Foundation for European Societies of Arms Collectors A short history of firearms Prepared for FESAC by: , ing. Jaś van Driel FARE consultants P.O. box 22276 3003 DG Rotterdam the Netherlands
[email protected] Firearms, a short history The weapon might well be man’s earliest invention. Prehistoric man picked up a stick and lashed out at something or someone. This happened long before man learned to harness fire or invented the wheel. The invention of the weapon was to have a profound impact on the development of man. It provided the third and fourth necessities of life, after air and water: food and protection. It gave prehistoric man the possibility to hunt animals that were too big to catch by hand and provided protection from predators, especially the greatest threat of all: his fellow man. The strong man did not sit idly while intelligent man used the weapon he invented to match his brute force and soon came up with a weapon of his own, thus forcing intelligent man to come up with something better. The arms race had started. This race has defined the history of mankind. To deny the role that weapons in general and firearms in particular have played in deciding the course of history is like denying history itself. The early years During the Stone Age axes, knives and spears appeared and around 6000 BC the bow made its debut. This was the first weapon, after the throwing spear, that could be used at some distance from the intended target, though possibly slings also were used to hurl stones.