Wester Civ. Final (3000BCE – 1500CE)

The Invention and Development of New Tools and Styles of Warfare Over Time (Summary)

3000 BCE

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The Bronze Age

3000 BCE

Creating bronze required quite a bit of skill, and the resources needed to create it only existed in certain areas. So, not only was there a cost associated with making it, but it also had to be shipped to the people who wanted to use it most of the time. That said, it created much more durable and deadly weapons, giving those who wielded it a great advantage. If you had the money to equip your soldiers with bronze, you were sure to come out on top over those with wood or obsidian weapons.

Sargon of Akkad

2340 BCE

During this time, most cities favored defense in the form of strong walls over offense in the form of armies. This often deterred outright takeovers. Sargon of Akkad was the first ruler to create a standing army, and an early version of chariots were also used. These developments allowed Sargon to conquer almost all of the major Mesopotamians cities, forming the world's first true empire.

Greek Phalanx

800 BCE

This organized unit of soldiers consisted of free Greek citizens wielding spears and shields. Each soldier actually paid for his own weapons and armor, which solved the problem of the state having to pay to equip their soldiers. These men trained regularly, and when in battle with other poleis, the two sides would stab at each other until one side broke, after which they threw down their shields and ran away.

Sparta

700 BCE

The Spartans had their own problem to solve. 90% of the population was made up of slaves, so they needed enough men to keep them from fighting for their freedom. They did this by rigorously training soldiers from childhood, regularly beating them as discipline and to make them numb to pain. Because they needed their soldiers at home to prevent the slaves from fighting back, they actually despised getting into wars, even though their soldiers were highly effective.

Cyrus II the Great

550 BCE

A large part of Cyrus’ success was due to making conquered people feel like they were under new management, not that they had been taken over. When conquering Greek poleis, he let them keep their language and culture. When conquering the city states of Mesopotamia, he venerated their patron God to ensure their loyalty. And in the places he conquered, he chose leaders that were already there who were willing to work with him and put them in charge of the new colonies.

The Naval Force of Athens

480 BCE

The Athenians created the Delian League with the promise of protecting its partners. In reality, they funneled money from their partners into their own naval force, which was then used to further control the other members. While it wasn't perfect, it was a far better navy than any of the other members had, and it gave them plenty of power. When war finally broke out, they lasted for a long time due to their nautical prowess, but eventually lost due to their lack of emphasis on ground troops.

Alexander the Great

336 BCE

Alexander the Great led his battles himself, inspiring troops. He crushed resistance quickly within his homeland and in Greece. He succeeded in battles against Persia due to his quick action, as Persia was incapable of calling up and training their army fast enough to deal with his full-time army. He offered deals to & respected the previous positions of Persians who surrendered. When given the chance to marry into the Persian Royal family, he instead chose to win the battle once and for all.

The Punic Wars

264 BCE

The Romans suffered a lot of defeats during the Punic wars but were wealthy enough to keep fighting. The Carthaginians had to build up their wealth by conquering sections of Spain containing gold and copper mines. Some of the new techniques we saw in these battles include surprise attacks, using war elephants, using fog to hide a whole army, using narrow passes to trap the enemy, and altering tactics completely by using guerrilla warfare to confuse and surprise the enemy.

The Later Roman Army

1 CE

Roman soldiers were now career soldiers. They had regular pay and retirement benefits, serving for 20 years, being on reserve for five, and then retiring. They then received 13 years’ worth of pay as a bonus and some land. This all but destroyed the need for volunteer soldiers, and also allowed for highly trained and quickly available fighters. They were also able to bring along specialists, like engineers and blacksmiths. This is due to their wealth and the high level of organization.

Byzantium

700

One novel tool developed in this time period was Greek fire, used in naval warfare. They also utilized heavier cavalries, which obviously gave them a benefit in battle. The most interesting thing we see is the use of spies and agents. These people could be sent in to infiltrate enemy governments to bribe or assassinate their targets. They could also disrupt or start wars.

The Final Decline of Byzantium

1000

Because Byzantium relied on volunteer soldiers, those usually being successful farmers, the series of bad harvests around this time period meant that they could no longer be recruited. Since there were fewer independent citizens to recruit, Byzantium had to resort to hiring foreign mercenaries. These people were paid for directly out of the imperial treasury, which put an enormous financial burden on the empire. But the regular use of mercenaries is an interesting development.

The Crusades

1095

When the Seljuk Turks attacked the Byzantine empire, Pope urban II responded by calling on the knights of Europe to protect Christians in and near the Holy Land. He spoke about how it was their duty to defend Christians, but he also made sure to include the bit about riches and free repentance for all their sins.

The Mongols Under Chinngis Kahn

1206

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The Gunpowder Revolution

1405

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