Lecture 9: The Evolution Of Military Technology And Tactics I

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Lecture 9 The Evolution Of Military Technology
And Tactics (I)
1. Introduction To Part II The Evolution Of
War 2. The Military Revolution 3. The Rise Of
The Modern Army 4. The Dawn Of The Offensive
Era 5.The Evolution Of The Fire Arm 6. The
Evolution Of Artillery
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Comparing Temporal Definitions Of The Military
Revolution

Military Revolution
(Roberts Narrow Definition)
1560-1660
Military Revolution
(Parkers Broad Definition)
1500-1800
Rousseaus Categorization
A. Feudal
1000-1400
B. Mercenary
1400-1800
C. Modern
1800-present
Revolution or Evolution?
Notes Roberts 1956 Black 1991 Parker 1996.
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Rise Of The Modern ArmyArmies Under Feudalism
1. Feudal Military Organization A) Reciprocal
40 Days For A Fief B) Ad Hoc And Temporary C)
Decentralized And Private D) Small And Cheap 2.
Lord-Vassal Relations -- Gradual Shift To
Hereditary Holdings 3. Basic Fighting Unit Heavy
Mounted Knight 4. Shortcomings A) Unreliable B)
Lack Of Discipline C) Inflation
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The Demise Of Heavy Cavalry
1. The Rise Of The Infantry A) Legnano (1176)
German Cavalry vs. Italian City-State Infantry
B) Courtrai (1302) French Cavalry vs. Flemish
Foot Soldiers C) Morgarten (1315)Hapsburg
Cavalry vs. Swiss Pikemen D) Laupen
(1339)Burgundian Cavalry vs. Swiss Pikemen E)
Crecy (1346) French Cavalry vs. English
Longbows F) Agincourt (1415) French Cavalry
vs. English Longbows 2. Introduction Of Gun
Powder -- Less Important Than Infantry In Short
Run 3. Rise Of The Turks -- Light Cavalry And
Huge Armies
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Cavalry-Infantry Ratio
1475 1485 1489 1494 1509 1515 1552 1555 1562 15
90 1610
Castile-Aragon vs. Portugal Castile vs.
Granada Castile vs. Granada French Invasion of
Italy France Battle of Argnadello Venice Battle
of Argnadello France Battle of Pavia France
Metz Campaign Venice Standing Army Battle of
Dreux Protestants Catholics Battle of Ivry
Protestants
Catholics French Effectives
Cavalry 12 11 13 13 14 9 5 6 1.5 4.5 2 3 4 6.5
Infantry 30 25 40 15 16 20 24 32 5 7 15 8 12 62
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The Rise Of The Mercenary Army
Means Training Permanence Control Size Ma
ke-up
Feudal ------- Unpaid/ Obligation Individual Ad
Hoc/ 40 Days Private Small Multinational
Mercenary --------- Paid Some Unit Until
Money Runs Out Private Medium Multinational
Notes Downing 1992.
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Revolution In Infantry Tactics(Gustavus Adolphus
Maurice Of Nassau)
1. Ratio Of Infantry With Fire Arms Increased 2.
Shape Of Attacking Unit Compressed Into
Rectangle 3. Offensive Counter March Developed
By Adolphus 4. Training Greatly Increases Huge
Battlefield Payoff 5. Logistics Of War Become
Very Complex 6. Infantry Organized Around Small
Units
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Drawbacks Of The Mercenary System
1. Very Costly Rented Soldiers And
Artillery 2. Often Unreliable And Unevenly
Trained 3. Dangerous To Have Around
No Value Judgment with Respect to Term Mercenary
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The Rise Of The Modern Army
Means Training Permanence Control Size Ma
ke-up
Feudal ------- Unpaid/ Obligation Individual Ad
Hoc/ 40 Days Private Small Multinational
Mercenary --------- Paid Some Unit Until
Money Runs Out Private Medium Multinational
National ------- Conscription/ Volunteer Lots Pe
rmanent Standing Army Public Large National
Notes Downing 1992.
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The Size of Armies
1415 Agincourt France 30,000 1492 Reconquista Cas
tile/Aragon 60,000 1557 St. Quentin Phillip II
of Spain 53,000 (9,000 Spanish) 1705 Louis
XVI France 400,000 1812 Invasion of Russia by
Napoleon 700,000 (300,000 French) 1914-18
World War I Germany 11,000,000
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Industrial Revolution and Size
Increase in Size Impossible Without the
Industrial Revolution
1. Equip the Army 2. Transport the Army 3.
Communicate within the Army
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The Ratchet EffectThe Size Of U.S. Military,
Selected Years.
Sources U.S. Arms Control and Disarmament Agency
World Military Expenditures and Arms Transfers,
1995 Historical Statistics of the United States
Colonials Times to 1970.
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The Dawn Of The Offensive Era
1. Systemic Variable A) Does Technology Favor
The Offense Or Defense? B) Pendulum Shifts Back
And Forth Across Time 2. Defense Dominance The
Medieval Castle 3. The Shift To The Offensive
Gunpowder And Cannon 4. The Response The Bastion
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The Evolution Of The Fire Arm
1. First Hand Held Fire Arm Arquebus (1400) --
Slow Rate Of Fire Difficult To Fire Not
Accurate 2. Other Infantry Weapons Only Slowly
Disappear A) Crossbow (1470) B) Longbow
(1550) C) Pikemen About 1700 With New
Bayonet 3. Rapid Improvement In The Weapon,
(wheellock, flintlock, rifle, breech-loading,
repeating) But A) Not All Innovations
Immediately Adopted B) Improvements Greatly
Increase Lethality C) Intensity Of Warfare
Forces Change In Tactics
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Evolution Of Artillery
1. Idea Of Throwing Projectiles Dates From
Antiquity 2. Effectiveness Of Cannon Is Function
Of Four Factors A) Range B) Rate C)
Mobility D) Lethality 3. Cannon Are Very
Expensive 4. Cannon Are Built By Skilled
Artisans Slow Unique
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Evolution Of Artillery
1. The Dawn of Age of Artillery 1232 Chinese Use
Gun Powder To Fire Projectile 1302 Arabs Produce
First Gun Bamboo Iron Hoops 1419-24 Hussite
Wars First Mobile Cannon 1453 Fall of
Constantiople End of 100 Years War 1494
Charles VIII of France Invades Italy 1543 Henry
VIII Buys First Iron Cast Gun Mid-1500s Solid
Iron Cannon Balls Mid-1600s Exploding Cannon
Balls 2. Slow Improvement 1500-1800 a) Long
Life Of Weapons b) Limited Understanding Of
Ballistics Metals c) Shortages Of Saltpeter
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Rapid Improvement in Artillery 1800-1900

• Paixhans Exploding Shell (1822)
• -- Impact in Crimean War (1853-6)
• -- The Bessemer Process
• Rifled Cannon by Cavelli in Italy (1846)
• Breech Loading Cannon (1846)
• Recoil Mechanism (1880s)
• Smokeless Powder (1880s)