Early Modern warfare is associated with the start of the widespread use of gunpowder and the development of suitable weapons to use the explosive. War is an international relations Dispute, characterized by organized Violence between National Military units Military history is a Humanities discipline within the scope of general historical recording of armed conflict in the history of humanity Prehistoric warfare is War conducted in the era before Writing, and before the establishments of large social entities like States Historical warfare sets Ancient warfare is War as conducted from the beginnings of recorded History to the end of the ancient period Medieval Warfare is the warfare of the Middle Ages. In Europe technological cultural and social developments had forced a dramatic transformation in the character Early Modern warfare is associated with the start of the widespread use of Gunpowder and the development of suitable weapons to use the explosive Industrial warfare is a period in the History of warfare ranging roughly from the start of the Industrial Revolution to the beginning of the Information Age Modern warfare, although present in every Historical period of Military history, is generally used to refer to the concepts, methods and Battlespace is a unified strategy to integrate and combine Armed forces for the Military theatre of operations, including air, information Air power redirects here for electrical and mechanical energy supplied by air movement see Wind power Information warfare is the use and management of information in pursuit of a competitive advantage over an opponent Land warfare, sometimes also called ground combat is the term used to describe military operations eventuating in Combat that take place predominantly on the land surface of Naval warfare is Combat in and on Seas Oceans or any other major bodies of water such as large Lakes and wide Rivers History Space warfare is combat that takes place in Outer space, ie outside the Atmosphere. A weapon is a Tool used either in Hunting, or attack or defence in Combat for the purpose of subduing enemy personnel or to destroy enemy weapons Armoured warfare or tank warfare is the use of Armoured fighting vehicles in Modern warfare. Artillery (from French artillerie) is a military Combat Arm which employs any apparātus machine Biological warfare (BW — known as a germ warfare, biological weapons and bioweaponry — is the use of any Pathogen ( Bacterium The Cavalry (from French cavalerie) is the second oldest of the Combat Arms, and as Soldiers or Warriors who fought mounted on Chemical warfare involves using the toxic properties of Chemical substances to kill injure or incapacitate an enemy. Electronic warfare ( EW) is the use of the Electromagnetic spectrum to effectively deny the use of this medium by an adversary while optimizing its use by friendly The Infantry is the oldest and most numerous of the Combat Arms in the Armed forces, and consists A nuclear weapon is an explosive device that derives its destructive force from Nuclear reactions either fission or a combination of fission and fusion. The US Department of Defense defines psychological warfare ( PSYWAR) as" The planned use of Propaganda and other Psychological actions Military tactics ( Greek: Taktikē, the art of organizing an army are the techniques for using weapons or military units in combination for engaging and defeating This article is about the military strategy For the Israeli-Egyptian conflict see War of Attrition, for the game theoretical model see War of attrition (game Guerrilla warfare is the unconventional warfare and combat with which a small group of combatants use mobile tactics (ambushes raids etc Maneuver warfare, also spelled manoeuvre warfare, is the term used by military theorists for a concept of Warfare that advocates attempting to Total war is a conflict of unlimited scope in which a Belligerent engages in a total mobilization of all available resources at his disposal Trench warfare is a form of warfare where both combatants have fortified positions and fighting lines are static Military strategy is a National defence policy implemented by Military organisations to pursue desired strategic goals Derived from the Greek Economic warfare is the term for economic policies followed as a part of Military operations during Wartime The purpose of economic warfare is to capture Grand strategy is military Strategy at the level of movement and use of an entire Nation state or Empire 's resources A military organization is a way of structuring the armed forces of a State as a need to offer Military capability required by the National defence policy A military organization is a way of structuring the armed forces of a State as a need to offer Military capability required by the National defence policy Military rank is a system of hierarchical relationships in Armed forces or civil institutions organized along military lines A military organization is a way of structuring the armed forces of a State as a need to offer Military capability required by the National defence policy Military Logistics is the art and science of planning and carrying out the movement and maintenance of military forces This article lists military technology items devices and methods Materiel (from the French "matériel" for equipment or hardware related to the word Material) is a term used in English to refer to the Military supply chain management is a cross-functional approach to procuring, producing and delivering products and services The broad This is an index to articles listing Battles. List of battles (alphabetical gives a global list See also Military History Antiquity Albania Agron ( 250 BC - 230 BC) The first king to unite the Illyrian This is a list of missions operations and projects Missions in support of other missions are not listed independently A Siege is a prolonged Military Assault and Blockade on a City or Fortress with the intent of conquering by force or Attrition See also List of military writers. Friedrich von Bernhardi Ivan Bloch John Boyd, inventor of the OODA Loop This is a listing of lists of Wars, sorted by country date region and type of conflict This article lists and summarizes War crimes committed since the Hague Convention of 1907. There is a bewildering array of Weapons far more than would be useful in list form This is a list of military writers, alphabetical by last name The early modern period is a term initially used by historians to refer mainly to the period roughly from 1500 to 1800 in Western Europe ( Early modern Europe) Gunpowder is a an explosive mixture of Sulfur, Charcoal and Potassium nitrate (also known as saltpetre/saltpeter that burns rapidly producing volumes It was first invented in China and then later spread to the Middle East. China ( Wade-Giles ( Mandarin) Chung¹kuo² is a cultural region, an ancient Civilization, and depending on perspective a National The Middle East is a Subcontinent with no clear boundaries often used as a synonym to Near East, in opposition to Far East. It then found its way into eastern Europe following the invasions of the Mongols who had employed Chinese gunpowder based weapons to conquer parts of Europe and the Middle East then into central and western Europe following the crusades when European forces discovered the substance from the Islamic forces they faced. China ( Wade-Giles ( Mandarin) Chung¹kuo² is a cultural region, an ancient Civilization, and depending on perspective a National Gunpowder is a an explosive mixture of Sulfur, Charcoal and Potassium nitrate (also known as saltpetre/saltpeter that burns rapidly producing volumes A weapon is a Tool used either in Hunting, or attack or defence in Combat for the purpose of subduing enemy personnel or to destroy enemy weapons The Middle East is a Subcontinent with no clear boundaries often used as a synonym to Near East, in opposition to Far East. This was prior to the 15th century on a limited basis, but became dominant in the Early Modern Age and lasted until the mid-19th century, with its apex during the Napoleonic Wars from 1792 to 1815. The early modern period is a term used by historians to refer to the period in Western '''Europe''' and its first colonies which spans the three centuries between The 19th century of the Common Era began on January 1, 1801 and ended on December 31, 1900, according to the Gregorian calendar The Napoleonic Wars (1803-1815 involved Napoleon's French Empire and a shifting set of European allies and opposing coalitions Year 1792 ( MDCCXCII) was a Leap year starting on Sunday (link will display the full calendar of the Gregorian calendar (or a Leap year Year 1815 ( MDCCCXV) was a Common year starting on Sunday (link will display the full calendar of the Gregorian calendar (or a Common year It was brought to the Indian subcontinent by the Middle East as well during the early modern era. This article deals with the geophysical region in Asia For geopolitical treatments see South Asia.

The understanding of "gunpowder warfare", expressed here, comes from the works of Michael Roberts who argued that a military revolution occurred in the sixteenth century that forever changed warfare, and society in general. Michael Roberts (1908&ndash1997 was an English historian specializing in the Early modern period and particularly known for his studies of Swedish history Since he wrote in the 1950s his narrative has been augmented and challenged by other scholars. When exactly the revolution occurred is debated, and whether it was revolution or a slow transformation is also discussed.

An early European advocate was English philosopher and cleric Roger Bacon. For the Nova Scotia premier see Roger Bacon (politician. Roger Bacon, O He was once credited with the "invention" of gunpowder in Europe.

