Warfare Timeline

  • 20,000 BCE

    When humans first used bow/arrow

    Although archery probably dates back to the Stone Age. It has help us hunt for food.
  • 3000 BCE

    When horses were first domesticated

    Humans acquire their most important single ally from the animal kingdom when they domesticate the horse
  • 1400 BCE

    The development of the matchlock gun

    Matchlock, in firearms, a device for igniting gunpowder developed in the 15th century, a major advance in the manufacture of small arms
  • 1180 BCE

    The invention of the longbow

    The longbow was invented by the Celts in Wales
  • Period: 1095 BCE to 1492

    Crusades

    The crusades were a series of religious wars sanctioned by the Latin Church in the medieval period.
  • 904 BCE

    The invention of gunpowder

    Gunpowder was invented in 9th-century China and spread throughout most parts of Eurasia by the end of the 13th century
  • 618 BCE

    The development of the first handcannon

    Hand cannons were rudimentary and brutish, but they were the first firearms used during combat in recorded history
  • Period: 431 BCE to 404 BCE

    The Peloponnesian War

    The Peloponnesian War was an ancient Greek war fought by the Delian League led by Athens against the Peloponnesian League led by Sparta
  • 300 BCE

    The development of the trebuchet

    The traction trebuchet is believed to be an ancient war engine which was invented in China
  • Period: 264 BCE to 146 BCE

    Punic Wars

    The Punic Wars were a series of three wars fought between Rome and Carthage.
  • Period: 1337 to 1453

    One Hundred Years War

    But in some ways it is more helpful to view this longest of European wars as one phase of an even longer struggle between England and France
  • Period: 1519 to 1521

    Spanish Conquest of the Aztec Empire

    Spanish conquistadors, led by Hernán Cortés, overthrew the Aztec Empire
  • Period: to

    Thirty Years War

    Starting as a battle among the Catholic and Protestant states that formed the Holy Roman Empire.
  • The development of the first submarine

    William Bourne drafted the first design for a submersible craft.
  • Period: to

    English Civil War

    The English Civil War was a series of civil wars and political machinations
  • Period: to

    Napoleonic Wars

    The Napoleonic Wars were a series of conflicts fought between France under the leadership of Napoleon Bonaparte and a number of European nations
  • The development of the revolver handgun

    Samuel Colt submitted a British patent for his revolver
  • Period: to

    The Taiping Rebellion

    radical political and religious upheaval that was probably the most important event in China in the 19th century.
  • Period: to

    The American Civil War

    The Civil War began primarily as a result of the long-standing controversy over the enslavement of black people.
  • The invention of the first iron-clad warship

    the day after the Virginia sank two Union ships, the ironclads met in battle for the first time at Hampton Roads, Virginia.
  • The invention of the first machine gun

    The first practical self-powered machine gun by Sir Hiram Maxim.
  • Period: to

    Boxer Rebellion

    The Boxer Rebellion, Boxer Uprising, or Yihetuan Movement was an anti-imperialist, anti-foreign, and anti-Christian uprising that took place in China
  • Period: to

    World War I

    World War I, also known as the First World War or the Great War, was a global war originating in Europe that lasted from 28 July 1914 to 11 November 1918
  • The development of the first tank.

    The first offensive using tanks took place during the Battle of the Somme.
  • Period: to

    Russian Civil War

    The Russian Civil War was to tear Russia apart for three years
  • Period: to

    World War II

    The vast majority of the world's countries including all the great powers eventually formed two opposing military alliances
  • The use of the first atomic bomb

    The United States dropped its first atomic bomb from a B-29 bomber plane called the Enola Gay on Japanese city of Hiroshima.
  • Period: to

    Cold War

    The Cold War was a period of geopolitical tension between the Soviet Union with its satellite states, and the United States with its allies after World War II.
  • When the first hydrogen bomb was first tested

    The first series of thermonuclear tests conducted by the United States
  • Period: to

    Rwandan Genocide

    The Rwandan genocide, also known as the genocide against the Tutsi, was a mass slaughter of Tutsi, Twa, and moderate Hutu in Rwanda
  • Period: to

    Second Congo War

    little more than a year after the First Congo War, and involved some of the same issues