Wars of the 19th century

Author: Ian Wedgwood
Publisher:
Publish Date: 2003-01-01
Features: In the second half of the 19th century, world powers (mainly referring to major European countries, Japan, and the United States) began to expand their spheres of influence by occupying foreign territories. These highly industrialized colonial nations, with abundant domestic resources, acted as they pleased globally, except for occasional battlefield defeats. Almost invincible and victorious in wars, they were nearly unstoppable. The second half of the 19th century saw tremendous changes in warfare. Until 1840, the weapons used by troops and the tactics employed were almost the same as a century earlier, but by 1900, warfare had undergone almost a complete transformation. Many new types of weapons emerged, battles were deployed and commanded by professional officers, and railways and telegraph systems were also utilized. These changes made warfare more planned, controlled, and destructive. On the battlefield, who had more powerful weapon firepower and faster mobilization speed was more likely to win the war.