Warfare in the Past

History of wars

The first wars didn't come about until the first societies and civilizations were formed. Researchers believe the first wars took place long before recorded history and have found evidence of what may have been the first ever prehistoric war along the river Nile near Egypt’s border. The first war ever in recorded history took place in Mesopotamia in 2,700 B.C. between the forces of Sumer and Elam. Enembaragesi, the King of Kish, led the Sumerians to victory over the Elamites in that war

Although we don't know much about what led to this war, some experts believe it was likely the result of societies beginning to compete for limited resources as agriculture began to replace hunting and gathering. Since, this was one of the first wars to occur, the war served as a fuse for people to realize that they could wage wars against their enemies to resolve feuds instead of pursuing peaceful approaches. The most consistent causes for wars to occur have been clashes in religion or ideologies, conflicts for territories and/or resources of a specific piece of land and general differences in opinions.

However, since those times, the way wars are fought have evolved. And with this evolution, the tools used for wars were also forced to evolve.

 

Evolution of weapons

In the Mesopotamian war, the weapons used mostly consisted of hand-held weapons such as maces, sickle swords, spears, clubs, knives, swords, shields, and axes. There were also other weapons such as weapons and slings which weren’t hand-held. However, with the ever-changing tactics and strategies used in wars, the weapons used also needed to change. To achieve this, many stronger weapons such as chariots, tridents, spears, catapults and shields were introduced. These weapons were a major improvement from the previous weapons since they could do what their predecessors couldn’t do. For example, the chariots allowed one man to focus on shooting arrows while the other could take care of driving the chariot and the catapults allowed the armies to deal with a group of enemies in one fell swoop. The Greek/Roman empire and the Egyptians were well-known for their proficiency in war. They were feared on a global scale because of their formidable strategies and their superior weapons. However, all of the conventional tactics in wars were soon going to be greatly altered.

 

Gunpowder and its effects

In the mid-900s, China had started developing a substance by mixing saltpeter, sulphur and carbon. This substance had many different names such as ‘Snow from China’ and ‘Chinese salt’. This substance later would become what we know as Gunpowder. At first, gunpowder was mostly used as a constituent for firecrackers and afterwards, it was used to improve the already existing weapons. For example, it was attached to spears so that it could burst in a small area when it hit the ground. These would then evolve into ceramic pots filled with gunpowder with a fuse attached to it. This was the earliest occurrence of a grenade and first used by the Mongols against the Japanese.

The changes that occurred because of the invention of gunpowder was influential but slow. The circulation of gunpowder took a lot of time. When it reached Europe, it was observed that only about 14% of men had a gun, out of which more than half of it was unusable. Buying a gun in those times was extremely expensive. The best gun that was created by the 1400 was a matchlock gun, however, reloading the matchlock gun was very time-consuming, so much so that the enemy would be able to counterattack before they could complete reloading.

Even if the usage of gunpowder was complicated and impractical, once it was developed enough, it was a deadly addition to country’s weaponry. China was the first people to use cannons. The Mongols learned this new technology and used it against Korea. In this way, the existence of gunpowder weapons was being spread rapidly. The effect it had on wars from that point on is undeniable. Many weapons such as mortars, muskets and better cannons were created. With the introduction of these weapons, the ways in which wars are fought were changed substantially. The engineers of that time were forced to redesign their walls and fortifications to deal with these newly introduced explosive weapons.