Industrial warfare is a period in the history of warfare ranging roughly from the start of the Industrial Revolution to the beginning of the Information Age, which saw the rise of nation-states, capable of creating and equipping large armies and navies through the process of industrialization. It featured mass-conscripted armies, rapid transportation (first on railroads, then by sea and air), telegraph and wireless communications, and the concept of total war. In terms of technology, this era saw the rise of rifled breech-loading infantry weapons capable of massive amounts of fire, high-velocity breech-loading artillery, metal warships, submarines, aircraft, rockets and missiles, armoured warfare, and nuclear weapons. This is a partial list of battles that have entries in Wikipedia. ... . ... This is a list of missions, operations, and projects. ... The 1453 Siege of Constantinople (painted 1499) A siege is a prolonged military assault and blockade on a city or fortress with the intent of conquering by force or attrition. ... See also list of military writers. ... This is a list of lists of wars, sorted by country, date, region, and type of conflict. ... This article lists and summarizes War Crimes committed since the Hague Conventions of 1907. ... There are a bewildering array of weapons, far more than would be useful in list form. ... This is a list of military writers, alphabetical by last name. ... The history of warfare is the history of war and its evolution and development over time. ... A Watt steam engine, the steam engine that propelled the Industrial Revolution in Britain and the world. ... A university computer lab containing many desktop PCs The transition of communication technology: Oral Culture, Manuscript Culture, Print Culture, and Information Age Information Age is a name given to a period after the industrial age and before the Knowledge Economy. ... The term nation-state, while often used interchangeably with the terms unitary state and independent state, refers properly to the parallel occurence of a state and a nation. ... Levée en masse (literally Mass uprising) is a French term for mass conscription. ... This is the top-level page of WikiProject trains Rail tracks Rail transport refers to the land transport of passengers and goods along railways or railroads. ... The USNS Bob Hope, a non-combatant vessel crewed by civilian mariners under the United States Navys Military Sealift Command, is used to preposition tanks, trucks and other wheeled vehicles and supplies needed to support an Army heavy brigade. ... Antonov An-124 loading a container for the Dutch military A large military cargo aircraft: the Boeing C-17A Globemaster III An airlift is the organized delivery of supplies primarily via aircraft. ... Telegraphy (from the Greek words tele = far away and grapho = write) is the long distance transmission of written messages without physical transport of letters, originally over wire. ... For the use of the term in networking, see Wireless networking. ... Total war is a military conflict in which nations mobilize all available resources in order to destroy another nations ability to engage in war. ... Rifling is the means by which a firearm gyroscopically stabilizes a projectile. ... Breech from Russian 122 mm M1910 howitzer, modified and combined with 105mm H37 howitzer barrel An interrupted screw style breech plug in the M109 howitzer An animation showing the loading cycle for a large naval breech-loader. ... A repeating rifle is a single barreled rifle containing multiple rounds of ammunition. ... A breech-loading weapon, usually a gun or cannon, is one where the bullet or shell is inserted, loaded, into the gun at the rear of the barrel, the breech; the opposite of muzzle-loading. ... Ironclad (and broadside ironclad) redirects here. ... For other uses, see Submarine (disambiguation). ... Flying machine redirects here. ... This article is about vehicles powered by rocket engines. ... For other uses, see Missile (disambiguation). ... It has been suggested that Mechanized warfare be merged into this article or section. ... The mushroom cloud of the atomic bombing of Nagasaki, Japan, 1945, rose some 18 km (11 mi) above the epicenter. ...

Total War

American B-24 bombers under construction during World War II.

Main article: Total War

One of the main features of Industrial warfare is the concept of "total war." The term was coined during World War I by Erich Ludendorff (and again in his 1935 book "Total War"), which called for the complete mobilization and subordination of all resources, including policy and social systems, to the German war effort. It has also come to mean waging warfare with absolute ruthlessness, and its most identifiable legacy today has been the reintroduction of civilians and civilian infrastructure as targets in destroying a country's ability to engage in war. Image File history File links B-24_bomber_at_Willow_Run. ... Image File history File links B-24_bomber_at_Willow_Run. ... Royal Canadian Air Force B-24 Liberator The Consolidated B-24 Liberator was produced in greater numbers than any other American combat aircraft, and was used by most of the Allied air forces in World War II. Designed as a heavy bomber, it served with distinction not only in that... Total war is a military conflict in which nations mobilize all available resources in order to destroy another nations ability to engage in war. ... “The Great War ” redirects here. ... Ludendorff in 1918 Erich Friedrich Wilhelm Ludendorff (sometimes given incorrectly as von Ludendorff) (April 9, 1865–December 20, 1937, Tutzing, Bavaria, Germany) was a German Army officer, Generalquartiermeister during World War I, victor of Liege, and, with Paul von Hindenburg, one of the victors of the battle of Tannenberg. ... In times of armed conflict a civilian is any person who is not a combatant. ...

There are several reasons for the rise of total warfare in the nineteenth century. The main one is industrialization. As countries' capital and natural resources grew, it became clear that some forms of warfare demanded more resources than others. Consequently, the greater cost of warfare became evident. An industrialized nation could distinguish and then choose the intensity of warfare that it wished to engage in. Additionally, warfare was becoming more mechanized and required greater infrastructure. Soldiers could no longer live off the land, but required an extensive support network of people behind the lines to keep them fed and armed. This required the mobilization of the home front. Modern concepts like Propaganda were first used in order to boost production and maintain morale, while rationing took place to provide more war material. Mechanization is the use of machines to replace manual labour or animals and can also refer to the use of powered machinery to help a human operator in some task. ... Rosie the Riveter represented civilian wartime mobilization in the United States during World War II. Home front is the informal term commonly used to describe the civilian populace of the nation at war as an active support system of its military. ... Soviet Propaganda Poster during World War II. The text reads Red Army Fighter, SAVE US! Chinese propaganda poster from the time of the Cultural Revolution. ... This article or section does not cite any references or sources. ... Gas ration stamps being printed as a result of the 1973 oil crisis Rationing is the controlled distribution of resources and scarce goods or services: it restricts how much people are allowed to buy or consume. ...

The earliest modern example of total war was the American Civil War. Union generals Ulysses S. Grant and William Tecumseh Sherman were convinced that, if the North was to be victorious, the Confederacy's strategic, economic, and psychological ability to wage war had to be definitively crushed. They therefore believed that to break the backbone of the rebellion, the North had to employ scorched earth tactics. Sherman's advance through Georgia and the Carolinas was characterized by widespread destruction of civilian supplies and infrastructure. However, in contrast to later conflicts, the damage done by Sherman was almost entirely limited to property destruction. In Georgia alone, Sherman claimed he and his men had caused $100,000,000 in damages. Combatants United States of America (Union) Confederate States of America (Confederacy) Commanders Abraham Lincoln, Ulysses S. Grant Jefferson Davis, Robert E. Lee Strength 2,200,000 1,064,000 Casualties 110,000 killed in action, 360,000 total dead, 275,200 wounded 93,000 killed in action, 258,000 total... In this map:  Union states prohibiting slavery  Union territories  Border states on the Union side which allowed slavery  Kansas, which entered and fought with the Union as a free state after the Bleeding Kansas crisis  The Confederacy  Confederate claimed and sometimes held territories During the American Civil War, the Union... Ulysses S. Grant,[2] born Hiram Ulysses Grant (April 27, 1822 – July 23, 1885), was an American general and the eighteenth President of the United States (1869–1877). ... “General Sherman” redirects here. ... For the computer game, see Scorched Earth (computer game). ...

Conscription

Soldiers engaged in trench warfare during the American Civil War.

Main article: Conscription

Conscription allowed the French Republic to form the La Grande Armée, what Napoleon Bonaparte called "the nation in arms", which successfully battled European professional armies. Download high resolution version (1404x1095, 259 KB)115. ... Download high resolution version (1404x1095, 259 KB)115. ... La Grande Armée (French for the Great Army or the Grand Army) first entered the annals of history when, in 1805, Napoleon I renamed the army that he had assembled on the French coast of the English Channel for the proposed invasion of Britain and re-deployed it East... Napoléon I, Emperor of the French (born Napoleone di Buonaparte, changed his name to Napoléon Bonaparte)[1] (15 August 1769; Ajaccio, Corsica – 5 May 1821; Saint Helena) was a general during the French Revolution, the ruler of France as First Consul (Premier Consul) of the French Republic from...

