Military technology - Prehistoric, Weapons, Tactics

military technology

Table of Contents

Introduction
General considerations
Prehistory
- The earliest military weapons
- From precious metals to base metals
Antiquity and the classical age, c. 1000 bce–400 ce
- Defensive weaponry
  - Helmets
  - Shields
  - Body armour
    - Bronze
    - Mail
    - Plate-iron armour
- Offensive weaponry
  - The ax
  - The spear
  - The javelin
  - The sling
  - The sword
  - The bow
    - The early bow
    - The composite recurved bow
    - Arrows
- Mechanical artillery
- Fortification
  - Fortress design
  - Field fortification
  - Siege towers
- Land transportation
  - The horse
  - The elephant
  - The chariot
The age of cavalry, c. 400 ce–1350
- The war-horse
- Personal armour
  - Mail
  - Plate
- The castle
  - The motte-and-bailey castle
  - Stone fortifications
- Siege weapons
  - The trebuchet
  - Greek fire
- The horse archer
  - The Huns and Avars
  - The Byzantine cataphract
  - The Turks
  - The Mongols
The infantry revolution, c. 1200–1500
- The crossbow
- The English longbow
- Halberd and pike
  - The halberd
  - The pike
The gunpowder revolution, c. 1300–1650
- Early gunpowder
  - Chemistry and internal ballistics
  - Serpentine powder
  - Corned powder
  - Refinements in ballistics
- The development of artillery
  - Wrought-iron muzzle-loaders
  - Wrought-iron breechloaders
  - Cast bronze muzzle-loaders
  - Cast-iron cannon
- Early use of artillery
  - Terminology and classification
  - Special-purpose shot
  - Gunnery
- The first small arms
  - The matchlock
  - The wheel lock
  - The flintlock
- Fortification
  - From medieval to modern
  - The sunken profile
  - The bastioned trace
  - Duration of early modern fortification

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The earliest evidence for a specialized technology of war dates from the period before knowledge of metalworking had been acquired. The stone walls of Jericho, which date from about 8000 bce, represent the first technology that can be ascribed unequivocally to purely military purposes. These walls, at least 13 feet (4 metres) in height and backed by a watchtower or redoubt some 28 feet tall, were clearly intended to protect the settlement and its water supply from human intruders. When the defenses of Jericho were built, humans already had been using the weapons of the hunt for millennia; the earliest ...(100 of 19804 words)

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