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Metaphorically, anything used to damage (even psychologically) can be referred to as a weapon. A weapon can be as simple as a club, or as complex as a nuclear warhead.
For a comprehensive list of weapons and doctrines see military technology and equipment and Weapons.
From the earliest traces of mankind through our modern civilization, weapons have been a facet of human development throughout. Weapons development has accelerated along with other areas of technology in more modern times. In ancient times, from the dawn of humanity through the Classical civilizations of Greece and Rome, weapons were primarily extensions of an individual's strength, essentially making up for the human body's lack of natural weapons such as claws. These weapons allowed the bearer to be substantially more lethal than a similar human without such a weapon.
The Medieval period, including the Middle Ages, marked a period of distinct advancement in weaponry. Due to some of the unique influences of the period, weapons revolved around two major areas. First was that of knights. These horsemen required new weapons, as well as promoting development of weapons to defeat them. Second was that of castles. The building of castles on a large scale necessitated new weapons to help defend and attack them.
The Rennaissance marked the beginning of the implementation of technological devices in warfare. The most long-lasting effect of this was the introduction of cannon and firearms to the battlefield, where they are still at the core of modern weaponry. However, many other machines of war were experimented with.
From the American Revolution through the beginning of the 20th Century, human-powered weapons were finally excluded from the battlefield for the most part. Sometimes referred to as the Age of Rifles , this period was characterized by the development of firearms for infantry and cannons for support, as well as the beginnings of mechanized weapons such as the machine gun.
World War IWorld War I (also known as the First World War , the Great War the War of the Nations and the "War to End All Wars") was a world conflict occurring from 1914 to 1918. No previous conflict had mobilized so many soldiers, or involved so many in the field of marked the entry of fully industrialized warfare, and weapons as well were developed quickly to meet wartime needs. Many new tecnologies were developed, particularly in the development of military aircraft and vehicles. World War IIWorld War II was the most extensive and costly armed conflict in the history of the world, involving the great majority of the world's nations, being fought simultaneously in several major theatres, and costing tens of millions of lives. The war was fough however, perhaps marked the most frantic period of weapons development in the history of humanity. Massive numbers of new designs and concepts were fielded, and all existing technologies were improved between 1939 and 1945. Ultimately, the most powerful of all weapons was invented: the nuclear bomb.After World War II, with the onset of the Cold WarThe Cold War (c. 1945- 1991) was the open yet restricted rivalry that developed after World War II between groups of nations practicing different ideologies and political systems. On one side was the Soviet Union and its allies, often referred to as the E, the constant technological development of new weapons was institutionalized, as participants engaged in a constant race to develop weapons and counter-weapons. This constant state of weapons development continues into the modern era, and remains a constant draw on the resources of most nations.
The first weapon was certainly a stick, or stone used to increase the destructive effect of a blow from the wielder. The usefulness of such tools made their development of paramount importance for a humanity consisting of small, thinly spread, hunter-gatherer communities.
The first known traces of weapons are from the stone age with flintchalk cliffs, Cape Arkona, Rugen Flint (or flintstone is a hard, sedimentary cryptocrystalline silica rock with a glassy appearance. Flint is usually dark grey, blue, black, or deep brown in colour. It occurs chiefly as nodules and masses in chalks and li knives, handaxesAn axe is a tool with a metal blade fastened to a handle at 90 degrees, commonly used to split wood. Axe is the name of two rivers in the South of England. See: River Axe, Devon, River Axe, Somerset Colloquially, axe is a general name for an electric guit and heads for lances. There is, however, no evidence for handaxes being thrown but very good evidence for them having been used to butcher animals. If hunted rather than scavenged (which is probably the most likely way hominds obtained meat), then wooden spears were likely used.
The earliest stone weapons were probably 'projectile points' made of flint (chert) and dating to the Middle Palaeolithic (ca. 300,000 to 40,000 BC), found all over Europe and the Middle East. It is often difficult to ascertain whether such a point was an arrowhead or spearhead, as they overlap in size and weight.
Incontrovertable direct evidence of levallois points, a type of tool made by Neandertals, having been used to hunt comes from the recovery of animal bones with impact damage and embedded points in their skeletons. In the Upper Palaeolithic (ca. 40,000 to 10,000 BC) the use of spears and spear throwers were used.
When thrown from a spear-thrower, a lever to extend the arm, the lance bends, storing energy, and then straightens. It then strikes animals at effective ranges of over thirty meters. The range is definitely limited by aim, not power. Anthropologists constructing lances and throwers have thrown lances through several inches of oak. The broad, leaf-shaped heads penetrate deeply, and easily cut arteries.
Some of the earliest evidence for arrows are from ca. 20,000 BC in the Levant (the so-called 'Geometric Kebaran' period), made with several very small sharp pieces of stone embedded in an arrowshaft.
Archery and swords have been crucial for warfare. Archery, because of its firepower, and short swords because of their lethality in close combat. The most effective defense to these was a fortress. The doctrines to support fortresses in the age of edged weapons may have greatly influenced medieval and noble history. Of course, medieval siege weapons were used in countervailing doctrines.| Politics | Business | Finance |
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