Conscription, particularly when the conscripts are being sent to foreign wars that do not directly affect the security of the nation, has historically been highly politically contentious in democracies. For instance, during World War I, bitter political disputes broke out in Canada (see Conscription Crisis of 1917), Newfoundland, Australia and New Zealand (See Compulsory Military Training) over conscription. Canada also had a political dispute over conscription during World War II (see Conscription Crisis of 1944). Similarly, mass protests against conscription to fight the Vietnam War occurred in several countries in the late 1960s. (See also: Conscription Crisis) “The Great War ” redirects here. ... The Conscription Crisis of 1917 was a political and military crisis in Canada during World War I. // At the outbreak of war in 1914, over 30,000 volunteers joined the army, far more than expected. ... This article is about the Canadian province of Newfoundland and Labrador. ... Compulsory Military Training, (CMT) has been adopted in New Zealand on a number of occasions. ... Combatants Allied powers: China France Great Britain Soviet Union United States and others Axis powers: Germany Italy Japan and others Commanders Chiang Kai-shek Charles de Gaulle Winston Churchill Joseph Stalin Franklin Roosevelt Adolf Hitler Benito Mussolini Hideki Tōjō Casualties Military dead: 17,000,000 Civilian dead: 33,000... The Conscription Crisis of 1944 was a political and military crisis in Canada during World War II. It was similar to the Conscription Crisis of 1917, but was not as politically damaging. ... Combatants Republic of Vietnam United States Republic of Korea Thailand Australia New Zealand The Philippines National Front for the Liberation of South Vietnam Democratic Republic of Vietnam People’s Republic of China Democratic Peoples Republic of Korea Strength US 1,000,000 South Korea 300,000 Australia 48,000... The 1960s decade refers to the years from 1960 to 1969, inclusive. ... A conscription crisis is a public dispute about a policy of conscription, or mandatory service in the military. ...

In developed nations, the increasing emphasis on technological firepower and better-trained fighting forces, the sheer unlikelihood of a conventional military assault on most developed nations, as well as memories of the contentiousness of the Vietnam War experience, make mass conscription unlikely in the foreseeable future.

Russia, as well as many smaller nations such as Switzerland, retain mainly conscript armies.

Transportation

The advent of railroads (such as this one during the American Civil War) allowed armies to cover larger distances in shorter times while suffering minimal fatigue.

Image File history File links Download high resolution version (922x625, 171 KB) Summary Soldiers with cannon on small railroad car during the American Civil War Courtesy of the Library of Congress (specifically here) Licensing File history Legend: (cur) = this is the current file, (del) = delete this old version, (rev) = revert... Image File history File links Download high resolution version (922x625, 171 KB) Summary Soldiers with cannon on small railroad car during the American Civil War Courtesy of the Library of Congress (specifically here) Licensing File history Legend: (cur) = this is the current file, (del) = delete this old version, (rev) = revert...

Land

Main article: Motorised infantry

Prior to the invention of the motorised transport, troops were transported from place to place by wagons, horses and their own two feet. With the advent of locomotives, large groups of soldiers, supplies and equipment were able to be transported faster and in numbers far too large for the old methods. To counter this, an opposing army would destroy rail tracks to hinder their enemy's movements. The army of General Sherman during the American Civil War for example, would tear up tracks, heat them up and wrap them around trees. Motorised infantry is infantry which is transported by trucks or other motor vehicles. ... “General Sherman” redirects here. ... Combatants United States of America (Union) Confederate States of America (Confederacy) Commanders Abraham Lincoln, Ulysses S. Grant Jefferson Davis, Robert E. Lee Strength 2,200,000 1,064,000 Casualties 110,000 killed in action, 360,000 total dead, 275,200 wounded 93,000 killed in action, 258,000 total... Creating Shermans neckties Shermans neckties were a phenomenon of the American Civil War. ...

The mass transportation of soldiers was further revolutionized with the advent of the internal combustion engine and the automobile. Combined with the widespread use of the machine gun, the horse, after millennia of use, was finally supplanted in its war time role. During both the first and second world wars, Trucks were used to carry soldiers and materials, while cars and jeeps were used to scout enemy positions. The internal combustion engine is an engine in which the combustion of fuel and an oxidizer (typically air) occurs in a confined space called a combustion chamber. ... “Car” and “Cars” redirect here. ... “The Great War ” redirects here. ... Combatants Allied powers: China France Great Britain Soviet Union United States and others Axis powers: Germany Italy Japan and others Commanders Chiang Kai-shek Charles de Gaulle Winston Churchill Joseph Stalin Franklin Roosevelt Adolf Hitler Benito Mussolini Hideki Tōjō Casualties Military dead: 17,000,000 Civilian dead: 33,000... A world war is a war affecting the majority of the worlds major nations. ...

Main article: Mechanized infantry

The mechanization of infantry occurred during the second world war. The tank, a product of the Great War and discounted as not being an important factor in warfare, came into its own. Evolving from thin skinned, lumbering vehicles into fast, powerful war machines of various types that dominated the battlefield and allowed the Germans to conquer most of Europe. As a result of the tank's evolution, a number of armored transport vehicles appeared, such as armoured personnel carriers, armored cars, armored trains. Mechanized infantry are infantry equipped with armored personnel carriers (APCs), or infantry fighting vehicles (IFVs) for transport and combat (see also mechanized force). ... Ypres, 1917, in the vicinity of the Battle of Passchendaele. ... This article or section does not adequately cite its references or sources. ... Armoured personnel carriers (APCs) are armoured fighting vehicles developed to transport infantry on the battlefield. ... A Rolls Royce armoured car 1920 pattern Railway shop workers built this vehicle for use by the Danish resistance movement near the end of World War II. For tracked, armored military vehicles, see Armored fighting vehicle. ... Armoured train is a train protected with armour. ...

After the war ended, armored transports continued to evolve. The armored car and train largely declined and faded in use, largely becoming regulated to military and civilian use as transportation for VIPs. Infantry fighting vehicles rose to prominence with the creation of the Soviet BMP-1. IFVs are a more combat capable version of the APC, with heavier armaments (such as autocannons), while still retaining the ability to transport soldiers into and out of battles. A Very Important Person, or VIP (pronouced vee-eye-pee) is a person who is accorded special privileges due to his or her status or importance. ... An M2 Bradley Infantry fighting vehicle. ... For other organizations known as the Red Army, see Red Army (disambiguation). ... The BMP-1 is a Soviet infantry fighting vehicle which was first introduced in the early 1960s. ... M242 Bushmaster autocannon on an M2 Bradley. ...

Sea

Main article: Sealift

Sealift is a military logistics term referring to the use of cargo ships for the deployment of military assets, such as weaponry, military personnel, and materiel supplies. It complements other means of transport, such as strategic airlifters, in order to enhance a state's ability to project power. A state's sealift capabilities may include civilian-operated ships that normally operate by contract, but which can be chartered or commandeered during times of military necessity to supplement government-owned naval fleets. During World War I, the United States bought, borrowed or commandeered vessels of various types, ranging from pleasure craft to ocean liners to transport the American Expeditionary Force to Europe. Many of these ships were scrapped, sold or returned to their owners after the war ended. The USNS Bob Hope, a non-combatant vessel crewed by civilian mariners under the United States Navys Military Sealift Command, is used to preposition tanks, trucks and other wheeled vehicles and supplies needed to support an Army heavy brigade. ... Military logistics is the art and science of planning and carrying out the movement and maintenance of military forces. ... Hapag-Lloyd Container ship Container ship A cargo ship or freighter is any sort of ship or vessel that carries cargo, goods, and materials from one port to another. ... The examples and perspective in this article or section may not represent a worldwide view. ... For other uses, see Weapon (disambiguation). ... Materiel (from the French for material) is the equipment and supplies in Military and commercial supply chain management. ... Strategic airlift is a military term for using cargo aircraft to transport matériel, weaponry, or personnel over long distances. ... For other uses, see State (disambiguation). ... USS , and HMS Illustrious, two aircraft carriers on a joint patrol. ... In times of armed conflict a civilian is any person who is not a combatant. ... A contract is a legally binding exchange of promises or agreement between parties that the law will enforce. ... A rare occurance of a 5-country multinational fleet, during Operation Enduring Freedom in the Oman Sea. ... “The Great War ” redirects here. ... Officers of the American Expeditionary Forces and the Baker mission The American Expeditionary Forces or AEF was the United States military force sent to Europe in World War I.(In France, AEF is a news agency specialised in Education and Formation) The AEF fought alongside allied forces against imperial German... For other uses, see Europe (disambiguation). ...

Air

Main article: Airlift (military)

There are two different kinds of airlifts in warfare, a strategic airlift and a tactical airlift. A strategic airlift is the use transporting of weapons, supplies and personnel over long distances (from a base in one country to another base in another country for example) using large cargo aircraft. This contrasts with tactical airlifts, which involves transporting the same above items within a theater of operations. This usually involves cargo planes with shorter ranges and slower speeds, but higher maneuverability. There are two types of airlifts in the military, strategic and tactical. ... Strategic airlift is a military term for using cargo aircraft to transport matériel, weaponry, or personnel over long distances. ... Tactical airlift is a military term for the airborne transportation of supplies and equipment within a theatre of operations (in contrast to strategic airlift). ... For other uses, see Weapon (disambiguation). ... This article does not cite any references or sources. ... In warfare, a theater or theatre is normally used to define a specific geographic area within which armed conflict occurs. ...

Communications

Main article: Military communications

• Cryptography
• Homing pigeon/War pigeon
• Joint Army/Navy Phonetic Alphabet
• Message precedence
• Semaphore (communication)
• Signal Corps
• Smoke signal
• Telegraphy

Military communications are links between battlefield units, including connections to a higher command or home country. ... The German Lorenz cipher machine, used in World War II for encryption of very high-level general staff messages Cryptography (or cryptology; derived from Greek κρυπτός kryptós hidden, and the verb γράφω gráfo write or λεγειν legein to speak) is the study of message secrecy. ... Homing pigeon The homing pigeon is a variety of domesticated Rock Pigeon (Columba livia) that has been selectively bred to be able to find its way home over extremely long distances. ... Pigeons have played an important role in wars for a long time. ... The Joint Army/Navy Phonetic Alphabet was developed in 1941 and was used by all branches of the United States military until the promulgation of the NATO phonetic alphabet in 1956, which replaced it. ... Message precedence is an indicator attached to an message indicating its level of urgency. ... A Chappe semaphore tower near Saverne, France // The semaphore or optical telegraph is an apparatus for conveying information by means of visual signals, with towers with pivoting blades or paddles, shutters, in a matrix, or hand-held flags etc. ... The Signal Corps is a military branch, usually subordinate to a countrys army. ... A smoke signal is a form of visual communication used over a long distance, developed both in the Americas and in China. ... Telegraph and Telegram redirect here. ...