Early gunpowder warfare

Cannon

Main article: History of cannon

A small cast-iron cannon on a carriage

Gunpowder and flame projector tubes were first invented and used in military combat in China before the technology was transmitted elsewhere, with advanced technological innovation during the Chinese Song Dynasty (AD 960–1279). See also History of gunpowder, The historical use of [[gunpowder]] in general China ( Wade-Giles ( Mandarin) Chung¹kuo² is a cultural region, an ancient Civilization, and depending on perspective a National Technology is a broad concept that deals with a Species ' usage and knowledge of Tools and Crafts and how it affects a species' ability to control and adapt The Song Dynasty (宋朝 960–1279 CE provided some of the most significant technological advances in Chinese history, many of which came from talented statesmen China ( Wade-Giles ( Mandarin) Chung¹kuo² is a cultural region, an ancient Civilization, and depending on perspective a National The Song Dynasty ( Wade-Giles: Sung Ch'ao was a ruling dynasty in China between 960&ndash1279 CE it succeeded the Five Dynasties and Ten Kingdoms The cannon later arrived in the Muslim world in the 13th century, where the explosive hand cannon was invented. | NOTE Throughout this article "cannon" is used as BOTH the || singular and plural The term Muslim world (or Islamic world) has several meanings An explosive material is a material that either is chemically or otherwise Energetically unstable or produces a sudden expansion of the material usually accompanied The hand cannon ( Arabic: midfa; Chinese: 手[[wikt 銃|銃]] as it was called was the first handheld portable These then reached the Iberian Peninsula, with gunpowder described in Europe by Roger Bacon in 1216 and 1248; however, for a long time European gunpowder weapons were unpredictable, unwieldy and difficult to deploy. The Iberian Peninsula, or Iberia, is located in the extreme southwest of Europe, and includes modern day Spain, Portugal, Andorra For the Nova Scotia premier see Roger Bacon (politician. Roger Bacon, O As a result, they were mainly used for attacking castles and other defences, a task that was equally well suited to undermining or non-explosive weapons. A castle is a defensive structure seen as one of the main symbols of the Middle Ages. Mining, undermining, or sapping was a Siege method used since antiquity against a Walled city, Fortress or Castle

The development of the siege cannon did have an important effect: it soon made existing castle designs, such as majestic towers and merlons, obsolete. A castle is a defensive structure seen as one of the main symbols of the Middle Ages. Towers are tall human-made Structures that are always taller than they are wide usually by a significant Margin. A merlon, in Architecture, forms the solid part of an embattled Parapet, sometimes pierced by Embrasures The word comes from the Fortresses with sloping walls, to deflect cannon shots, brought the siege back to being one of the central aspects of warfare during this era. A Cannon is any large tubular Firearm designed to fire a heavy Projectile over a long distance The trace italienne and Star fort became the new fortress designs, although building them was generally vastly expensive. A star fort or trace italienne is a Fortification in the style that evolved during the age of Black powder, when cannons came A star fort or trace italienne is a Fortification in the style that evolved during the age of Black powder, when cannons came Small states and local aristocrats rarely had the money to build these defences, and these groups lost power in favour of the centralized governments. The once mighty city states of Italy became parts of the French or Holy Roman Empires, while the small states of Germany were forced in vassalage to a greater power or coalitions. This article is about the country For a topic outline on this subject see List of basic France topics. The Holy Roman Empire ( HRE; German Heiliges Römisches Reich (HRR, Latin Sacrum Romanum Imperium (SRI was a union of territories in Germany, officially the Federal Republic of Germany ( ˈbʊndəsʁepuˌbliːk ˈdɔʏtʃlant is a Country in Central Europe.

Weaponry is often placed at the forefront of technological advancement and the invention of the arquebus soon began an arms race. The Arquebus (sometimes spelled harquebus, harkbus or hackbut; from Dutch haakbus, meaning "hook gun" is The term arms race, in its original usage describes a competition between two or more parties for real or apparent military supremacy The useful but still unwieldy weapon was refined and reduced in size through many rapid developments culminating in the smoothbore musket around 1600. Smoothbore refers to a Firearm or Cannon which does not have a rifled barrel. A musket is a muzzle -loaded Smoothbore Long gun, which is intended to be fired from the shoulder These small, portable, personal weapons, which could fire projectiles over rapidly increasing distances with greater accuracy, heralded the growth of modern warfare. Modern warfare, although present in every Historical period of Military history, is generally used to refer to the concepts, methods and Gustavus Adolphus pioneered the use of lighter field artillery in the 1630s. For the other Swedish kings known as Gustavus Adolphus see Gustav IV Adolf of Sweden or Gustav VI Adolf of Sweden In naval warfare, the cannon maintained its position of pre-eminence due to the fact that guns were aimed by positioning the angle of the ship more commonly than not. Small arms never had a fraction of the importance in naval gunpowder warfare as they had on land.

China

Earliest known written formula for gunpowder, from the Wujing Zongyao manuscript of 1044 AD. The Wujing Zongyao ( was a Chinese military compendium written in 1044 AD during the Northern Song Dynasty.

Many regions participated in gunpowder warfare during this period. The first civilization that employed the use of gunpowder in warfare was medieval China, beginning in the Five Dynasties and Ten Kingdoms period (907–960 AD). Five Dynasties and Ten Kingdoms ( 907-960 was an era of political upheaval in China, beginning in the Tang Dynasty and ending in the Song Dynasty. Events By Place Asia Oleg leads the Kievan Rus' in a campaign against Constantinople (see Rus'-Byzantine Events By Place Europe Edgar the Peaceable is crowned King of England.

The impetus for the development of gunpowder weapons in China was increasing encroachment by tribes on its borders. ^[1] From the 10th century until the 13th century, advances in military technology aided the Song Dynasty in its defense against their hostile neighbors to the north, including the Tanguts, Khitans, Jurchens, and finally the Mongols. The Song Dynasty ( Wade-Giles: Sung Ch'ao was a ruling dynasty in China between 960&ndash1279 CE it succeeded the Five Dynasties and Ten Kingdoms The Tangut ( identified with the state of Western Xia, were a Qiangic - Tibetan people who moved to northwestern China sometime before The Khitan (or Khitai,) were a Nomadic people, located in Mongolia and modern Manchuria (Northeast China from the 4th century dominating much of it The Jurchens ( were a Tungus people who inhabited the region of Manchuria ( Northeast China) until the 17th century when they adopted the name Manchu

The discovery of gunpowder in the 800s and the subsequent invention of firearms in the 1100s both coincided with long periods of disunity during which there was some immediate use for infantry and siege weapons. ^[2]

The years 904–906 saw the use of incendiary projectiles called 'flying fires' (fei-huo). ^[3] Needham (1986) argues that gunpowder was first used in warfare in China in 919 as a fuse for the ignition of another incendiary, Greek fire. Early Modern warfare is associated with the start of the widespread use of Gunpowder and the development of suitable weapons to use the explosive Greek fire was a burning-liquid weapon used by the Byzantine Empire. The earliest depiction of a gunpowder weapon is a mid-10th century silk banner from Dunhuang that shows a fire-lance, precursor of the gun. Dunhuang ( also written as 燉煌 till early Qing Dynasty; is a City (pop The fire lance ( or fire spear is one of the first gunpowder weapons in the world ^[4]

Hand Cannon from the Yuan Dynasty (1279–1368)

The earliest surviving recipes for gunpowder can be found in the Wujing Zongyao^[2] of 1044, which contains three: two for use in incendiary bombs to be thrown by siege engines and one intended as fuel for poison smoke bombs. The hand cannon ( Arabic: midfa; Chinese: 手[[wikt 銃|銃]] as it was called was the first handheld portable The Yuan Dynasty ( Pinyin: Yuáncháo Dai Ön Ulus (Дай Юан Улс was a ruling Dynasty founded by the Mongol leader Kublai The Wujing Zongyao ( was a Chinese military compendium written in 1044 AD during the Northern Song Dynasty. ^[5] One of the recipes describes a 'thorny fire-ball' bomb designed with caltrops to catch and stick to targets and set them alight. It calls for a mixture of sulfur, saltpeter, charcoal and other filler and combustible ingredients to be packaged into a ball that is lit just prior to being launched from a trebuchet. ^[6]

The formulas in the Wujing zongyao range from 27 to 50 percent nitrate. ^[7] Experimenting with different levels of saltpeter content eventually produced bombs, grenades, and mines, in addition to giving fire-arrows a new lease on life. ^[2] By the end of the 12th century, there were cast iron grenades filled with gunpowder formulations capable of bursting through their metal containers. Cast iron usually refers to grey cast iron, but identifies a large group of Ferrous Alloys which solidify with a Eutectic. ^[8] The 14th century Huolongjing contains gunpowder recipes with nitrate levels ranging from 12% to 91%, six of which approach the theoretical composition for maximal explosive force. ^[7] Zhang (1986) argues that the use of gunpowder in artillery as an explosive (as opposed to a mere incendiary) was made possible by improvements in the refinement of sulfur from pyrite during the Song Dynasty. Early Modern warfare is associated with the start of the widespread use of Gunpowder and the development of suitable weapons to use the explosive

