Ivo
TNPer
As many know already. the endless conflict in Eurasia between the civilized agrarian empires and the nomadic steppe raiders in the Old World created an uneasy military-political balance. The conflict sparked three major landmarks in the development of military technology: chariots, iron metallurgy, and cavalry archers.
In 1700 B.C.E., beginning in the northern lands of Mesopotamia, the chariot revolution spread rapidly across most of Eurasia. Chariots, like tanks in the two world wars, proved dominating by combining mobility and firepower.
After 1200 B.C.E., charioteer elites were overthrown by common foot soldiers equipped with simple iron weapons and armor. This quickly led to the democratization of warfare; however, later empires, such as the Assyrians and Persians, made use of cheap armaments and larger armies, which led once again to bureaucratic consolidation. Iron metallurgy began in Cyprus or eastern Anatolia and diffused farther and faster than chariots had done. Iron ore became so abundant and valuable that blacksmiths began making tools and weapons for rural inhabitants of Eurasia, which helped narrow the gap between remote hinterlands and urban cores.
The third landmark came around 700 B.C.E., when cavalry archers became skilled and numerous enough to alter the balance once again. The speed and endurance of their horses allowed the herdsmen to concentrate superior force wherever need be. Only a small elite of cavalry warriors was mobilized by agrarian empires against the steppe raiders due to grass being scarce in cultivated landscapes.
These three landmarks in the development of military technology managed to alter the uneasy military-political balance between agrarian empires and steppe raiders. Centuries and centuries of this stalemate, which each side gaining better and more advanced technology, allowed the military might of Eurasia go unparalleled elsewhere.
Bibliography:
J.R. and William H. McNeill
In 1700 B.C.E., beginning in the northern lands of Mesopotamia, the chariot revolution spread rapidly across most of Eurasia. Chariots, like tanks in the two world wars, proved dominating by combining mobility and firepower.
After 1200 B.C.E., charioteer elites were overthrown by common foot soldiers equipped with simple iron weapons and armor. This quickly led to the democratization of warfare; however, later empires, such as the Assyrians and Persians, made use of cheap armaments and larger armies, which led once again to bureaucratic consolidation. Iron metallurgy began in Cyprus or eastern Anatolia and diffused farther and faster than chariots had done. Iron ore became so abundant and valuable that blacksmiths began making tools and weapons for rural inhabitants of Eurasia, which helped narrow the gap between remote hinterlands and urban cores.
The third landmark came around 700 B.C.E., when cavalry archers became skilled and numerous enough to alter the balance once again. The speed and endurance of their horses allowed the herdsmen to concentrate superior force wherever need be. Only a small elite of cavalry warriors was mobilized by agrarian empires against the steppe raiders due to grass being scarce in cultivated landscapes.
These three landmarks in the development of military technology managed to alter the uneasy military-political balance between agrarian empires and steppe raiders. Centuries and centuries of this stalemate, which each side gaining better and more advanced technology, allowed the military might of Eurasia go unparalleled elsewhere.
Bibliography:
J.R. and William H. McNeill