Revolution In The Military Affair Dbq

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The advent of the revolution in the military affair in the period of 1450 and 1800 is believed to had been shaped by a number of reasons. All the reasons, that is to say, the invention of gunpowder, technology, trade, an increase in economy and different types of defensive fortifications are considered to have played an equal role in contributing the revolution in the military affair. However, some historians interpret the military revolution differently and have distinguished opinions towards the revolution from each other representing objections and disagreements. For example, Clifford J. Rogers points out that RMA-Revolution in Military Affair is simply a revolutionary change in how war is fought – a change that can be recognised by …show more content…

Well-built fortifications specifically designed for territories in warfare gave big opportunities to protect countries from attackers. Trace italienne was one of the most important fortifications, in Italy from 1450 to 1520, which had created massive struggles and difficulties to enemies to conquer a town or a city that eventually resulted in attacker countries having the ability to discover new strategies such as an increase in an army size so as to vanquish the towns or cities. A growth in army size showed much more strength than ever before. This provided the need to demolish any well-built towns or cities which consequently spread worldwide. Dutch prince Frederick Henry’s intention to besiege the town of ‘s Hertogenbosch could be a brilliant example of a change in the military affair of which expanded the size of his army exponentially; from 30,000 in 1620 to 58,000 in 1627, and to 128,877 in 1629 so as to defeat the town built in italienne position. Another evidence for the increase in army size can been seen by the inflation of the armies in various countries such as the army belonging to the Spanish Monarch (from 20,000 to 300,000), in Dutch Republic from 20,000 to 110,000, in England from 25,000 to 87,000 in Sweden from 15,000 to 100,000 and in Russia from 35,000 to 170,000 between 1470s and 1700s. Subsequently, the rapid significant increase …show more content…

The rapid advancement of multiple technologies in Europe and in various states led to the invention of gunpowder which was a fuel to drive the further big military changes. Gunpowder artillery is one of them which brought the ability to demolish castles and fortified towns as they no longer gave the protection from attackers. As gunpowder artillery goes spread the military tactics of countries had seen drastic modifications as the use of this weapon gave more opportunities to win a battle. The technology was not limited with only this gunpowder artillery but also led to the invention of the flintlock which was a far better substitute weapon to the matchlock. This weapon brought big changes in military and warfare in Europe like gunpowder artillery. For example, the European fusiliers had learned the skill and tactic to deal with heavy cavalry through the utilization of the flintlock which brought an end to the existence of the pikemen. Also, this led to an increase in the use of firepower and manoeuvrability as well as a decline in the importance of cavalry. As a result of expanding the drill amongst troops by the transformation from matchlock to the flintlocks there emerged an increased number of the best trained and most-drilled troops who were distinctively better other armies. For example, at the battle of

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