In the battles of Tangdao and Caishi, which both took place in 1161, combatants employed both grenades and soft-case bombs packed with lime and sulfur. The naval Battle of Tangdao (唐岛之战 took place in 1161 between the Jurchen Jin and the Southern Song Dynasty of China The naval Battle of Caishi (采石之战 took place in 1161 and was the result of an attempt by forces of the Jurchen Jin to cross the Yangtze ^[9][10][11] In 1221, cast iron bombs thrown by hand, sling, and catapult are mentioned, yet earlier in 1161 trebuchets on Song Dynasty naval warships were used to launch gunpowder bombs at the opposing Jin Dynasty navy. A trebuchet or trebucket is a Siege engine that was employed in the Middle Ages either to smash Masonry Walls or to throw This is an article for the Jurchen Jin Dynasty (1115–1234 For other Chinese dynasties whose names are also rendered "Jin" in Pinyin, see Jin Dynasty ^[12]

The Tê-An Shou Chhêng Lu, an account of the siege of De'an in 1132, records that Song forces used fire-lances against the Jurchens. The Song Dynasty ( Wade-Giles: Sung Ch'ao was a ruling dynasty in China between 960&ndash1279 CE it succeeded the Five Dynasties and Ten Kingdoms The Jurchens ( were a Tungus people who inhabited the region of Manchuria ( Northeast China) until the 17th century when they adopted the name Manchu ^[13]

Ming Dynasty (1368-1644) Chinese musketeers. The Ming Dynasty ( or Empire of the Great Ming ( was the ruling dynasty of China from 1368 to 1644 following the collapse of the Mongol -led A musketeer (mousquetaire was an early modern type of Infantry Soldier equipped with a Musket.

The earliest depiction of a gun is a sculpture from a cave in Sichuan dating to the 1100s of a figure carrying a vase-shaped bombard with flames and a cannonball coming out of it. ^[14][15] The oldest gun ever discovered, dated to 1288, has a muzzle bore diameter of 2. 5 cm; the second oldest, dated to 1332, has a muzzle bore diameter of 10. 5 cm. ^[16]

In his 1341 poem 'The Iron Cannon Affair', one of the first accounts of the use of gunpowder artillery in China, Zhang Xian wrote that a cannonball fired from an eruptor could 'pierce the heart or belly when it strikes a man or horse, and can even transfix several persons at once'. ^[17] During wartime, the Chinese used the early gunpowder weapons in defense against the Mongols, and the weapon was taken up by the Mongol conquerors later. An account of a 1359 battle near Hangzhou records that both the Ming Chinese and Mongol sides were equipped with cannon. The Ming Dynasty ( or Empire of the Great Ming ( was the ruling dynasty of China from 1368 to 1644 following the collapse of the Mongol -led ^[18]

The 13th century saw the beginnings of rocketry and its use in both peace and war. A rocket or rocket vehicle is a Missile, Aircraft or other Vehicle which obtains Thrust by the reaction of the ^[19]

In the middle of the 14th century Jiao Yu, who had served Ming Dynasty founder Zhu Yuanzhang as an artillery officer and become one of his confidants, compiled a military treatise called the Huolongjing. Jiao Yu ( Traditional and Simplified Chinese: 焦玉 Wade-Giles: Chiao Yü, Hanyu Pinyin: Jiāo Yù) was a Chinese Early life Zhu Yuanzhang was born in 1328 in Pei County Xuzhou, Jiangsu Province as the youngest of four sons The Huolongjing ( Wade-Giles: Huo Lung Ching; Traditional Chinese: 火龍經 rendered by its translator into English as In addition to descriptions of old standbys like gunpowder recipes, fire arrows, fire lances, cannons and bombards, the Huolongjing also described poisonous gunpowder recipes, naval mines, land mines which employed a wheellock and falling weight mechanism, rocket launchers and even multistage rockets. The Fire Arrow is a projectile weapon that uses Black powder. The fire lance ( or fire spear is one of the first gunpowder weapons in the world | NOTE Throughout this article "cannon" is used as BOTH the || singular and plural A naval mine is a self-contained Explosive device placed in water to destroy Ships or Submarines Unlike Depth charges mines are deposited A land mine is an Explosive device designed to be placed on or in the ground to explode when triggered by an operator or the Proximity of a vehicle person Wheellock, wheel-lock or wheel lock, is a mechanism for firing a Firearm. Needham (1986) suggests that the proto-shells described in the Huolongjing may be among the first of their kind. A shell is a payload-carrying Projectile, which as opposed to shot, contains an explosive or other filling though modern usage includes large solid projectiles

Islamic and Hindu world

Medieval period

Main article: Muslim military technology

Potassium nitrate (saltpetre) has been known in Arabic alchemy and chemistry since the 8th century under various names such as natrun, barud, or "Chinese snow". Potassium nitrate is a Chemical compound with the Chemical formula K[[Nitrogen N]] O 3 The first Arabic work with a purification process for saltpetre was the al-Muqaddimat, an Arabic medical work written by the Arab physician Ibn Bakhtawayh in 1029. The araB gene Promoter is a bacterial promoter activated by e L-arabinose binding ^[20] Saltpetre came to be known in later Arabic sources as "Chinese snow" (thalj al-Sīn) and, soon afterward, Muslim chemists and engineers learned of gunpowder, and also learned of fireworks ("Chinese flowers") and rockets ("Chinese arrows"). Arabic (ar الْعَرَبيّة (informally ar عَرَبيْ) in terms of the number of speakers is the largest living member of the Semitic language A Muslim (مسلم pronounced Muslim, not Muzlim) is an adherent of the Religion ^[21]

The earliest known complete purification process for potassium nitrate is described in 1270 by the Arab chemist and engineer Hasan al-Rammah of Syria in his book al-Furusiyya wa al-Manasib al-Harbiyya (The Book of Military Horsemanship and Ingenious War Devices), where he first described the use of potassium carbonate (in the form of wood ashes) to remove calcium and magnesium salts from the potassium nitrate. The araB gene Promoter is a bacterial promoter activated by e L-arabinose binding Syria ( سوريّة or) officially the Syrian Arab Republic (Arabic ar الجمهورية العربية السورية Carbonate of potash redirects here For one of potassium carbonate's impure forms see Potash. Wood is hard fibrous lignified structural tissue produced as secondary Xylem in the stems of Woody plants notably trees but also shrubs Calcium carbonate is a Chemical compound with the Chemical formula Ca[[Carbon C]] O 3 Magnesium carbonate, MgCO3 is a white Solid that occurs in nature as a Mineral. Salt is a Dietary mineral composed primarily of Sodium chloride that is essential for Animal life but toxic to most land plants ^[22][23] Al-Rammah also described the earliest known recipes for an explosive gunpowder effect, some of which were almost identical to the ideal composition for explosive gunpowder used in modern times (75% saltpetre, 10% sulfur, 15% carbon), such as the tayyar "rocket" (75% saltpetre, 8% sulfur, 15% carbon) and the tayyar buruq "lightning rocket" (74% saltpetre, 10% sulfur, 15% carbon). An explosive material is a material that either is chemically or otherwise Energetically unstable or produces a sudden expansion of the material usually accompanied An explosive material is a material that either is chemically or otherwise Energetically unstable or produces a sudden expansion of the material usually accompanied Gunpowder is a an explosive mixture of Sulfur, Charcoal and Potassium nitrate (also known as saltpetre/saltpeter that burns rapidly producing volumes Sulfur or sulphur (ˈsʌlfɚ see spelling below) is the Chemical element that has the Atomic number 16 Carbon (kɑɹbən is a Chemical element with the symbol C and its Atomic number is 6 He states in his book that many of these recipes were known to his father and grandfather, hence dating back to at least the late 12th century. The earliest known military applications of these explosive gunpowder compositions were the explosive hand cannons first used by the Egyptians to repel the Mongols at the Battle of Ain Jalut in 1260, and again in 1304. The hand cannon ( Arabic: midfa; Chinese: 手[[wikt 銃|銃]] as it was called was the first handheld portable This article is about the country of Egypt For a topic outline on this subject see List of basic Egypt topics. The Battle of Ain Jalut (or Ayn Jalut, in Arabic ar عين جالوت the "Eye of Goliath" or the "Spring of Goliath" took place on 3 September 1260 between There were four different gunpowder compositions used for the cannons at the battles, with the most explosive cannon having a gunpowder composition (74% saltpetre, 11% sulfur, 15% carbon) again almost identical to the ideal composition for explosive gunpowder. | NOTE Throughout this article "cannon" is used as BOTH the || singular and plural The compositions for an explosive gunpowder effect were not known in China or Europe until the 14th century. ^[24][25]

