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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Is there evidence for the use of the solenarion in late Medieval Ethiopia?
Shihab al-Umari, an Arab historian of the 14th century, wrote much of what's know of Emperor of Ethiopia Amda Seyon I campaigns against the Muslim States, namely Awfat, Dawaru, Arababni, Hadya, ...
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What was the average tooth to tail ratio of medieval armies
The tooth to tail ratio is the ratio between the fighting force (tooth) and the non-fighting force in an army. In other words, how many non-combatants directly supported and supplied an army.
I'm ...
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When Were Morions Last Worn By Spanish Soldiers?
Around when were morions last worn by Spanish soldiers, particularly in the Western Hemisphere?
I can't find much about this online.
I'm also wondering what they were replaced with at the time.
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When was the name of the Mexican war changed to Mexican-American war?
I learned recently (by having an answer marked wrong in Pub Quiz) that the conflict which was called the Mexican War when I was in school is now called the Mexican-American War. My question:
When, ...
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Can the Notitia Dignitatum help identify colors for Late Republic/Early Imperial Roman Shields?
Traditionally Hollywood has showed us red shields for the Legions, but of course Hollywood only pays historical fact-checkers to say they have one, not to do what the fact-checkers say! The actual ...
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Did each clan in Sengoku Japan have a specialty or distinctive way of war?
I know that the regions of Iga and Koga bred soldiers that excelled at guerilla warfare, The Takeda cavalry, The Otomo and Oda for their guns.
Were there other daimyo who were known for the way they ...
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Do we know why the Scythians and Sarmatians were overpowered by the Goths, Huns, and Slavs so quickly?
I'm doing a project on the Scythians and Sarmatians and so I've been reading up on ancient wars involving them and I've noticed the following:
So, from around 500 BCE to 1 CE the Scytho-Sarmatians ...
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What happened to the rowers during boarding actions in ancient Greece?
My research thus far has led me to the following conclusions: The main methods of dispatching enemy ships during naval combat in ancient Greece was by ramming and by boarding, with ramming being the ...
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Was combat beneath the pikes a common type of fight in XVII century?
As far as one can see, warfare is always defined by the leading army that at some point dominated a region. For instance in Europe in the XVII century one of the most famous and effective "army&...
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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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Has a prize ship ever been surrendered to a neutral country?
According to the Hague Peace Convention of 1907, §13 Art. 3, whenever a belligerent power captures a prize ship in the territorial waters of a neutral power, the belligerent power must surrender the ...
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Did Spanish missions block exploration of South America?
According to The river sea : the Amazon in history, myth, and legend, page 112,
In any study of these wild regions [of South America], one is constantly astounded, even moved, regardless of one's ...
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Where from, and in what way, did the first detailed account of the use of self-propelled torpedoes reach the RN and USN?
Three possible candidates seem to exist for the first verified (non-participant) observation of a torpedo boat assault. The options are the Russo-Turkish War, at Caldera Bay, or at Weihaiwei, all of ...
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Which book about risk of war over time draws conclusions contrary to Pinker?
I thought I recently read about a book arguing that trends in warfare, when you use the right statistics on the right timescales, do not show a clear decline over time. The book was characterized as ...
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Medieval infantry deployed in ranks of #(?) men (formation depth)?
We know quite a lot about Greek phalanx, its deployment and depth and, I believe, about Roman legions as well.
But do we know anything about Western European infantry formations of high/late middle ...
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How far were early grenades thrown in the 17th century?
Early grenades weighed about three pounds, apparently, and were generally thrown by tall, strong men. I haven't been able to find a figure on how far they were normally thrown, at what range they were ...
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How would ancient jungle civilizations fight pitched battles?
It's my understanding that battles between civilizations in ancient and medieval times (i.e. the time before gunpowder weaponry became widespread) were often pitched affairs in which soldiers fought ...
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Did the Battle of Red Cliffs take place on the border between Cao Cao and Liu Bei's territories?
In the YouTube video Three Kingdoms - OverSimplified, we have this depiction of the Battle of Red Cliffs:
The video suggests the Battle of Red Cliffs (赤壁之战) takes place on the border between Cao Cao ...
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How large was Henry the Fowler's army?
About how many fighting men was Henry the Fowler, King of East Frankia (919 - 936) and Duke of Saxony (912 - 936) able to field during a given campaign?
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How did the Itelmen conduct war/warfare during the long 19th century?
As per what the question says I'm mostly looking for the sort of weapons and tactics that the Itelmens used and any potential academic and non-fiction material which I can read and look at since ...
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How were warriors wielding axes deployed in combat?
IIRC ancient & medieval soldiers have been wielding axes in battles since Sumerian times.
My question is essentially, how were these warriors deployed in an Army? Most soldiers were in tight ...
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In medieval battles, what would happen with non-noble POWs?
What would typically happen if large masses of non-noble soldiers would surrender in a war like the 100-years war?
Would they be later exchanged for POWs from the other side?
Or would they be slowly ...
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