Development of English Weapons Essay

hind end in history, charitable beings ingestion lookup by products such as craws, horns and puppet teeth as ordnance. As human being captureed, he started to engross axs do of stone as a weapon some(prenominal) for personal protection and for hunting. to a greater extent reading and civilisation light-emitting diode to the development of weapons such as the woody clubs, unformed stones for throwing at the enemies and spears for twain hunting and fighting. By whence, human beings call to make wooden spears for hunting and for attacking any achievable human foe.With time the fire set spear points were replaced with stone sagaciously ones which were much than effective than they precedents. Further development and civilization saw the development of bows and arrows to hunt and to snack bar attack an opposite (Davies, 1990, 67). By cd B. C, evolution of what can be termed as ahead applied science had enabled humans to develop a four strayed sling which was raddled by fit outed vaulting horses and to a greater extent effective go it came to making attacks or counter attacking an enemy than the primeval weapons previously utilise.However, ancient weapons to be apply by human being in their activities were qualitative value of the primitive weapons. In this context, conversion in array engineering arose as a result of improvement in techniques and materials utilise in creating prehistoric weapons. As technology began to improve, weapons utilise in wars also started to improve. For example, with the disc oery of the spooked wheel chariots drawn by horses became possible and engageful for transporting soldiers to and fro the fight ambit.Around 1300BC, use of spoke wheel chariots had heightened motionless ceased later on in the fourth century BC as humans began breeding horses that supported human slant and as cavalry replaced the military exponent that was used in fighting from chariots. In western world, the medie val period was super characterized by knights and rudimentary siege artillery unit with their purpose inclusive of negating the increased use of castles which proliferated almost of Europe and the neighboring East. The knights make use of variant weapons such as the pokes, the bow and the sword.First, the prod which came in various objectives was used gamely by the knights to bewilder into the weak sports of an enemys armour, to dough their throats when exploitation stealth or to bring down those enemies that came to the participation field un- armoured. In essence, the knife could be single cutting but many of them were usually double move on and unserrated. Today, knifes continue to be a study weapon used by soldiers both for fighting and other purposes. However, as irrelevant to knifes in the earliest times, most of knifes used by soldiers nowadays ar serrated. In particular, a knife forms one of the grassroots equipments for soldiers during any warfare.Seco ndly, the knights made use of swords which the like knifes were intentional either single edged or double edged. They also came in distinguishable sizes with some built heavily plenteous to be carried by altogether the strong men in the army. They were used in slashing the enemy or even killing them (http//atschool. eduweb. co. uk/sirrob make believech. suffolk/Portland%20State%20University%20Greek%20Civilization%20Home%20Page%20v2/DOCS/10/seanh1. htm. The design with which swords were supplied depended on the way in which they were mean to counter and kill the enemy.Some were spacious and others short while others were unsubtle enough to accommodate both hands and could get into virtually any type of armor. For example, the asshole was a long or broad sword with normal types of blades but with a heavy pommel or bunch at the bottom that was helpful for balance purposes and as a mace for bashing the well of an enemy. Further, the saber was useful for slashing and assid uous by cavalry to kill the enemy and in this eccentric person could penetrate the armor of an enemy while riding a horse at a high speed.Other weapons unremarkably used by the knights and the cavalry include the pole arms, spears and lances, axe and other blunt objects such as a hammer and a mace. For one, the mace came as a metal or wood stick about twelve inches long and with a leather loop-the-loop to save it from frying of the wrist while being used. The part used in striking the enemy was usually a sphere with spikes or angled blades designed to inflict injury on the enemy. Spears were wide-eyed weapons used for piercing the enemy both at close range or long range.They could nurture metal or wood heads and was useful while aiming at the weaker spots of the armor. It could also penetrate done the shields or mail given its duration and sharpness (Boardman, 1998, 45). Further, the handle of the spear was unremarkably designed to break off at once it peach the target to prevent the enemy from throwing it back. Pole arms came in different sizes and designs. They were used in piercing the armor of the enemy besides slicing or chopping through the enemy given its sharp and curved edges.It was useful while in a cavalry betrothal field due to the accompaniment that it could be used in chopping off the feet of a horse rode by an enemy thus improvised incapacitating him. While many of this weapons such as the mace and the hammer did non see the light of modern usage, they chill out presented a good and viable offset point for the development of more innovative weapons used by armies all over the world. In regard to the armor used during the medieval times, leather formed the outgrowth form of armor to be wear and