Changes in weapons

• Why did weaponry change? What did this lead to?

  Improvements in science and technology, Industrial Revolution

  changed battle tactics and strategy
• When were rifles invented? When were they improved?

  16th century

  1850 - due to technological advancements
• When were minié bullets invented and what were they?

  1847 - explanded in the barrel for easier loading
• What were conical bullets and why were they better?

  More aerodynamic bullets that increased the range of rifles
• What were percussion bullets and why were they better?

  Improved loading - less reliant on powder and flint, making rifles more reliable in all weathers
• what was breech loading and why was it good?

  loaded from the back, made reloading 4 times faster than muskets
• What were magazines and what did they do?

  Allowed several bullets to be loaded at once
• What was the impact of rifles on warfare (defence)

  Longer range and accuracy compared to the musket - trenches used (first in crimea) - protect against enemy fire and not exposed - chose protection over mobility - firepower was greater than an attacking force
• What were gatling guns?

  small cannon like guns with several small revolving barrels (150 bullets per minute)
• smaller more practical Machine guns than the baking gun?

  Maxim (1880s) - moved by one man
• When were machine guns introduced? When did they have the most impact?

  1899 most impact 1900 onward
• Developments in light field artillery (field guns)

  John iron mad Wilkinson - thinner and lighter cannon barrels

  bronze used, making them even lighter - could be easily manoeuvred by horses across the battlefield

  1890 - field guns recoiled, making them faster and easier to fire
• Developments in heavy artillery

  Steel cannons were stronger than bronze ones

  breech loaded - reloaded 5x faster than previous muzzle loaded cannons

  rifled barrels increased the range from hundreds of metres to 5km

  1900 - percussion shells

  1890s smokeless powder - harder to detect and didn't reveal position
• Factors affecting change


  Spiralling change - one country improves, other countries improve more

  social attitudes - cost of development and conservatism

  political attitudes - French Revolution made governments uneasy about change

  industrialisation - improvements in science and technology

  individuals - eg wellington - resisted change as it was viewed as a threat to his social class