The earliest torpedo was also first described in 1270 by Hasan al-Rammah in The Book of Military Horsemanship and Ingenious War Devices, which illustrated a torpedo running with a rocket system filled with explosive materials and having three firing points. The modern torpedo (historically called an automotive automobile locomotive or fish torpedo is a self-propelled explosive Projectile weapon launched above or below ^[26]

Ottoman Empire

The bronze Dardanelles cannon, used by the Ottoman Turks in the siege of Constantinople in 1453. The Ottoman Empire (1299–1923 ( Old Ottoman Turkish: دولتْ علیّه عثمانیّه Devlet-i Âliye-yi Osmâniyye, Late Ottoman and Modern Turkish The Fall of Constantinople refers to the capture of the Byzantine Empire's capital by the Ottoman Empire on Tuesday May 29, 1453 (Julian Calendar

Muskets and bayonets
aboard the frigate Grand Turk

The Ottoman Empire had been one of the first Middle Eastern states (that extended into Europe, making them the first European state as well) to effectively use gunpowder weapons and used them to great effect conquering much of the Middle East, North Africa, and the Balkans. A bayonet (from French baïonnette) is a Knife - Dagger - or spike-shaped Weapon designed to fit on or over the muzzle For the bird see Frigatebird. A frigate /ˈfrɪgɪt/ is a warship The Grand Turk is a replica of a three-masted Sixth-rate Frigate, well known for depicting HMS ''Indefatigable'' in the TV series The Middle East is a Subcontinent with no clear boundaries often used as a synonym to Near East, in opposition to Far East. North Africa or Northern Africa is the Northernmost Region of the African Continent, separated by the Sahara from Sub-Saharan In the seventeenth century the state began to stagnate as more modern technologies and strategies were not adopted. Specifically, the Ottoman Empire was slow to adopt innovations like boring cannon (rather than casting them in a mold), making the conversion from matchlock firearms to flintlocks, and the lightening of field guns and carriages. The Matchlock was the first mechanism or "lock" invented to uncomplicate the firing of a hand-held firearm Flintlock is the general term for any Firearm based on the flintlock mechanism ^[27]

In part this was because the military elite had become a powerful force in the empire and change threatened their positions. David Nicolle theorizes that one contributing factor to the Ottoman reluctance to adopt the flintlock musket, despite its superiority over the matchlock ignition system, was the dusty climate of much of the Middle East which could cause problems with reliability. David Nicolle is an Historian specialising in the Military history of the Middle Ages, with a particular interest in the Middle East. The Middle East is a Subcontinent with no clear boundaries often used as a synonym to Near East, in opposition to Far East. ^[28]

Overall, the Ottoman Empire between the 15th and 18th centuries has been assessed as a third-tier military producer, that is a producer which copies existing technologies, but does not capture the underlying process of innovation (first-tier producer) or adaption (second-tier producer). ^[29] Other research, though, complicates that view. A Chinese military manual published in 1644 compared Ottoman and European firearms in the following manner:^[30]

Firearms have been in use since the beginning of the dynasty, and field armies in battle formation have found them convenient and useful to carry along. . . Since muskets have been transmitted to China, these weapons have lost their effectiveness. . . In battle formation, aside from various cannon such as the "three generals," the breach loading swivel gun, and the "hundred-league thunder," nothing has more range or power than the Ottoman musket. The next best is the European one.

The fact that Ottoman firearms were considered by 17th century Chinese writers to be superior to European firearms demonstrates that the Ottoman Empire was at least a second tier producer of muskets during this period. However, some claim that the 'European' firearms the Chinese researcher tested were actually Japanese arquebuses based on fifty year old Portuguese models. The design of the Ottoman matchlock is substantially different from that of the European variety and it in turn influenced the matchlocks produced in both Safavid Persia and Mughal India. The Safavids ( صفوی) were an Iranian ref>Helen Chapin Metz See Also Persian Empire History of Iran and Greater Iran (also referred to as the " Iranian Cultural Continent The Mughal Empire ( Persian and self-designation گورکانی; مغلیہ سلطنت) was an Islamic imperial power which ruled most This article is about the history of South Asia prior to the Partition of British India in 1947

15th Century

The Ottoman Empire was one of the first states to put gunpowder weapons into widespread use. The famous Janissary corps of the Ottoman army began using matchlock muskets as early as the 1440s. The Janissaries (derived from Ottoman Turkish ينيچرى ( yeniçeri) meaning "new soldier" comprised Infantry units that formed ^[28] The army of Mehmet the Conqueror, which conquered Constantinople in 1453, included both artillery and foot soldiers armed with gunpowder weapons. Constantinople (Κωνσταντινούπολις Konstantinoúpolis, or gr ἡ Πόλις hē Polis, Latin: la CONSTANTINOPOLIS ^[31] The Ottomans brought to the siege sixty-nine guns in fifteen separate batteries and trained them at the walls of the city. The barrage of Ottoman cannon fire lasted forty days, and they are estimated to have fired 19,320 times. ^[32]

16th Century

The 16th century saw the first widespread use of the matchlock musket as a decisive weapon on the battlefield with the Turks becoming leaders in this regard. The first of these campaigns was the campaign against the Persians in 1514 under Yavuz Sultan Selim, or Selim the Grim. Selim I ( Ottoman: سليم الأول, Turkish: ISelim; also known as "the Grim" or "the Brave" Yavuz in Armed with gunpowder weapons, his army defeated the Persians at the Battle of Chaldiran. The Battle of Chaldiran (also Chaldoran or Çaldıran) occurred on 23 August 1514 and ended with a decisive victory for the Ottoman Empire over ^[33] After his victory over the Safavids, Selim turned his attention towards the Mamluk dynasty in Egypt. The Safavids ( صفوی) were an Iranian ref>Helen Chapin Metz This article is about the country of Egypt For a topic outline on this subject see List of basic Egypt topics. The decisive battle of his campaign against the Mamluks, and the battle which highlighted the importance of the musket in the Ottoman military, was the Battle of Raydaniyah, fought in 1517. There, Selim outflanked the entrenched Mamluk artillery, and attacked the Mamluk forces with his Janissaries. The Janissaries, armed with firearms, destroyed the Mamluk army, armed mostly with traditional swords and javelins. ^[34]

Reference was made by João de Barros to a sea battle outside Jiddah, in 1517, between Portuguese and Ottoman vessels. João de Barros (ʒuˈɐ̃w̃ dɨ ˈbaʁuʃ (1496&ndash October 20, 1570) called the Portuguese Livy, is one of the first great Jeddah (also spelled Jiddah, Jidda, or Jedda; جدّة Ǧiddah) is a Saudi Arabian city located on the coast of the The Muslim force under Salman Reis had "three or four basilisks firing balls of thirty palms in circumference". ^[35] This was estimated to be a cannon of about 90 inch bore "firing cut stone balls of approximately 1,000 pounds (453 kg)". Inches redirects here To see the Les Savy Fav album see Inches. The pound or pound-mass (abbreviation lb, lbm, or sometimes in the United States #) is a unit of Mass ^[35]

After the death of Selim, his son, Kanuni Sultan Suleiman, Suleiman the Magnificent in the West, took over as ruler of the Ottoman empire. Suleiman I (سليمان Sulaymān, Süleyman almost always Kanuni Sultan Süleyman) ( 6 November 1494 5/ 6 September 1566 During his reign, gunpowder weapons continued to be used effectively. One important example, is the Battle of Mohacs in 1526. The Battle of Mohács (mohácsi csata or mohácsi vész/Bane of Mohács; Schlacht bei Mohács Mohačka bitka Мохачка битка/Mohačka bitka Bitka pri Moháči During this battle, Ottoman artillery, and Janissaries armed with muskets, were able to cut down charging Hungarian cavalry. ^[36]

