Aaron Jones |
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Whipps, By Heather. "How Gunpowder Changed the World." LiveScience. TechMedia Network, 06 Apr. 2008. Web. 01 Mar. 2015. Like all the previous articles, this one briefly explains how gunpowder came to be, its not as long as the previous ones, but its long enough to get the point across. It goes more indepth for when they found out Saltpeter (What we call Potassium Nitrate) burns and produces smoke. When the Smoke had cleared the Scientists had burned faces, hands, and even entire houses burned down because they didn’t know what they had found. The current ruling Chinese Dynasty (Sung) right away put this to use against the Mongols, who had been constantly invading the Sung ruled China. They used flaming arrows with a tube of Gunpowder fixed on it, and this is one of the first recorded gunpowder weapons. The Chinese later made a sort of Cannon, and Grenade, but the European equivalent was much better. It remained in Chinese hands until the 13th century (Much like Greek Fire had been kept to the Byzantine Empire), when it began to pass along the silk road. The Muslims were first to put It to use, with the Europeans shortly behind. The biggest use of it was the Turkish Siege of Constantinople, which employed crude and massive cannons that busted the “Unbreakable” walls, which had been unbroken for centuries. Next, came the handgun, which was, basically, a portable handheld cannon. This began what we know as Modern Armies. I like this article for reasons. It explains how it was put to use in specific wars, and gives a few GOOD examples of how it was used. Destroying a city that was never supposed to fall, and keeping away the terrifying Mongols are both reason enough to use this article, as it mentions them, It kind of gives a vague timeline of Gunpowders development, when it explains the next big Gunpowder using weapons that came along. "The Age of Gunpowder." Global Security. 13 Sept. 2012. Web. 15 Mar. This article starts by almost glorifying Gunpowder, which is a big change from the past 3 articles, which all give it a terrifying undertone that just says “This killed whoever made it”. It puts us right when European Monks were experimenting with Saltpeter which was said to explode. Not intended to kill people, the Europeans just wanted to make fireworks of their own, but when they found out it explodes and kills, they put it to use in their armies right away. Similar to “Greek Fire” both of these use Gunpowder as a base, though Greek fire itself is unknown how it is made. The secret died with the last Byzantine Scientists. The article then goes on to talk about how the first use of Gunpowder was in Spain, when the Moors were fighting the Christians for control of the area. The Christians learned of Gunpowder through this, and within the centuries end they had created Gunpowder weapons of their own. The Spanish and Austrians were the first Europeans to mix Gunpowder and Pike, creating a term that was Pike and Shot, forming a basis for their armies. The Muskets were used on Flanks, or while advancing to shake the enemies morale, while the Pikes did most of the work. To counter this, the Carbine was invented. A Gunpowder weapon that Calvary could use without knocking them off the horse. This was the extinction of Lances on Calvary, as there was no longer a use to get close, when you could ride around and pick them off. The “Father of Modern War” Gunstavus Aldophus had the Musket lightened, so it could be more handy. He had Cartridges invented instead of Powder Horns, as to save on time reloading. He also had the Matchlock thrown out and in place of it was a Wheel Lock. All of this combined made a way more efficient gun, and killing tool. No one adopted this besides Gustav, who’s superior tatics and guns helped him. Later on the Flintlock was invented, which bettered Gustavs invention. Its because of all these that we now have more trained soldiers. You can’t just give a man a gun and expect him to hit something, but you can give a man a Pike and tell him to get in line and shove it at people. So, training came next. The final person this article talks about, is Frederik William I of Prussia, who became obsessed with drilling the “Perfectly trained Army”, and by the time he died his Kingdom was ranked 12th in the world, but 4th in terms of Military power because of his extensive training of his Gunpowder troops. All in all This article skips the Chinese part of Gunpowder and Jumps into the 13th-17th centuries, explaining how it was used in wars, and drove Leaders to madness trying to make the perfect army. It turned Europe into a more bloody and wrecked battleground for Centuries to come, and impacted the world more than one could ever imagine. "Human Nature, Technology & the Environment." Human Nature, Technology & the Environment. Web. 13 Mar. 2015. Now, besides the fact this article is of an EDU domain, it has the worst backgrounds I’ve ever seen in a website (Which makes me wish this website is a Joke, but tis not. It’s a real website). Moving on though, this website touches on the Cultural side of Gunpowder, how Europeans were mostly credited with the Discovery of Gunpowder, and how the Chinese used it mostly for festive reasons. The interesting part of this comes from the European inventer of European Gunpowder. Roger Bacon (One of the few, not the only one). Bacon was a friend of William of Rubruck, who was an ambassador to the Mongols, who had in turn taken the Gunpowder from China. Bacon had gotten his friend to Steal the Formula of Gunpowder and used that to create his own version. Though the Mongolians had not put Gunpowder to good use, they still did use it regardless. The article then goes on to talk about the discovery of the oldest gun found to date, which used gunpowder as a sort of Thunder, not as deadly as we’d imagine it, but more unsettling than what you would think. Its because of Gunpowder that Europe wanted to trade with India. India and China were the only countries that had access to Saltpeter. Gunpowder drove the Industrial Revolution, it drove the Breakdown of the Feudal System, it changed warfare as we know it, it even gave Peasants the ability to fight back against their overlords. Later on even boat warfare changed. The placement of Cannons on Ships became the norm, and let to Inaccurate but lethal battles. Though Gunpowder weapons had a long reload time up until the 17th century, many nations turned their armies to Only gunpowder, or Mostly Gunpowder, depending on their access to the elements to make Gunpowder. I like this article because of how it skims over history explaining briefly what it changed, broke down, and powered. Its powerful, but short and ugly looking. But it does its job well. “Explosives - History." Science.Jrank. Web. 15 Mar. 2015. This article really seems scatterbrained. Like, something I’d make. It goes from China to Europe to how Gunpowder effected peoples lives. It goes over people who made important advances in gunpowder technology. They mention Dynamite and how it replaced gunpowder. This article, although it is short, its helpful in the ways where it actually goes more indepth to the technology and major advances later on. Something the previous articles actually didn’t mention. Though later Gunpowder history isn’t something I want to touch on, I may do it just because of this article. "Gun and Gunpower." Silk-Road. SilkRoad Foundation, Web. 12 Mar. This article, is from a nonprofit organization. Which tries to bridge the gap between western and Eastern cultures. While that is nice, this article is kind of helpful. It actually gives a date of the earliest discovery of Gunpowder, which no article has done. Like all other articles it says how it was supposed to be for immortality and not Warfare, which I find fascinating learning this. Theres a quote from an early account of it, that explains the basic look of a person who’s been burned by fire, and whos house has been burned down by fire. It then goes on to give an actual date for the first use of Gunpowder in war, once again which was not given in other articles. Acording to this, it was an explosive bomb filled with Gunpowder and thrown from a catapult. “Fire Cannon, Rocket, Missile, and Fireball” were terms used to describe it. The early barrels of cannons were said to be made of bamboo, which wasn’t very efficient at all. The Chinese never developed it past its crude stage, and was abandoned mostly for warfare reasons by china around the collapse of the Song Dynasty. It goes on to mention later on a Year after the Muslims invaded Spain the Italian City-States had began to make cannons of their own. Overall I find this article fascinating, its both incredibly useful and incredibly short at the same time. I wish it was longer, but it tells me everything I need to know from it.
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