger into the heart of another, but daggers did take on a new form. In the late17th century plug bayonets were introduced onto the battlefield, fitted directly into the muzzle of a musket (Beecroft 7). The introduction of the bayonet gave combatants a knife that could be used by the hand, but also by the gun, giving the owner an increased range with a knife blade that extended longer than his arm. The knife still held true to its nature and modern US Marines are equipped with combat or fighting knife as a "multipurpose weapon and survival knife" (Harding 33). The combat knife gives the Marine the same advantage the daggers of the medieval period gave to their fighters, a reliable killing weapon, but at a very close distance. The knife's purpose has changed very little over many years, but the idea of the bayonet extended its range, thus improving an already deadly weapon.
Swords took a large fall in use as ranged weapons came into play. The two main uses for the one handed sword were cutting and thrusting (Beecroft 6). These swords were practical for use on the battlefield. The two-handed sword became more of a status symbol as "noblemen, officers of state and members of important guilds has special swords of even greater length carried in front of them [...] [as] a sign of their high status" (Meltzer 7). The swords being heavy and requiring two hands gave them an impractical use on the battlefield and became the symbol of status. Swords underwent one final change to become military swords for the "sake of uniform appearance" (Harding 52). The sword was now being used as a military status symbol. After slowly becoming less useful, the sword became a symbol of status and power amongst men.
The pole-arm gave way to range as well as swords and daggers. The pike or spear, the most primitive of pole-arms was also "the longest of the pole-arms [...] being about sixteen feet long" (Harding 56). With its length, the pike already had become a ranged weapon, but it was not deadly enough. "Halberds had axe blades and a spear points" (Beecroft 9). Now the pole-arm was a ranged beast able to slash and thrust from a much greater distance than a sword or dagger. When the bayonet was introduced, "it made the musketeer his own pikesman" (Meltzer 11). Now the pole-arm carried a bullet and a long spear in the same weapon. Pole-arms had undergone an evolution greater than and of the other hand-to-hand weapons.
Close combat fighting was becoming less and less useful in warfare. The weapons died away and became items of collection or prestige, or they evolved into a more deadly, but ranged, weapon. Nevertheless, close combat would never be the same.
Ranged weapons were becoming too much of a necessity on the battlefield. They kept the combatants at a distance. Bows and arrows were soon replaced by even more advanced technology designed to keep the opposition at a distance while still holding the same wave of death.
Bows were the first ranged weapons to take a major change in the medieval period. The composite bows were made of three basic layers of dissimilar materials - most commonly wood, horn and sinew (Harding 94). These bows were not so powerful as to break armor, but they could be fired at range. The longbow had superiority on the battlefield because of its rapid fire (Nardo 37). Rapid fire could easily take down many enemy troops and swiftly gained popularity. The crossbow although slower than the longbow, had an effective range of three hundred seventy to three hundred eighty yards (Nardo 36). Its long range provided great assistance on the battlefield. Bows continued to grasp for a longer range with which to distance themselves from the enemy.
Primitive guns, such as the musket, were part of the coming technology to change warfare forever. The matchlock musket fired solid-lead bullets using a smoldering cord or match to light the powder, but was inaccurate and slow to load (Beecroft 12). The inaccuracy was a problem, but rifles slowly improved. The flintlock musket used a cock that scraped the flint down the length of a steel piece while simultaneously uncovering the pan and exposing the powder to a shower of sparks (Harding 115). The flintlock replaced the matchlock because it could be fired in the rain. The musket was eventually made into a very feasible hand held gun. The official side arm of the US army is the Colt . The hand gun was light and could fire accurately, but not at the distance of a rifle.
Guns were very powerful and could keep their opponents and bay by quickly using range as an advantage.
Siege engines were also very important in the advancement of range and technology. The Ballista was a giant crossbow used to hurl large spear like projectiles (Nardo 61). The Ballista was a powerful weapon because of the great tension of its crossbow-like cables. Gun makers began to produce large cannons from long strips of iron (Nardo 72). These composite cannons were more likely to blow apart than those of one piece (Nardo 72). The idea behind composite cannons was to create a bigger gun that could fire larger rocks than the smaller cannons. Eventually these cannons were known as bombards (Nardo 73). The great power and range of these bombards proves mans desire to destroy from a distance. Cannons pushed technology throughout the medieval era, creating a range much longer than any other siege engine before.
Bows completely changed their form from a stringed bow to a trigger-firing crossbow. Crossbows became muskets with the increasing popularity of gunpowder. Siege engines of wood became powerful metal cannons. None of this would have been possible without the technological advances of the age.
Without advances in technology, most of these weapons would not have appeared. If the technology had not been growing, if minds had not continued to think, the world would not have seen cannons, guns or even the crossbow. Technology was more important to the outcome of warfare than any other factor because it allowed the world to increase the power and range of weaponry.
