Questions tagged [warfare]
For questions related to: acts of organized violence between groups of people where the violence often has a political purpose; the impact of such violence on peoples/nations; and any other related questions.
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Why bother attacking castles at all? Why not go around?
Castles were designed to hold people, weapons, and supplies to survive a siege. They were well-defended. Taking one could easily be a long, bloody struggle.
Why attack at all? Most castles I've seen ...
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Why didn't Germany blockade the Strait of Gibraltar during WW2?
The Strait of Gibraltar, at its narrowest point, is about 14 km wide. Why didn't Germany blockade it during WW2?
It seems to me that only a handful of submarines and destroyers could do the job. Wasn'...
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When were swords last used in European warfare?
Specifically, I'm interested in the last documented occurrence of swords (of any sort) being used as a primary weapon by infantrymen or cavalrymen in Western warfare. That is, when did any European or ...
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What forces/incentives drove the Mongols to conquer a much larger territory than they could comfortably settle or rule?
Internet resources on the Mongol Empire usually dwell on the Mongol conquests of a huge mass of territory. Unfortunately, seldom are the reasons behind the conquests explained. One gets the impression ...
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At what point do armies tend to break?
I remember hearing something about where it was discerned that after a certain percent of losses armies tend to break (ie retreat). Does research on this exist? If so, at what point do armies tend ...
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What was the custom/consensus regarding irregular combatants 19th century?
Immediately prior to the battle of Sedan, the German soldiers who captured the town of Bazeilles executed a number of armed civilians who had been firing on German troops that day. This happened in ...
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Has anyone ever named a war after their own country or faction?
An interesting conversation has come up on the Science Fiction and Fantasy SE site. I will try to summarize it as briefly as possible.
Someone asked a question about the second Star Wars prequel. ...
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How severe were the casualties in ancient/medieval battles?
I've heard that in most battles prior to the introduction of gunpowder weapons, the casualties were usually very low (around 5% even in long battles) prior to the moment when someone's formation was ...
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How did Genghis Khan's army feed so many horses?
The average horse eats 10-20 pounds per day, according to this pet website. Considering the fact that the horses may have to eat even more because of the hard traveling they had to endure, it's likely ...
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Are there any records that indicate a submarine vs submarine battle?
I am aware of only one which is the U-864 was sunk by the HMS Venturer but that was when both were being submerged -- according to wikipedia. Is that accurate? Which battles did happen between two (...
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What really happened to the Maya civilization?
Are there any reliable sources that explain the "disappearance" of the Maya? I am highly skeptical about the following account as it states that the cities were destroyed by the war when in ...
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How Did the Mongol Empire Get So Big?
Undoubtedly, the largest empire in the existence of human history was the Mongol Empire, once a hodgepodge of warring nomadic tribes from Central Asia before banding together under the banner of ...
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Has there ever been a mass migration of factories comparable to the USSR's in WW2?
When the Soviet Union was invaded in 1941, the authorities quickly decided to move their factories east across the Urals in anticipation of the Blitzkrieg. This saved a lot of production capacity and ...
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Were the atomic bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki necessary? [closed]
The United States bombed Hiroshima on August 6, 1945. Before the Japanese could surrender, they bombed Nagasaki on August 9, 1945. The two bombs killed over 200,000 people, most of them civilians.
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What equipment and formations did the Muslim armies employ against the Crusades?
One can easily find articles on Wikipedia about typical tactical formations of Romans, but I haven't found such information on the Muslim world, specifically during the crusades. Did the Muslim armies ...
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Has the American Civil War led to any significant innovations in 19th-century warfare?
The American Civil War (1861–1865) was a major conflict with a long string of battles. Has it led to any innovations in 19th-century warfare? It has been pointed out that it may have been the first ...
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Were there any specific laws/treaties enshrining the Principle of Distinction in the 18th century?
Hathaway and Shapiro (2017):
By the middle of the eighteenth century, European armies had come to recognize a “Principle of Distinction,” the doctrine central to modern humanitarian law, which ...
user38009
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Did World War II-era bombs actually whistle?
In WWII-era films and newsreels, aerial bombs are often shown making a whistling sound as they fall; starting high pitched, then decreasing as the bomb approaches the Earth (example here, starting at ...
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How did the Nazis plan to defeat America during World War II?
Yamamoto famously advised against a war with the United States, because he could tell how powerful they would be once they got going. The Nazis, however, declared war on the United States of their ...
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Did archers synchronize fire? Why?
I noticed that in medieval movies and TV shows, when there is a big battle happening, groups of archers always synchronize their firing. I was wondering whether this is something that writers made up ...
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How did Europeans first acquire gunpowder?
I know that gunpowder was first invented in China around the 10th century, and it seems that gunpowder likely made its way to Europe via the "Silk Road." However, there doesn't seem to be a ton of ...
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Classical battle sizes vs medieval battle sizes
Why did classical battles did tend to be larger than in the medieval period? One particular example I am thinking of was the Battle of Stamford Bridge, which had around 30,000 participants, compared ...
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How far could an English war bow shoot?
The range of the medieval weapon is not accurately known, with estimates from 165 to 228 m (180 to 249 yds)
So says Wikipedia. I did read, however, in a semi-fictional, semi-historical work of ...