17th Century

Although the cannon and musket were employed by the Ottomans long beforehand, by the 17th century they witnessed how ineffective the traditional cavalry charges were in the face of concentrated musket-fire volleys. The Ottoman Empire (1299–1923 ( Old Ottoman Turkish: دولتْ علیّه عثمانیّه Devlet-i Âliye-yi Osmâniyye, Late Ottoman and Modern Turkish ^[37] In a report given by an Ottoman general in 1602, he confessed that the army was in a distressed position due to the emphasis in European forces for musket-wielding infantry, while the Ottomans relied heavily on cavalry. ^[37] Thereafter it was suggested that the janisseries, who were already trained and equipped with muskets, become more heavily involved in the imperial army while led by their agha. ^[37]

By the middle of the 17th century, the continued reliance of the Ottomans on over-heavy ordnance had been made out by European officers as a liability. Raimondo Montecuccoli, the Habsburg commander who defeated the Ottomans at Battle of Saint Gotthard commented on Ottoman cannon:

This enormous artillery produces great damage when it hits, but it is awkward to move and it requires too much time to reload and site. Raimondo Count of Montecúccoli or Montecucculi ( German: Raimondo Graf Montecúccoli; February 21, 1608 or 1609 - The Battle of Saint Gotthard (Szentgotthárd was fought on August 1 1664 between an Habsburg army led by Raimondo Montecuccoli, Jean de Furthermore, it consumes a great amount of powder, besides cracking and breaking the wheels and the carriages and even the ramparts on which it is placed . . . our artillery is more handy and more efficient and here resides our advantage over the cannon of the Turks. ^[38]

Safavid Empire

Soon after the Ottoman Empire, two other Muslim gunpowder empires appeared: the Safavid Empire in Persia and the Mughal Empire in India. The Safavids ( صفوی) were an Iranian ref>Helen Chapin Metz The Persian Empire was a series of Iranian empires that ruled over the Iranian plateau, the original Persian homeland and beyond in Western Asia The Mughal Empire ( Persian and self-designation گورکانی; مغلیہ سلطنت) was an Islamic imperial power which ruled most This article is about the history of South Asia prior to the Partition of British India in 1947 They both began in the early 16th century but later collapsed in the 18th century.

The refusal of their Qizilbash forces to use firearms contributed to the Safavid rout at Chaldiran in 1514. Qizilbash or Kizilbash ( Nastaliq: قزلباش - Qizilbāš; Ottoman Turkish for "Red Heads" is a name given to a wide The Battle of Chaldiran (also Chaldoran or Çaldıran) occurred on 23 August 1514 and ended with a decisive victory for the Ottoman Empire over ^[39]

Despite this initial reluctance, the Persians very rapidly acquired the art of making and using handguns. A Venetian envoy, Vincenzo di Alessandri, in a report presented to the Council of Ten on 24 September 1572, observes:

"They used for arms, swords, lances, arquebuses, which all the soldiers carry and use; their arms are also superior and better tempered than those of any other nation. The Council of Ten, or simply the Ten, was from 1310 to 1797 one of the major governing bodies of the Republic of Venice. The barrels of the arquebuses are generally six spans long, and carry a ball little less than three ounces in weight. They use them with such facility that it does not hinder them drawing their bows nor handling their swords, keeping the latter hung at their saddle bows till occasion requires them. The arquebus is then put away behind the back so that one weapon does not impede the use of the other. "

Mughal Empire

Babur, the founder of the Mughal Empire on the Indian subcontinent, employed firearms, gun carts and movable artillery in battle. Babur ( February 14 1483 - December 26 1530) was a Muslim conqueror from Central Asia who following a series of setbacks The Mughal Empire ( Persian and self-designation گورکانی; مغلیہ سلطنت) was an Islamic imperial power which ruled most This article deals with the geophysical region in Asia For geopolitical treatments see South Asia. A firearm is a Tool that projects either single or multiple Projectiles at high velocity through a controlled explosion Field artillery is a category of mobile Artillery used to support armies in the field In particular, he used them at the first Battle of Panipat (1526) to defeat the much larger forces of Ibrahim Lodhi, the last ruler of the Delhi Sultanate. The first battle of Panipat took place in northern India, and marked the beginning of the Mughal Empire. Ibrahim Lodhi (died April 21, 1526) was the last ruler of the Delhi Sultanate. The Delhi Sultanate ( Urdu: دلی سلطنت, दिल्ली सलतनत or Sultanat e Hind ( سلطنتِ هند; सलतनत ए Other battles he fought using gunpowder weapons include the Battle of Khanwa in 1527 against Rana Sanga, and the Battle of Ghaghra in 1529. The Battle of Khanua (1527 was the second of the series of three major battles victories in which gave Mughal warlord Zaheer-ud-din Babur overlordship over Maharana Sangram Singh (commonly known as Rana Sanga) ( April 12, 1484 – March 17, 1527) was the ruler of Mewar, a region The Battle of Ghaghra, fought in 1529 was the last of a series of three major battles victories in which gave Mughal warlord Zaheer-ud-din Babur overlordship over

His descendants also employed gunpowder weapons in their expansion of the Mughal Empire, such as Akbar the Great at the second Battle of Panipat (1556) against Adil Shah Suri and Hemu of the Sur Dynasty. Akbar redirects here For other uses see Akbar (disambiguation Jalaluddin Muhammad Akbar ( Jalāl ud-Dīn Muhammad Akbar The Second Battle of Panipat was fought between the forces of Samrat Hem Chander Vikramaditya, popularly called Hemu, and the army of Mughal emperor Adil Shah Suri was the seventh and final ruler of the Sur dynasty. Samrat Hem Chandra Vikramaditya, also known as Hemachandra Bhargava or simply Hemu ( Hindi: सम्राट हेम चंद्र The Suri Dynasty was founded by the powerful Afghan conqueror Sher Shah, an ethnic Pasthun who's family hailed from Peshawer ( Pakistan)

Tipu Sultan invented the first iron rockets in Mysore, India. Iron (ˈаɪɚn is a Chemical element with the symbol Fe (ferrum and Atomic number 26 A rocket or rocket vehicle is a Missile, Aircraft or other Vehicle which obtains Thrust by the reaction of the Mysore (maɪˈsɔɚ in English; renamed to Mysuru|ಮೈಸೂರು) (ಮೈಸೂರು is the second largest city in the state of Karnataka, India India, officially the Republic of India (भारत गणराज्य inc-Latn Bhārat Gaṇarājya; see also other Indian languages) is a country

Kingdom of Mysore

The first iron rockets were developed by Tipu Sultan, a Muslim ruler of the South Indian Kingdom of Mysore. Iron (ˈаɪɚn is a Chemical element with the symbol Fe (ferrum and Atomic number 26 A rocket or rocket vehicle is a Missile, Aircraft or other Vehicle which obtains Thrust by the reaction of the South India is the area encompassing India 's states of Andhra Pradesh, Karnataka, Kerala and Tamil Nadu as well as the union The Kingdom of Mysore/State of Mysore (ಮೈಸೂರು ಸಾಮ್ರಾಜ್ಯ was both a Kingdom (1399-1799 CE and a Princely state (1799-1947 He successfully used these iron rockets against the larger forces of the British East India Company during the Anglo-Mysore Wars. The Honourable East India Company ( HEIC) referred to most commonly as the East India Company, also historically and colloquially as John Company, or The Anglo-Mysore Wars were a series of wars fought in India over the last three decades of the eighteenth-century between the Kingdom of Mysore and the British The Mysore rockets of this period were much more advanced than what the British had seen, chiefly because of the use of iron tubes for holding the propellant; this enabled higher thrust and longer range for the missile (up to 2 km range). Mysore (maɪˈsɔɚ in English; renamed to Mysuru|ಮೈಸೂರು) (ಮೈಸೂರು is the second largest city in the state of Karnataka, India After Tipu's eventual defeat in the Fourth Anglo-Mysore War and the capture of the Mysore iron rockets, they were influential in British rocket development and were soon put into use in the Napoleonic Wars. The Fourth Anglo-Mysore War ( 1798 &ndash 1799) was a war in South India between the Kingdom of Mysore and the British East India Company The Napoleonic Wars (1803-1815 involved Napoleon's French Empire and a shifting set of European allies and opposing coalitions ^[40]

Europe

Beginning of polygonal fortifications

Main article: Polygonal fort

Model of city with polygonal fortifications

The period from 1500-1801 saw a rapid advance in techniques of fortification in Europe. A polygonal fort is a Fortification in the style that evolved around the middle of the Nineteenth century, in response to the development of powerful explosive Whereas medieval castles had relied on high walls to keep out attackers, early modern fortifications had to withstand artillery bombardments. To do this, engineers developed a style of fortress known as the trace itallienne or "Italian style". These had low, thick, sloping walls, that would either absorb or glance off cannon fire. In addition, they were shaped like stars, with bastions protruding at sharp angles. The reason for was to ensure that every bastion could be supported with fire from an adjacent bastion, leaving no "dead ground" for an attacker to take cover in. These new fortifications quickly negated the advantages cannon had afforded to besiegers.