used by human beings in the battle field.As weapons demonstrable and with the baring of metal, leather started to become obsolete and was replaced by plate and mail. These two were worn on various parts of the body to prevent a soldier from being cut by the enemy in the battle field (http//www. angelfire. com/wy/svenskildbiter/siege. hypertext markup language). As enlightenment hit the world, armors began to be worn together with undergarments and in truth to be tailored like suits so that a knight could be hit but be on his feet within seconds having sustained no injury.Today, the plates and the mails feel been fling paving way for bullet produce armors and other forms of denudation. For example, the tanks used by armies nearly the world and in Europe in particular are heavily armored vehicles used for transporting weapons and soldiers to the battle field as well as launching missiles from the resort of exceedingly armored walls. Despite this, the equal metals used in designing and producing plates and mails are the ones used in producing todays armored vehicles (U. S. Congress, 1995, 35). The knights developed from the earlier Calvary.On the other hand, siege artillery which were by then been used to b reach the walls of the castles led to many revolutionary advances including the use of poor boy powder and cannon use. It was not until the conversion period that the western world and most parts of the rest of the world started to use firearms in warfare. Human powered weapons were finally exiting battle fields and being replaced with more powerful mechanically powered weapons. This is commonly referred to as the age of riffles as riffles begun to be commonly used in the battle fields. Firearms were developed in large numbers and cannons to support them.Motor vehicles replaced the use of horses in the battlefield and escalation technology which involves the use of fortify aircrafts and armored vehicles developed. Firearms and cannons were designed to be fitted on these vehicles and aircrafts and were useful in attacking using long range missiles as is the case today. This saw the introduction of guns and rockets for use in the battle field. Guns and rockets were more efficient than their predecessors by the virtue of their design to store postal code in a combustible propellant like gun powder as opposed to springs and weight.They increasingly started to be used in 16th century and with modern ignition mechanisms remain in use to date. Based on these overbold developments, new technologies have such as railway car guns have risen over the days (http//www. angelfire. com/wy/svenskildbiter/siege. html). Later in the 19th century, fossil fuel powered steam engines replaced weather sheet power warship propulsion. In earlier times, bayonets were developed and which were used both as a pole-arm and as a knife but were later discarded with the discovery of rifled artillery which was by then being used in destroying masonry fortress.In essence, this discovery caused a huge revolution in the field of military and continues to fall todays arms development and war strategies (Blair, 1997, 56). Further, the era of World warfare II marked a major revolution in military technology with more sophisticated weapons been developed in line with the emerging technologies. peeled concepts and designs of weapons were developed in massive numbers and the animate technology improved to march with the military needs. For example, atomic bomb was developed close to this period.In essence, the end of World warfare II saw the institutionalization of weapons development as institutions and countries competed to develop unique weapons and counter weapons. In the western world, this constant development of weapons still continues to date (Collins, 1997, 87). In conclusion, despite the fact that weapons used during the medieval times have changed increasingly as compared to those used in recent times, these weapons formed the basis for developments of today world.The strategies employed during the medieval times were highly symbiotic on the kind of weapons in use. For example, the use of anchors to attack the enemy was dependent on the use of bows an d arrows. Still, with the discovery of gunpowder, use of cannons became prominent in blasting the walls of castles and in sinking the ships of the enemy. Todays weapons and strategies have their roots in the weapons and strategies employed during the earlier times with technology improvements and discoveries increasing the strong suit of weapons being produced.For example, computer guided weaponry and nuclear weapons have developed over recent years though the later is useless for small wars.Work CitedBlair Claude. European Armor c1066 to c1700. London Batsford Publishers, 1997, pp. 56 Boardman Andrew. The knightly Soldier in the Wars of the Roses. London Alan Sutton,1998, pp, 45 Collins McNamee. The Wars of the Bruces Scotland, England and Irelan. , London East Linton, 1997, pp. 87 Davies R. Domination and Conquest The Experience of Ireland, Scotland and Wales. New York Cambridge University Press, 1990, pp.67 Organized Infantry. Retrieved on second January 2009 from http//atschoo l. eduweb. co. uk/sirrobhitch. suffolk/Portland%20State%20University%20Greek%20Civilization%20Home%20Page%20v2/DOCS/10/seanh1. htm U. S. Congress, Office of Technology Assessment. amend the prospects for future international peace operations workshop proceedings, Washington DC, US regimen Printing Office, 1995, pp. 35 Wyley Stephen, Siege Warfare. The imposture of Offense and Defense, 1989. Retrieved on 2nd January 2009 from http//www. angelfire. com/wy/svenskildbiter/siege. html