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How did a besieged city/castle defend itself vs. catapulting diseased dead bodies into it?
I was a bit shocked to read that diseased dead bodies/animals where catapulted into besieged castles/towns. Biological warfare in the middle ages. But this "method" of warfare had probably a lot of ...
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How did Aztec armor and weaponry match up to the Spaniards?
If you discount the germs and the gunpowder, how did the average Aztec warrior match up against the average Spaniard facing him? As I understand it European metallurgy was considerably more advanced, ...
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How did ancient armies keep the route of supplies to their battlefield?
How did ancient armies like the Romans, Greeks, Persians, Chinese, or even in later times, the Arabs and Mongols keep the route of supplies going to support their armies marching through the vast ...
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What is the longest retreat?
What is the longest sustained retreat by a military force in history, by total length? Not counting naval examples, as they can be much longer.
When I search for it I get a lot of results to the ...
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What is the longest effective range artillery weapon ever built?
What is the longest effective range artillery weapon ever built, regardless of wether it was actually used in combat?
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What were Britain's defensive plans for a Nazi invasion?
Despite the fact that it never ended up happening, a Nazi invasion of England was kind of a common sense inevitability for a while during the beginning of World War 2. Had the Battle of Britain gone ...
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What Are the Dynamics of A "Forced March?"
In the "Art of War," Sun Tzu opined that if you put your army on a forced march of a certain speed, you will lose one-third of your troops along the way. A rough rule of thumb was that an army would ...
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What exactly were currours, and what were they used for?
In researching this question on Medieval light cavalry, I came across this reference to "currours" in Wikipedia, with no link:
Many countries developed their own styles of light cavalry, such as
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What is the price of modern warfare compared to medieval in terms of GDP?
I recently read that the Russians launched 35 missiles each costing around 1 million USD on Jarov, which made me realize that modern warfare is, to put it mildly, very expensive. But I would probably ...
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Why did Coloman of Slavonia leave Sajó bridge weakly defended against the Mongols?
During the beginning hours of the Battle of Mohi, Coloman of Slavonia was able to repulse the Mongol attempt to secure the bridge for their safe crossing over the river.
But within two hours after ...
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How do war elephants fight?
Do they just run into a phalanx, breaking it up? Do they lift their front foot and then crush enemies below?
What do elephants do?
Or do the fighters on top of it just shoot arrows?
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What Were the Types of Sieges?
As I understand it, there were two types of sieges. One was where the attacking army would "camp," surrounding the city, and let the defenders run out of food. An example was Ulysses S. Grant's siege ...
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Why did the line infantry not use shields in the 18th century?
Why did soldiers in the line infantry in the 18th century not used shield as protection against the fire from the other line infantry ?
I have seen that line infantry was used this way where the one ...
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When did cavalry soldiers unsheathe swords?
Most movies depict cavalry's unsheathing of swords before a cavalry charge, far before their swords can ever be used. Is this authentic?
The Young Winston (1972) exemplifies the above, but bizarrely....
user8309
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Where is the bloodiest area with most deaths within a single day?
Caused by war or other violent encounters, where have the most people died throughout history within a single day?
These should include deaths at the hands of others, or themselves, using any ...
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Why were rockets not popular as part of artillery until 20th century?
Why were rockets not extensively used throughout the world like cannon until the 20th century? Maybe one may ask the reason for pointing out 20th century. I guess it's fair enough after thinking about ...
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How thick was Late Medieval horse armor?
Is it known how thick Late Medieval horse plate armor (for field of battle) was? Was it as thick as its rider's armor?
Good horses were expensive and valuable, especially during a battle, so it ...
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How common was it for Red Cross personnel to fight (in both World Wars)?
How common was it for Red Cross medical personnel to take part in military action on the battlefields (in both World Wars)?
How was this received by the combatants (friendly and enemy)?
The question ...
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Did the Nazis regard chemical warfare as inhumane and "Jewish"?
I sometimes encounter accounts that the main reason why chemical weapons were not used in WWII was because initially they were invented by a Jew Fritz Haber, and as such Hitler expressed opinion that ...
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What caused the shift from annexation of territory, to colonization of territory?
What caused the shift from annexation of territory, to colonization of territory?
I've been thinking about this for some time, but can't come to any definite conclusions as my knowledge in history ...
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What were the expectations of a medieval castle or fortress hoping to break or outlast a siege?
In Medieval Europe (ie before gunpowder), medieval siege tactics are well known. I am curious if there is any conventional wisdom in western Europe of how sieges were broken. If you were in a castle ...
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Why did the musket become the standard infantry combat weapon in European armies around 1700?
Could it have been because of the introduction of the bayonet, particularly in "socket" form?
This question goes (well) beyond a related question. Until the introduction of a bayonet, musketeers (...
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Did French troops use chemical weapons during the Siege of Laghouat in 1852?
During the Siege of Laghouat in Algeria, the French army massacred around 3627 civilians.
Many sources suggest that the colonial army also used chemical weapons in that confrontation.
However in these ...
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After World War 2, was there a trend to say "defense" instead of "war"?
In answering a question whether "defense forces" has any legal meaning, I noticed a trend. Before World War 2 military departments and ministries used terms like "war". After World ...
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