Machines, travel and body armor have all changed their form. From the primitive leather to Kevlar, from horses to airplanes, and from ballistae to rocket missiles, technology has had an impact. Without it, the ranged capability and the compacted weapons would not be in existence.
Armor was one of the first items to change in the medieval times. Typical armor was a light mail shirt and a metal helmet (Nardo 31). This provided basic protection of the key areas, but it was not enough to stop blows from swords or piercing arrows. Plate armor was slowly added as protective means, and was not as cumbersome as it looks (Beecroft 10). With the coming of gunpowder, mail was rendered useless. Kevlar is made of synthetic fibers stronger than steel, but is flexible and light; it protects against bullets and knives (Beecroft 11). Kevlar is an advancement of technology that gives better protection than solid steel, easily antiquating mail or plate armor. Although armor was rendered obsolete by gunpowder, it found a way to come back stronger than ever because of technology.
The need for speedy travel was also important to the battlefield as troops that could move quickly were much more effective. Horses were used in the early medieval era to chase after feeling enemy troops at great speed (Nardo 19). The horses allowed for ease of mobility; any army could send a few units of mounted knights to harass the flanks . Tanks first arrived on the battlefield in World War One from an idea of a British colonel in 1914 (Meltzer 66). They could easily storm infantry defenses while taking minimal damage due to their armor; they were not fully utilized until World War Two (Meltzer 67). In World War One, Germans used planes to bomb Paris and London (Meltzer 68). The planes allowed for quick action over land and sea while dropping deadly bombs. The advancements in mobility caused a great change in the way wars are fought; planes offer more distance and stealth than any other form of travel today because they can silently drop shells from thousands of feet in the air with great accuracy.
Machines also gained a military boost from the technological advances; their gears and gadgets helped provide effective killing methods for the armies of the world, while staying at safe distances. Air defense missiles offer protection to ground troops against attacking aircraft and against other missiles (Harding 256). These missiles have a great range so that they can hit planes in the sky as well as great technological advancement behind their creation. The German Army used the MG 34 machine gun during World War Two (Beecroft 17). The weapon was air-cooled, reasonably light and had a high rate of fire (Beecroft 17). The high rate of fire allowed numbers of men to be shot at a range safe enough for the attacker in a matter of seconds. Mines are another advancement of technology; the user does not even have to be present for the mine to work. They use a pressure switch to charge the powder creating a devastating explosive (Beecroft 19). With the pressure switch, no operator must be present to set off the mine creating an infinite distance chance between the placer and the victim. All of these technological advances have been created to create a safer environment for the user, but the effects on the enemy are devastating; the range is incredible.
The introduction of this advanced technology fueled the coals of modern warfare. How far the advancements have come since the age of swords and simple bows. This technology is devastating on the battlefield.
The changes of warfare from close combat to range started in the middle ages and moved on to the present. Technological advances helped spark inventions that caused more damage at a greater range. The modern battlefield is all ranged warfare with guns, bombs and missiles. Who knows how far it will go in the future?
Works Cited
Beecroft, Simon. Arms & Armor. Then & Now. Brookfield: Copper Beech Books, 1997.
Harding, David. Weapons. New York: St. Martin's Press, 1990.
Meltzer, Milton. Weapons & Warfare: From the Stone Age to the Space Age. New York: HarperCollins, 1996.
Nardo, Don. The Middle Ages. The History of Weapons and Warfare. New York: Thomson Gale, 2003.
User Reviews
Submitted by Jays567 (user info) at 2004-03-24 12:35:44 EST (#)
Ranking: 0
+1 because you typed alot.
-1 because you just reminded me that I have a fucking research paper due in 3 weeks.
Submitted by I_Have_a_Kristen_Fetish (user info) at 2004-03-24 07:18:19 EST (#)
Ranking: -2
Boring... Just like a research paper on critical analysis of literature.
Submitted by CunningVision (user info) at 2004-03-24 05:26:51 EST (#)
Ranking: -2
Just thought I'd bitch and moan about paragraphs and such...
Oh wait! You beat me to it! Curses!
Submitted by Method (user info) at 2004-03-24 04:22:45 EST (#)
Ranking: -2
You're high, aren't you.
Submitted by Confusion (user info) at 2004-03-24 04:07:17 EST (#)
Ranking: -2
WTF IM NOT READING ALL OF THAT!
Submitted by Zoidberg (user info) at 2004-03-24 03:57:55 EST (#)
Ranking: 0
horrible. no wonder I get good grades on my papers when I bust them out the night before.
nothing like cruising on a curve to graduation
Submitted by Cicciro (user info) at 2004-03-24 03:05:33 EST (#)
Ranking: 0
This is right out of MS Word... Double spaced, margins, paragraphs; all that jazz with some cheetos too. You don't get the nice format, because you will get to bitch and moan about paragraphs... enjoy..