Vauban refined siege warfare by designing fortresses to withstand attacks and planning attacks. Sébastien Le Prestre Seigneur de Vauban and later Marquis de Vauban ( May 15, 1633 – March 30, 1707) commonly referred to

A polygonal fort is a fortification in the style that evolved around the middle of the eighteenth century, in response to the development of explosive shells. Fortifications are Military Constructions and Buildings designed for defense in Warfare Humans have constructed defensive works for The 18th century lasted from 1701 to 1800 in the Gregorian calendar, in accordance with the Anno Domini / Common Era numbering system A shell is a payload-carrying Projectile, which as opposed to shot, contains an explosive or other filling though modern usage includes large solid projectiles

The complex and sophisticated designs of star forts that preceded them were highly effective against cannon assault, but proved much less effective against the more accurate fire of rifled guns and the destructive power of explosive shells. A star fort or trace italienne is a Fortification in the style that evolved during the age of Black powder, when cannons came Rifling refers to the Helix -shaped pattern in the barrel of a Firearm, which imparts a spin to a Projectile around its long axis The polygonal style of fortification is also described as a "flankless fort". Many such forts were built in the United Kingdom and the British Empire during the government of Lord Palmerston, and so they are also often referred to as Palmerston forts. The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland was the formal name of the United Kingdom from 1 January 1801 until 12 April 1927 The British Empire was the largest empire in history and for over a century was the foremost global power. "Lord Palmerston" and "Henry Temple" redirect here Their low profile makes them easy to overlook.

In response to the vulnerabilities of star forts, military engineers evolved a much simpler but more robust style of fortification. A military engineer is primarily responsible for the design and construction of offensive defensive and logistical structures for Warfare Other duties include the

An example of this style can be seen at Fort McHenry in Baltimore in the United States of America, the home of the famous battle where the "Star Spangled Banner" was penned by F. Fort McHenry, in Baltimore Maryland, is a star shaped fort best known S. Key.

Firearms

The power of aristocracies fell throughout Western Europe during this period in relation to the state. Their 200-400 year old ancestral castles were no longer useful defences against artillery. Their role in war was also eroded as the Medieval cavalry lost its central role in warfare. The cavalry made up of the elite had been fading in importance in the late Middle Ages. The English longbow and the Swiss pike had both proven their ability to devastate larger armed forces. To see other senses of this word see Longbow (disambiguation. A pike is a Pole weapon, a very long thrusting Spear used two-handed and used extensively by Infantry both for attacks on enemy foot soldiers and as However, the proper use of the longbow required a lifetime of training, making it impossible to amass very large forces. The proper use of the pike required complex operations in formation and a great deal of fortitude and cohesion by the pikemen, again making amassing large forces difficult. Starting in the early 1300s, plate armour pieces were added to the protective linked mail armour to guard against the arrows of the longbow and crossbow. By 1415 the first "hand cannons" were deployed by some infantrymen, and the earliest small bore arquebuses, with burning "match locks" appeared on the battlefield.

Role of Plate Armour

During an interval that lasted for 250 years (1400 to 1650), extensive plate armour was worn in virtually all major European battles, by some footsoldiers (usually pikemen) and mounted troops. Plate armour was expected to deflect edged weapons and to stop an arquebus or pistol ball fired from a distance, and it usually did. The threat (firearms) and remedy (armour) tended to work as long as the velocity and weight of the ball was quite low, but over time more effective firearms, (after 1650) could kill an armoured man at a distance of even 100 yards. The musket, carried by most infantrymen, other than pikemen, after 1650, fired a heavier charge and ball than the arquebus. A recruit could be trained to use a musket in a matter of weeks. Since the muskets themselves were extremely inaccurate, training in marksmanship was of little benefit. Shooting is the act or process of firing Rifles Shotguns or other projectile Weapons such as bows or Crossbows Even the firing of A musket did not require the great physical strength of a pikeman, or the fairly rare skills of a horseman. Muskets could neutralize even the most heavily armoured cavalry forces. Since a firearm requires little training to operate, the order and respect maintained by mounted cavalry in Europe and their Eastern equivalents could be undermined by a peasant with a gun. Though well smithed plate armour could prevent the penetration of gunpowder-weapons by 1670 it became no match for massed firearms in frontal attack and its use ended.

Transition to muskets

The arquebus, from 1410, was one of the first firearms that were relatively light (they still required a stand to balance them) and could be operated by one person. The Arquebus (sometimes spelled harquebus, harkbus or hackbut; from Dutch haakbus, meaning "hook gun" is A firearm is a Tool that projects either single or multiple Projectiles at high velocity through a controlled explosion One of these weapons was first recorded as being used in the Battle of Agincourt in 1415, although this was very much a medieval battle. The Battle of Agincourt was an English victory against a larger French army in the Hundred Years' War. The musket was originally a heavier form of the arquebus, which fired a shot that could pierce armour, though only at close range. A musket is a muzzle -loaded Smoothbore Long gun, which is intended to be fired from the shoulder In the 1500s, it had to be mounted on a support stick to keep it steady. The caliver was the lighter form of the arquebus. By 1600, or so, these firearms were phased out in favour of a new lighter musket. A musket is a muzzle -loaded Smoothbore Long gun, which is intended to be fired from the shoulder For most of the 1500s and 1600s, muskets were of the matchlock design. The Matchlock was the first mechanism or "lock" invented to uncomplicate the firing of a hand-held firearm

However, this was superseded in the 1690s by the flintlock musket, which was less prone to misfires and had a faster reloading time. Flintlock is the general term for any Firearm based on the flintlock mechanism By this time, only cavalry scouting units, "the eyes of the army" continued to wear front and back plates to protect themselves from distant or undisciplined musket equipped troops.

While soldiers armed with firearms could inflict great damage on cavalry at a moderate distance, at close quarters the cavalry could slaughter the gun armed infantry if they could break their formation and close to hand to hand combat. For many years infantry weapons were a mix of firearms and pikes for defence. The invention of the bayonet allowed these two weapons to be combined into one making the firearmed infantry the vast bulk of all forces. A bayonet (from French baïonnette) is a Knife - Dagger - or spike-shaped Weapon designed to fit on or over the muzzle

Nature of war

1645 - Siege of the city of Hulst (situated in the Dutch province of Zeeland) by Frederick Henry. Hulst ( is a Municipality and a City in the southwestern Netherlands in the east of Zeelandic Flanders. Sieges dominated warfare of this era

This period saw the size and scale of warfare greatly increase. The number of combatants involved escalated steadily from the mid 1500s and dramatically expanded after the 1660s. For example, the King of France could field around 20,000 men in total for his wars against Spain in the 1550s, but could mobilize up to 500,000 men into the field by 1700 in the War of Spanish Succession. In the War of the Spanish Succession (1701–1714 several European powers combined to stop French succession to the Spanish throne and what would likely have been a resulting Moreover, wars became increasingly deadly in this period. This may in part be attributed to improvements in weapons technology and in the techniques of using it (for example infantry volley fire). However the main reason was that armies were now much bigger, but logistical support for them was inadequate. This meant that armies tended to devastate civilian areas in an effort to feed themselves, causing famines and population displacement. This was exacerbated by the increasing length of conflicts, such as the Thirty Years' War and Eighty Years' War, which subjected fought over areas to repeated devastation. For the Mauritanian Thirty Years' War see Char Bouba war. For the band see The 30 Years War. The Dutch Revolt, Eighty Years' War or the Revolt of the Netherlands (1568—1648 was the revolt of the Seventeen Provinces in the Low Countries For this reason, the wars of this era were among the most lethal before the modern period. For example, the Thirty Years' War and the contemporary Wars of the Three Kingdoms, were the most bloody conflicts in the history of Germany and Britain respectively before the First World War. For the Mauritanian Thirty Years' War see Char Bouba war. For the band see The 30 Years War. The Wars of the Three Kingdoms (sometimes known as the Wars of the Three Nations) formed an intertwined series of conflicts that took place in Scotland, World War I (abbreviated WWI; also known as the First World War, the Great War, and the War to End All Another factor adding to bloodshed in war was the lack of a clear set of rules concerning the treatment of prisoners and non-combatants. While prisoners were usually ransomed for money or other prisoners, they were sometimes slaughtered out of hand - as at the battle of Dungans Hill in 1647. The Battle of Dungan's Hill took place in County Meath, in eastern Ireland in August 1647.

