History of Warfare Technology

This is a story about killing people faster, cheaper, from farther away, and in greater numbers. In short, it's a huge bummer. But it's one of those huge bummers that's also integral to the study of our past, because like it or not, we can't truly understand history without understanding how technology has affected war. In fact, the histories of war and technology are basically BFFs.

So in this course, we're going to get to know the centuries-long evolution of military technology. We'll start with hunting tools that got oh-so-casually turned into weapons and move on through the major innovations of the ancient world. If there's one thing those Greeks and Romans were awesome at, it was inventing new ways to kill each other. Then we'll skip lightly over the dull swords-and-armor Middle Ages and end up smack-dab in the middle of the Industrial Revolution, which, in terms of weapons, was a real doozy. We'll wind it all up with a conversation about some of the more controversial military technologies today: cyber attacks and drones.

By the end of this course, you'll be able to

• talk all about the most important changes in military technology and explain their significance. 
• describe the importance of gunpowder in global warfare and the technological gap it created.
• explain how the Industrial Revolution affected military technology and how it changed the way nations go to war.
• understand some of the key technologies underlying modern warfare, in both a technical and moral sense.
• use primary sources to build a unique historical argument of your own.

Unit Breakdown