Introduction
War has changed in almost all aspects over the past 2000 years. The impacts on people and place, and the way war is fought has all changed. From traditional warfare with organised battles and mostly deaths from the soldiers, to modern warfare such as the two world wars with massive civilian casualties. The way in which warfare is fought has also changed and the reasons why wars begin are different. We used to fight wars mostly for control of land and to expand and empire, in present day conflicts it is mostly civil and religious conflicts for control of the government.
Traditional Warfare
Traditional Warfare is very different to how conflict is fought today. Soldiers fought with swords, spears, bows, heavy armour and simple, yet well thought out tactics. Countries were very militaristic and sought out war to expand their empires. The Ancient city state of Sparta in Greece is a clear example of this. Sparta was unique in ancient Greece for its social system and constitution, which configured their entire society to maximise military proficiency at all costs, and completely focused on military training and excellence. Their hoplites the Spartans were well known for their battle prowess and strategy. They used the tactic the phalanx to their advantage which allowed them to conquer and plunder. It composed entirely of heavy infantry armed with spears, three metre long pikes, and similar weapons. They stood in a lines, containing multiple rows of Spartans with their pikes facing forwards, the second row would face their pikes on an upward angle to prevent anyone from jumping over the front row of pikes. Alexander the Great used the strategy a lot allowing him to conquer much of Asia and northwest Africa. The phalanx could also be used for defence as for a while the formation was almost impenetrable. It could not be charged by infantry or cavalry, and the hoplites had large shields and heavy armour to protect from projectiles. It wasn’t until the Roman conquest of Greece that the phalanx was finally bested by Roman legionaries with their mobility and advanced technology. Moving ahead into the Middle Ages with the English longbow. The English longbow was a powerful medieval type of longbow about 1.8 m long used by the English and Welsh for hunting and as a weapon in medieval warfare. English use of longbows was effective against the French during the Hundred Years’ War, most famously at the Battle of Agincourt in 1415. The Englishmen using the longbow were able to stand a long distance from the French forces where they could shoot powerful volleys of arrows at the advancing enemies. This is what happened at the battle of Agincourt, the English army was 80% longbow men who were able to decimate French cavalry and infantry before they even reached their soldiers allowing them to win the battle of Agincourt. The victory saw the increasing dominance of ranged weapons on the battlefield and the decline of cavalry.
Modern Warfare World War One
World War One was a massive conflict that changed the course of warfare for ever, fought from 1914 to 1918 by the great powers of Europe. Archduke Franz Ferdinand of Austria was assassinated on June 28, 1914. This was the immediate cause but there were a series of events which triggered the war. By 1914, the great powers of Europe were divided into two defensive coalitions: the Triple Entente—consisting of France, Russia and Britain—and the Triple Alliance of Germany, Austria-Hungary and Italy. What this meant was that if one country declared war on another, the other countries would also have to enter the conflict because it was in the treaty they agreed. So, when Austria-Hungary declared war on Serbia all their allies were called into the war. Fighting quickly developed into a stalemate on the western front. The war saw many new inventions such as the tank, fighter and bomber planes, automatic weapons, machine gun, artillery, flamethrower, poison gas, tracer bullets, aircraft carriers, and most notably, massive trench systems. During World War One soldiers fought in muddy trenches and dugouts, living miserably until the next attack. Technological developments in engineering, chemistry, and optics had produced weapons deadlier than anything known before. The power of defensive weapons made winning the war on the western front all but impossible for either side. And this was largely from (as I mentioned before) trench warfare. Trench warfare was a sort of land warfare that compromised of battle lines which faced one another and were made up of military trenches, in these trenches’ troops are shielded from enemy rifle fire and for the most part artillery. Because of these trenches it was very hard to lead an assault on the enemy without losing all your soldiers because the trenches were so well defended. There was barbed wire in front of the trenches meaning it would be extremely difficult to get into the enemy trench once you reached it. Reaching the trench though would be the hardest part as enemy machine gun fire from large concrete bunkers would be mowing down soldiers. Artillery fire from kilometres behind the enemy trench would fire huge explosive shells at the advancing soldiers all while the enemy could be firing at you with rifles and trench mortars. If you were able to reach the trench and get past the barbed wire, you would be greeted by soldiers with bayonets, knifes and trench shotguns where bloody hand to hand combat would then take place. As you can see, it was very difficult to make any ground during trench warfare and it wasn’t until 1918 that the stalemate would be broken with the introduction of tanks and armoured vehicles. This brings me to the next technological advancement, the tank. A tank is an armoured fighting vehicle designed for front-line combat, with heavy firepower, strong armour, tracks and a powerful engine providing good battlefield manoeuvrability. Invented by the British in 1916 but not used commonly until 1918 (the final year of the war). The first tanks were invented with the sole purpose of crossing no man’s land (the area between two opposing trenches). And that is exactly what they did. With their heavy armour and mobility tanks were able to cross no man’s land as they were bulletproof, taking enemy trenches with ease and breaking the stalemate on the western front. This invention was the determining factor for the allied victory during World War one. Tanks have changed the course of warfare not just during World War One but for all of time, warfare will never be the same again thanks to the invention of the tank.