One of the reasons for warfare's increased impact was its indecisiveness. Armies were slow moving in an era before good roads and canals. Battles were relatively rare as armies could manoeuvre for months, with no direct conflict. In addition, battles were often made irrelevant by the proliferation of advanced, bastioned fortifications. To control an area, armies had to take fortified towns, regardless of whether they defeated their enemies field armies. The term enemy combatant has historically referred to members of the armed forces of the state with which another state is at war As a result, by far the most common battles of the era were sieges, hugely time-consuming and expensive affairs. Storming a fortified city could result in massive casualties and cities which did not surrender before an assault were usually brutally sacked -for example Magdeburg in 1631 or Drogheda in 1649. The Sack of Magdeburg (Magdeburgs Opfergang or Magdeburger Hochzeit refers to the Siege and subsequent Plundering of Magdeburg by Roman Catholic a town in eastern Ireland, was besieged twice in the 1640s during the Irish Confederate Wars and the Irish theatre of the Wars of the Three Kingdoms. In addition, both garrisons and besiegers often suffered heavily from disease.

Gustavus Adolphus at the Battle of Breitenfield. The Battle of Breitenfeld (Schlacht bei Breitenfeld Slaget vid Breitenfeld or First Battle of Breitenfeld (sometimes First Breitenfeld) was a "World Changing Adolphus was perhaps the greatest military innovator of this era

The indecisive nature of conflict meant wars were long and endemic. Conflicts stretched on for decades and many states spent more years at war than they did at peace. The Spanish attempt to reconquer the Netherlands after the Dutch Revolt became bogged down in endless siege warfare. The Netherlands ( Dutch:, ˈnedərlɑnt is the European part of the Kingdom of the Netherlands, which consists of the Netherlands the Netherlands The Dutch Revolt, Eighty Years' War or the Revolt of the Netherlands (1568—1648 was the revolt of the Seventeen Provinces in the Low Countries The expense caused the Spanish monarchy to declare bankruptcy several times, beginning in 1577.

The changes in warfare eventually made the mercenary forces of the Renaissance and Middle Ages obsolete. A mercenary is a person who takes part in an armed conflict who is not a national or a party to the conflict and is "motivated to take part in the hostilities essentially by The Renaissance (from French Renaissance, meaning "rebirth" Italian: Rinascimento, from re- "again" and nascere However this was a gradual change. As late as the Thirty Years' War (1618-48), most troops were mercenaries. For the Mauritanian Thirty Years' War see Char Bouba war. For the band see The 30 Years War. However, after this conflict, most states invested in better disciplined and more politically reliable permanent troops. For a time mercenaries became important as trainers and administrators, but soon these tasks were also taken by the state. The massive size of these armies required a large supporting force of administrators. The newly centralized states were forced to set up vast organized bureaucracies to manage these armies, which some historians argue is the basis of the modern bureaucratic state. The combination of increased taxes and increased centralisation of government functions caused a series of revolts across Europe such as the Fronde in France and the English Civil War. La Fronde (1648–1653 was a Civil war in France, occurring in the midst of the Franco-Spanish War, which had begun in 1635 The English Civil War (1642-1651 was a series of armed conflicts and political machinations between Parliamentarians and Royalists. In many countries, the resolution of this conflict was the rise of monarchical absolutism. Absolute monarchy is a monarchical Form of government where the king and queen have absolute power over everything Only in England and the Netherlands did representative government evolve as an alternative. From the late 1600s, states learned how to finance wars through long term low interest loans from national banking institutions like the Bank of England. The Bank of England (formally the Governor and Company of the Bank of England) is a state-owned institution and the Central bank of the United Kingdom The first state to master this process was the Dutch Republic. "United Netherlands" redirects here For the "Kingdom of the United Netherlands" see United Kingdom of the Netherlands.

Battle of Heiligerlee 1568, showing the deployment of infantry bearing pikes and muskets, cavalry and artillery

This transformation in the armies of Europe had great social impact. The Battle of Heiligerlee ( Heiligerlee, Groningen, 23 May, 1568) was fought between Dutch rebels and the Spanish army J.F.C. Fuller famously stated that "the musket made the infantryman and the infantryman made the democrat. Major-General John Frederick Charles Fuller, CB, CBE, DSO, commonly J " This argument states that the defence of the state now rested on the common man, not on the aristocrats, revolts by the underclass, that had been routinely been defeated in the Middle Ages, could now conceivably threaten the power of the state. However, aristocrats continued to monopolise the officer corps of almost all early modern armies, including their high command. Moreover, popular revolts almost always failed unless they had the support and patronage of the noble or gentry classes. The new armies, because of their vast expense, were also dependent on taxation and the commercial classes who also began to demand a greater role in society. The great commercial powers of the Dutch and English matched much larger states in military might.

As almost any man could be given a musket and with only minutes of instruction be able to be a soldier made it far easier to have massive armies. The inaccuracy of the weapons necessitated large groups of massed soldiers. This led to a rapid swelling of the size of armies. For the first time huge masses of the population could enter combat, rather than just the highly skilled professionals. It has been argued that the drawing of men from across the nation into an organized corps helped breed national unity and patriotism, and during this period the modern notion of the nation state was born. For the online game see Jennifer Government NationStates. The nation-state is a certain form of State that derives its legitimacy However, this would only become apparent after the French Revolutionary Wars. The French Revolutionary Wars were a series of major conflicts from 1792 until 1802 fought between the French Revolutionary government and several European states At this time, the levée en masse and conscription would become the defining paradigm of modern warfare. Levée en masse (literally "Rise in (a Mass" is defined in Article 4 letter A paragraph 6 of the Third Geneva Convention. Conscription (also known as the draft, the call-up or national service) is a general term for involuntary labor demanded by some established authority Modern warfare, although present in every Historical period of Military history, is generally used to refer to the concepts, methods and Before then, however, most national armies were in fact composed of many nationalities. For example, although the Swedish Army under Gustavus Adolphus was originally recruited by a kind of national conscription, the losses of the Thirty Years' War meant that by 1648 over 80% of its troops were foreign mercenaries. For the other Swedish kings known as Gustavus Adolphus see Gustav IV Adolf of Sweden or Gustav VI Adolf of Sweden For the Mauritanian Thirty Years' War see Char Bouba war. For the band see The 30 Years War. In Spain, armies were recruited from all the Spanish European territories including Spain, Italy, Wallonia and Germany. The French recruited soldiers from Germany, Switzerland and elsewhere as well as from France. Britain recruited Hessian troops until the late 18th century. Irish Catholics made careers for themselves in the armies of many European states (See the Flight of the Wild Geese). Not to be confused with the 1607 Flight of the Earls. The Flight of the Wild Geese refers to the departure of an Irish Jacobite

Infantry

Column - this was favored by the French. A military column is a formation of that can be applied to individual soldiers marching together in one or more files in which the file is significantly longer than Notably during the Napoleonic era, this is due to the ineffectiveness of the conscripts. By being in column not all muskets could fire at once, reducing the amount of shots fired per minute. It was effective at breaking through "line" formation of undisciplined armies.

