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Jan 1, 1450
Smoothbore gunning
A smooth bore gun is a gun that does not have rifling inside the barrel. Such barrels were found in early guns like the arquebus developed in the early 15th century -
Jan 1, 1500
Rifling
The first muzzle-loading rifles were identical in firing mechanism, means of loading, and outward appearance to the smoothbore musket. The difference was that the rifle had a spiral twist of grooves on the inside of the barrel.
Known as rifling, these forced the ball/bullet to spin and gave it far greater accuracy at much greater distances.
Invented in Germany in the late 15th century. -
Period: Jan 1, 1500 to
Wars and War Tech. in History
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Thirty Years War
War lasted till 1648.
There were four phases: the Bohemian, the Danish, the Swedish, and the Franco-Swedish.
The common enemy was the holy Roman Empire and it's allied provinces -
Anglo-Dutch Wars
The Anglo-Dutch Wars were a series of three 17th-century conflicts fought between England and the United Provinces of the Netherlands over the issue of European naval supremacy.
A peace treaty was signed in 1654 after the Dutch were badly beaten, but there would be more wars. -
Second Anglo-Dutch War
The second Anglo-Dutch War was waged during 1664-1667.
The 1667 Treaty of Breda allowed the English to retain control of New Amsterdam but gave trading concessions to the Dutch. -
Third Anglo-Dutch War
In 1672, the third Anglo-Dutch War began after French king Louis XIV invaded Holland, and England, committed to a secret alliance with France.
In the peace treaty in 1674 the Dutch acknowledged that New York was a British possession, while England ended its treaty of alliance with France -
War of the Grand Alliance
Also known as the Nine Years War or the War of the League of Augsburg.
In this war the virtually everyone in Europe and the countries in the League of Augsburg were fighting the ever growing power of France under Louis XIV. -
Howitzer
The modern howitzer was invented in Sweden towards the end of the 17th century. Originally intended for use in siege warfare, they were particularly useful for delivering cast-iron shells filled with gunpowder or incendiary materials into the interior of fortifications. Unlike mortars they had adjustable angles.
Commanders discovered that these guns were especially useful for destroying fortifications. The Germans eventually built a howitzer that fired 1160 kilogram shells. -
The Great Northern War
Starting in 1700 to 1721, the war marked the decline of Sweden's power in the Baltics and the rise of Russia as a European power.
Peter I of Russia, Frederick IV of Denmark, and Augustus II of Poland entered into an alliance to try to take advantage of the inexperienced king of Sweden Charles XII who was eventually killed in action in 1718. -
War of Spanish Succession
Carlos II King of Spain died childless. The next heirs were Louis XIV and Leopold I. However other european countries did not want Spain allied with Louis or Leopold.
War ensued until The Treaty of Utrecht on April 11, 1713 -
Multi-shot gunning
The first known ancestor of multi-shot weapons was created by James Puckle, a London lawyer, who patented what he called "The Puckle Gun" on May 15, 1718. It was a design for a flintlock revolver cannon able to fire 9 rounds before reloading.
The Agar Gun, was invented near the beginning of the US Civil War. The weapon featured automatic loading through ammunition being loaded in a hopper above the weapon. The weapon featured a single barrel and was operated by a hand crank. -
War of Austrian Succession
The War of the Austrian Succession was a series of wars that erupted in 1740 following the death of the Holy Roman emperor and ruler of Austria.
Charles issued the Pragmatic Sanction, an imperial decree that declared that his oldest daughter could inherit his land holdings if he died without a male heir. European countries pledged to honor this decree, however, when Charles died they backed out.The Prussians attacked the Austrian province of Silesia, and French allied with Prussia and Sardinia. -
Seven Years War
One of the first true world wars. War was fought between the French and the British-Prussian forces.
The result of this war by 1763 was the destruction of the French colonial power and the recognition of Prussia as a major power. -
American Revolution
War for the British colonies to gain independence from Britian. The French eventually joined in to get a piece of America and to get revenge on Britian for destroying their colonial power. With the French assistance the Americans defeated the British. Formal victory was establish in the Treaty of Paris 1783 -
Rocket
Although primitive rockets were used as early as the 900s, in 1792, the first iron-cased rockets were successfully developed and used.
The British then took an active interest in the technology and developed it further during the 19th century. Although rockets used black powder originally, liquid fuel rockets developed due to their superiority.
In 1943, production of the V-2 rocket began in Germany. It had an operational range of 300 km and carried a 1,000 kg warhead, with an explosive charge. -
Napoleonic Wars
A series of wars that Napoleon used to expand his French empire. After his wars to defend Revolutionary France he was at peace for a year. When he got back on the war path The Third Coalition of Europe tried to stop him. In March of 1814 they managed to stop him. He was exiled to Elba. He escaped in March 1815 and launched a hundred day campaign which he lost and was re-exiled. -
Trenches in War
A commonly used form of defense in WWI and WWII were trenches. They were defensive fortifications that allowed defenders to annihilate the attackers while under maximum protection. Trenches were approximately 12ft deep and built in zigzag patterns to reduce the ease of conquering a trench that was reached.
Because of the war of attrition trenches created, soldiers on the front lines practically lived in trenches. Some German trenches reached even 3 stories down. -
Danish-Prussian War
The first war of unification of Prussia fought under Otto von Bismarck. Following the revolutions of 1848 prussian troops attempet to free the duchies of Schleswig and Holstein who were opposing the Danish. The conflict ended in 1850 only to be rekindled later in 1864. The prussians won easily, but the problematic distrubation of land after the war led to the Austrian-Prussian War. -
Crimean War
Russia Sought to "protect" the christians in the Ottoman Empire. They applied military and political pressure, and eventually the British allied with France to protect the balence of power.
