Page 116 - (DK) Smithsinian - Military History: The Definitive Visual Guide to the Objects of Warfare

INTRODUCTION

Around 1500, warfare entered a phase of intensive The conquest of the Aztec and Inca empires by small Spanish
innovation. The growing impact of gunpowder forces, in the 1520s and 1530s, was atypical of European
weapons led to a re-evaluation of siege warfare, military achievement—the most effective army in the
battlefield tactics, and the training of soldiers. 16th century was arguably that of the Turkish Ottoman
At sea, sailing ships armed with cannon gave Empire. The largest wars of the 17th century were fought by
Europeans unprecedented control of the seas. the Manchu in China, while Europe’s incessant religious and
dynastic conflicts were stimuli for technological development.
Although military developments varied worldwide, there The armored knight evolved into the cavalryman, armed
were certain trends. In 16th-century Japan, for example, with pistol and sword. Adapting successfully to the challenge
commanders realized that peasant footsoldiers, if equipped of cannon, fortifications became ever more elaborate, as did
with firearms and properly disciplined, could be a match for the techniques used to besiege them. In the Mediterranean,
the elite mounted samurai. A similar idea underpinned the war fleets still consisted of oared galleys but, in the Atlantic,
strict drills of European musket-armed infantry, who learned sailing ships evolved into remarkable weapons platforms,
to fire in volleys and maneuver together on the battlefield. with a single ship mounting as many cannon as an entire land
In Europe, the use of massed pikemen became standard: army. Permanent regular armies—drilled, disciplined, and
the issue of how to combine muskets and pikes in battle uniformed—eventually replaced the former European
preoccupied European military theorists for a century and military traditions of mercenaries, feudal retainers, levies,
a half, before the advent of the bayonet, in the late 17th and militias. The wealth of increasingly centralized European
century, made the issue redundant. states sustained these expanding military establishments.

KEY DATES
1500 Portuguese sailing ships dominate Possession of cannon and firearms Arquebusiers and pikemen play an
important role in the defeat of the
The Dutch Revolt begins a long
the Indian Ocean, after the Battle
enables the Ottoman Turks to
war of independence against
of Panipat allows Babur to
fortification system begins
Nobunaga makes decisive
introduce firearms to Japan
Japanese warlord Oda
The trace italienne
Portuguese sailors
found the Mughal Empire
conquer Syria and Egypt
c.1500 1509 of Diu, in the Arabian Sea 1516–17 1525 French by the Spanish, at Pavia, Italy In India, victory at the Battle 1543 1568 Spanish rule in the Netherlands 1575 use of firearms at the
to spread in Europe
1526
Battle of Nagashino
1503
At Cerignola, in Italy, the
1519–21
c.1560
1511
1571
1526
1582
German horsemen introduce
Spanish make effective use of The English ship Mary Spanish Conquistadores under The Ottoman army of Suleyman the The matchlock musket the “caracole” tactic for fighting Muslim and Christian galley fleets The first mid-ocean naval batle
c.1530
clash in the Mediterranean, at
Rose is one of first to
cannon and firearms fired from
Magnificent defeats the Hungarians at
Hernan Cortes destroy the
is fought off the Azores between
behind field fortifications
Aztec Empire, in Mexico
be built with gunports
the Battle of Mohacs, in Hungary
the Battle of Lepanto
with wheellock pistols
comes into use in Europe
the French and the Portuguese
SÜLEYMAN I—1494-1566 THE BATTLE OF MOHACS —1526 THE BATTLE OF NAGASHINO—1575