Military Revolution
Similar to
Charlemagne’s re-establishment of the
feudal monarch, the invention of
gunpowder for
warfare brought another great change and transformation to Europe. Some call this change the
Military Revolution, because gunpowder forced
military advancements in not only weaponry, but also tactics and even the formation of standing armies and navies; something feudal monarchs had not been able to form. Before the modern state emerged, nobles were the lords of their own lands with the overall right to
rule,
tax, and form armies from their own people for service to the highest bidder. Unlike the invention of the
English longbow during the
Middle Ages, which only slightly changed the art of
warfare,
gunpowder transformed and revolutionized the feudal monarchies of old Western
Europe into
sovereign states. The formation of standing armies ready to go to war at the
King’s request eventually helped to eliminate the
noble’s purpose in
warfare and later in
government. Gunpowder allowed these newly formed sovereign states to establish permanent
mercenary militaries, eliminate the power of the old
sword nobles, and revolutionized the art of warfare.
Gunpowder was developed in
China, certainly by the 11th century and perhaps considerably earlier. It was quickly turned to military uses, in devices such as
rockets, primitive
flamethrowers and
grenades launched from
catapults. The rulers of the
Song Dynasty made regular use of cannon from the twelfth century onwards, first of
bamboo and then of
bronze. The technology reached Europe, and cannon firing arrows were used at the
Battle of Crécy in 1346, although at this time the decisive arms remained
archers and
cavalry.
For firepower to achieve its full
strategic potential, two further improvements were needed. First the construction and design of the barrel was refined, leading to greater propulsion and, crucially, reducing the number of these "bombards" which blew up in operation. This step forward was helped by the experience of Europe's
bell manufacturers, who were at the time perfecting the art of casting
church bells for
change ringing. The alloys used for both,
gunmetal and
bell metal, are very nearly the same. The second vital factor was to increase the weapon's mobility. Early cannon were useful for defending fixed positions, such as
castles or
forts, but were less useful in the field or as weapons of attack in a
siege.
By the fifteenth century, moveable
cast iron cannon were being built and played a significant part in, for example, the
Siege of Constantinople by the
Ottoman Turks in 1453 and in some later battles of The
Hundred Years' War between the
Plantagenets and the
Capetians. Such large guns were very effective in speeding up
sieges of stone fortifications, which would otherwise take weeks or months, if the attacker could afford to keep an army in the field for that time. Even so, the new weapons required enormous man power to operate, and were often only capable of a few shots
per day.
Also by the late fifteenth century, the Spaniards revolutionized the
infantry foot soldier by developing personal
firearms, the
musket. The military revolution was under way.
No longer were kings almost forced to hire highly skilled swordsman to do their fighting if they wanted to win in battle. A standing army of infantrymen with muskets slowly eliminated the privately owned and operated armies of the nobles. Nobles then entered their king’s service as paid and permanent military leaders and commanders in service to the king fighting for only one country. Rather than relying on their old traditional role as vassals giving military service to the crown and then returning home when the battles were finished, these new nobles served for one state and its king with careers as military leaders. Now that nobles served in the kings permanent military, they ultimately lost their power to tax the people in their respective provinces.
Taxation became the right of the sovereign state, the king, who also then became the only one allowed and also wealthy enough to wage war.
Warfare was a necessary part of a king’s rule in order to gain more lands and increase the size of his nation; therefore, taxation increased in order to fund the king’s newly formed standing army and military campaigns. Another reason for the nobles’ loss of military power may have also been that the new weaponry from the invention of gunpowder was extremely expensive. If the nobility were unable to purchase such weaponry and instead used their obsolete and outdated materials for warfare, the crown would not hire them to fight; modern
artillery then became a monopoly of the crown. One of the first major conflicts where all major countries involved used foot soldiers with muskets and
cavalry was the
Thirty Years' War.
Military
strategy and
tactics had to be changed immensely because of the direct effect gunpowder had on the battle field. During the Thirty Years War, it took time for the military leaders to realize that the art of warfare had changed dramatically in just a couple hundred years and older medieval tactics were obsolete when fighting with muskets. As history has shown us many times, even when new military weapons have been built, it always takes longer than it should to find and implement new tactics and strategies in order to use the new weaponry effectively.
Napoleon Bonaparte was one man who would later show Europe and the world how to implement his artillery, cavalry, and infantry on the
battlefield in an effective manner. This is not to say that no other leader before Napoleon used gunpowder weaponry effectively. Both
King Philip and
Queen Elizabeth were prime examples of how they used gunpowder to their advantage in warfare, but Napoleon implemented new tactics and strategies, further making modern artillery more effective. Since firing a musket could be done by less skilled soldiers, when compared to the old sword nobles, many lower class and peasantry served in the military as infantrymen. Standing armies then became extremely large, with the ability to travel farther away from their central commander, the king.
As these newly formed sovereign states gained experience in warfare and in government, leaders began to realize that new tactics were essential on the battlefield. The feudal monarchies of the Middle Ages were very rapidly eliminated by the effects of gunpowder on warfare and government. This new invention can be credited with aiding in the formation of the European countries as we see them today. As countries began to become larger by the lands gained from victorious military campaigns, governments became increasingly centralized and more powerful over the people in their lands. People tried to associate themselves with countries who believed in the same religion, but the newly formed sovereign states many-of-times saw a divide country on the issue of religion as a weakness in the nation itself. Many times, these highly centralized sovereign states were less interested in the safety and success of the people living in their lands and more concerned with military victories and living lavishly. This military Revolution not only completely changed warfare, but also led to the development of sovereign states financially capable of making their influence felt world wide.
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Army*
Marine corps*
Military history*
Military science*
Zouave*
Treaty of Westphalia
