The Evolution of Weaponry

When we hear the word “war”, we do not typically imagine soldiers fighting their enemies with spears, swords, or crossbows. Generally, we think of soldiers fighting with modern guns, cannons, and other different types of firearms. However, back in the ancient times, most soldiers only fought with various types of spears, swords, and axes. Back in these ancient times, no one had any idea about fire arms. In fact, firearms were not even invented until the 14th century in China, after their discovery of gunpowder in the 9th century (Firearms Tutorial,

2014.). After the discovery of gunpowder, the invention and use of fire arms exploded all throughout the world. Over the course of our history there have been many ways and techniques to attack our opponents such as arrows and spears, but the techniques continued to grow vastly once gun powder was finally discovered.

In prehistoric and ancient times, we can see that the spear is one of the earliest weapons used by man-kind. The spear has been used for as many as a hundred thousand years, and is the most produced weapon overall (Ancient Weapons, 2011.). When soldiers would use the spear, it was usually equipped with a round metal shield used to protect the body. Spears could be light or heavy, long or short. Not only were spears used in battle, but they were also used for hunting

(Ancient Weapons, 2011.). Pole arms and spears became the most common and widely used type of weapon in mostly every empires infantry.

Eventually, empires, like the Romans, began to steer away from the use of spears and drive right into the use of iron swords, which was now their primary weapon (Roman Weapons,

2011). Along with the sword, a weapon called the javelin equipped with not a round sh...

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...y of gunpowder, the production on firearms exploded, and still continues to burn till this day. In the next few decades, more firearms will be produced with even more sophisticated precision, accuracy, and reliability. These weapons will be used as we continue to make warfare history all throughout the world.

Works Cited

Ancient Weapons." Ancient Weapons. N.p., 2011. Web. 05 May 2014. .

"Egyptian Weapons." Egyptian Weapons. N.p., 2011. Web. 07 May 2014. .

"FIREARMS TUTORIAL." FIREARMS TUTORIAL. University of Utah Health Sciences Library, n.d. Web. 27 Mar. 2014.

Hoffman, Jon T. A History of Innovation: U.S. Army Adaptation in War and Peace. Washington, D.C.: Center of Military History, United States Army, 2009. U.S. Army Center of Military History. Web.