Equipment

• Aldis lamp
• International maritime signal flags

An Aldis lamp is a visual signalling device, essentially a focussed lamp which can produce a pulse of light. ... The system of international maritime signal flags is a way of representing individual letters of the alphabet in signals to or from ships. ...

Land warfare

Main article: Land warfare

An American M4 Sherman in action during the Korean War.

Land warfare, as the name implies, is warfare conducted on land and is the most common type of warfare, as it encompasses several types of warfare. These include urban, arctic and mountain. War is a state of widespread conflict between states, organisations, or relatively large groups of people, which is characterised by the use of lethal violence between combatants or upon civilians. ... Download high resolution version (740x601, 79 KB) Photo #: SC 398704 M4A3E8 Sherman Tank Of Company B, 72nd Tank Battalion, 2nd Infantry Division, fires its 76mm gun at enemy bunkers on Napalm Ridge, in support of the 8th ROK Division. ... Download high resolution version (740x601, 79 KB) Photo #: SC 398704 M4A3E8 Sherman Tank Of Company B, 72nd Tank Battalion, 2nd Infantry Division, fires its 76mm gun at enemy bunkers on Napalm Ridge, in support of the 8th ROK Division. ... The M4 Sherman was the primary tank produced by the United States for its own use and the use of its Allies during World War II. Production of the M4 Medium tank exceeded 50,000 units, and its chassis served as the basis for thousands of other armored vehicles such... Combatants United Nations:  Republic of Korea,  Australia,  Belgium,  Luxembourg,  Canada,  Colombia,  Ethiopia,  France,  Greece,  Luxembourg,  Netherlands,  New Zealand,  Philippines,  South Africa,  Thailand,  Turkey,  United Kingdom,  United States Medical staff:  Denmark,  Australia,  Italy,  Norway,  Sweden Communist states:  Democratic People’s Republic of Korea,  Peoples Republic of China,  Soviet Union Commanders... Urban warfare is a modern warfare conducted in urban areas such as towns and cities. ... Arctic warfare is a term used to describe conflict that takes place in an exceptionally cold climate. ... Mountain warfare refers to warfare in the mountains. ...

Rifles and Artillery

Main articles: Rifling and Artillery

A British artillery piece in action during the Battle of Gallipoli, 1915.

Rifling referred to the act of adding spiral grooves to the inside the barrel of a firearm. The grooves would cause a projectile to spin as it traveled down the barrel, giving it added range and accuracy. Once rifling became easier and practical, a new type of firearm was introduced, the rifle. Rifling of a Canon de 75 modèle 1897 A 35 caliber Remington, with a microgroove rifled barrel with a right hand twist. ... For other uses, see Artillery (disambiguation). ... Download high resolution version (1200x708, 165 KB) Wikipedia does not have an article with this exact name. ... Download high resolution version (1200x708, 165 KB) Wikipedia does not have an article with this exact name. ... For other uses, see Artillery (disambiguation). ... Combatants British Empire Australia British India Newfoundland New Zealand United Kingdom Egyptian labourers[1] France Senegal  Ottoman Empire Commanders Sir Ian Hamilton Lord Kitchener John de Robeck Otto von Sanders Mustafa Kemal Strength 5 divisions (initial) 16 divisions (final) 6 divisions (initial) 15 divisions (final) Casualties 252,000[2] 195... This article does not cite any references or sources. ...

Artillery are large cannons designed to fire projectiles a great distance.

Static Defense

For more details on this topic, see Trench warfare.

Trench warfare is a form of war in which both opposing armies have static lines of defense. ...

Maneuver Warfare

Starting in 1927, commanders could insert large forces behind enemy lines, first by plane and later by helicopter.

Main article: Maneuver warfare

• Armoured warfare
• Blitzkrieg
• Deep operations

Image File history File links UH-1D_helicopters_in_Vietnam_1966. ... Image File history File links UH-1D_helicopters_in_Vietnam_1966. ... Maneuver warfare, is the term used by military theorist for a concept of warfare that advocates attempting to defeat an adversary by incapacitating their decision-making through shock and disruption brought about by movement. ... It has been suggested that Mechanized warfare be merged into this article or section. ... The defining characteristic of what is commonly known as Blitzkrieg is that it is a highly mobile form of mechanized warfare. ... During the 1930s, Soviet military theorists introduced the concept of deep battle. ...

Naval warfare

The sinking of the Cumberland by the Confederate ironclad Virginia in 1862 marked the beginning of the end for wooden warships.

Main article: Naval warfare

TITLE: The sinking of the Cumberland by the iron clad Merrimac, off Newport News Va. ... TITLE: The sinking of the Cumberland by the iron clad Merrimac, off Newport News Va. ... The first USS Cumberland was a 50-gun sailing frigate of the United States Navy. ... Ironclad warships, frequently shortened to just ironclads, were ships sheathed with thick iron plates for protection. ... CSS Virginia was an ironclad warship of the Confederate States Navy during the American Civil War (built using the remains of the scuttled USS Merrimack). ... This article does not cite any references or sources. ...

Ironclads and Dreadnoughts

The period after the Napoleonic Wars was one of intensive experimentation with new technology; steam power for ships appeared in the 1810s, improved metallurgy and machining technique produced larger and deadlier guns, and the development of explosive shells, capable of demolishing a wooden ship at a single blow, in turn required the addition of iron armor, which led to ironclads. The famous battle of the CSS Virginia and USS Monitor in the American Civil War was the duel of ironclads that symbolized the changing times. Although the battle was inconclusive, nations around the world subsequently raced to convert their fleets to iron, as ironclads had shown themselves to be clearly superior to wooden ships in their ability to withstand enemy fire. Combatants Austria[1] Portugal Prussia[1] Russia[2] Sicily  Spain[3]  Sweden United Kingdom[4] French Empire Holland Italy Naples [5] Duchy of Warsaw Bavaria[6] Saxony[7] Denmark-Norway [8] Commanders Archduke Charles Prince Schwarzenberg Karl Mack von Leiberich João Francisco de Saldanha Oliveira e Daun Gebhard von... A steam engine is a heat engine that makes use of the potential energy that exists as pressure in steam, converting it to mechanical work. ... Events and Trends End of the Napoleonic Wars in Europe (1803 - 1815). ... Georg Agricola, author of De re metallica, an important early book on metal extraction Metallurgy is a domain of materials science that studies the physical and chemical behavior of metallic elements, their intermetallic compounds, and their mixtures, which are called alloys. ... Ironclad warships, frequently shortened to just ironclads, were ships sheathed with thick iron plates for protection. ... Combatants United States of America Confederate States of America Commanders John L. Worden Franklin Buchanan Catesby R. Jones Strength 1 ironclad, 3 wooden warships 1 ironclad, 2 wooden warships, 1 gunboat, 2 tenders Casualties 2 wooden warships sunk, 1 wooden warship damaged 261 killed 108 wounded 1 ironclad damaged 7... Combatants United States of America (Union) Confederate States of America (Confederacy) Commanders Abraham Lincoln, Ulysses S. Grant Jefferson Davis, Robert E. Lee Strength 2,200,000 1,064,000 Casualties 110,000 killed in action, 360,000 total dead, 275,200 wounded 93,000 killed in action, 258,000 total...

In the late Nineteenth Century, naval warfare was revolutionized by Alfred Thayer Mahan's book The Influence of Sea Power upon History. Mahan argued that in the Anglo-French wars of the 18th century and 19th centuries, domination of the sea was the deciding factor in the outcome, and therefore control of seaborne commerce was critical to military victory. Mahan argued that the best way to achieve naval domination was through large fleets of concentrated capital ships, as opposed to commerce raiders. His books were closely studied in all the Great Powers, influencing their naval arms race in the years prior to World War I. Rear Admiral Alfred Thayer Mahan (September 27, 1840–December 1, 1914) was a United States Navy officer, geostrategist, and educator. ... To meet Wikipedias quality standards, this article or section may require cleanup. ... The capital ships of a navy are its important warships; the ones with the heaviest firepower and armor. ... Commerce raiding or guerre de course is a naval strategy of attacking an opponents commercial shipping rather than contending for control of the seas with its naval forces. ... The term arms race in its original usage describes a competition between two or more parties for military supremacy. ...

In 1906 the British warship HMS Dreadnought became the first warship to have both a uniform main battery and steam turbine engines, creating a standard for warships that lasted until the 1940s.

