Danny Culp Priovolos World History 5/31/24 How did the Gunpowder Empire gain, consolidate, and maintain power using gunpowder? In the early 800s, during the Tang Dynasty in China, the first formula for gunpowder was made and put to use. They would begin to use this new invention for fireworks and different flame mechanics. Around the year 1200, the Song Dynasty was making different bombs and weapons like cannons and would use gunpowder in them. Later Muslim groups such as the Ottomans, Safavid, and Mughal Empires would discover and use it to their advantage. They continued to develop it and would eventually find guns. Today these empires would be called the Gunpowder Empires for how they would gunpowder for their advantage. Starting in the …show more content…
They would have experienced gunmen to ensure victory against their enemies. However, all three of the Gunpowder Empires would use gunpowder to their advantage and begin to implement them in their military. With the many military successes, the Gunpowder Empires would expand their militias and want to further develop the innovation for new weapons. The Gunpowder Empires would use gunpowder to gain, consolidate, and maintain power by creating new weapons like guns and cannons for their military. With the empire’s powerful militia, they would then expand to making new and improved guns and cannons. The Ottomans would use this new technology to take over Constantinople. Eventually, iron and brass muskets would be made by the time that the Savafid and Mughal Empires came. They would also make bigger and better cannons and bombs, unlike the bombards that the Ottomans would use. The first innovation came when the Ottomans began to create advancements in the cannon. They would begin to create the arquebuses. It was a long gun that would be used for long-range attacks and would later be an inspiration for the …show more content…
Different guns would also be considered better and worse. A primary source from Fordham University Sourcebook gives details on how guns would be traded and their value for being a new invention from the old hand cannons. They write “When at last I desired permission to continue my journey, he demanded of me that I should give him our iron guns in exchange for his brass ones. He pressed me so hard that I was compelled to give in, and received 40 brass muskets in return for all the iron ones which we had left.” (Fordham, Sidi Ali Reis). This quote is saying that some guns could be worth more due to their innovation and how they would work much better compared to the old hand cannons that Ottomans and Savafids would use. These new weapons would be better because they would be able to trade and also shoot better from long range. This would help the empires with their conquests as they continued to take over much of the Middle East and Asia. Finally, the Gunpowder Empires would use gunpowder to create new defense and offense strategies to gain, consolidate, and maintain power. The Ottomans would create new ways to beat and fend off their enemies, using gunpowder to their
Weapons have been around from the Neanderthals of the post-ice age, to the Taliban in Afghanistan. Rocks became knives, sticks became spears, and bayonets became AK-47’s. The technology from the French and Indian War was revolutionized and manufactured by the newly opened weaponry companies. Colt and Winchester had a new end of the market during the times of conflict in the United States.
During the 16th and 17th century, the Middle East saw the rise of the “Gunpowder Dynasties”. This included the Ottoman Empire, the Safavids of Persia, and the Mughals. Simply put, these civilizations were the first in the Mediterranean to use gunpowder weapons including guns and cannons. However, it did not stop there, with the use of gunpowder came the rise of new technologies in metallurgy, mining, and weapon design. The use of gunpowder had arrived in the Middle East due to the Mongols who first witnessed its use in China. The only other empires which used gunpowder at the time were Britain and the Netherlands. The use of gunpowder allowed the three empires of the Muslim world to achieve things they previously could not and led to many advances and dominance in the region. At the same time however, it also fragmented the Mediterranean. As well, contrary to what some may assume, all of the gunpowder empires were not Arab, they consisted of newcomers to the Middle East. With all this in mind, an examination of the similarities and differences between the empires and the difference they made in the Muslim world for centuries to come is vital.
Another piece of weaponry that the U.S had made their own version of was the cannons. The cannon was first used in 1861 at Fort Sumter in the U.S Civil War. These were a major upgrade in weaponry as it could help take out big crowds of men and helped so men wouldn’t have to be on the front lines and risk getting killed. Also battles seemed to get quicker because of its strength, but it had some downsides too. These downsides including very bad injuries to the men, also more men would be killed in battles, and finally a lot of cities were destroyed because of it.
Like several dynasties throughout history, power and the art of war have always been prominent. Both empires started off with unifying their government and military structure in order to be source of power. Their next step was to invade their surrounding areas in order to spread their own power and to have a greater influence. The conquest of Constantinople was the big accomplishment for the Ottomans, since Constantinople was Christian-based and it had proven to be difficult to conquer in the past. This not only was a conquest for power, but also for religion since they transformed the Orthodox cathedral into a Muslim mosque. The big conquest for the Mughals was north India, “Babur conquered India simply because he had lost the hope of establishing an empire in Mawarannahr or anywhere else, and so he turn his mulkgirlq, his “kingdom-seizing” ambitions, to India…” (Dale 73). Babur was more power driven since he had “kingdom-seizing” ambitions and the religious elements came in second for
In conclusion, the Roman and Ottoman Empire had many similarities and differences even though, they were ruled at disparate places and times. They had strong rulers, efficient militaries and bureaucracies. Furthermore, the empires were wide and had a long existence. However, the Roman and the Ottoman Empire differ in government systems, religions, rulers, and weapons. Therefore, having knowledge of the history of empires, how they lived, their religions and government systems is crucial so that we learn from their cultures and achievements, and avoid recurring their
As a result of these two conditions, many more casualties were sustained. Add to that the lack of medical knowledge of disease and infection and the numbers truly began to grow. This paper provides an overview of the types of weaponry that was used during this time. Artillery generally falls into three basic categories: guns, howitzers and mortars. The main difference between them is the trajectory of the round fire.
