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The Invention of the Flintlock Firearm
The flintlock was first presented to the king of France in 1610 and by the middle of the 17th century had spread through the armies of all the European powers. The flintlok achieved such widespread and long lasting use due to the simplicity of both its use and manufacture comapred to the previous firearm technologies. The flintlokc remained in widespread service until the invention of percussion cap technology in the latter half of the 19th century. -
Mass Conscription
The first, and most well known, levee en masse in 1793 became the first mass comscription of the populace into the state military. This wasa fundamental change in the way armies could be raised, as before in Europe armies were primarily proffesional armies with numerical supplementation by mercenaries. Conscription allowed for the armies in Europe to become larger than they had ever been before and due to its success it remains a used practice even today. -
Railroads and Efficient Mass Transportation Systems
Railroads became a necessity in Europe durting the 18th century, and it allowed for the industrial development of Nations. This is due to the ability to transport raw materials to the factories faster and also being able to ship the finished goods out to the user equally swiftly. This also allowed soldiers and war materiel to be transported around the nation and Europe as a whole incredibly quickly, and the speed of mobilization became increasingly important. -
The Invention of the Metallic Cartridge
The metallic cartridge was first developed from the older paper cartridge in 1845 by Louis-Nicolas Flobert. This innovation alowed for more powerful and long range rounds, as well as providing the basis for the mass manufacture of munitions. Metallic cartridges have remained in use since their inception and munition industries have been able to produce these cartridges by the million even in peacetime. -
The Creation of Strategic Bombers
Bombers and combat aviation was first used in the First World War, but were massively used to deadly effect in the Second World War. Bombers made it so that attaining air superiority was incredibly important because it enabled one to drop tons of munitions on the enemies home and soldiers. However bombers tied into warfare the idea of collateral damage and massive civilian casualties. Bombers have been used in every war since the Second World War. -
The Birth of Modern Insurgencies
Modern insrugencies can attribute their birth to the resistance movements in World War Two. With the advanced military technology such as automatic weapons and explosives , insurgencies became much more effective in taking on military superpowers. After the Seond World War most conflicts involving European powers have been between powerful modern militaries fighting less well equipped and smaller indiginous forces using guerilla tactics to cause massive damage.