As the century came to a close, the familiar modern battleship began to emerge; a steel-armored ship, entirely dependent on steam, and sporting a number of large shell guns mounted in turrets arranged along the centerline of the main deck. The ultimate design was reached in 1906 with HMS Dreadnought which entirely dispensed with smaller guns, her main guns being sufficient to sink any existing ship of the time. The Russo-Japanese War and particularly the Battle of Tsushima in 1905 was the first test of the new concepts, resulting a stunning Japanese victory and the destruction of dozens of Russian ships. World War I pitted the old Royal Navy against the new navy of Imperial Germany, culminating in the 1916 Battle of Jutland. Following the war, many nations agreed to limit the size of their fleets in the Washington Naval Treaty and scrapped many of their battleships and cruisers. Growing tensions of the 1930s restarted the building programs, with even larger ships than before: The Japanese battleship Yamato, launched in 1941, displaced 72,000 tons and mounted 46-cm guns. However, this marked the climax of "big gun" warfare, as aircraft would gradually play a larger role in warfare. By the 1960s, battleships had all-but vanished from the fleets of the world. Image File history File links No higher resolution available. ... Image File history File links No higher resolution available. ... The sixth HMS Dreadnought of the Royal Navy was a revolutionary battleship which entered service in 1906. ... For other uses, see Steel (disambiguation). ... 1906 (MCMVI) was a common year starting on Monday (see link for calendar). ... The sixth HMS Dreadnought of the Royal Navy was a revolutionary battleship which entered service in 1906. ... Combatants Russian Empire Montenegro[1] Empire of Japan Commanders Emperor Nicholas II Aleksey Kuropatkin Stepan Makarov â€  Emperor Meiji Oyama Iwao Heihachiro Togo The Russo–Japanese War (Japanese: Nichi-Ro Sensō, Russian: , Chinese: , February 10, 1904 – September 5, 1905) was a conflict that grew out of the rival imperialist ambitions of... Combatants Empire of Japan Russian Empire Commanders Heihachiro Togo Zinovi Rozhdestvenski # Nikolai Nebogatov Strength 4 battleships 27 cruisers destroyers and auxiliary vessels 8 battleships 3 coastal battleships 8 cruisers Casualties 117 dead 583 injured 3 torpedo boats sunk 4,380 dead 5,917 captured 21 ships sunk 7 captured 6... “The Great War ” redirects here. ... This article or section should include material from German Monarchy The term German Empire (the translation from German of Deutsches Reich) commonly refers to Germany, from its consolidation as a unified nation-state on January 18, 1871, until the abdication of Kaiser (Emperor) Wilhelm II on November 9, 1918. ... 1916 (MCMXVI) was a leap year starting on Saturday (link will display the full calendar). ... Combatants Grand Fleet of the Royal Navy High Seas Fleet of the Kaiserliche Marine Commanders Sir John Jellicoe Sir David Beatty Reinhard Scheer Franz von Hipper Strength 28 battleships 9 battlecruisers 8 heavy cruisers 26 light cruisers 78 destroyers 1 minelayer 1 seaplane carrier 16 battleships 5 battlecruisers 6 pre... The Washington Naval Treaty limited the naval armaments of its five signatories: the United States, the British Empire, the Empire of Japan, the French Third Republic, and Italy. ... Yamato (大和), named after the ancient Japanese Yamato Province, was a battleship of the Imperial Japanese Navy. ...

Aircraft Carriers

In the 1940s aircraft carriers supplanted battleships as the centerpiece of the fleet. Here, American torpedo bombers prepare to take off during the Battle of Midway in 1942.

Between the two world wars, the first aircraft carriers appeared, initially as a way to circumvent the tonnage limits of the Washington Naval Treaty (many of the first carriers were converted battlecruisers). Though several ships had previously been designed to launch and in some cases, the first true "flat-top" carrier was HMS Argus, launched in December 1917. By the start of the Second World War, aircraft carriers typically carried three types of aircraft: torpedo bombers, which could also be also used for conventional horizontal bombing and reconnaissance; dive bombers, also used for reconnaissance; and fighters for fleet defence and bomber escort duties. Because of the restricted space on aircraft carriers, these aircraft were almost always small, single-engined warplanes. The first true demonstration of naval air power was the victory of the Royal Navy at the Battle of Taranto in 1940, which set the stage for Japan's much larger and more famous attack on Pearl Harbor the following year. Two days after Pearl Harbor, the sinking of HMS Prince of Wales and HMS Repulse, marked the beginning of the end for the battleship era. Following World War II, aircraft carriers continued to remain key to navies throughout the latter 20th century, moving in the 1950s to jets launched from Supercarriers, behemoths which could displace as much as 100,000 tons. Image File history File links VT-6TBDs. ... Image File history File links VT-6TBDs. ... A torpedo bomber is a bomber aircraft designed primarily to attack ships with torpedoes, but they could also carry out conventional bombings. ... Combatants United States Empire of Japan Commanders Chester W. Nimitz Frank J. Fletcher Raymond A. Spruance Isoroku Yamamoto Chuichi Nagumo Tamon Yamaguchi â€  Strength 3 carriers, ~50 support ships, 233 carrier aircraft, 127 land-based aircraft 4 carriers, 7 battleships, ~150 support ships, 248 carrier aircraft, 16 floatplanes Casualties 1 carrier... Four aircraft carriers, (bottom-to-top) Principe de Asturias, amphibious assault carrier USS Wasp, USS Forrestal and light V/STOL carrier HMS Invincible, showing size differences of late 20th century carriers An aircraft carrier is a warship designed to deploy and in most cases recover aircraft, acting as a sea... Argus in harbour in 1918, painted in dazzle camouflage, with a Renown class battlecruiser. ... A torpedo bomber is a bomber aircraft designed primarily to attack ships with torpedoes, but they could also carry out conventional bombings. ... A dive bomber is a bomber aircraft that dives directly at its targets in order to provide greater accuracy. ... This article is about the navy of the United Kingdom. ... This article is about the 1940 battle. ... Year 1940 (MCMXL) was a leap year starting on Monday (link will display the full 1940 calendar) of the Gregorian calendar. ... This article is about the actual attack. ... Combatants United Kingdom Australia Japan Commanders Sir Tom Phillips † J. C. Leach † W. G. Tennant T. A. Vigors N. Nakanishi Shichizo Miyauchi Strength 1 battleship 1 battlecruiser 4 destroyers 10 aircraft 88 aircraft (34 torpedo aircraft, 51 level bombers, 3 scouting aircraft) Casualties 1 battleship, 1 battlecruiser sunk, 840 killed... USS Enterprise, a supercarrier, and the conventionally-sized aircraft carrier Charles de Gaulle A Supercarrier is a ship belonging to the largest class of aircraft carrier. ...

Submarines

A Japanese submarine in 1945. Starting in World War I, submarines began to play a significant role in naval warfare, first as submersible torpedo boats and later as commerce raiders.

Just as important was the development of submarines to travel underneath the sea, at first for short dives, then later to be able to spend weeks or months underwater powered by a nuclear reactor. The first successful submarine attack in wartime was in 1864 by the Confederate submarine H.L. Hunley which sank the frigate USS Housatonic. In both World Wars, submarines primarily exerted their power by sinking merchant ships using torpedoes, as well as other warships. All nations practiced unrestricted submarine warfare in which submarines sank merchant ships without warning, but the only successful campaign during this period was America's submarine war against Japan during the Pacific War. In the 1950s the Cold War inspired the development of ballistic missile submarines, each one loaded with dozens of nuclear-armed missiles and with orders to launch them from sea should the other nation attack. Download high resolution version (839x451, 78 KB)I-400 in 1945. ... Download high resolution version (839x451, 78 KB)I-400 in 1945. ... For other uses, see Submarine (disambiguation). ... Year 1945 (MCMXLV) was a common year starting on Monday (link will display the full calendar). ... A torpedo boat is a relatively small and fast naval ship designed to launch torpedoes at larger surface ships. ... USS Los Angeles A submarine is a specialized watercraft that can operate underwater. ... Core of a small nuclear reactor used for research. ... 1864 (MDCCCLXIV) was a leap year starting on Friday (see link for calendar) of the Gregorian calendar or a leap year starting on Sunday of the 12-day-slower Julian calendar. ... Motto Deo Vindice (Latin: Under God, Our Vindicator) Anthem (none official) God Save the South (unofficial) The Bonnie Blue Flag (unofficial) Dixie (unofficial) Capital Montgomery, Alabama (until May 29, 1861) Richmond, Virginia (May 29, 1861–April 2, 1865) Danville, Virginia (from April 3, 1865) Language(s) English (de facto) Religion... The CSS Hunley on the pier CSS H.L. Hunley was a submarine of the Confederate States Navy that demonstrated both the advantages and the dangers of undersea warfare. ... For the bird, see Frigatebird. ... USS Housatonic was a screw sloop-of-war of the United States Navy, named for one of the rivers of New England which rises in Berkshire County, Massachusetts, and flows southward into Connecticut before emptying into Long Island Sound a little east of Bridgeport, Connecticut. ... Cargo ship or freighter is any sort of ship that carries goods and materials from one port to another. ... A modern torpedo, historically called a self propelled torpedo, is a self-propelled guided projectile that (after being launched above or below the water surface) operates underwater and is designed to detonate on contact or in proximity to a target. ... Unrestricted submarine warfare is a kind of naval warfare in which submarines sink merchant ships without warning. ... For other uses, see Pacific War (disambiguation). ... For other uses, see Cold War (disambiguation). ...