Line - Mainly used by the British, it allowed every musket to fire at once and could decimate column formation. The line formation is a standard tactical formation which has been used throughout history

Square - This formation was used against cavalry. An infantry square is a combat formation an Infantry unit formed in close order assumes when threatened with Cavalry attack Bayonets would be fixed, the first line would kneel with their muskets angled upward (much like a pike. ) The second and third lines would fire at the cavalry when it came close. This formation was very ineffective when faced with combined cavalry and infantry.

Skirmishers - Light infantry would advance and be the first to fire to draw the enemy to attack. Skirmishers are Infantry or Cavalry Soldiers stationed ahead or alongside of a larger body of friendly troops Much like the "Sharpe" novels, the sharpshooters would not target common soldiers, but the officers so that the men were without leadership.

Cavalry

The death of King Gustavus II Adolphus in cavalry melee on 16 November 1632 at the Battle of Lützen

The rise of gunpowder reduced the importance of cavalry, but it remained effective in a new role into the nineteenth century. The Cavalry (from French cavalerie) is the second oldest of the Combat Arms, and as Soldiers or Warriors who fought mounted on The cavalry along with the infantry, became more professional in this period but it retained greater prestige than the foot soldier. Light cavalry were introduced for skirmishing and among scouting forces for the advantage of speed and mobility. New types of horse soldiers introduced in this period were dragoons or mounted infantry. A dragoon is a soldier intended primarily to fight on foot but trained also in Horse riding and cavalry combat especially Mounted infantry were Soldiers who rode Horses instead of marching but actually fought on foot in the modern era with Muskets or Rifles but before

Dragoons were intended to travel on horseback but fight on foot and were armed with carbines and pistols. A carbine is a Firearm similar to a Rifle or Musket, but generally shorter and of lesser power Even orthodox cavalry carried firearms, especially the pistol, which they used in a tactic known as the caracole. The caracole or caracol (from the Spanish caracol - " Snail " consists of a manoeuvre on Horseback in Dressage and previously Cavalry charges with swords on undisciplined infantry could still be decisive, but a frontal charge against well ordered musketeers and pikemen was all but futile. Cavalry, from the 16th century on, were more likely to charge other cavalry on the flanks of an infantry formation and try to work their way behind enemy infantry. When they achieved this and pursued a fleeing enemy, cavalry could still destroy an enemy army.

However, the power formerly wielded by a solely cavalry focused army was at an end. For the first time in millennia the settled people of the agricultural regions could defeat the horse peoples of the steppe in open combat. In physical Geography, a steppe ( German, from степь - "a flat and arid land" степ - /stɛp/ тал - tal дала - /dɑlɑ/ pronounced The power of the Mongols was broken in Russia and, no longer threatened from the east, that region began to assert itself as a major force in European affairs. Russia (Россия Rossiya) or the Russian Federation ( Rossiyskaya Federatsiya) is a transcontinental Country extending Never again would nomads from the east threaten to overrun Europe or the Middle East. In the Siege of Kazan (1552), Russia had employed cavalry, infantry armed with arquebus (Streltsy), artillery and sappers, while the Khanate of Kazan had only employed cavalry. The siege of Kazan in 1552 was the final battle of Russo-Kazan Wars. The Arquebus (sometimes spelled harquebus, harkbus or hackbut; from Dutch haakbus, meaning "hook gun" is Streltsy (Стрельцы were the units of Russian guardsmen ( sl A sapper is an individual engineer soldier usually in British or Commonwealth military service The Kazan Khanate (Казан ханлыгы|Qazan xanlığı|قازان خانليغى Russian: Казанское ханство tr: Kazanskoe khanstvo The use of sappers proved decisive.

The one exception to this was the Ottoman Empire, founded by Turkish horsemen, but integrated with the organization of the Byzantine Empire and the technological achievements of the Arab Empire. The Ottoman Empire (1299–1923 ( Old Ottoman Turkish: دولتْ علیّه عثمانیّه Devlet-i Âliye-yi Osmâniyye, Late Ottoman and Modern Turkish Arguably the world's greatest power for almost the entirety of the early modern period, the Ottomans were some of the first to embrace gunpowder weapons and integrated them into their already formidable fighting abilities. As European infantry became better armed and disciplined, by about 1700, Ottoman forces began to be regularly defeated by Austrian Habsburg and other forces.

Japan

Japanese arquebus of the Edo era (teppo)

In Japan the pattern was somewhat different. Soon after European contact, firearms were adopted in the nation and an era of gunpowder warfare followed for several decades, culminating at the famous Battle of Nagashino, where volley fire was introduced. The took place in 1575 at Nagashino Castle in the Mikawa province of Japan. The Japanese under Toyotomi Hideyoshi also used firearms against Koreans and Chinese during the Imjin War of the 1590s AD, which was effective, yet the Chinese and Koreans matched this with farther-range cannon fire. Two Japanese invasions of Korea and subsequent battles on the Korean peninsula took place during the years 1592-1598 Once the islands were unified, the Tokugawa shogunate launched an effort to solidify the power of the feudal samurai class and banned all firearms (as well as repairs to feudal castles). The Tokugawa shogunate, also known as the, and the, was a feudal regime of Japan established by Tokugawa Ieyasu and ruled by the Shoguns of For several centuries Japanese warfare remained medieval and the society feudal in nature.

Naval warfare

The spread of European power around the world was closely tied to naval developments in this period. The caravel for the first time made unruly seas like the Atlantic open to exploration, trade, and military activities. This article is about the Caravel boat type For the carvel type of boat building see Carvel (boat building. While in all previous eras, European navies had been largely confined to operations in coastal waters, and were generally used in a support role to land based forces, this changed with the new vessels and the increasing importance of international waterborne trade. The new caravels were large enough and powerful enough to be armed with cannons with which they could bombard both the shore and other vessels.

See also

• Early Modern period
• Gunpowder
• History of gunpowder
• Gunpowder magazine
• Kabinettskriege
• Technology of the Song Dynasty
• Hwacha
• Singijeons
• Battle of Caishi
• Battle of Tangdao

Notes

References

• Chase, Kenneth (2003), Firearms: A Global History to 1700, Cambridge University Press .
• Crosby, Alfred W. (2002), Throwing Fire: Projectile Technology Through History, Cambridge University Press .
• Gartz, Jochen. Vom griechischen Feuer zum Dynamit. Eine Kulturgeschichte der Explosivstoffe. E. S. Mittler& Sohn. Hamburg (Germany)2007. ISBN 978-3-8132-0867-2.
• Guilmartin, John Francis (1974), Gunpowder and Galleys: Changing technology and Mediterranean warfare at sea in the sixteenth century, Cambridge University Press 
• Keegan, John. The face of battle : a study of Agincourt, Waterloo, and the Somme. London : Barrie & Jenkins, 1988.
• Kelly, Jack (2004), Gunpowder: Alchemy, Bombards, & Pyrotechnics: The History of the Explosive that Changed the World, Basic Books .
• Khan, Iqtidar Alam (2004), Gunpowder and Firearms: Warfare in Medieval India, Oxford University Press .
• Needham, Joseph (1986). Science and Civilization in China: Volume 4, Part 3. Taipei: Caves Books, Ltd.
• Needham, Joseph (1986), Science & Civilisation in China, vol. Noel Joseph Terence Montgomery Needham, CH, FRS, FBA ( December 9, 1900 – March 24 1995) was a British V:7: The Gunpowder Epic, Cambridge University Press .
• Paret, Peter. Gordon A. Craig. Felix Gilbert. ed. Makers of modern strategy : from Machiavelli to the nuclear age. Princeton, N. J.  : Princeton University Press, c1986.
• Townsend, Charles. The Oxford History of Modern War Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2000.
• Parker Geoffrey, The Military Revoltion and the rise of the West
• Parker Geoffrey, Empire War and Faith in Early Modern Europe,Penguin Books, London 2003.
• Tallet, Frank, War and Society in Early Modern Europe 1495-1715, Routledge, London 1992.
• Sturdy, David, Fractured Europe, 1600-1721, Blackwell, Oxford 2002.
• Zhang, Yunming (1986), “Ancient Chinese Sulfur Manufacturing Processes”, Isis 77 (3): 487–497 .

Further reading

• Military science in western europe in the sixteenth century. Prologue:The nature of armies in the 16th century(PDF). Contains a substantial bibliography and further reading sections.
• Chinese Siege Warfare: Mechanical Artillery & Siege Weapons of Antiquity