Military history

From Freepedia

Military history is the recording (in writing or otherwise) of the events in the history of humanity that fall within the category of conflict. This may range from a melee between two tribes to conflicts between proper militaries to a world war affecting the majority of the human population.

It differs somewhat from the history of war with military history focusing on the people and institutions of war-making while the history of war focuses on the evolution of war itself in the face of changing technology, governments, and geography.

Military activity has been a constant process over thousands of years, and the essential tactics, strategy, and goals of military operations have been unchanging throughout history. As an example one notable maneuver is the double envelopment, considered to be the consummate military maneuver, first executed by Hannibal in the Battle of Cannae in 216 BC – over 2,200 years ago. By the study of history, the military seeks to not repeat past mistakes, and improve upon its current performance by instilling an ability in commanders to perceive historical parallels during battle, so as to capitalize on the lessons learned. The main areas military history includes are the history of wars, battles, and combats, history of the military art, and history of each specific military service.

Contents

Periods of military history

Early militaries

In the earliest societies, such as hunter-gatherer societies, there were no social roles or divisions of labor (with the exception of age or sex differences), so every able person contributed to any raids or defense of territory. Only in relatively advanced agricultural societies was there the possibility of professional soldiers or militaries as distinct, organized units.

Much of what we know of ancient history is the history of militaries: their conquests, their movements, and their technological innovations. There are many reasons for this. Kingdoms and empires, the central units of control in the ancient world, could only be maintained through military force. Due to limited agricultural ability, there were relatively few areas that could support large communities, so fighting was common. Weapons and armor, designed to be sturdy, tended to last longer than peaceful implements. And writing, when it existed, was often used for kings to boast of military conquests or victories. For all these reasons, military history comprises a large part of ancient history.

Notable militaries in the ancient world include:

Some of the military unit types and technologies which were developed in antiquity are:

Medieval militaries

Main article: Medieval warfare

Technological, cultural, and social developments had forced a dramatic transformation in the character of warfare from antiquity, changing military tactics and the role of cavalry and artillery. Similar patterns of warfare existed in other parts of the world. In China around the fifth century armies moved from massed infantry to cavalry based forces, copying the steppe nomads. The Middle East and North Africa used similar, if often more advanced, technologies than Europe. In Japan the Medieval warfare period is considered by many to have stretched into the nineteenth century. In Africa along the Sahel and Sudan states like the Kingdom of Sennar and Fulani Empire employed Medieval tactics and weapons well after they had been supplanted in Europe.

Some of the military unit types and technologies which were used in the medieval period are:

Modern militaries

In modern times, war has migrated from an activity seeped in tradition to a scientific enterprise where success is valued above methods. The notion of total war is the extreme of this trend. Militaries have developed technological advances rivalling the scientific accomplishments of any other field of study.

Some of the military unit types and technologies which were developed in modern times are:

Reporting of military events

Gaining an accurate assessment of past military encounters may prove difficult because of bias, even in ancient times, and systematic propaganda in more modern times. Descriptions of battles by leaders may be unreliable due to the inclination to minimize mention of failures and exaggerate when boasting of successes. Further, military secrets may prevent some salient facts from being reported at all; scholars still do not know the nature of Greek fire, for instance. Despite these limitations, wars are some of the most studied and detailed periods of human history.

Military historians

Some of the most notable military historians include:

Types of warfare

There are a number of ways to categorize warfare. One categorization is conventional versus unconventional, where "Conventional" warfare involves well-identified, armed forces fighting one another in a relatively open and straightforward way without weapons of mass destruction. "Unconventional" refers to other types of war which can involve raiding, guerrilla, insurgency, and terrorist tactics or alternatively can include nuclear, chemical, or biological warfare.

All of these categories usually fall into one of two broader categories: High intensity and low intensity warfare. High intensity warfare is between two superpowers or large countries fighting for political reasons. Low intensity warfare involves counterinsurgency, guerilla warfare and specialized types of troops fighting revolutionaries. See also: asymmetrical warfare.

Technological Evolution

New weapons development can dramatically alter the face of war.

  • Gettysburg had spectacular casualties in US history because military training was based on historical lessons, but long guns had developed more accuracy at a greater distance, and the tactics had not evolved.
  • At the start of the World Wars, various nations had developed weapons that were a surprise to their adversaries, leading to a need to learn from this, and alter how to combat them.
  • There were also organizational changes, made possible by better training and intercommunication.

Advances

  • Chariot
  • There was human oar power, often using slaves, built up to ramming speed. Long before the steam engine, there were sailing ships, armed with various kinds of cannon.
    • Galleys were used in the 3rd millennium BC by the Cretans then the Greeks advanced their science.
    • The Vikings, in the 8th century AD, invented a ship propelled by oars with a dragon decorating the prow, hence called the Drakkar.
  • As long as there have been fortifications, there have been contraptions to break in, dating back to the times of Romans and earlier. Subsequent invention of gunpowder dramatically altered this technology.
  • British longbow from 12th century.
    • It dominated battlefields for over a century.
  • In the 10th century, the invention of gunpowder led to many new weapons that got improved over time. Blackpowder was used in China since the 4th Century, but it was not weaponized until the 11th Century.
  • Until mid 15th century, guns were held in one hand, while the explosive charge was ignited by the other hand. Then came the matchlock.
  • At the beginning of the 16th century, the first European fire ships were used. Take a perfectly good ship, fill it with flammables, set it on fire, and send it into enemy lines.
  • Bayonet is named after Bayonne, France where it was first manufactured in the 16th century.
  • Naval mines were invented in the 17th century, not used in great numbers until the American Civil War, were used heavily in WW II. Today land mines are a major civilian hazard in nations that have had past wars.
  • Howitzer arrived in 17th century to fire hire trajectory explosive shells at targets that could not be reached by flat trajectory projectiles.
  • Submarine invented in 1624
  • Balloons first used in warfare in the end of the 18th century. Previously military scouts could only see from high points on ground, or from mast of a ship. Now they could be high in the sky, signalling to troops on the ground. This made it much more difficult for troop movements to go unobserved.
  • In the 1860's there were a series of advancements in rifles.
    • The first repeating rifle was designed in 1860 by a company bought out by Winchester, which made new and improved versions.
  • Also in the 1860's came the first boats that would later be known as torpedo boats
  • Springfield rifles arrived in the mid 19th century
  • Machine guns arrived in the middle of the 19th century,
  • Automatic rifles, or light machine guns, first arrived at the beginning of the 20th century.
  • The French were first to introduce the armored car in 1902. Then in 1918, the British produced the first armored troop carrier. Many early tanks were proof of concept but impractical until further development.
  • In 1911 an aircraft took off from a warship for the first time. It was a cruiser. Take offs were soon perfected, but deck landings on a cruiser were another matter. This led to the development of an aircraft carrier with a decent unobstructed flight deck.
  • Chemical warfare exploded into the public consciousness in WW I but may have been used in earlier wars without as much human attention.
  • Flame throwers first used in WW I.
  • Molotov cocktail invented by the Finns in 1939.
  • Radar was independently invented by the Allies and Axis powers.
  • Atomic Bomb developed by the Manhattan Project and let loose on the world in 1945.
  • Nuclear submarine invented in 1955. This meant submarines no longer had to surface as often, and could run more quietly. They evolved into becoming underwater missile platforms.
  • Cruise missiles invented in USA in 1982.

Military history by region

Classified by region and era

Miscellaneous military history

Related topics

External links

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