Aerial warfare

Main article: Aerial warfare

The first use of airplanes in war was the Italo-Turkish War of 1911, when the Italians carried out several reconnaissance and bombing missions. During World War I both sides made use of balloons and airplanes for reconnaissance and directing artillery fire. To prevent enemy reconnaissance, some airplane pilots began attacking other airplanes and balloons, first with small arms carried in the cockpit, and later with machine guns mounted on the aircraft. Both sides also made use of aircraft for bombing, strafing and dropping of propaganda leaflets. The German air force carried out the first terror bombing raids, using Zeppelins to drop bombs on Britain. By the end of the war airplanes had become specialised into bombers, fighters and surveillance aircraft. Most of these airplanes were biplanes with wooden frames, canvas skins, wire rigging and air-cooled engines. Between 1918 and 1939 aircraft technology developed very rapidly. By 1939 military biplanes were in the process of being replaced with metal framed monoplanes, often with stressed skins and liquid cooled engines. Top speeds had tripled; altitudes doubled (and oxygen masks become commonplace); ranges and payloads of bombers increased enormously. Aerial warfare is the use of military aircraft and other flying machines in warfare, including military airlift of cargo to further the national interests as was demonstrated in the Berlin Airlift. ... Combatants Italy Ottoman Empire Commanders Luigi Caneva Ismail Enver Mustafa Kemal Ataturk Strength 100,000 28,000 Casualties 3,380 dead 4,220 wounded 14,000 dead 5,370 wounded The Italo-Turkish or Turco-Italian War (also known in Italy as guerra di Libia, the Libyan war, and in... Year 1911 (MCMXI) was a common year starting on Sunday (link will display the full calendar) of the Gregorian calendar (or a common year starting on Saturday of the 13-day-slower Julian calendar). ... Mixed reconnaissance patrol of the Polish Home Army and the Soviet Red Army during Operation Tempest, 1944 Reconnaissance is the military term for the active gathering of information about an enemy, or other conditions, by physical observation. ... This article is about explosive devices. ... “The Great War ” redirects here. ... Balloons are often used or given on special occasions, like cards or flowers. ... Terror bombing is a strategy of deliberately bombing civilian targets and strafing civilians in order to break the morale of the enemy and make its civilian population panic. ... This is an article about Zeppelin airship class. ... A bomber is a military aircraft designed to attack ground targets, primarily by dropping bombs. ... An A-10 Thunderbolt II, F-86 Sabre, P-38 Lightning and P-51 Mustang fly in formation during an air show at Langley Air Force Base, Virginia. ... English Electric Canberra PR.9 photo reconnaissance aircraft CP-140 Aurora long-range patrol aircraft of the Canadian Air Force. ... A biplane is a fixed-wing aircraft with two main wings of similar spans, normally one mounted above, and the other level with, the underside of the fuselage. ... Engine cooling is the process of cooling an engine by using either air or liquid. ... A monoplane is an aircraft with one main set of wing surfaces, in contrast to a biplane or triplane. ... A plastic oxygen mask on an ER patient. ...

Some theorists, most famously Hugh Trenchard and Giulio Douhet, believed that aircraft would become the dominant military arm in the future, and argued that future wars would be won entirely by the destruction of the enemy's military and industrial capability from the air. This concept was called strategic bombing. Douhet also argued in The Command of the Air (1921) that future military leaders could avoid falling into bloody World War I-style trench stalemates by using aviation to strike past the enemy's forces directly at their vulnerable civilian population, which Douhet believed would cause these populations to rise up in revolt to stop the bombing. Others, such as Billy Mitchell, saw the potential of air power to neutralize the striking power of naval surface fleets. Mitchell himself proved the vulnerability of capital ships to aircraft was finally in 1921 when he commanded a squadron of bombers that sank the ex-German battleship SMS Ostfriesland with aerial bombs. (See Industrial warfare#Naval warfare) Hugh Montague Trenchard, 1st Viscount Trenchard (February 3, 1873 - February 10, 1956) was the British Chief of the Air Staff during World War I, and was instrumental in establishing the Royal Air Force (RAF). ... General Giulio Douhet (30 May 1869 - 15 February 1930) was an Italian air power theorist. ... The city heart of Rotterdam after being terror bombed by Germany in 1940, the ruin of the (now restored) Laurens Kerk is the only building that reminds people of Rotterdams medieval architecture. ... For other people with the same name, see Billy Mitchell (disambiguation). ... SMS Ostfriesland was a Dreadnought-type battleship of the Helgoland class. ... Industrial warfare is a period in the history of warfare ranging roughly from the start of the Industrial Revolution to the beginning of the Information Age, which saw the rise of nation-states, capable of creating and equipping large armies and navies through the process of industrialization. ...

American Martin B-26 bombers releasing their payloads.

During the Second World War, there was a debate between strategic bombing and tactical bombing. Strategic bombing missions focused on targets such as factories, railroads, oil refineries and cities, and required heavy four-engine bombers carrying large payloads flying deep into enemy territory. Tactical bombing focused on troop concentrations, command and control facilities, airfields, and ammunition dumps, and required dive bombers and fighter bombers, small aircraft that could fly low over the battlefield. In the early years of World War II, the German Luftwaffe focused on tactical bombing, using large numbers of Ju-87 Stukas as "flying artillery" for land offensives. Artillery was slow and required time to set up a firing position, whereas aircraft were better able keep up with the fast advances of the German panzer columns. Close air support greatly assisted in the successes of the German Army in the Battle of France. It was also important in amphibious warfare, where aircraft carriers could provide support for soldiers landing on the beaches. Image File history File links Download high resolution version (866x594, 30 KB) Summary A flight of B-26 Bombers releasing their payloads. ... Image File history File links Download high resolution version (866x594, 30 KB) Summary A flight of B-26 Bombers releasing their payloads. ... See A-26 Invader for the plane known as the B-26 from 1948 to 1962. ... A bomber is a military aircraft designed to attack ground targets, primarily by dropping bombs. ... Mushroom cloud from the nuclear explosion over Nagasaki rising 18 km into the air. ... The city heart of Rotterdam after being terror bombed by Germany in 1940, the ruin of the (now restored) Laurens Kerk is the only building that reminds people of Rotterdams medieval architecture. ... Tactical bombing uses aircraft to attack troops and military equipment in the battle zone. ... This article or section does not cite any references or sources. ... View of Shell Oil Refinery in Martinez, California. ... Look up city, City in Wiktionary, the free dictionary. ... This article does not cite any references or sources. ... A dive bomber is a bomber aircraft that dives directly at its targets in order to provide greater accuracy. ... A ground attack aircraft is an aircraft that is designed to operate very close to the ground, supporting infantry and tanks directly in battle. ... The Deutsche Luftwaffe or   (German: air force, literally Air Weapon, pronounced lufft-va-fa, IPA: ) is the commonly used term for the German air force. ... Tactical bombing uses aircraft to attack troops and military equipment in the battle zone. ... Junkers Ju 87 Dive-Bombers The Junkers Ju 87 or Stuka was the most famous Sturzkampfflugzeug (German dive bomber) in World War II, instantly recognisable by its inverted gull-wings and fixed undercarriage. ... Combatants  France  United Kingdom  Canada  Czechoslovakia  Poland  Belgium  Netherlands  Luxembourg Germany Italy Commanders Maurice Gamelin, Maxime Weygand Lord Gort (British Expeditionary Force) Leopold III H.G. Winkelman Gerd von Rundstedt (Army Group A) Fedor von Bock (Army Group B) Wilhelm von Leeb (Army Group C) H.R.H. Umberto di... It has been suggested that Landing operation be merged into this article or section. ...

Strategic bombing, by contrast, was unlike anything the world has seen before or since. In 1940, the Germans attempted to force Britain to surrender through attacks on its airfields and factories, and then on its cities in The Blitz in what became the Battle of Britain, the first major battle whose outcome was determined primarily in the air. The campaigns conducted by the Allies in Europe and the Pacific could involve thousands of aircraft dropping tens of thousands of tonnes of munitions over a single city. Year 1940 (MCMXL) was a leap year starting on Monday (link will display the full 1940 calendar) of the Gregorian calendar. ... For other uses, see Blitz. ... Combatants United Kingdom Including combatants from:[1] Poland New Zealand Canada Czechoslovakia Belgium Australia South Africa France Ireland United States Jamaica Palestine Rhodesia Germany Including combatants from Italy Commanders Hugh Dowding Hermann Göring Strength 754 single-seat fighters 149 two-seat fighters 560 bombers 500 coastal 1,963 total...

Military aviation in the post-war years was dominated by the needs of the Cold War. The postwar years saw a rapid conversion to jet power, which resulted in enormous increases in speeds and altitudes of aircraft. Until the advent of the Intercontinental Ballistic Missile major powers relied on high-altitude bombers to deliver their newly-developed nuclear deterrent; each country strove to develop the technology of bombers and the high-altitude fighters that could intercept them. The concept of air superiority began to play a heavy role in aircraft designs for both the United States and the Soviet Union. For other uses, see Cold War (disambiguation). ... A Pratt and Whitney turbofan engine for the F-15 Eagle is tested at Robins Air Force Base, Georgia, USA. The tunnel behind the engine muffles noise and allows exhaust to escape. ... A Minuteman III missile soars after a test launch. ...

