War

Gunpowder Age of Warfare

As gunpowder from the China was shown to Europeans in the Crusades, the Kings of Europe desired it, for the booming sound of a cannon was very psychologically appealing, and as time went on, the artillery power of the Cannon was improved greatly, and the once dominate castles were now obsolete. The Pentagonal fort now took it’s place.The role of Plate armor was first unchanged, but as muskets and rifles gained more power and accuracy, the plate armor was now obsolete, flexibility, not bulk was now the king of the field. Feudalism began to teeter on the brinks as Knights became obsolete. In the East, very little change in warfare was observed.

Industrial Age

The Industrial Age saw many changes in logistics, tactics, and armies, Mass conscription arose as feudalism broke to form nation-states, the ideas of the Enlightenment paved way for Universal Male Suffrage, also, for the first time in history, man was able to fly, a dream at last fulfilled. Also, the rifled barrels and minnie ball ammunition caused great casualties. The most fortified of all position in the Industrial Age was the trench, it gave the defenders maximum protection as attackers had to expose all sides of them to reach the other persons’ trench, but in the Great War, Tanks made this type of static fortification useless, the new tank was no so much a fearsome attack machine, but the psychological effect it had on the German soldiers in WW1 was devastating, a British armored brigade smashed through 6 miles of enemy line in one day, a feat that would have taken the infantry more than 6 months to accomplish. The age of mass infantry was over, giving way to mechanized warfare and information warfare. Total Warfare also became common in this era.

Modern Warfare

Modern Warfare is one of the most terrifying warfare man has ever seen, ideas from the total war of the industrial age, coupled with weapons of mass destruction, made the extinction of mankind very possible. Although most battles are now fought for information and politically, we should always remember that, whatever the differences we have, we are all still part of humankind. This should bind us together to not annihilate others, but only to subdue others. Total Warfare with Nuclear Weapons is the same as Self-Destruction. Let us hope that this does not happen in our lifetimes.