War-Superior technology-machinegun

Conflict of War

Superior technology
Machinegun

In 1898 British colonial rule was challenged in the Sudan by a Mahdist uprising. Fourteen thousand Dervish warriors, pictured on the right, prepared to overwhelm close to 500 British soldiers, drawn up in a square formation in the middle of the desert.

The standard Dervish tactic was to charge at the enemy yelling war cries and when close enough, falling on them slashing and stabbing with curved swords that could decapitate an enemy with little effort.

The Dervish charged, what appeared to be a force that could easily be overcome, not noticing the 6 strange objects lined up in front of the British troops. In just 40 minutes 11,000 Dervish warriors lay dead while the others fled in terror.

The strange device, lined up by the British, was the Maxim gun, a predecessor to the modern machinegun that would become responsible for more deaths in war than any other weapon.
Click to see a 500 Kb video of its devastating use during the D-Day landing.
Perfected in the 1870's by a British engineer, Hiram Maxim, pictured on the right, the Maxim gun represented the ultimate killing machine of its time.

The gun represented a blend of scientific desciplines. It consisted of a :
- mechanism that used the expanding gases of one bullet to load the next bullet into the firing chamber;
- belt-fed amunition system
- water cooled jacket that prevented the gun barrel from overheating and cracking.

Discuss the impact of science on the ability of Britain to colonise many nations.

Does technology play a big part in urban and terrorist style warfare? DIscuss with examples of the Iraq and Afghanistan conflicts.

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Conflict of War Superior technology Machinegun
In 1898 British colonial rule was challenged in the Sudan by a Mahdist uprising. Fourteen thousand Dervish warriors, pictured on the right, prepared to overwhelm close to 500 British soldiers, drawn up in a square formation in the middle of the desert. The standard Dervish tactic was to charge at the enemy yelling war cries and when close enough, falling on them slashing and stabbing with curved swords that could decapitate an enemy with little effort. The Dervish charged, what appeared to be a force that could easily be overcome, not noticing the 6 strange objects lined up in front of the British troops. In just 40 minutes 11,000 Dervish warriors lay dead while the others fled in terror.
The strange device, lined up by the British, was the Maxim gun, a predecessor to the modern machinegun that would become responsible for more deaths in war than any other weapon. Click to see a 500 Kb video of its devastating use during the D-Day landing. Perfected in the 1870's by a British engineer, Hiram Maxim, pictured on the right, the Maxim gun represented the ultimate killing machine of its time.
The gun represented a blend of scientific desciplines. It consisted of a : - mechanism that used the expanding gases of one bullet to load the next bullet into the firing chamber; - belt-fed amunition system - water cooled jacket that prevented the gun barrel from overheating and cracking.
Discuss the impact of science on the ability of Britain to colonise many nations. Does technology play a big part in urban and terrorist style warfare? DIscuss with examples of the Iraq and Afghanistan conflicts.
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