Military Revolution

Similar to Charlemagne’s re-establishment of the feudal monarch, the increasing dominance of gunpowder in Early Modern warfare brought another great change and transformation to Europe. Some call this change the Military Revolution, because gunpowder forced military advancements in not only weaponry, but also tactics and even the formation of standing armies and navies; something feudal monarchs had not been able to form. Before the modern state emerged, nobles were the lords of their own lands with the overall right to rule, tax, and form armies from their own people for service to the highest bidder. Unlike the invention of the English longbow during the Middle Ages, which only slightly changed the art of warfare, gunpowder transformed and revolutionized the feudal monarchies of old Western Europe into sovereign states. The formation of standing armies ready to go to war at the King’s request eventually helped to eliminate the noble’s purpose in warfare and later in government. Gunpowder allowed these newly formed sovereign states to establish permanent mercenary militaries, eliminate the power of the old sword nobles, and revolutionized the art of warfare.

Background

Gunpowder was developed initially in China, certainly by the 11th century and perhaps considerably earlier. It was quickly turned to military uses, in devices such as rockets, primitive flamethrowers and grenades launched from catapults. The rulers of the Song Dynasty made regular use of cannon from the twelfth century onwards, first of bamboo and then of bronze. However, the Chinese, for one reason or another, did not continue to develop and make use of the technology on a broader basis, while, through the Mongols, the technology quickly reached Europe where its potential was recognized as an alternative to the traditional bow and arrow and as an efficient siege weapon (though the effect was more of terrorizing than of substantial damage) Cannon firing arrows were used at the Battle of Crécy in 1346, although at this time the decisive arms remained archers and cavalry.

For firepower to achieve its full strategic potential, two further improvements were needed. First the construction and design of the barrel was refined, leading to greater propulsion and, crucially, reducing the number of these "bombards" which blew up in operation. This step forward was helped by the experience of Europe's bell manufacturers, who were at the time perfecting the art of casting church bells for change ringing. The alloys used for both, gunmetal and bell metal, are very nearly the same. The second vital factor was to increase the weapon's mobility. Early cannon were useful for defending fixed positions, such as castles or forts, but were less useful in the field or as weapons of attack in a siege.

By the fifteenth century, moveable cast iron cannon were being built and played a significant part in, for example, the Siege of Constantinople by the Ottoman Turks in 1453 and in some later battles of The Hundred Years' War between the Plantagenets and the Capetians. Such large guns were very effective in speeding up sieges of stone fortifications, which would otherwise take weeks or months, if the attacker could afford to keep an army in the field for that time. Even so, the new weapons required enormous man power to operate, and were often only capable of a few shots per day.

Also by the late fifteenth century, new technology revolutionized the infantry soldier by the development of personal firearms, the arquebus. The military revolution was under way.

Feudal monarchy to sovereign state

No longer were kings almost forced to hire highly skilled swordsman to do their fighting if they wanted to win in battle. A standing army of infantrymen with muskets slowly eliminated the privately owned and operated armies of the nobles. Nobles then entered their king’s service as paid and permanent military leaders and commanders in service to the king fighting for only one country. Rather than relying on their old traditional role as vassals giving military service to the crown and then returning home when the battles were finished, these new nobles served for one state and its king with careers as military leaders. Now that nobles served in the kings permanent military, they ultimately lost their power to tax the people in their respective provinces. Taxation became the right of the sovereign state, the king, who also then became the only one allowed and also wealthy enough to wage war.

Warfare was a necessary part of a king’s rule in order to gain more lands and increase the size of his nation; therefore, taxation increased in order to fund the king’s newly formed standing army and military campaigns. Another reason for the nobles’ loss of military power may have also been that the new weaponry from the invention of gunpowder was extremely expensive. If the nobility were unable to purchase such weaponry and instead used their obsolete and outdated materials for warfare, the crown would not hire them to fight; modern artillery then became a monopoly of the crown. One of the first major conflicts where all major countries involved used foot soldiers with muskets and cavalry was the Thirty Years' War.

Military strategy and tactics had to be changed immensely because of the direct effect gunpowder had on the battle field. During the Thirty Years War, it took time for the military leaders to realize that the art of warfare had changed dramatically in just a couple hundred years and older medieval tactics were obsolete when fighting with muskets. As history has shown us many times, even when new military weapons have been built, it always takes longer than it should to find and implement new tactics and strategies in order to use the new weaponry effectively. Napoleon Bonaparte was one man who would later show Europe and the world how to implement his artillery, cavalry, and infantry on the battlefield in an effective manner. This is not to say that no other leader before Napoleon used gunpowder weaponry effectively. Both King Philip and Queen Elizabeth were prime examples of how they used gunpowder to their advantage in warfare, but Napoleon implemented new tactics and strategies, further making modern artillery more effective. Since firing a musket could be done by less skilled soldiers, when compared to the old sword nobles, many lower class and peasantry served in the military as infantrymen. Standing armies then became extremely large, with the ability to travel farther away from their central commander, the king.

Lasting impact

As these newly formed sovereign states gained experience in warfare and in government, leaders began to realize that new tactics were essential on the battlefield. The feudal monarchies of the Middle Ages were very rapidly eliminated by the effects of gunpowder on warfare and government. This new invention can be credited with aiding in the formation of the European countries as we see them today. As countries began to become larger by the lands gained from victorious military campaigns, governments became increasingly centralized and more powerful over the people in their lands. People tried to associate themselves with countries who believed in the same religion, but the newly formed sovereign states many-of-times saw a divided country on the issue of religion as a weakness in the nation itself. Many times, these highly centralized sovereign states were less interested in the safety and success of the people living in their lands and more concerned with military victories and living lavishly. This military Revolution not only completely changed warfare, but also led to the development of sovereign states financially capable of making their influence felt world wide.

Military Revolution

Background

Feudal monarchy to sovereign state

Lasting impact

Further reading

See also