CATAPULTS ARE STILL NOT ATOMIC BOMBS

Twenty years ago, War in History published my methodological article, “Catapults are Not Atomic Bombs: Towards a Redefinition of ‘Effectiveness’ in Premodern Military Technology”. The title was purposeful hyperbole: I mention neither catapults nor atomic bombs elsewhere in the article. Also purposeful, although less hyperbolic, was my initial example of a modern military technology that continued to be (and still is) lethal, the land mine – writing today I might use the improvised explosive device (IED) or drone – but would never be looked at as premodern military technology is: ‘decisive’, ‘invincible’, or ‘revolutionary’. Rather it is a question as to how we might define the ‘effectiveness’ of this technology.

By Kelly DeVries

Throughout my career, I have contended that definitions of ‘effectiveness’ of premodern military technology in deterministic terms have done military history and the history of technology a disservice. In particular, it has also too often and too easily supplanted the individual soldiers and their leaders from the military historical equation. In my article, I presented case studies where the effectiveness of premodern military technology had been misdefined, which included 1) the ‘invincibility’ of the English longbow; and 2) the ever-growing acceptance of the ‘military revolution’ thesis. The ‘invincibility’ of the English longbow There are two origin stories of the longbow. One is that all bows in England were longbows, but archers were not organized into effective military units before the late thirteenth century. The other is that in fighting with or against…

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Medieval Warfare (Digital) - 1 Issue, MW X1.1

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