They defeated Russia in the dealiest war up to this point in history. The war ended in the Treaty of Paris(1856) and Russia lost land and prestige. This was the first war to be published about in newspapers. -
Ironclad Warships
• To reduce the threat of high explosive and incendiary rounds on wooden war ships, Ironclads were tested. These ships were virtually indestructible until someone developed a weapon to destroy them. Dubbed the name battle ships these boats did not have sails; they had engines, and were outfitted with various turret style guns. First recorded use was in 1859 -
American Civil War
Four days after Abraham Lincoln, who had a moderate antislavery position, was elected president in late 1860, South Carolina's legislature unanimously chose to secede from the Union. Six additional Deep South states followed by early February 1861.
On April 12, 1861, Confederate batteries opened fire on Fort Sumter. By the spring of 1865, Sherman and Grant had destroyed most of the Confederate Army, and Lee was trapped near Appomattox Court House in Virginia, where he formally surrendered. -
Austro-Prussian War
Austria helped Prussian in the Danish war and after that they took the area of Holstein. Bismarck, however, moved the Prussian army into Holstein around 1865. Austria complained and was soon backed by the other German states. The Prussians won quickly in what is known as the Seven Weeks War. It ended with the Treaty of Prague, August 23, 1866 -
Franco-Prussian War
France did not want Prussia to unify Germany as they could be potentially more powerful. Napoleon opposed Prussian king Whilem I's relative in his recieving the Spanish throne. After a few altered telegrams Bismarck had France declaring war. On Sept 20 the German Amries encircled Paris. January 18, 1871 Germany was proclaimed in the Hall of Mirrors, and the French Third Republic Surrendered to Germany after the Second Empire fell -
Smokeless powder
Smokeless powder made its first appearance in the last two decades of the nineteenth century. it helped revolutionize firearms by permitting smaller projectiles with greater muzzle speed than previously possible. Also it made it easier for riflemen to remain hidden, as well as preventing the haze associated with black powder that obscured battlefields. -
Spanish American War
On April 19 the U.S. Congress Recognized Cuba as an independant country. President McKinley was authorized to remove the Spanish by force if nessicary.In December, representatives from both countries signed the Spanish-American War Treaty (1898), in which Spain granted Cuban independence and ceded the Philippines, Guam, and Puerto Rico to the United States. In return, the United States paid Spain $20 million for its former territories. -
War Planes
Orville & Wilbur Wright were the first people majorly recognized to have flown in successful sustainable flight in October 1902. By WWI balloons were used for reconnaissance, but fighter plane were not yet existent. Ten years later however countries adopted the powered flight idea.
The first combat plane was a person who fired at a pilot with a pistol. The first air-to-air kill was by a French pilot who used a machine gun. -
World War I
The War to end all wars started in 1914 after the Assination of Archduke Ferdinand. The two sides were the Allied Powers: people allied with Great Britian, and The Axis Powers: people who fought for German goals. One by one more countries got pulled into the war through a treaty system that had a chain effect. The War came to an end in 1918 after the Americans joined the Allies. Germany began to fall into economic trouble, and the stage was set for WWII -
Incendiary ammunition
The first time incendiary ammunition was widely used was in World War I. Phosphorus was the primary ingredient in the incendiary charge and ignited upon firing, leaving a trail of blue smoke known as "smoke tracers".
In WWII true incendiary rounds were used, The B Mark VI incendiary bullet was packed with nitrocellulose, and a small steel ball was placed in the tip of the bullet to ensure that the chemical explode on impact. These rounds were useful against tanks, planes, and machinegun nests. -
Tanks
The Mark I tank was tested for the British Army on September 8th 1915. These early tanks were used mainly to transport troops and supplies safely across un-traversable terrain. However, as tanks modernized guns were made to fire from the tank. And their firepower ability continues to increase. -
Mustard Gas
By 1916, all armies incorporated poison gas into their attack doctrines, and in the last year of the war, chemical artillery shells formed between a quarter and a third of all artillery ammunition. in July 1917.
Mustard gas burned not only the lungs, as with conventional agents, but also the skin. A respirator would not help. -
Russian Civil War
In 1917 the Czarist govt was overthrown and Soviet Russia Came into being. Lenin's Bolshevik Party created the Russian Red Army. and the people who resisted his rule were called the White Russians. By 1922 Lenin was victorious and his socialist regime was instituted. -
Spanish Civil War
The Spanish Civil War was fought from 1936 to 1939 between the government of the Second Republic and insurgent army officers who wanted to overthrow it.The conflict pitted fascists against an array of leftist forces, just as it would be in WWII. The rebels were supported by the Germans and the Italians with planes and guns. In the end the Facist rebels won. -
World War II
Germany, Italy, and Japan had formed the Axis alliance in May 1939 with the ultimate goal of world domination. Germany also had a secret alliance with the Soviet Union. Japan began to conquer the Eastern countries, while Germany and Italy took over Europe. However they failed to take over Britian. When Germany turned it back on the Soviet Union and began a campaign into Russia they also lost. The U.S. soon entered the war and the Allies began to reclaim Europe in what is the bloodiest war ever. -
Jeep
Final production version Jeeps built by Willys-Overland were the Model MB, while those built by Ford were the Model GPW. Willys-Overland and Ford produced about 640,000 Jeeps between them.
An average of 145 were supplied to every Army infantry regiment. Jeeps were used for many other purposes including cable laying, saw milling, as firefighting pumpers, field ambulances, tractors and, with suitable wheels, would even run on railway tracks. -
Nuclear Weaponry
The Manhattan Project created “Little Man” and “Fat Boy” two nuclear fission bombs that were dropped on Japan. Their destructive power probably convinced Japan to surrender to the Allied powers. This type of bomb was a major concern in the Cold War. Whoever had them became a superpower.
