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Warfare and British Society, c1250–present

The nature of warfare, c1700–c1900

  • 3 things to know
  • Paper 1

Overview

The changing role of cavalry, the growth of artillery, engineers and supply services, the infantry as the core, the move from musket to breech-loading rifle, rifling and the cone-shaped bullet, field guns, heavy artillery and explosive shells, railways, steam, mass production, the scale of battle and the telegraph.

What you need to know

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Key term

How did the soldier's firearm and the army's artillery develop between 1700 and 1900?

Key term

How did the role of cavalry change between 1700 and 1900?

Key term

Why could a cavalry charge no longer succeed against infantry armed with rifles?

Questions from this subtopic

Each one with the model answer underneath.

  1. 1

    How did the role of cavalry change between 1700 and 1900?

    Model answer

    The massed charge became suicidal against accurate firearms, so horsemen were used mainly for scouting, carrying messages and pursuing a beaten enemy.

  2. 2

    Why could a cavalry charge no longer succeed against infantry armed with rifles?

    Model answer

    Riflemen could hit horsemen from several hundred metres away, so the charge was broken up long before it closed.

  3. 3

    Which specialist branches of the army grew in importance during this period?

    Model answer

    The artillery, the engineers, and the supply and transport services that kept a large army fed and armed.

  4. 4

    Which part of the army remained its core throughout this period?

    Model answer

    The infantry, who still had to advance, take ground and hold it.

  5. 5

    How did the ordinary soldier's firearm change between 1700 and 1900?

    Model answer

    The smoothbore musket gave way to the rifled musket and then to the breech-loading rifle firing metal cartridges.

  6. 6

    What is rifling, and what does it do to a bullet?

    Model answer

    Spiral grooves cut inside the barrel spin the bullet, which makes it fly straighter and much further.

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