Weaponry: A History

Weaponry: A History

What is the most destructive power in history? Is it a rocket torpedo that shoots straight to the surface from a submarine, flies through the air toward an enemy sub, and then dives at its target? Is it the electrically powered machine gun that spews out 110 rounds per second to obliterate its opponent completely? Maybe it's an intercontinental ballistic missile armed with nuclear warheads, capable of killing hundreds of thousands with a single atomic bomb. Then again, is it the tank with thermal-imaging sight that senses an enemy vehicle's heat so it can seeÐ'--and killÐ'--even it total darkness?

Actually, it is none of these. One must go all the way back to the beginning of weapons development, when humans first figured out that certain tools made warfare a lot more effective. A person's arm, for example, could not throw a stone or stick very far, so people devised slings and sharp tips to let their projectiles travel farther, faster and land harder. Iron-tipped spears, javelins and swords came into existence when humans learned to use and shape metals thousands of years ago. Other early warfare devices included bows and arrows, catapults , and with the domestication of the horse, the horse-driven chariot.

None of these primitive weapons seem to answer the above question, so skip ahead to the transport of gunpowder from China to Europe in the thirteenth century. With the introduction of gunpowder, the armor of the famed "knights in shining armor" gradually became useless against the penetration of ammunition shot from a harquebus, musket, or cannon . By the fourteenth century, most European armies used gunpowder, rockets and other explosives in warfare. Yet the art of war was revolutionized again by the revolver and the automatic firearm in the nineteenth century.

The first major war to use the rapid-fire guns was WWI. New contraptions were needed to protect the soldiers, now huddled in trenches, unable to move, let alone fight. Enter the tank. Infantry could now be on the offensive. Progress in the building of warships led to stronger, more lethal submarines that fired torpedoes from beneath the waves. Torpedo-boat "destroyers" were then created to combat the submarines.

Germany's defeat in WWI led to its development of ballistic missiles, one of the inventions that reformed warfare again. Advances in automatic weapons and aviation were the latest innovations on the battlefront. However, it was the deadliest weapon ever created- the atomic bomb- that decided and ended the war once and for all.

Knowing all this, what is the world's most destructive power? Is it the tank, the machine gun, or the submarine? Or is it a warship, a torpedo, or a swarm of ballistic missiles? It is none of the above. History's most destructive power is the human capacity to innovate . Variety is the spice of death, for humans have always found ways to kill one another . From the beginning of time until today, people have used their ingenuity to create more effective and powerful tools of war. The most dangerous weapon of all is the human mind.

One great innovator in ancient warfare was Philip II of Macedonia. His infamous son, Alexander the Great, used these tactics later on to conquer most of the known world. Philip's brilliant new takes on warfare emphasized quality, rather than quantity. Macedonia was a small country, but a year-round standing army, rather than citizens needed to fight in wartime, was quite powerful. In addition, although Philip used many of the same weapons as his adversaries, his army itself was a totally new instrument, arranged into a combined fighting force .

One tactic that Philip improved was the classic Greek phalanx, a close formation of infantry with shields joined together and overlapping spears. (Imagine a human porcupine. That is a phalanx.) Philip doubled the original 6 foot long sarissa-spears the soldiers carried in length to a spear about thirteen feet long.

The phalanx, however, is very vulnerable when the enemy confuses the soldiers inside. Philip foresaw this and placed heavy cavalry troops near the sides of the phalanx to defend it. The shields of the phalanx, on the other hand, together with its wall of spears, made the phalanx both an offensive and defensive area .

Alexander the Great inherited his father's incredible war machine. Alexander used his father's system of war, yet had his own ideas as well. His strategies must have been very good; Alexander never lost a single battle! One of Alexander's methods of war was to "march divided and fight united." Each part of his army was a piece of one whole. Another tactic of Alexander's was to pursue and destroy the enemy, not just defeat them. Once he decided to attack, he never abandoned the offensive until the opposition was obliterated completely .

The Romans made fewer changes to the setup of their armies, and many changes concerning the cavalry, artillery and machine fighting. The many-layered phalanx was changed to a three-legion army with five maniples, or divisions, in each legion. The Romans used new weapons: the spear-like javelin; the gladius, a two-foot long double-edged sword; and the catapult. The catapults were used in the siege of cities as well as in active combat .

After the fall of the Roman Empire, the Feudalistic form of government was the standard in most of Europe. During these times, the Middle Ages, and the Crusades, "knights in shining armor" were the ideal fighters. Chain mail or suits of armor protected the soldiers the common weapons of the time- simple arrows, swords, and lances. As metal workers designed new suits of armor to protect the knights inside them, armies demanded better weapons to penetrate the armor. By the thirteenth century, English craftsmen had lengthened the average foot-long bow to a "longbow", which was just that- a long bow. The six-foot long longbows, as well as the newly introduced crossbows, could penetrate armor .

An even more lethal force was introduced when gunpowder came to Europe. With the discovery of gunpowder, we began the technological era of war. As Lecky points out, "Hence onwards it is the great inventions [of man] more so than the great men [themselves] which disturbÐ'...society ." Troops no longer had to rely on mechanical devices or their own muscle power to kill, and humans' destructive ability skyrocketed.

The first gunpowder-operated weapons were essentially cannons. One to three feet long, early cannons were large tubes of brass or iron attached to wooden poles. The gunner grasped the pole with one hand, using the other hand to ignite the gunpowder through a touchhole