Many have tried to improve the rapid firing power of guns throughout history (Bull 162). The first working machine gun was invented by "Hiram Maxim in the late nineteenth century" (163). World War I would be the place where the technologically advanced weapon would prove just how destructive the machine gun could be (163). The machine gun would also be used on tanks and airplanes (163). Many Euro...
A majority of weapons used in World War II were improved weapons from World War II. Most guns increased in power and abilities. In World War II people thought that pistols were useless but this was proved wrong due to the fact that the U.S. Mi...
This was the self contained brass cartridge. It contained an ignition source called a primer, an amount of powder and a bullet. Early cartridge guns were converted percussion rifles. The first repeating rifles were the Henry and Spencer, the Henry had a fifteen shot internal magazine and the Spencer a seven round removable magazine this meant multiple could be carried. Repeaters were not limited to rifles though handguns such as the famous Colt Single Action Army were a common favorite among both civilians and military personnel. The industrial revolution boosted the firearms industry. It allowed gunsmiths who formerly would cut rifling and make parts by hand using saws and files to now use vertical mills and lathes to improve both output and precision. Barrels became easier to rifle and take to size using lathes and mills allowed sights to be manufactured much easier. The next major evolutionary step in the firearms industry was the bolt action rifle. A bolt action provides a tighter seal at the breach than other actions allowing higher pressure cartridges and a farther effective range do to increased velocity The first bolt action used by the U.S. military was the Krag-Jorgensen a Norwegian rifle with a internal side loading magazine. It was thought by many that the Krag was was an exceptional piece of equipment but during the Spanish - American War it was proved otherwise. Spaniards armed with German Mausers a rifle with a
Crossbows are a highly effective weapon for hunting and war even in today's standards. The first records of crossbows are from China in the 6th century BC. The knowledge then spreads slowly to the west into Europe during the time of the Roman Empire, the greatest empire of all times. The crossbow remained the favored weapon of war and hunting in Rome until the 15th century when gunpowder was also introduced from China.
War has been a recurring part of America’s history for the past hundreds of years. From the 1700s to the present, America has gotten into numerous situations and turmoil, which eventually lead to the wars we currently study and know about today. Technological advancements in warfare were necessary and a great obligation during times of war. This was pursued with drastic improvement. From the transformation of the use of smoothbore muskets during the Civil War to the industrial revolution leading to weaponry innovations post civil war, the nature of warfare dramatically changed. These developments proved to be proficient in battle. In the midst of these hundreds of years, while many technological advances demonstrated to be efficient in battle, the machine gun was one of the most significant advancements in technology that changed the face of warfare through its transformation of operations and strategy.
Streusand, Douglas E. Islamic Gunpowder Empires Ottomans, Safavids, and Mughals. Boulder, Colo: Westveiw Press, 2011.
The first guns used in America were a simple machine where the person did most of the work. The user measured and put the powder down the barrel of the gun. Next some shotgun pellets were put in the same way. This was then all compacted and the gun was ready to fire. This reloading took over a minute before each shot could be fired and the guns weren't very accurate by today's standards. If too much powder was used then the gun could explode or if the powder were wet then the gun wouldn't fire. One of inventions during the Revolutionary War was a way to reload faster. The powder was already pre-measured and kept in little sacks. This made reloading faster because the user no longer had to measure the powder between each reloading. These guns were crude but in that day was a powerful modern invention that was considered very useful. The American Revolution was a political war to obtain what the people of that era wanted. By today's standards the destruction of gun was minimal so war was used to obtain political objectives.
Gunpowder’s effect on the world can be exemplified through the grand changes in weapons. This can be shown through the defeat of the Spanish Armada in 1588 by the English navy. In this sea battle, the Spanish Armada outnumbered the English navy immensely turning the odds against the English. However, the Spanish Armada still used old boarding tactics while the English used advanced weaponry. In the end, “the English used their superior firepower to whittle away the Spanish forces” (Schlager). The English navy's victory over the Spanish Armada illustrates the effects of the invention of gunpowder. With the successful usage of advanced gunpowder based weapons, the English navy crushed the opposition even when the Spanish Armada clearly had the upper hand. The defeat of the Spanish Armada shows that weapons based on gunpowder allowed countries with smaller armies to have a higher chance in winning their fights. The gunpowder weapons proved to be a tactical advant...
“Volley Guns” (Chivers, 2010, p.26) or also known as “Organ Guns” (Ellis, 1975, p.10) were first attempts at increasing firepower by adding several barrels at the firing itself, rather than simply attempting to increase the rate of fire. “Gunsmiths had long ago learned to place barrels side by side on frames to create firearms capable of discharging projectiles in rapid succession. These unwieldy devices, or volley guns, were capable in theory of blasting a hole in a line of advancing soldiers” (Chivers, 2010, p.26). An example of such weapons can be seen on July 28, 1835 when Giuseppe Fieshi unleashed terror on King Louis-Phillipe in Paris, France. He fired his 25 barrel “volley gun”, killing 18 of the king's entourage and grazing the King's skull. The weapon was ineffective however. Four of the barrels failed and another four ruptured. Two other barrels had exploded inside, grievously wounding Giuseppe. (Chivers, 2010, p. 27)