Nuclear warfare

US test launch of a German V-2 ballistic missile.

Main article: Nuclear warfare

The use of nuclear weapons first came into being during the last months of World War II, with the dropping of atomic bombs on Hiroshima and Nagasaki. This was the first, and only use, of nuclear weapons in combat. For a decade after World War II, the United States and later the Soviet Union (and to a lesser extent the United Kingdom and France) developed and maintained a strategic force of bombers that would be able to attack any potential aggressor from bases inside their countries. Before the development of a capable strategic missile force in the Soviet Union, much of the war-fighting doctrine held by western nations revolved around the use of a large number of smaller nuclear weapons used in a tactical role. It is arguable if such use could be considered "limited" however, because it was believed that the US would use their own strategic weapons (mainly bombers at the time) should the USSR deploy any kind of nuclear weapon against civilian targets. Image File history File links Metadata Size of this preview: 779 × 600 pixelsFull resolution (3000 × 2310 pixel, file size: 1. ... Image File history File links Metadata Size of this preview: 779 × 600 pixelsFull resolution (3000 × 2310 pixel, file size: 1. ... German test launch. ... Diagram of V-2, the first ballistic missile. ... This article is about nuclear war as a form of actual warfare, including history. ... This page may meet Wikipedias criteria for speedy deletion. ... Combatants Allied powers: China France Great Britain Soviet Union United States and others Axis powers: Germany Italy Japan and others Commanders Chiang Kai-shek Charles de Gaulle Winston Churchill Joseph Stalin Franklin Roosevelt Adolf Hitler Benito Mussolini Hideki Tōjō Casualties Military dead: 17,000,000 Civilian dead: 33,000...

A new revolution in thinking occurred with the introduction of the intercontinental ballistic missile (ICBM), which the Soviet Union first successfully tested in the late 1950s. To deliver a warhead to a target, a missile was far less expensive than a bomber that could do the same job. Moreover, at the time it was impossible to intercept ICBMs due to their high altitude and speed. In the 1960s, another major shift in nuclear doctrine occurred with the development of the submarine-based nuclear missile (SLBM). It was hailed by military theorists as a weapon that would assure a surprise attack would not destroy the capability to retaliate, and therefore would make nuclear war less likely. A Minuteman III missile soars after a test launch. ... the first thing that was invented was the automatic DILDO. Education grew explosively because of a very strong demand for high school and college education. ... The 1960s decade refers to the years from 1960 to 1969, inclusive. ... French M45 SLBM and M51 SLBM Submarine-launched ballistic missiles or SLBMs are ballistic missiles delivering nuclear weapons that are launched from submarines. ...

Important Industrial Wars

• American Civil War
• Arab-Israeli Wars
• Franco-Prussian War
• Korean War
• Russo-Japanese War
• Vietnam War
• World War I
• World War II
• Iran-Iraq War

Combatants United States of America (Union) Confederate States of America (Confederacy) Commanders Abraham Lincoln, Ulysses S. Grant Jefferson Davis, Robert E. Lee Strength 2,200,000 1,064,000 Casualties 110,000 killed in action, 360,000 total dead, 275,200 wounded 93,000 killed in action, 258,000 total... Combatants Arab nations Israel Arab-Israeli conflict series History of the Arab-Israeli conflict Views of the Arab-Israeli conflict International law and the Arab-Israeli conflict Arab-Israeli conflict facts, figures, and statistics Participants Israeli-Palestinian conflict · Israel-Lebanon conflict · Arab League · Soviet Union / Russia · Israel, Palestine and the... Combatants Second French Empire North German Confederation allied with south German states (later German Empire) Commanders Napoleon III Otto Von Bismarck, Helmuth von Moltke the Elder Strength 400,000 at the beginning of the war 1,200,000 Casualties 150,000 dead or wounded 284,000 captured 350,000 civilian... Combatants United Nations:  Republic of Korea,  Australia,  Belgium,  Luxembourg,  Canada,  Colombia,  Ethiopia,  France,  Greece,  Luxembourg,  Netherlands,  New Zealand,  Philippines,  South Africa,  Thailand,  Turkey,  United Kingdom,  United States Medical staff:  Denmark,  Australia,  Italy,  Norway,  Sweden Communist states:  Democratic People’s Republic of Korea,  Peoples Republic of China,  Soviet Union Commanders... Combatants Russian Empire Montenegro[1] Empire of Japan Commanders Emperor Nicholas II Aleksey Kuropatkin Stepan Makarov â€  Emperor Meiji Oyama Iwao Heihachiro Togo The Russo–Japanese War (Japanese: Nichi-Ro Sensō, Russian: , Chinese: , February 10, 1904 – September 5, 1905) was a conflict that grew out of the rival imperialist ambitions of... Combatants Republic of Vietnam United States Republic of Korea Thailand Australia New Zealand The Philippines National Front for the Liberation of South Vietnam Democratic Republic of Vietnam People’s Republic of China Democratic Peoples Republic of Korea Strength US 1,000,000 South Korea 300,000 Australia 48,000... “The Great War ” redirects here. ... Combatants Allied powers: China France Great Britain Soviet Union United States and others Axis powers: Germany Italy Japan and others Commanders Chiang Kai-shek Charles de Gaulle Winston Churchill Joseph Stalin Franklin Roosevelt Adolf Hitler Benito Mussolini Hideki Tōjō Casualties Military dead: 17,000,000 Civilian dead: 33,000... Combatants  Iran Kurdish Peshmerga Iraq Peoples Mujahedin of Iran Commanders Ruhollah Khomeini Akbar Hashemi Rafsanjani Ali Shamkhani Mostafa Chamran â€  Saddam Hussein Ali Hassan al-Majid Strength 305,000 soldiers 500,000 Pasdaran and Basij militia 900 tanks 1,000 armored vehicles 3,000 artillery pieces 470 aircraft 750 helicopters...

Milestones

Year	Battle	Country	Significance
1854-1855	Siege of Sevastopol	United Kingdom	First use of the telegraph in combat.[1]
1859	Austro-Sardinian War	France	First major use of railroads at the strategic level.
1861	First Battle of Bull Run	CSA	First battle in which railroads play a decisive role.
1862	Battle of Hampton Roads	CSA  USA	First fight between two powered iron-covered warships.
1863	Battle of Gettysburg	CSA  USA	Largest battle ever fought in the Western Hemisphere.
1864-1865	Siege of Petersburg	CSA  USA	First example of modern trench warfare.
1905	Battle of Tsushima	Japan Russia	Decisive battle between steel-covered warships.
1911-1912	Italo-Turkish War	Italy	First use of airplanes in combat.
1914	Battle of the Marne	France	First large-scale use of motorised infantry.
1914-1918	First Battle of the Atlantic	Germany  United Kingdom	First major campaign of submarine warfare.
1915	Second Battle of Ypres	Germany	First large-scale use of chemical weapons in battle.
1916	Battle of Verdun	France  Germany	High point of fixed fortification warfare.
1917	Battle of Cambrai	United Kingdom	First successful use of massed tanks in combat.
1937	Bombing of Gernika	Germany Italy	First major use of terror bombing.
1940	Battle of Britain	Germany  United Kingdom	First major battle to be fought entirely in the air.
1940	Battle of Taranto	Italy  United Kingdom	First all-aircraft naval battle in history.
1941	Battle of Crete	Germany	First battle to be fought entirely by airborne forces.
1941	Operation Barbarossa	Germany  Soviet Union	High point of Blitzkrieg warfare.
1942	Battle of the Coral Sea	Japan  United States	First naval battle in which neither side's ships sighted or fired directly upon each other.
1942	Battle of Midway	Japan  United States	Decisive battle between aircraft carriers.
1942	Battle of Stalingrad	Germany  Soviet Union	Largest single battle in history. Decisive battle of the Nazi-Soviet War.
1942	Battle of Guadalcanal	Japan  United States	First major air-land-sea campaign in history.
1943	Battle of Kursk	Germany  Soviet Union	Largest tank battle in history.
1944	Normandy Invasion	Germany  United Kingdom  United States  Canada	Largest seaborne invasion in history.
1944	Battle of Leyte Gulf	Japan  United States	Largest naval battle in history.
1945	Hiroshima and Nagasaki	United States	First use of atomic weapons in combat.
1965	Battle of Ia Drang	United States	First major battle fought by helicopter-borne troops.

