Warfare was heavily changed due to the spread and use of gunpowder. This is especially true when looking at the Thirty Years’ War, one of the bloodiest wars in human history. The Thirty Years’ War began at a time when gunpowder had become the main form of weaponry. Gunpowder weapons had already been used in previous wars such as the Hundred Years’ War, but not to the extent of the Thirty Years’ War. The use of gunpowder pushed older weaponry out of the picture. Weapons like the musket, pistol, and cannon were commonplace. Swords, lances, and other bludgeoning weapons were not used as often because of their lack of range compared to firearms. These weapons also had similar or lower effectiveness against the armors that were designed to defend against firearms, rendering them even less useful. The impact of the new weaponry can be directly seen when comparing the death tolls of the Thirty Years’ War and earlier conflicts which did not use gunpowder. The Thirty Years’ War ended with about eight million casualties over thirty years, while the Crusades, a conflict long before the use of gunpowder, had three million casualties over two hundred years (White). The Thirty Years’ War left Europe in a state of disarray. The destructive fighting lasted only thirty years but left many cities and countries devastated with famine and disease. This was in part due to armies attacking civilians for food and battles becoming long and drawn out. Armies were able to set up advanced defenses that were effective against artillery, stalling out battles for years. Seeing as armies did not have reliable forms of weaponry other than gunpowder based ones, battles were often decided by sieges which were long, costly, and led to many deaths. The Thirty Years’ War is still considered one of the worst catastrophes in Europe to this day. Had gunpowder not been introduced yet, the Thirty Years’ War likely would not have as big an impact as it did.
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