The Importance of Weapons in the Human Civilization
The human civilization has been in a state of constant development since the advent of time and the use of weapons is one of the major developments that has helped the human civilization to protect themselves from the different situations that present themselves. The various situations that are influenced by the different factors related to the sense of wellbeing and protection of the self and the society. The different aspects of the development of the weapon technology in the human civilization shows that the weapons have been one of the most important aspect aiding the sustenance of the human kind since the early ages. To trace the usage and the history of weapons through time has to take into account the stone headed and the wooden spears to the modern satellite guided nuclear warhead (O’Connell, 1990). The weapons have been in all times am essential part of our protection here the usage of weapons for the overall usage in the protection of themselves and their family.
The different weapon technologies through time have developed but the earliest form of the weapon technologies however crude were best for their times. The different technologies used in the earlier times focused on the utilization of the weapons to protect themselves from the attack of the different animals and hunt them (Stiebing Jr, 2016). Thus the majority of the weapons from the Stone Age were based on keeping a distance from the different animals they hunted and keeping themselves and their tribes safe from the different predators.
The most ancient weapon that can be traces in the history of mankind id perhaps the spear. The spear was made one of the most important weapons of the Stone Age people dependent on the fact that the different civilizations saw these pointed long sticks as a genuine weapon against the different threats they faced and an ideal tool for hunting in the wild. The spears were easy to make by sharpening the end of the wooden stick or by simply attaching a pointed stone to the stick. The latter civilizations learnt to use the fire in hardening of woods leading to better spears and later the discovery of the metals changed the paradigm of the spear usage.
Before the invention of the different mechanical methods of shooting projectiles to long distances, there was a mechanism used by ancient men to throw darts to long distance for hunting purposes. The atlatl as it was known was a simple stick which gave pointed darts leverage to go long distances and help in hunting. Similar was the use of the sling but it used stones to stun and kill rather than sharp dart.
The Development of Weapon Technologies Through Time
Then one of the most important invention came into existence which has not become obsolete today, the bow and arrow. The use of the potential energy of an object taking into account its tensile strength of a n item and its potential energy to shoot pointed projectiles over long distances. It also had a stone version of it known as the catapult which used stone projectiles.
The main aim of these weapons shifted from being weapons of choice for hunting to the weapons used in war as the different kinds of the weapons were used by the human population. The defensive need of the different weapons led to a need of the development of more sophisticated weapons that could be used to protect the different tribes and attack them and this brought forward the development of the different weapons of the past like the sword, bow and arrow and the spear (Stiebing Jr, 2016). The long sword of the Celtic civilization, the Khopesh of the ancient Egyptians, Nanatsusaya no Tachi, or ‘Seven-Branched Sword’ of Japan among many others. These weapons were developed for warfare.
Among the long range weapons the ancient civilizations invented and innovated to a great extent as the small battles became long wars and sieges after fortifications were developed. The different long range weapons varied from civilization to civilization but mostly they were the variations of bow and arrow that the civilizations developed (Price, 2015). The different situational aspects related to the different war scenarios have led to the development of a number of different scenarios that have given rise to a number of bows and arrows variations from the small bows and arrows that Mongolian warriors used atop their horses or the gigantic ballista of the romans. The different aspects related to the different war scenarios led to the development of a number of different hand held crossbows in the different civilizations. One of the most revolutionary archery weapons was the Chinese repeating cross bow (Prenderghast, 2018). The composite bow and arrow mechanism was only outmatched alter by the different guns much later.
The club had been a trusted and one of the easiest to make weapons for the human population since time immemorial. The involvement of new and better techniques of metal usage has led to the formation of better weapon technologies which built better maces and added sharp and pointed appendages to the weapon for the extra damage to the opponent. The different aspects related to the general warfare like scenarios has led to the inclusion of a number of different changes in the maces (Salvemini & Grazzi, 2017). The maces have been one of the most important melee weapons of their times often preferred by the strong warriors of their times.
The Evolution of Stone-Headed Spears and Wooden Spears
Taking after huge moving tortoises or houses, the battering ram was an attack motor that was utilized to break dividers and entryways sheet. Made out of wood and layered with shields on each side and over the motor, the battering ram would be moved by individuals that were inside the weapon itself. Mangonel or onagers is the thing that we consider when the word launch is utilized as a part of a sentence. Made in old Greek city expresses, this attack weapon utilized rocks or timber for its shots that were either tossed or set ablaze to bring on additional wounds and decimation. Fundamentally the same as catapult, yet bigger and taking into consideration heavier shots to be tossed promote in ballistic mold as the launch, the trebuchet was made in antiquated China and discovered its approach to Europe by means of the exchange course known as the Silk Road (Tucker, 2015). Transcending on the front line, made out of wood and strengthened with metal, the attack motor was at first gathered on the spot as the attack or safeguard had started, later transported by means of the pulling of bulls or bulls. It caused such decimations that individuals began utilizing it as the fundamental weapon in lifting an attack or settling a fight.
