Gunpowder has been around for centuries, over millennium. How has gunpowder effected Warfare, and life as we know it? It could easily be argued that one of the most important inventions or discoveries in history has been gunpowder. Gunpowder permanently altered the way humans wage war. Gunpowder was to blame for the rise and fall of Empires (Schroder, M. 2012) The discovery of gunpowder was discovered in 850 A.D. by accident. Gunpowder also called black powder is considered the earliest explosive invented. The Chinese alchemists of the ninth century were considered to be a major force behind the early development of gunpowder. They first used the substance to treat skin diseases and to kill insects before people realized it would be …show more content…
2017). From there, the Moors and the Ottoman Turks created their own forms of firearms. The Moors fought the Europeans in Spain for control of the area, and not even a year after that war the first firearms were finished in Italy. Soon after that the first cannons began to appear, the earliest to appear was from the Turks, they created the bombard. Which were these huge cannon, bigger than one could imagine. The bombards would blow down castle wall this was one of the key weapons that caused the city to fall. With it, fell the recipe of another type of gunpowder, which was mostly used as an early form of flame thrower (Sammon, J. 2012). During the Mid-15th century gunpowder stared to get better. Austrians and the Spanish had begun to use pikes and guns together. This flexibility allowed them to experiment with muskets on the battlefield; one of the uses of them was muskets on the sides, and the pikes in the middle. It was believed that the pike was a superior killing weapon, and the muskets were only useful to scare the enemy. To counter the pike and musket formation, a form of carbine was invented. This was used by people on horseback. The use of horseback carbines was so useful; the use of the lance went extinct within 100 years (Pike, J. 2014). For a few centuries guns got slowly better, but no major progress was made. However, when Gustav Adolph came to
I have Medieval Weapons , I will start with the Crossbow and it is a weapon used in the Middle Age, consisted of a tiller, made of wood and often decorated with horn ivory or bone, to one end of which was attached a short bow. The medieval crossbow was an important weapon in the medieval combat environment. It was primarily used for military purposes. The weapon was used by armies all over the world and dramatically changed the way battles were fought.Initially, this was just made from wood, like the ordinary bow, but was replaced by stronger and more powerful composite bows made from several layers of horn and sinew glued together.
Dynamite was invented in 1867 by Alfred Nobel. According to livescience.com, Nobel’s father was a inventor. Nobel attended school in St Petersburg and shined in his studying. While there he gained a interest in poetry, this interest caused his father to put him in stricter chemistry and engineering classes. If not for this Alfred Nobel could have became a poet.
gunpowder itself. Such as where was it originated, when was it originated, and how did it
Gunpowder single handedly changed the world. What once started as fireworks, would eventually become the greatest aspect of warfare known to man. It was first used by the Chinese, as colorful displays of fire in the sky, but under the rule of the Ming and Ching it became a feared machine of war. Although the effects of gunpowder were mainly positive, there are still some major disadvantages.
Light machine guns and sub-machine guns were invented during World War I as small arms, but the larger machine guns were modernized as well. Flame throwers were used as an offensive attack against trench warfare.[ix],[x]
Another result of technological progression was the matchlock, which would shoot with ignition of a lit match. "The introduction of firearms into the Elizabethan Weapons Arsenal saw the end of castle warfare and the building of the magnificent Medieval castles"(Alchin 1). With the invention of lethal, quick cannons came the decline of forts for defense as soldiers prepared for battle. Cannons were made of bronze and iron, in many different sizes, and they fired stone or iron, to be used on land or
Humans have used weapons in warfare, hunting, law enforcement, and criminal activity for thousands of years. Weapons also serve many other purposes in society including use in sports, collections for display, and historical displays and demonstrations. As technology has developed throughout history, weapons have changed with it.
But there wasn't only rifles there were also pistols. there was the 1860 the colt dragoon revolvers the Remington 1858 and the Smith and Wesson.
The discovery of gunpowder changed war from being fought with medieval weaponry and battle tactics to more modern day weapons and tactics because the gunpowder powered weapons are more deadly. Weapons that use gunpowder to launch projectiles have a greater range than melee weapons and are more powerful than bow and arrows. Also, cannons are more powerful and have a greater range and accuracy than catapults and they also can be reloaded faster than catapults. Gunpowder weapons changed war because they are stronger, more accurate, have a greater range and are able to be reloaded faster than medieval weaponry.
Another good that was created in China was gunpowder. This product, although it has been modified, is still used today. The earliest form: a mixture of saltpeter, sulfur, and charcoal, was used in the earliest forms of firearms. One example of its use is when the Mongols used weapons with gunpowder to aid their conquests in the West. The new weapons proved to be very useful against the il-equipped Europeans and Arabians. Also, firearms became a major export good for Europe. Gunpowder changed the way that people fought wars. Following the discovery of steel, Europeans were able to create weapons such as cannons and guns themselves. Because of the spread of gunpowder, many inventions such as fireworks, guns, and hand grenades have since been
Thats where armour and siege weapons came into play. There were many different types of siege engines, most were very big so they had to be built at the battle site before everything started or as it was happening. Three main types of siege weapons were used: torsion, counter-weight, and gunpowder. There was everything from trebuchets and catapults to crossbows and bombards. Trebuchets were the most popular siege engine in the medieval era, they used a long arm attached to a fulcrum and a heavy “counter-weight” that threw up the arm to throw a projectile. There were many more weapons like the trebuchet that were used in other siege situations like torsion weapons. Torsion weapons used a twisted rope to spin either a slinged or cuped arm to fling projectiles. Most of the time torsion weapons were much smaller. They were widely used in the Roman Empire because of their mobility. There were also things like the “Siege Tortoise” that protected miners as they burrowed under walls to get into a fortification. This protected them against anyone above on the walls or stray artillery. Over all, the medieval time was the time of massive simple machines used for
1) Gunpowder: The first gunpowder was created by alchemists in ancient China after discovering the quick ignition of sulfur and niter.Gunpowder soon became a key tool in many of the other militaries in the world. The Chinese grew in their ability to make newer and more sophisticated weapons using the gunpowder.
During the 16th century England and much of Europe found itself in turmoil and in a constant state of war. The outbreak of fighting led to the invention and development of new weapons and the growth and change of weapons of old. The development of weapons was a trademark of the time, with a sort of renaissance, or re-birth in the field of weaponry (Miller). The technology was highlighted by the invention of gunpowder by the Chinese which eventually found its way to England (Grolier). However, the use of gunpowder was minimal, because the use of had yet to be perfected. The technological advancement most useful during the period was progression of the metals used in weaponry. The new forms could
During the 17th century the European powers developed a whole new array of firepower. The old gunpowder weapons that fired by
The next major improvement in weapons technology came from the Chinese civilization, the inventers of gun powder. Initially used for the purpose of demolition