Effects of the Crossbow and the Machine Gun on Warfare, Society, and Politics - Essay Example

An Analysis and Comparison of the Effects of the Crossbow and the Machine Gun on Warfare, Society and Politics Man since the dawn of civilization used tools to aid and assists him in various endeavors. When fire was discovered, man saw that it is useful to cook his food, stay warm of cold nights, keep unwanted animals away and bring light during darkness. As a hunter-gatherer, man used tools to enable him to capture his animal-prey or harvest plants. While hunting, the Stone Age man used primitive stones and wood as clubs and spears. Eventually, he learned to fashion a bow and arrow in order to increase the hunting distance between captor and prey. These tools also became his weapons of survival to ward of animal predators. Eventually, man learned that these tools could also be offensive weapons in capturing or subjugating other men. Thus, warfare began when conquest of one clan or village in the prehistoric age began. “From the very beginning of our species history we have waged war. Some archaeologists claim the first act of homo sapiens on the world stage was that of genocide with the systematic destruction of the Neanderthals although there is no suggestion of an organized war effort, evidence points to small scale conflict slowly driving the physically stronger Neanderthals into less favorable areas for survival as they were defeated by the homo sapiens who although weaker and less well adapted to the northern European climate could communicate and unite to gain dominance of better settlement areas. (Dugdale-Pointon, 2003)” Man against man utilized the spears, clubs, bows and arrows to kill one another and “to the victor goes the spoils” either the crops of the village, the women and the children. Henceforth, man’s tools of survival became “tools of destruction” wherein the manufacturing of which became a means to control other men, to wage war and indulge in warfare as a means of being a master to other men. In man’s history of warfare, the first weapons were the club, axe and spear but these were not enough since it could not reach greater distance to kill. The invention of the bow and arrow added to the killing distance as well as enablement of the mobile warfare wherein opponents could fight each other and move at distance. “The use of the bow and arrow for hunting and for war dates back to the Paleolithic period in Africa, Asia, and Europe. It was widely used in ancient Egypt, Mesopotamia, Persia, the Americas, and Europe until the introduction of gunpowder.(Smith, 2006)” The bow and arrow eventually became a de rigueur in combat and as history moves, these tools were seen as part of the deciding factor in battles. Eventually, the bow and arrow underwent an evolution and this evolution made it a more effective weapon – longer distance attack, compact-make and easier to carry – the crossbow was born. “The crossbow as a weapon of war was utilized at least from Roman times until the 17th century, and as a hunting or sporting weapon it has survived until the present day (Wulfgrimmsonr, 2007).” What made the crossbow change the face of warfare, society and politics? This became evident during the Medieval Era when knights battle each other for God and glory. Alongside the crossbow is the longbow, both of which contributed to the killing distance in battles. “The importance of these missile weapons was that they permitted the powerful knight to be dispatched from a distance by a projectile capable of penetrating his amour, or at least his horse. What’s more is that the missile could be fired from the arms of the lowly levy infantry, whos casualty had previously barely been counted as relevant. The cost of a longbow or crossbow was much cheaper than all the paraphernalia of the knight, and his expensive armor and war horse. European nobles and papacy were daunted by the crossbow and the horrendous wounds it rendered. It directly challenged the mounted elites dominance of armed violence. (Lowke, 1999)” Hence, in terms of technological expenditures, the crossbow was cheaper and easier to manufacturer and maintain, and since it has became “the weapon for the masses,” more combatants could be fielded by kings and bishops thus giving more edge to winning battles and warfare. In military terms, the crossbow became a “force multiplier” wherein instead of fitting a knight with horse and armor, and costing a lot plus able only to do one-to-one battle, issuing crossbows to anyone enabled the shooter to kill enemies at a faster rate. By increasing the kill ratio, victory was easily achieved and the losers found themselves vanquished and under the control of the winning state and its military might. In the epic Battle of Jaffa, it was said that Richard the Lion-Hearted utilized the crossbow to destroy the Turks, whose numbers were greater than Richard’s forces. The result of the conflict saw “within a few minutes 700 men dead and 1,500 horses on the field (on the Turks’ side), at a cost to Richard of only two men slain. Had Richard persisted with this method of shock/missile combat he might well have changed the history of the crusades. (Lowke, 1999)” The crossbow continued to become a force multiplier in many battles