The Evolution of the Military

By: Brody Jeanson

The military or armed forces have stretched further back than recorded history.
While they were on a much smaller scale, over time their numbers and technology
have increased going from sticks, to swords to firearms and vehicles. The use of
the military hasnt change much over time and nor has its sole purpose.
Protecting a country and its citizens.

Past
In prehistoric warfare, tribes of people formed and fought against each other. Their
weapons mostly consisted of stone axes, wooden clubs and bows. The first record
of a prehistoric battle was found near the Egypt and Sudan border as arrowheads
were embedded inside of the skeletons found there1.
As time went on and civilizations formed, military technology improved. People
began forming different types of weapons such as swords and maces. Different
civilizations created their own styles of combat, while most used hand to hand
combat, a fairly large amount of them also used ranged weapons like bows and
eventually muskets and other early guns. They used horses as a use of
transportation and mounted combat.

Past Part 2
The past is what shaped modern day combat, and over time it became more
efficient. The medieval era played a large part in armies coming to combat as
people began taking over other countries in order to have more control over the
world. People like Alexander the Great and Genghis Khan were among some of
the greatest warriors and leaders of armies.

Present
The military has changed a large amount in the present, with the development of
tanks, helicopters and planes. Modern weapons have also changed as they have
become much more efficient at their job. With the establishment of NATO (North
Atlantic Treaty Organization) in 1949, a large amount of countries formed an
alliance and the countries involved in the alliance will defend in the event of an
attack by an external group. The military has improved a large amount in a variety
of ways, with their weapons and tactics. With the invention of helicopters and
planes, transportation has become almost trivially different compared to what it
was like in the past.

Present Part 2
Tanks have also become a very important part of warfare, which has had a
presence in the renaissance but in a much less effective and practical way. Guns
have become the worlds weapon of choice as they are much more efficient in this
time compared to swords and spears. While the past has had influences in todays
weapons such as muskets becoming the main prototype for modern day weapons.
Guns are such a broad form of weapon, as there is a huge variety of guns,
including pistols, assault rifles, sniper rifles and machine guns. Naval combat is
also a large part of war, even though it has become slightly obsolete, it is still used
as a traditional combat method and was a primary method in World War 1 and 2.

Future
As time goes on, the future will bring reinventions and upgrades to current
weapons and vehicles. I predict that robots will have a large focus in new military
tactics replacing a large amount of human soldiers. While robots wont become the
permanent replacement for human combatants, they will slowly improve how the
military works. Though incredibly hard and it definitely wont happen anytime soon,
Id like to see hover tanks as unrealistic as they are. In the end, the way wars are
fought will hopefully change in order to lose less soldiers.

Bibliography
https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/e/e9/FELIN-openphotonet_PICT6050.jpg

https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/b/b8/Surrender_of_Lord_Cornwallis.jpg

https://www.geneticliteracyproject.org/wp-content/uploads/2015/06/cyborg.jpg

http://www.nato.int/cps/en/natohq/topics_64610.htm

http://www.theguardian.com/science/2014/jul/14/13000-year-old-skeletons-war-dead-british-museum

The End