1854 (MDCCCLIV) was a common year starting on Sunday (see link for calendar). ... Year 1855 (MDCCCLV) was a common year starting on Monday (link will display the full calendar) of the Gregorian Calendar (or a common year starting on Saturday of the 12-day slower Julian calendar). ... Combatants Great Britain France Russia Commanders General François Canrobert (later replaced by General Pélissier) Lord Raglen Admiral Kornilov (later replaced by Admiral Pavel Nakhimov) Lt. ... Image File history File links Flag_of_the_United_Kingdom. ... Telegraph and Telegram redirect here. ... Year 1859 (MDCCCLIX) was a common year starting on Saturday (link will display the full calendar) of the Gregorian calendar (or a common year starting on Thursday of the 12-day slower Julian calendar). ... Major places of the Austro-Sardinian war 1859 Austro-Sardinian War was fought by Napoleon III of France and Kingdom of Sardinia against Austria in 1859. ... Image File history File links This is a lossless scalable vector image. ... Year 1861 (MDCCCLXI) was a common year starting on Tuesday (link will display the full calendar) of the Gregorian calendar (or a common year starting on Sunday of the 12-day slower Julian calendar). ... Combatants United States of America Confederate States of America Commanders Irvin McDowell Joseph E. Johnston P.G.T. Beauregard Strength 35,000 32,500 Casualties 2,896 (460 killed, 1,124 wounded, 1,312 captured/missing)[1] 1,982 (387 killed, 1,582 wounded, 13 missing)[1] For other uses... Image File history File links CSA_FLAG_28. ... Motto Deo Vindice (Latin: Under God, Our Vindicator) Anthem (none official) God Save the South (unofficial) The Bonnie Blue Flag (unofficial) Dixie (unofficial) Capital Montgomery, Alabama (until May 29, 1861) Richmond, Virginia (May 29, 1861–April 2, 1865) Danville, Virginia (from April 3, 1865) Language(s) English (de facto) Religion... This is the top-level page of WikiProject trains Rail tracks Rail transport refers to the land transport of passengers and goods along railways or railroads. ... This article is about 1862 . ... Combatants United States of America Confederate States of America Commanders John L. Worden Franklin Buchanan Catesby R. Jones Strength 1 ironclad, 3 wooden warships 1 ironclad, 2 wooden warships, 1 gunboat, 2 tenders Casualties 2 wooden warships sunk, 1 wooden warship damaged 261 killed 108 wounded 1 ironclad damaged 7... Image File history File links CSA_FLAG_28. ... Motto Deo Vindice (Latin: Under God, Our Vindicator) Anthem (none official) God Save the South (unofficial) The Bonnie Blue Flag (unofficial) Dixie (unofficial) Capital Montgomery, Alabama (until May 29, 1861) Richmond, Virginia (May 29, 1861–April 2, 1865) Danville, Virginia (from April 3, 1865) Language(s) English (de facto) Religion... Image File history File links US_flag_34_stars. ... Year 1863 (MDCCCLXIII) was a common year starting on Thursday (link will display the full calendar) of the Gregorian calendar (or a common year starting on Tuesday of the 12-day slower Julian calendar). ... Combatants United States of America (Union) Confederate States of America Commanders George G. Meade Robert E. Lee Strength 93,921[1] 71,699[2] Casualties 23,055 (3,155 killed, 14,531 wounded, 5,369 captured/missing)[1] 23,231 (4,708 killed, 12,693 wounded, 5,830 captured/missing... Image File history File links Confederate_National_Flag_since_Mai_1_1863_to_Mar_4_1865. ... Motto Deo Vindice (Latin: Under God, Our Vindicator) Anthem (none official) God Save the South (unofficial) The Bonnie Blue Flag (unofficial) Dixie (unofficial) Capital Montgomery, Alabama (until May 29, 1861) Richmond, Virginia (May 29, 1861–April 2, 1865) Danville, Virginia (from April 3, 1865) Language(s) English (de facto) Religion... Image File history File links US_flag_35_stars. ... The geographical western hemisphere of Earth, highlighted in yellow. ... 1864 (MDCCCLXIV) was a leap year starting on Friday (see link for calendar) of the Gregorian calendar or a leap year starting on Sunday of the 12-day-slower Julian calendar. ... 1865 (MDCCCLXV) is a common year starting on Sunday. ... Combatants United States of America (Union) Confederate States of America Commanders Ulysses S. Grant Robert E. Lee Strength 67,000 – 125,000 average of 52,000 Casualties 53,386 ~32,000 The Richmond-Petersburg Campaign was a series of battles around Petersburg, Virginia, fought from June 15, 1864, to March... Image File history File links Confederate_National_Flag_since_Mai_1_1863_to_Mar_4_1865. ... Motto Deo Vindice (Latin: Under God, Our Vindicator) Anthem (none official) God Save the South (unofficial) The Bonnie Blue Flag (unofficial) Dixie (unofficial) Capital Montgomery, Alabama (until May 29, 1861) Richmond, Virginia (May 29, 1861–April 2, 1865) Danville, Virginia (from April 3, 1865) Language(s) English (de facto) Religion... Image File history File links US_flag_35_stars. ... Trench warfare is a form of war in which both opposing armies have static lines of defense. ... For other uses, see 1905 (disambiguation). ... Combatants Empire of Japan Russian Empire Commanders Heihachiro Togo Zinovi Rozhdestvenski # Nikolai Nebogatov Strength 4 battleships 27 cruisers destroyers and auxiliary vessels 8 battleships 3 coastal battleships 8 cruisers Casualties 117 dead 583 injured 3 torpedo boats sunk 4,380 dead 5,917 captured 21 ships sunk 7 captured 6... Image File history File links Flag_of_Japan_-_variant. ... Image File history File links Flag_of_Russia. ... Year 1911 (MCMXI) was a common year starting on Sunday (link will display the full calendar) of the Gregorian calendar (or a common year starting on Saturday of the 13-day-slower Julian calendar). ... 1912 (MCMXII) was a leap year starting on Monday in the Gregorian calendar (or a leap year starting on Tuesday in the 13-day-slower Julian calendar). ... Combatants Italy Ottoman Empire Commanders Luigi Caneva Ismail Enver Mustafa Kemal Ataturk Strength 100,000 28,000 Casualties 3,380 dead 4,220 wounded 14,000 dead 5,370 wounded The Italo-Turkish or Turco-Italian War (also known in Italy as guerra di Libia, the Libyan war, and in... Image File history File links Flag_of_Italy_(1861-1946)_crowned. ... Year 1914 (MCMXIV) was a common year starting on Thursday (link will display the full calendar) of the Gregorian calendar (or a common year starting on Wednesday of the 13-day-slower Julian calendar). ... There were two Battles of the Marne during World War I: First Battle of the Marne (1914) Second Battle of the Marne (1918) hi!!!! I LOVE YOU!!! AND CHICKEN!!! Category: ... Image File history File links This is a lossless scalable vector image. ... Motorised infantry is infantry which is transported by trucks or other motor vehicles. ... Year 1914 (MCMXIV) was a common year starting on Thursday (link will display the full calendar) of the Gregorian calendar (or a common year starting on Wednesday of the 13-day-slower Julian calendar). ... 1918 (MCMXVIII) was a common year starting on Tuesday of the Gregorian calendar (see link for calendar) or a common year starting on Wednesday of the Julian calendar. ... The First Battle of the Atlantic (1914–1918) was a naval campaign of World War I, largely fought in the seas around the British Isles and in the Atlantic Ocean. ... Image File history File links Flag_of_the_German_Empire. ... Image File history File links Flag_of_the_United_Kingdom. ... Naval warfare is divided into three operational areas: surface warfare, air warfare and submarine warfare. ... Year 1915 (MCMXV) was a common year starting on Friday (link will display the full calendar) of the Gregorian calendar (or a common year starting on Thursday[1] of the 13-day-slower Julian calendar). ... Combatants Belgium  Canada France Colonial forces United Kingdom British India  German Empire Commanders Horace Smith-Dorrien[1] Henri Gabriel Putz[2] A.-L.-T. de Ceuninck[3] Albrecht of Württemberg[4] Strength 8 infantry divisions[5] 7 infantry divisions Casualties 70,000 dead, wounded, or missing 35,000 dead... Image File history File links Flag_of_the_German_Empire. ... Early detection of chemical agents Sociopolitical climate of chemical warfare While the study of chemicals and their military uses was widespread in China, the use of toxic materials has historically been viewed with mixed emotions and some disdain in the West (especially when the enemy were doing it). ... 1916 (MCMXVI) was a leap year starting on Saturday (link will display the full calendar). ... Combatants  France  German Empire Commanders Philippe Pétain Robert Nivelle Erich von Falkenhayn Strength About 30,000 on 21 February 1916 About 150,000 on 21 February 1916 Casualties 378,000; of whom 120,000 died. ... Image File history File links This is a lossless scalable vector image. ... Image File history File links Flag_of_the_German_Empire. ... Table of Fortification, from the 1728 Cyclopaedia. ... 1917 (MCMXVII) was a common year starting on Monday of the Gregorian calendar (see link for calendar) or a common year starting on Tuesday of the 13-day slower Julian calendar (see: 1917 Julian calendar). ... -1... Image File history File links Flag_of_the_United_Kingdom. ... Armoured warfare in modern warfare is understood to be the use of armoured fighting vehicles as a central component of the methods of war. ... Year 1937 (MCMXXXVII) was a common year starting on Friday (link will display the full calendar) of the Gregorian calendar. ... The bombing of Gernika was an aerial attack on April 26, 1937, during the Spanish Civil War by the German Luftwaffe squadron known as the Condor Legion against the Basque city of Gernika (Spanish: Guernica). ... Image File history File links Flag_of_Germany_1933. ... Image File history File links Flag_of_Italy_(1861-1946)_crowned. ... Terror bombing is a strategy of deliberately bombing civilian targets and strafing civilians in order to break the morale of the enemy and make its civilian population panic. ... Year 1940 (MCMXL) was a leap year starting on Monday (link will display the full 1940 calendar) of the Gregorian calendar. ... Combatants United Kingdom Including combatants from:[1] Poland New Zealand Canada Czechoslovakia Belgium Australia South Africa France Ireland United States Jamaica Palestine Rhodesia Germany Including combatants from Italy Commanders Hugh Dowding Hermann Göring Strength 754 single-seat fighters 149 two-seat fighters 560 bombers 500 coastal 1,963 total... Image File history File links Flag_of_Germany_1933. ... Image File history File links Flag_of_the_United_Kingdom. ... Year 1940 (MCMXL) was a leap year starting on Monday (link will display the full 1940 calendar) of the Gregorian calendar. ... This article is about the 1940 battle. ... Image File history File links Flag_of_Italy_(1861-1946)_crowned. ... Image File history File links Flag_of_the_United_Kingdom. ... For other uses, see 1941 (disambiguation). ... Combatants Greece United Kingdom New Zealand Australia Germany Italy Commanders Bernard Freyberg Kurt Student Strength United Kingdom: 15,000 Greece: 11,000 Australia: 7,100 New Zealand: 6,700 Total: 40,000 (10,000 without fighting capability. ... Image File history File links Flag_of_Germany_1933. ... Airborne Military parachuting form of insertion. ... For other uses, see 1941 (disambiguation). ... Combatants Germany Romania Finland Italy Hungary Slovakia  Soviet Union Commanders Adolf Hitler Wilhelm Ritter von Leeb Fedor von Bock Gerd von Rundstedt Heinz Guderian Günther von Kluge Franz Halder Maresal Ion Antonescu C.G.E. Mannerheim Giovanni Messe, CSIR Italo Garibaldi, ARMIR Joseph Stalin Kliment Voroshilov Semyon Timoshenko Fyodor... Image File history File links Flag_of_Germany_1933. ... Image File history File links This is a lossless scalable vector image. ... The defining characteristic of what is commonly known as Blitzkrieg is that it is a highly mobile form of mechanized warfare. ... Year 1942 (MCMXLII) was a common year starting on Thursday (the link will display the full 1942 calendar) of the Gregorian calendar. ... Combatants United States Navy Royal Australian Navy Imperial Japanese Navy Commanders Frank J. Fletcher John G. Crace Shigeyoshi Inoue Takeo Takagi Strength 2 large carriers, 3 cruisers 2 large carriers, 1 light carrier, 4 cruisers Casualties 1 fleet carrier, 1 destroyer, 1 oil tanker sunk 543 killed 1 light carrier... Image File history File links Flag_of_Japan_-_variant. ... Image File history File links US_flag_48_stars. ... Year 1942 (MCMXLII) was a common year starting on Thursday (the link will display the full 1942 calendar) of the Gregorian calendar. ... Combatants United States Empire of Japan Commanders Chester W. Nimitz Frank J. Fletcher Raymond A. Spruance Isoroku Yamamoto Chuichi Nagumo Tamon Yamaguchi â€  Strength 3 carriers, ~50 support ships, 233 carrier aircraft, 127 land-based aircraft 4 carriers, 7 battleships, ~150 support ships, 248 carrier aircraft, 16 floatplanes Casualties 1 carrier... Image File history File links Flag_of_Japan_-_variant. ... Image File history File links US_flag_48_stars. ... Two aircraft carriers, USS (left), and HMS Illustrious (right), showing the difference in size between a supercarrier and a light V/STOL aircraft carrier. ... Year 1942 (MCMXLII) was a common year starting on Thursday (the link will display the full 1942 calendar) of the Gregorian calendar. ... Combatants Germany Romania Italy Hungary Soviet Union Commanders Adolf Hitler Friedrich Paulus # Erich von Manstein Hermann Hoth Petre Dumitrescu Constantin Constantinescu Italo Garibaldi Gusztav Jany Vasiliy Chuikov Aleksandr Vasilyevskiy Georgiy Zhukov Semyon Timoshenko Konstantin Rokossovskiy Rodion Malinovskiy Andrei Yeremenko Strength Army Group B: German Sixth Army # German Fourth Panzer Army... Image File history File links Flag_of_Germany_1933. ... Image File history File links This is a lossless scalable vector image. ... Combatants Soviet Union,[1] Poland, Tannu Tuva (until 1944 incorporation with USSR), Mongolia Germany,[2] Italy (to 1943), Romania (to 1944), Finland (to 1944), Hungary, Slovakia, Croatia, Spain (to 1943, unofficial) Commanders Joseph Stalin, Aleksei Antonov, Ivan Konev, Rodion Malinovsky, Ivan Bagramyan, Kirill Meretskov, Ivan Petrov, Alexander Rodimtsev, Konstantin Rokossovsky... Year 1942 (MCMXLII) was a common year starting on Thursday (the link will display the full 1942 calendar) of the Gregorian calendar. ... Operation Watchtower On August 7, 1942, the 1st Marine Division performed an amphibious landing east of the Tenaru River. ... Image File history File links Flag_of_Japan_-_variant. ... Image File history File links US_flag_48_stars. ... Year 1943 (MCMXLIII) was a common year starting on Friday (the link will display full 1943 calendar) of the Gregorian calendar. ... Combatants Nazi Germany Soviet Union Commanders Erich von Manstein Günther von Kluge Hermann Hoth Walther Model Georgiy Zhukov Konstantin Rokossovskiy Nikolay Vatutin Ivan Konyev Strength 2,700 tanks 800,000 infantry 2,000 aircraft 3,600 tanks 1,300,000 infantry and supporting troops 2,400 aircraft Casualties German... Image File history File links Flag_of_Germany_1933. ... Image File history File links This is a lossless scalable vector image. ... Year 1944 (MCMXLIV) was a leap year starting on Saturday (link will display full calendar) of the Gregorian calendar. ... The Battle of Normandy was fought in 1944 between the German forces occupying Western Europe and the invading Allies. ... Image File history File links Flag_of_Germany_1933. ... Image File history File links Flag_of_the_United_Kingdom. ... Image File history File links US_flag_48_stars. ... Image File history File links Canadian_Red_Ensign_1921. ... Year 1944 (MCMXLIV) was a leap year starting on Saturday (link will display full calendar) of the Gregorian calendar. ... Combatants  United States  Australia  Philippines Empire of Japan Commanders William Halsey, Jr (3rd Fleet) Thomas C. Kinkaid (7th Fleet) Takeo Kurita (Centre Force) Shoji Nishimura â€  (Southern Force) Kiyohide Shima (Southern Force) Jisaburo Ozawa (Northern Force) Strength 17 aircraft carriers 18 escort carriers 12 battleships 24 cruisers 141 destroyers and destroyer... Image File history File links Flag_of_Japan_-_variant. ... Image File history File links US_flag_48_stars. ... The title of largest naval battle in history depends on criteria that may include the number of people and ships involved, the total tonnage of vessels, the size of the battlefield, and the duration of the action. ... Year 1945 (MCMXLV) was a common year starting on Monday (link will display the full calendar). ... This page may meet Wikipedias criteria for speedy deletion. ... Image File history File links US_flag_48_stars. ... The mushroom cloud of the atomic bombing of Nagasaki, Japan, in 1945 lifted nuclear fallout some 18km (60,000 feet) above the epicenter. ... Year 1965 (MCMLXV) was a common year starting on Friday (link will display full calendar) of the 1965 Gregorian calendar. ... Combatants North Vietnam Viet Cong United States Commanders Nguyen Huu An Thomas W. Brown Harold G. Moore (X-Ray) Robert McDade (Albany) Strength More than 4,000 (Albany and X-Ray) Over 1,000 (Albany and X-Ray) Casualties X-Ray: Est. ... Image File history File links This is a lossless scalable vector image. ... For other uses, see Helicopter (disambiguation). ...