especially during the Medieval Era wherein its power and accuracy truly revolutionized warfare by transforming from highly-skilled and high-trained soldiers (costing more the King’s treasury) to marginally trained soldiers with weapons that were easier to operate (saving the King’s coffers). Eventually with the invention of gunpowder, man was able to invent the musket or guns, which further improve warfare. “The crossbow had largely been relegated to sport by the improvement of firearms (Wulfgrimmsonr, 2007).” The purpose of the firearms is to increase kill distance without having to carry bulky weapons. From the muskets to guns, “there had been many attempts to produce a small caliber, rapid-fire weapon. The advantages were controllable recoil together with many projectiles which together seemed a good formula to cause maximum casualties to the opposition. (H2G2, 2002)” Hence came the machine gun, “an automatic weapon that fires rapidly and repeatedly without requiring separate squeezes on the trigger each time (Microsoft® Encarta®, 2007).” Suddenly, a weapon was born that again enabled a minimally-trained person to set his sights on killing others at a faster paced compared to the crossbow. The increased firepower became a welcome technological improvement and the Machine Gun Age of warfare was born. “The Machine Gun age saw the rise to dominance of the fire support element although vast amounts of infantry died in the battles of the American Civil War and in the First World War. Technological development during this period was very rapid and it is the Fire support element which has always benefited the most from advances in technology closely followed by the Shock element with the infantry element benefiting the least from technological development. (Dugdale-Pointon, 2003)” In the aftermath, the crossbow and the machine gun indeed changed the course of not only warfare but also history, politics and society. Whereas fighting with sticks, stones, knives and spears were a one-to-one approach with an “up close and personal encounter” with the enemy, both the crossbow and the machine gun made warfare impersonal and very objective because suddenly, man can kill his enemy at a distance. Aside from the distance, killing could be accomplished en masse and effectively by being able to down several foes at any given moment. With these two technological improvements, politics and society changed wherein the conquest of opponents became cheaper and easier, and once the fruits of battle has been tasted more conquests was pronounced by the powers to be. Only when several conquests and subjugations were made could the lust for power – or greed – be sated. Although “no amount of technology will change the nature of war, war remains a matter of the human heart, a product of who we are as human beings, and unfortunately war is part of the way we relate to one another. (Dubik, 2002)” Despite the attribute to war as being a “matter of the human heart,” the weapons such as the crossbow and machine gun created by man added a “heartless dimension” to warfare by being able to kill at a distance without actually seeing those we killed. “We can want short wars or clean wars or wars-at-a-distance. We can think that the tools we use to fight somehow change war’s essence. (Dubik, 2002)” War was, is still and will always be an extension of politics and diplomacy wherein when either fails; the soldiers are called in by those in power to settle the score. In the Information Age, we became more detached and “War seems now a video game, where ‘victory’ produces a good feeling as computer-generated destruction is revealed on a video screen (Gutman, 2001).” The crossbow and the machine gun were tools to aid and assist us in warfare, but what they did to society and politics was take out the “soul” of the society and politicians and made it detached and practical. Bibliography: Dubik, James M. (2002, Jul.) “Has warfare changed? Sorting apples from oranges.” Landpower Essay No. 02-3. An Institute of Land Warfare Publication. [Online] Retrieved Mar. 25, 2007 from the Website: http://www.ausa.org/PDFdocs/lpe02-3.pdf Dugdale-Pointon, TDP. (2003, Jul.19). The evolution of warfare, the 3 element approach. [Online] Retrieved Mar. 25, 2007 from the Website: http://www.historyofwar.org/articles/concepts_evolution.html Gutman, Huck. (2001, Dec. 18). “The inhumanization of war." Kolkata (Calcutta) Statesman. [Online] Retrieved Mar. 25, 2007 from the Website: http://www.uvm.edu/~sgutman/The_Inhumanization_of_War.html H2G2. (2002, Dec. 20). The machine gun 1718 – 1914. [Online] Retrieved Mar. 25, 2007 from British Broadcasting Corporation database on the Website: http://www.bbc.co.uk/dna/h2g2/A876855 Lowke, Russell J. (1999, May 12). Medieval warfare and the Crusades. . [Online] Retrieved Mar. 25, 2007 from the Website: http://www.mocaz.com/essays/Crossbow%20and%20Longbow.pdf Smith, Randy. (2006, Dec. 30). Chinese invention of the crossbow. [Online] Retrieved Mar. 25, 2007 from the Website: http://www.computersmiths.com/chineseinvention/crossbow.htm Wulfgrimmsonr, Thorbjorn. (2007). An outline of the development of the crossbow. [Online] Retrieved Mar. 25, 2007 from the Website: http://www.tirbriste.org/dmir/ArmsArmor/01/0111/0111.html Read More