weapons after 1850

• pace of change


  - slow and steady pace of change before 1850- accelerating after 1850(increasing numbers of weapons produced at an increasing rate, with increased range and accuracy)- from 1850, a large amount of change took place in a small amount of time (due to inventions allowing for more inventions following them e.g. brass cartridges allowed for breech loading)
• reason for accelerating pace of change

  developments in science and technology- an increased rate of fire was achieved by the invention of guns that could be loaded at the breech not the muzzle ( reducing reload time significantly)- an increased accuracy and range was achieved by using rifled (grooved) barrels to control the spin of the bullet in large artillery (it was already being used in rifles). The biggest artillery could now achieve ranges of 10km by 1900
• main developments in science and technology and industry

  1) Steel- from the 1860s artillery pieces began to be cast out of solid steel due to new manufacturing methods- the new methods allowed for large pieces of steel to be cast relatively cheaply- cast steel guns were much stronger and able to be rifled in comparison to cast iron pieces- the Bessemer process was where steel was mass produced2) Brass cartridges- Brass cartridges were developed from the 1830s - they contained 1 bullet and gunpowder inside a brass case- Brass cartridges were much faster and less dangerous to reload, and allowed for reloading at the breech which had previously been impossible3) Smokeless powder- became available from the 1880s- massively improved visibility on the battlefield4) mass production- increasing use of factories in production from 1850- more weapons produced mroe quickly- ammunition and weapons became available in larger quantities
• consequences of changes in weapons after 1850

  - there was not an immediate impact(it took a long time and also a lot of money to fund the provision of armies with new weapons on a large scale. Therefore governments were initially reluctant to invest in new technology. This was also partly because they were unsure of the reliability of these new weapons and military spending was not a priority)- increased tensions in european relations from the 1870s escalated military spending as an arms race(in the later 19th century military spending across europe increased because