To What Extent Was There a Military Revolution Between C1815 and C1914?
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- Category: History: European
- Date Submitted: 01/25/2014 08:00 AM
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To What Extent was there a Military Revolution Between c1815 and c1914?
The ways war was fought has changed immensely. Nearly everything about the battlefield has evolved in one way or another. I will take you through some of the most important developments.
The technology of war was innovated an incredible amount between c1815 and c1914. Firearms developed from muskets into magazine fed, bolt-action killing machines. The Brown Bess musket was the most common musket for over 100 years. It was the best musket of its day. It developed into the Minie Rifle, which fired the Minie bullet. This bullet was the first self-contained cartridge. It works by a pin striking an abrasive material inside the bullet. When rifling was introduced it made a huge impact. The range of the fire-arms more than doubled and it lead to the birth of trench warfare. The weapon of choice c1914 was the Lee Enfield, this was magazine fed and was bolt action and its effective range was 2000 yds.
Artillery also transformed the battlefield. c1815 artillery was cannons; the only real damage from this was a direct hit because they were not explosive. c1914 all shells were explosive and many were shrapnel shells. These exploded just before impact, causing maximum devastation to troops. A man could be killed by a shrapnel shell fired over 4 miles away.
Sea warfare was also revolutionised. Battleships c1815 were made of wood and fired non-explosive cannonballs. By c1914 the Dreadnought class battleship was made of metal and fired explosive shells 6,000 yds. The problem with the new technology was the fact that however many problems that the technology solved, even more problems were created. For example, the new machine guns were very effective at killing people in large numbers. However they used vast quantities of ammunition, which was difficult to manufacture and also presented logistical problems in getting it to the front line.
Transport was another element of warfare that was revolutionised....
The ways war was fought has changed immensely. Nearly everything about the battlefield has evolved in one way or another. I will take you through some of the most important developments.
The technology of war was innovated an incredible amount between c1815 and c1914. Firearms developed from muskets into magazine fed, bolt-action killing machines. The Brown Bess musket was the most common musket for over 100 years. It was the best musket of its day. It developed into the Minie Rifle, which fired the Minie bullet. This bullet was the first self-contained cartridge. It works by a pin striking an abrasive material inside the bullet. When rifling was introduced it made a huge impact. The range of the fire-arms more than doubled and it lead to the birth of trench warfare. The weapon of choice c1914 was the Lee Enfield, this was magazine fed and was bolt action and its effective range was 2000 yds.
Artillery also transformed the battlefield. c1815 artillery was cannons; the only real damage from this was a direct hit because they were not explosive. c1914 all shells were explosive and many were shrapnel shells. These exploded just before impact, causing maximum devastation to troops. A man could be killed by a shrapnel shell fired over 4 miles away.
Sea warfare was also revolutionised. Battleships c1815 were made of wood and fired non-explosive cannonballs. By c1914 the Dreadnought class battleship was made of metal and fired explosive shells 6,000 yds. The problem with the new technology was the fact that however many problems that the technology solved, even more problems were created. For example, the new machine guns were very effective at killing people in large numbers. However they used vast quantities of ammunition, which was difficult to manufacture and also presented logistical problems in getting it to the front line.
Transport was another element of warfare that was revolutionised....