Which of these most dramatically affected warfare?

Question

Horse
Internal combustion engine
Penicillin
Gun powder
Iron

And how would you rank the others?

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Answer 1

hmmmm good question i would have to say iron first as swords, arrowheads, axe blades,and spear points were forged from it that kept their edge longer then the softer metal of bronze and copper of the era that were the standard before iron came along and made a better defensive material to craft armor with for protection from edged and ranged weapon strikes from those items made of iron oh and for the folks that are saying gunpowder as the first drastic warfare advance i need to remind them of something..........

without iron the steel used in those guns that fired the bullets with gunpowder as the propellant would not be possible (steel is basicly red hot superheated iron and charcoal dust pounded in with a hammer or a pneumatic press then cooled in water and reheated as the process is repeated a few thousand times to change it into a completely different metal altogether i worked in an ironworks factory here in ohio that did some steel refining so i know this all too well by doing it as my job for about 3 years)

after that i would say gunpowder as it made the foot soldier and cavalry soldier's range to attack with their weaponry at greater distances possible through weapons like single shot muskets, pistols, cannons, and other field artillery pieces that could be used on the battlefield to get maximum dammage from longer distances then edged weapons like swords and such and ranged weapons like arrows and spears

as far as transportation goes i would have to say:

internal combustion engine because it allowed soldiers to get to battlefields faster and over a longer distance

then there is the horse which was better then getting there on foot durring a march to the battlefield without wearing the soldier or officer out with exhaustion and giving the soldier the ability to concentrate more on the task at hand which was the battle/war of the time

finally i would have to look at the support staff behind the battlefield last and put penicillin in this catagory

before it's addition to warfare infection due to battlefield wounds were commonly treated with amputation due to gangrene and infection setting in which would have eventually taken the soldier/commander's life in the process before it was added to the medic/doctor's treatment options to use instead of amputation

so that is how i would rank all your choices as to how they dramatically affected warfare hope you like what i have to say on this topic

Answer 2

1 Horse..The Cavalry was an absolute staple of Warfare for centuries.It took the Industrial Revolution to do away with the need for Pack Animals in Warfare.
2 Gunpowder...Nothing quite revoultionized Warfare like guns
made War from the Personal into the Impersonal.
3 The Internal Combustion Engine...Added the first new branch to Warfare since it's invention Armored Warfare.
4 Iron...Made edged weapons,shields,and armor much more effective.
5 Penicillin..Reduced battlefield casualties by the droves.

Answer 3

Gunpowder ranks with the Gutenberg printing press for impact on the world! Easy #1

Internal combustion is the basis of modern warfare which puts it #2.

Iron is just past the bronze age and does not encompass laminated armor so fights with Horses for last.

Penicillin, cures VD so it is very important. Ok it cuts down battlefield death and death from disease too, which were the scourge of all armies- #3

Ret. USAF SNCO

Answer 4

Well, it took a couple of hundred years for gunpowder to catch on. The horse changed little as did iron. Warfare change little until the 1700's then stalemated until WWI.

The biggest force of change in my opinion, the machine gun.
Until then armies met on the field, exchanged a few shots (arrows, then bullets) then ran at each other and hacked away with swords and spears (or bayonets).

It believe that the automatic weapon did more to change the basic tactics of warfare than anything else.

My opinion for what its worth.

Answer 5

internal combustion engine
gun powder
iron
horse
penicillin

I think you have to judge based on how long it took each advance to replace the previous style of warfare.

The internal combustion engine essentially changed how wars were fought in a matter of a few years during WW 1, or a few weeks during WW2 depending on how you want to look at it. Wars moved from infantry based conflicts to mechanized/air based.

Gunpowder took hundreds of years to effect a massive change.

Iron never made a style of warfare obsolete, but it did give a large advantage to those using it.

The horse really only came into it's own with the invention of stirrups, which took a thousand years or something. Further, it didn't drastically change the style of warfare for most countries.

I don't think penicillin has had any impact on how wars were fought, only in the survival of troops in them.

Answer 6

Penicillin.

Answer 7

Iron -Made swords, armor and guns possable
Gun Powder
Internal combustion engine
Penicillin
Horse- has always been around

Answer 8

I'd say gun powder affected warfare the most. Without gun powder we would be stuck in the days where we fought with swords and bows. The invention of gun powder led to more developments in warfare than perhaps anything in history. It led to firearms, artillery, bombs, rockets, and really explosives of any type. Every weapon that any military of today uses wouldn't be here without gun powder.

The list of importance in my opinion would be as follows:
1. gun powder
2. Iron
3. horses
4. internal combustion engine
5. penicillin

Answer 9

Ohhhh fun!

I'm gonna go with the domesticated horse. It made transporation over large tracts possible & hit & run raids a lifestyle entire peoples on the Asian steppes lived.
then gun powder. Casualties +++++
then Iron.
then the ICE.
then Penicillin.

Answer 10

Gun Powder
yours truly
007