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Full Description
Since the invention of black powder and the development
of large cannons, artillery has been considered a gamechanger of global
military history. It spelled the end for knights and castles, both of
which were unable to resist its powerful impact, and it ushered in radically
new warship designs, whose firepower changed the face of sea warfare forever.
Artillery was seen as a vital component in the military rise of Europe,
with whose armies and navies Asian, African and American native forces were
unable to compete. While such ideas continue to exist, the present volumes aim
is to approach the history of artillery on a broader scale by taking global
developments into account and putting them into perspective. It begins by
examining the mechanical artillery of antiquity with its catapults and
stone-throwers. The development of the cannon from a cumbersome and unreliable
bombard into a modern high-tech weapon was a long process that took centuries
to complete. The efficiency of the new weapon was highly dependent not just on
improved production techniques but also on transport and logistics, and on
increasingly lethal and destructive ammunition. And although artillery has been
considered an indispensable part of any army for five hundred years, it
remained an auxiliary weapon for a long time until mass deployment of
fast-firing, large-calibre, guns during the First World War made artillery the
true queen of battlefields.
Alexander Querengässers new book gives the interested reader an innovative
overview of the history of artillery which appreciates developments both inside
and outside Europe. It seeks to examine the many factors which proved decisive
for its consistently improving efficiency from ancient times right to the
battlefields of the present. More than 200 illustrations will provide the
reader with a comprehensive visual impression of the history of this remarkable
weapon.
Contents
Introduction
Mechanical artillery in the prehistoric era, classical antiquity and in the
Early Middle Ages
Naval warfare
The Middle Ages
Europe
Naval warfare
The 16th Century
Europe
Africa and Asia
Naval warfare
The 17th Century
Europe
Asia
Naval warfare
The 18th Century
Europe
Asia
America
Naval Warfare
18001871
Europe
North America
South America
Asia
Naval Warfare
18711914
Europe
Latin America
Asia
Africa
Naval Warfare
The First World War
The Interwar Years
Naval Warfare
The Second World War
19451990 The Cold War, Decolonization, and New Conflicts
Developments since the 1990s
Conclusion
Sources
Literature
Image credits
