Overview

War is a characteristic of virtually every human society and civilization in nearly every era of human history for which some sort of records exist. However, until the fifteenth century most military conflicts were fought using largely the same weapons and tactics as those of Alexander the Great (356-323 B.C.). Several inventions between the fifteenth and eighteenth centuries changed this, leading to a revolution in the way wars were fought. This set in motion many trends in warfare that have continued to this day, such as the concept of total war, the almost exclusive use of guns, and tactics better suited for the age of guns.

Heavy artillery at the beginning of the sixteenth century. (Bettmann/Corbis. Reproduced with permission.)

Background

Mankind is almost unique among animals in consciously waging war. Through all of recorded human history, accounts of warfare are common...