Literature Review
Theoretically, it is believed that wars including World War I and World War II have led to the development of technology. Warfare has made it possible for nations to test and implement new technologies. Humans have a history of creating weapon that date back to years before world war. According to Harrington (2009), technological weapons were first noticed in the 14th century. During this Century, most weapons were gunpowder and innovators were thinking of creating better weapons. In World War 1, poison gas was also employed, but the results were shocking leading to its ban. Woods and Woods (2011) suggest that ancient weapons were simple and very easy to use and did not include stealth bombers or spy satellites, which are used by modern armies.
Spears, daggers, bow and arrows were the most common weapons that ancient soldiers used as reported and seen in most painting and writing of ancient and modern scholars (Harrington, 2009). Over the years, archeologists have developed interesting theories and facts relating to early weapons. In France, an archeologist discovered the first spear-throw, which date from 15,000 B.C to 11,000 B.C. that was made from simple stick (Harrington, 2009). This spear-throw was believed to have been used by hunters. Later, hunters developed slings, which assisted them to launch missiles made from stone. In Australia, hunters developed curved boomerangs that were used to frighten and hunt birds. The spear-throw, boomerang, and sling made hunting easier in the 16th and 17th centuries.
Away from sticks, hunters began to develop new hunting techniques creating the emergence of archers in the 18th century. In 1884, Richard Burton who was a British explorer indicated that the history of the swords is comparable to the history of humanity. The inventor or the date when bows and arrows were created is not known, but it was a big breakthrough in the history of hunting (Woods, & Woods, 2011). In this century, the Middle East government needed to protect their territories and this brought the need to have weapons. They began making swords made from metal (copper) and metalsmiths gradually learnt to make it harder. Battle-axes were used in the Middle East to fight and cut opponents helmets and armor made of bronze. New technology later change fighting tactic leading to the use of wheels that were attached to horses (Chariots). Mesopotamia armies adopted Chariots in their fights, but they used better bows that were made of strong and flexible wood. Consequently, armed equestrians came up and they changed the perspective of warfare.
According to Chrissanthos (2008), the bronze aged was fully recognized when metalsmith begun curving body armor that were previously made of thick lather. The body armor was used to protected solders from blows and hits from the enemies. Later, cities began building high wall to protect its people from war. Armies guarded these walls, but the attackers tried to climb and this forced the armies to either shoot or push them. Countries such as China and Egypt also joined building the Great Wall of China to protect themselves from invaders (Chrissanthos, 2008). After realizing that city wall was not working, fighters tried to come up with other ways of protecting themselves. San-Tzu was a Chinese general who wrote the book ‘The art of War’, which describes military strategy (Harrington, 2009). According to this book, technology assisted the military to build crossbows.
Indians who began migrating to North America redefined ancient warfare through the invention poisonous arrows. Evidently, as technology has continued to improve, weapons have also become better in terms of the functionality and invention. China is said to have created gunpowder and this marked the beginning of the early-modern period of weapon development. The Mongols used gunpowder to invade China and they proceeds to attack Japan (Chrissanthos, 2008). Investors improved the make of gunpowder and they came up with matchlock guns, which had to be reloaded each time they were fired. The reloading was time-consuming causing inventors to rethink on ways of making better firearm. Finally, siege gun were created in China where they were used by the army to guard the Great Wall of China from the Mongols. The siege guns were huge and they marked the end of ancient weapons.
Discussions
Over the years, technology has played a central role in development across all aspect of human including warfare. Through technology, weapons developed from the Bronze Age to the use of guns and today other weapons such as bombs (Chrissanthos, 2008). The sizes of weapon are a clear sign how technology has assisted in the transformation of weapons. In the ancient period, siege guns were used and comparing this to gun used by police today there is a notable difference. Missiles in the ancient period were made of stones and today chemical compounds are used to build them. It is evident that technology has assisted in the way nations fight and the weapons they use.
The United States, Russia, and China are among nations who today are known for having the best war weapons (Harrington, 2009). This is because these countries have majored in science and technology and they have aimed at building better machines and weapons. Ancient periods made soldiers use chariots, which seemed to be faster, but this has changed since the development of fighter jets. Soldiers are now able to use technology to trach their target, which is different from colonial period where traps had to be laid to catch the enemy. It had become a culture of some communities to hunt for food and they developed means of getting it. Today, hunting is mostly done for pleasure and as hobbies with weapons that assist hunters in getting their prey so quickly.
The building of walls was seen as good way of protecting nations against intruders, but having soldiers to guard the walls was tasking. Additionally, the height of the walls was a challenge since most intruders were able to cross over them. Such problem in warfare weapons led inventors to come up with new ideas of fighting invaders. If nations did not employ technology, today we would still be using bow and arrows or chariots in fights against Islamic state and other terrorism groups. On another perspective, I think technology can be a misfortune. This is because they believe that better weaponry has increased the rate of violence in the society. The number of suicide bombs attacks and death of individual through gunshots have continued to rise (Woods, & Woods, 2011). May be if we stuck to ancient weaponry then violence rates would not be as high as they are today. However, this thought is not a guarantee and it could mean increase in power of the terrorism groups and lack of government’s ability to fight them.
It is possible to question whether advancement of technology in the creation and invention is good or not, but the answer is debatable. Even so, technology improvement has had a more positive impact than negative as seen in the ability of military to deal with issues of terrorism today. Through technology, military weapons have become better and simple to use making it easier for nations to fight their enemies without incurring casualties. Modern weaponry has made it easier for soldiers to perform their task without encountering challenges that they had before including breakdown in communication.
War does not seem to any time soon and technology will continue to improve. This implies that more advanced weapons will continue to be built and ancient weapons will be remembered. Today, ancient weapons are documented in museum and history book, but an analysis of them does not mention the role that technology has had in their development. War will continue to remain constantly in human life and they would need to come up with ways of coping and survival. As such technology needs to emphasized to ensure that better weapons are identified that could be used in the future when the enemy come up with other techniques. Changes in weapons from ancient to modern clearly explain how important technology is to a nation.
References
Chrissanthos, S. (2008). Warfare in the Ancient World: From the Bronze Age to the Fall of Rome. London: Praeger Publishers.
Harrington, J. (2009). Technology and Society. Sudbury, MA: Jones and Bartlett Publishers.
Woods, M., & Woods, M. (2011). Ancient Warfare Technology: From Javelins to Chariots. Minneapolis: Twenty-First Century Books.
