The Gunpowder Revolution And The French Invasion Of Italy

The gunpowder revolution saw many advancements beginning in the mid-fifteenth century. With the French invasion of Italy in 1494, France demonstrated that the exploitation and advancement of a technology could give one side an extreme advantage over the side which did not advance as quickly. France developed lighter and more mobile cannons, made from bronze, with handles on the sides that allowed them to be mounted to horse-drawn carts. These cannons could be easily traversed up or down, right or left, allowing for better aiming techniques. The French army also developed better propellant and ammunition by concentrating gunpowder, first introduced to Europe in the thirteenth century, through a process known as “corning.” This involved first
mixing the gunpowder with liquid, allowing it to dry, then cutting it up. Corned powder produced an extra explosive power that allowed iron cannonballs to travel farther and hit harder. Charles VIII invaded Italy with an artillery fighting force made up of three dozen smoothbore, muzzle-loading cannons that decimated the Italian’s antiquated forces. During the first battle of the invasion, Charles VIII’s forces breached the Mordano castle’s walls within three hours and slaughtered all occupants. Italy had not been prepared to fight an army with such an advanced artillery.
The French invasion of Italy was not only an early part of the Gunpowder Revolution and the beginning of the modern age of warfare, but it was one of the first attempt at nation-building. At the time, Italy was divided into several city-states, sovereign states formed by a city and its surrounding territories. Due to the small size of many city-states and the disdain for military service due to the Renaissance and its emphasis on arts, their defense was turned over to mercenary captains, condottieri. The paid men who formed compagnie (companies) under the condottieri were most often foreigners who lacked loyalty to their paymasters. On the other hand, as France took over city-statessuch as Armagnac, Burgundy, Provence, Anjou, and Brittany, they would become a part of the ever-expanding French nation. As such, King Charles VIII became the leader of the most powerful state in Europe by initiating the advance of the nation-state.

Nearly one and a half centuries later, Swedish King Gustavus II Adolphus would further advance the French artillery techniques and make modern modifications to the formation and maneuver of his troops during the Battle of Breitenfeld in 1631 against Count Johann Tilly, an Imperial commander. Tilly formed his forces in tercios, a large combination of pikemen and musketeers in formation that had served him well for a century. Tilly formed up seventeen tercios, each fifty men abreast and thirty men deep. This formation was deadly for everything in its forward path, but it did not have good maneuver capabilities. Also, only the men in front could wield their weapons, those behind could only push forward. However, Gustavus utilized advanced techniques for forming and maneuvering his military. He also further refined the advancements of the French artillery used during the Italian invasion. He reduced the weight of artillery to the point that the cannons could move as the battle changed direction. Each squadron employed two cannons for fire support very like the way today’s modern infantry fields heavy machine guns. These cannons were known as “three-pounders” because they shot either a three-pound ball or canister shot composed of dozens of tiny balls that proved effective at Tilly’s massed tercios. On the contrary, Tilly’s artillery fired 24-pound cannonballs and required twenty horses to move. The French reign as the most formidable military force in Europe was short-lived as Italy responded by developing low profile ramparts that made it difficult for cannonballs to penetrate. These ramparts had artillery placed in angled bastions to command interlocking fields of fire, making it difficult for enemy soldiers to get close to the fortress. While these developments came too late for Italy to save itself from the French invasion, they did spread to other parts of Europe and eventually negated the advantages of attacking armies. In order for

The French invasion of Italy also brought about the beginning of therise of the nation-state was just beginning.
But it was not the soldiers that made this Army so formidable, it was the artillery.

French invasion of Italy in 1494 – modern age of warfare – change the nature of the state itself by provided powerful impetus for the rise of modern governments RMA – revolutions in military affairs History of warfare profoundly altered by forces, such as the rise of nationalism and democracy, little to do with new tools – but the tools of war DO matter Technology creates the potential for a military revolution; the extent to which militaries, societies, states, governments, etc exploit the new tools of warfare to create a military revolution depend on organization, strategy, tactics, leadership, training, morale, and other human factors; demands a paradigm shift from one set of assumptions to another Gunpowder revolution saw the rise of Western militaries over non-Western militaries who Since the rise of modern nation-states in the 16th and 17th centuries, shifts in military power have been closely associated with shifts in governance No technical advantage by itself created a revolution; it was how people responded to technology that produced shifts in
warfare Technological revolutions may stretch out over decades, even centuries, and change shape as they go (current RMA is not over) First Industrial revolution started with single shot rifles and ended up with machine guns; includes the democratization of warfare associated with the French Revolution; machine guns, quick-firing artillery, field telephones incorporated by armies of Europe; Industrial Revolution vastly increased the gap between western military and non-western militaries – Battle of Omdurman – General Horatio Herbert Kitchener utilized railroads, gunboats and machine guns to reconquest the Sudan Second Industrial revolution started with bi-planes and ended up with missile-firing jets; blitzkrieg one of the best examples of a military technical revolution – commonly misunderstood that Germany possessed a technological and numerical edge over their adversaries but this is not true. They actually had fewer tanks and aircraft than the British and the French and lower quality weapons than the Allies; their edge lay in their superior ability of coordinating their forces, and quality of leadership, training, and morale - **they figured out how to make the best use of technology of the day