See also

• Arms race
• Cold war
• Curtis LeMay
• Home front
• Mass production
• Mobilization
• Technology during World War I
• Technology during World War II
• Technological escalation during World War II
• Total war
• Trench warfare
• Unconditional surrender
• Unrestricted Warfare
• World war

The term arms race in its original usage describes a competition between two or more parties for military supremacy. ... For other uses, see Cold War (disambiguation). ... Curtis Emerson LeMay (November 15, 1906 – October 1, 1990) was a General in the United States Air Force and the vice presidential running mate of independent candidate George C. Wallace in 1968. ... Rosie the Riveter represented civilian wartime mobilization in the United States during World War II. Home front is the informal term commonly used to describe the civilian populace of the nation at war as an active support system of its military. ... Mass production is the production of large amounts of standardised products on production lines. ... This article describes military mobilization. ... The machine gun was one of the decisive technologies during World War I. Picture: British Vickers machine gun crew on the Western Front. ... Technology during World War II played a crucial role in determining the outcome of the war. ... Technological escalation during World War II was more profound than any other period in human history. ... Total war is a military conflict in which nations mobilize all available resources in order to destroy another nations ability to engage in war. ... Trench warfare is a form of war in which both opposing armies have static lines of defense. ... Unconditional surrender refers to a surrender without conditions, except for those provided by international law. ... Unrestricted Warfare is the English title of a book on military strategy written in 1999 by two Colonels in the Peoples Liberation Army, Qiao Liang and Wang Xiangsui. ... A world war is a war affecting the majority of the worlds major nations. ...

Footnotes

External links

• Modern Tendencies in Strategy and Tactics as shown in Campaigns in the Far East (1906) by Lieutenant Colonel Yoda, Imperial Japanese Army.