Modern Warfare World War Two
The Second World War was the bloodiest conflict ever. An estimated 70 million civilians and soldiers from the Axis and Allied powers died during the war. World War II is generally said to have begun on 1 September 1939, with the invasion of Poland by Germany prompting France and the United Kingdom to declare war. By 1941 most of Europe had fallen to the Axis powers and the werhmact (German Army) was preparing its invasion of the Soviet Union. The Empire Of Japan had conquered most of Pacific and the United States had entered the war after the bombing of pearl harbour. The war continued on for another 4 years involving the vast majority of the world and ending in 1945 with the invasion of Germany and the dropping of two atomic bombs on Hiroshima and Nagasaki. Warfare and technology had significantly evolved since the First World War and Germany had adopted a new strategy in which they saw rapid success in the early years of the war. Blitzkrieg, meaning lightning war in German, was a strategy that compromised of an armoured spearhead backed up by close air support. German panzers rushed into enemy territory and captured vital cities and bases without waiting for infantry to catch up. Enemy infantry simply did not have the firepower or organisation to destroy all the tanks blitzing into their territory. This essentially delivered a knockout blow to an enemy state before it could fully mobilize. German dive bombers and panzers (tanks) were the most advanced in the world at the time and with this strategy Poland, Denmark, Norway, Netherlands, Belgium, and France had all fallen to Nazi Germany by 1940. In the Pacific theatre of war, the United States and the Empire Of Japan were engaged in bloody fighting in which many young men died. By 1945 Japan occupied most of Eastern Asia and was a force to be reckoned with. At war with the Allies Japan struggled to keep its empire together with the desemation of its fleet at the battle of midway. As a result of this the Japanese retreated to their homeland, Leaving large garrisons of soldiers at each of its occupied islands in the pacific. The United States set out on a massive island hopping campaign on its way to the Japanese home islands. Suffering heavy casualties on the way the United States realise if they are to invade the Japanese mainland, there will be a massive loss of life for both sides. While all of this is going on, a project that will change the nature of war for all of time to come is taking place in the United States. The Manhattan project, this sought out the creation of the atomic bomb. By August 1945, the Allies Manhattan Project had produced two atomic bombs, little boy and fat man. On August 6th an American B-29 dropped little boy on Hiroshima. Three days later, on the 9th of August fat man was dropped on Nagasaki, Japan surrendered soon after. This was the beginning of the nuclear age, and the Cold War. From this moment on the size of your nuclear arsenal is a huge playing factor in strength of your military.
Impacts on People (Society)
The way warfare is fought has changed, but the way it affects people has also significantly changed. Traditional warfare saw little casualties in terms of civilians as battles were on a much smaller scale and armies did not seek to break civilian moral. Also the weapons that were used in traditional warfare were designed only to take out military targets not civilians. As warfare evolved this began to change, with World War One being the first war where civilian casualties almost reached that of military deaths. 17 million deaths in total, 10 million military, 7 million civilians. This was for multiple reasons, the first being the weapons used. Weapons had evolved since those of the traditional period and were able to deal much greater damage to military and civilian targets. Artilley is an example of this as a whole town full of civilians could be reduced to rubble in a matter of hours because of these new frightening weapons. Also the intentions of the armies were different as new measures would need to be taken to win wars on such a large scale compared to those of the traditional period. Military deaths also increased significantly in World War One for the same reasons stated before, these massive conscripted armies fighting war on a scale never seen before, of course with the new technology and weapons there are going to be more military deaths. Another huge playing factor in World War One casualties was the result of trench warfare, staggering numbers of soldiers died as a result of trench warfare in all its bloody atrociousness. World War Two is where the evolution of casualties in warfare is truly shown. 70 Million deaths the most of any war ever, with an estimed 50 million of those deaths being civilians. A massive difference in total casualties, and the civilian to military death percentages. Another huge change in warfare that affects people and society is conscription. This is the compulsory enlistment for a state service, typically into the armed forces. And in this particular scenario it’s the military. Because of conscription armies grew from thousands, to hundreds of thousands, to millions. Because of conscription absolutely everyone could relate to the war, weither it be through yourself being forced to go to war, or your family member or friend. The towns and cities would have been emptied out of their young men and society its self would change. During periods of what’s called “total war”, the entirety of a nation would change. Many civilians would work in factories fighting on the home front, many being woman. Citizens would need to ration their food as consumer goods would be being produced on a much smaller scale due to need for guns, ammunition, aircraft, uniforms and all other military goods. Overall there would be no escaping war, on the battlefield, or at home.
Impacts on Places
One massive change that the second world war brought was the atomic bomb. This weapon of mass destruction is no doubt the most powerful weapon ever created by man. It has only been used twice, but those two occasions where it was used severely impacted the environment and people in the danger zone. The atomic bomb was used in 1945 in the two Japanese cities of Hiroshima, and Nagasaki. The effects of the atomic bombings killed 90,000–146,000 people in Hiroshima and 39,000–80,000 people in Nagasaki. When an atomic or nuclear bomb detonates, the 1 megaton blast kills or poisons everything within a two-mile radius. The accident at the Chernobyl power plant in 1986 and the bombs dropped on Hiroshima and Nagasaki in 1945 provide insight into the short and long-term effects of radiation and thermonuclear detonation on the environment. Radioactive particles can travel from the site of an atomic bomb explosion and contaminate the land and water for miles. Genetic mutations and disease in the generations of plants, animals and humans following contamination also occurs. Contamination remains for decades. Many of the previously mentioned abnormalities occurred after the atomic bombs were dropped and are still effecting new generations of relatives to the survivors of Hiroshima and Nagasaki. Despite all the terror inflicted by the atomic bomb, the world still continues to produce and test new bombs. The United States, Russia, France, China, UK, India, Pakistan, North Korea and possibly Israel all possess nuclear weapons of some kind. In saying that most countries have stopped testing their warheads with the exception of North Korea.
Conclusion
In conclusion, war has drastically changed in all aspects since early traditional times till the modern era. The weapons, technology, justification, strategies, scale. It’s all vastly different, we changed from fighting each other up close in person with spears and shields to dropping atomic bombs that instantly kill 50,000 people.
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