The war weapons also brought about a definitive change in the development of the throwing weapons among the different civilizations. The weapons varied from the sharp weapons to the different variations of the stone based catapults. The Orientals were pioneers among the throwing weapons of the ancient and the middle ages, be it the Japanese shuriken of the Indian chakkar. These weapons had a high level of accuracy in the hands of an experts a high mortality rate among the different opponents. The throwing weapon of the ages have also led to the utilizations of these weapons as the major weapons of choice among the different parts of the world.
The different innovations of the weapons technology around the world has led to the development of new and better techniques and materials of weapons development. The Chinese discovered the gunpowder first among all the different civilizations. The 10th century fire lance can be considered to be the fore runner of the modern gun. The gun which was added to the artillery of the general population in the 15th century was in the making since 500 years earlier. The invention of gunpowder was perhaps the moment which changed the overall scenario of the weapons and warfare around the world. The use of the guns and cannons helped the British to consolidate their empire almost all over the world. The different changes in the use of gunpowder brought about a revolution in the weapons making around the world. The guns were developed around the world to suit the needs of the different civilizations. The use of the guns also brought forward a number of conflicts and increase in the amount of the crime rates around the world. The guns developed from the muzzle loaders which were deemed effective in long range but were even slower in front of experienced archers. In the modern technology the use of the cross bow greatly helped in the development of newer and better technology guns (Cramer, 2015). The muzzle loaders were developed into the breech loaders after the development of the bullets. The muzzle loaders and the breech loaders were large guns and were not handy to be used in the close combats. The close combat was made easy with the invention of the handguns and the pistols. Among the earlier muzzle loading handguns one of the most prolific to have made its mark in the history of weapons was the blunder bus. With time they developed and the fore runner of the modern pistol was invited by and inventor Colt.
The Atlatl and Sling Mechanisms for Projectile Throwing
After the discovery of breech loading one of the major changes sought in the weapons development was the inclusion of the magazine for storing a large number of bullets in the different chambers for the longer and better usage of the guns. The different aspects relating to the development of the guns was in relation to the development of their potential in terms of mortality and the range of the bullets.
The era after the industrialization and the advent of modernization of the society gave rise to a number of conflicts and wars which led to exponential increment in the gun mechanisms due to the different innovation in the gun development around the world. One of the most important development of the war era was the development of the machine guns and the number of different guns. The guns in the due time seemed to be less effective for being used against larger number of opponents which will help in the development of the grenades and bombs. The grenades and bombs changed the form of warfare and the art of warfare planning forever as it greatly affected the overall scenario of the war.
One of the best examples of the long range weapons after the invention of the cannons were the missiles. Form the Mysore rockets to the nuclear warhead missiles the long range of weapons have gained a great deal of development. The missiles today have become one of the mainstays of the defense of a number of countries around the world. The defense now has developed to develop greater potential killing a large number of people easily with the development of newer and better developed weapon technology (Bolz Jr, Dudonis & Schulz, 2016). The development of the improved weapon technologies have also led to the use of better long range and laser guided weapons and missiles from greater damage and influence over the general population.
In the future the amours and the ammunition is based on development of the sustainable society and people prefer to remain safe under the different governments. The development of nuclear technology and the electro-magnetic pulse are giving the population the guns of the future making it easy for the people to use them. The guns though not wide in prediction have greatly developed. The use of technology to develop user dependent smart weapons who know their users are also being developed deeming them useless in the hands of terrorist or other such threats. Though the history of weapon technology is reaching its zenith with time humans are developing more dangerous and more harmful weapons against themselves and the result of which was seen in japan in World War 2.
All through history man has searched out power by any methods. When he made weapons he wanted all the more intense ones, and the cycle started and proceeded for ages. The improvements of weapons in the past have changed the course of war and lead us to the result that we have today. The development of the weapons throughout the history of mankind has been much dependent on the different scenarios that would lead to the development of newer and better weapons. As the weapons changed their role from hunting to defending a large population of the people became dependent on them. Without our past we would not have a future. All things considered maybe the following advancement in weaponry and reinforcement will be a change from the past that has been overlooked.
Bolz Jr, F., Dudonis, K.J. & Schulz, D.P., (2016). Weapons of Mass Destruction. In The Counterterrorism Handbook (pp. 191-218). CRC Press.
Cramer, C.E., (2015). The Legal History of’Dangerous or Unusual Weapons’.
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O’Connell, R. L. (1990). Of arms and men: a history of war, weapons, and aggression. Oxford University Press.
Prenderghast, G., (2018). Repeating and Multi-Fire Weapons: A History from the Zhuge Crossbow Through the AK-47. McFarland.
Price, T.D., (2015). Ancient Scandinavia: an archaeological history from the first humans to the Vikings. Oxford University Press, USA.
Salvemini, F. & Grazzi, F., (2017). The Glory of Ancient Weapons and Armors: Neutron Imaging and Diffraction Methods in Modern Archaeology. In Neutron Methods for Archaeology and Cultural Heritage (pp. 67-88). Springer, Cham.
Stiebing Jr, W.H., (2016). Ancient near eastern history and culture. Routledge.
Tucker, S.C., (2015). Instruments of War: Weapons and Technologies That Have Changed History: Weapons and Technologies That Have Changed History. ABC-CLIO.
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