1 T3 Military history of Europe The military history of Europe has been one of advanced technologies in proportion to the times during the past few centuries and well known to the Western world as it is the western continent with the oldest known kept records. Europe's military technology was ahead of the world in the fifteenth century and skyrocketed after the Industrial Revolution. Starting from the fifteenth century, Europe has used its military to conquer or subjugated almost every nation in the world, as nations in the Americas, Africa, and Asia had less advanced military technology. It spans from the Mediterranean region of ancient times to the present day. In contrast to other continents such as Asia, Europe is the second smallest continent and has the most fractured division of its numerous nations and as such there are varied alliances and conflicts throughout history. Content 1 Characteristics of regions 2 Ancient times 3 Medieval period 4 The Renaissance 5 Gunpowder age 6 World War I 7 Interwar era 8 World War II 9 The Cold War 10 Present 1 Characteristics of regions Due to the numerous countries that grew out of Medieval feudalism and de-centralization from the Western Roman Empire's fall, different nations have had a power struggle. The island of the United Kingdom was more protected against land invasion from mainland Europe and as such has felt less damage from mainland Europe's struggles. In contrast, the area of Germany and its surrounding territories were at the center of many revolving conflicts. The area of Russia has been known as the 'sleeping giant' or 'great bear' due to it comparatively remaining passive militarily toward the rest of Europe prior to the 19th century and out of Western and Central Europe's affairs. The Roman Empire growing out of mainland Italy has been called 'the first super power'. France having the natural barriers of the Rhine to the east, the Pyrenees to the south, and the English channel to the north has tried to maintain these throughout its history with rivalry with Britain for centuries and then with Germany. Britain and France were the most successful in establishing a broad colonial empire spanning from Africa to Asia, with a majority of that success attributed to them being almost sealocked. 2 Ancient times The era was dominated by the Mediterranean nations, most notably Ancient Greece and Ancient Rome. Ancient Greece warred with its rival the Persian Empire which was the greatest danger to Europe in the Greco-Persian Wars. Ancient Rome continued the conflict with Persia in the Roman- Persian Wars. The north African city of Carthage fought three wars against Rome and lost allowing Rome to finally be master of the Mediterranean. Julius Caesar made the first Roman incursions into Britannia. Numerous civil wars plagued Ancient Rome for many centuries, but it was the eventual Barbarian incursion from Central and Eastern Europe which contributed the most to Rome's decline. Great migrations from Asia, caused a ripple effect of Eastern Europeans migrating west from barbarians, most well known of these the Huns. The Western Roman Empire fell to these barbarians 2 helped with the fact of economic inflation and internal strife. The Eastern Roman Empire still remained untouched until the late Middle Ages. 3 Medieval period The early parts of the medieval period known as the Dark Ages saw the first conflicts with the Eastern Roman Empire which continued to fight the Persians in the Roman-Persian Wars and against the Muslim conquests shortly after. In the Medieval period, feudalism was firmly implanted, and there existed many landlords in Europe with armored cavalry being the dominant on the battlefield. Landlords often owned castles to protect their territory. The Ottoman Empire was formed with considerable projection into the Balkan region after finally defeating the Eastern Roman Capital of Constantinople. The Holy Roman Empire was formed by Charlemagne and campaigned against Denmark and the Muslims in Spain. The Crusades were a series of military campaigns waged in the name of Christianity, the aim was to recapture Jerusalem and the Holy Land from the Muslims including crusades in Northern Europe and against Russia. The Mongolian Empire stretched into Eastern Europe with many eastern European armies falling under the horde. The Russian region known as Kievan Rus' was dominated by the Mongols with centuries of warfare. Military action died down in the early to mid 14th century considering the black death was wreaking havoc through much of Europe. The medieval ages ended with the Western European conflict of the Hundred Years' War (1337 to 1453) that was primarily between England and France ending in French victory. 4 The Renaissance Gunpowder small-arms ended cavalry superiority. The Italian Wars dominated the early part of this period. It originally started as a dynastic dispute but eventually involved all the European powers as a struggle for power and territory. The 30 Years' War from 1618 to 1648 dominated Central Europe from participation of all the major European powers resulting in German areas virtual economic disintegration. 5 Gunpowder age The Great Northern War (1700 to 1721) was fought between Russia, Denmark-Norway, Saxony- Poland and between Sweden and the Ottoman Empire ending in Russian victory with the end of the Swedish empire and the use of Sweden as a power satellite in the region. The Seven Years' War (1754 and 1756–1763] that enveloped both European and colonial theaters involved all the major European powers. France was at the center of attention with the Napoleonic Wars starting from the French Revolution, the combined conflicts lasting from 1792 and ending in 1815 with the defeat of Napoleon. The German states, headed by Prussia, taking a century of recovery from the devastation of the 30 Years' War, started a series of victorious wars first starting with the Danish-Prussian War (1864), Austro-Prussian War (1866), and ending in the Franco-Prussian War (1870–71) that resulted in the reunification of Germany forming the German Empire. Kabinettskriege (English: "Cabinet Wars", singular Kabinettskrieg) is the German expression referring to the type of wars which affected Europe during the period of absolute monarchies, from the 1648 Peace of Westphalia to the 1789 French Revolution. It is also known as "war between princes." Such wars involved small armies, noble officer corps, limited war goals, and frequently changing coalitions among the belligerents. The terms of Kabinettskriege plays on Kabinettsregierung (Cabinet government), Kabinettsjustiz (Cabinet law), etc. In contrast with precedent wars of religions, and 20th century total wars or revolutionary people's war, "cabinet wars" had limited goals. Karl von Clausewitz theorized this in On War by stating that "wars was the continuation of politics by other means," thus placing the military under civilian control. 3 The Thirty Years' War, based on religious conflict, had been marked by wild plunders and marauding armies. Order was reestablished by the 1648 Treaty of Westphalia, which formulated the rules of international relations for the next centuries, in particular respective to the laws of war (jus ad bello and jus in bellum). During the Age of Enlightenment and under the direction of the "enlightened despots," wars became more regulated, although the civilian population was still a current victim of mercenaries. Such scenes as the 1572 St. Bartholomew's Day massacre became exceptional. Thus, Berlin was not plundered during the Seven Years' War of 1756-1762, despite having fallen into enemy hands not once but twice. Cabinet wars, which mostly took place between 1650 and 1792, included the: Ottoman wars War of the Grand Alliance (1688-1697) Great Northern War (1700-1721) War of the Spanish Succession (1701-1714) War of the Polish Succession (1733-1735) War of the Austrian Succession (1740-1748) Seven Years' War (1756-1763) The invention of the levée en masse (mass conscription) during the French Revolution put an end to cabinet wars. Further wars were not simply due to conflict between princes, but involved nationalism and conflicts over the boundaries of nation-states. Thus, the Peninsular War was called by Spanish the "independence war"; this conflict also led to the first guerrilla warfare, against the regular Napoleonic army. The Crimean War (1854-1856) could be classified, however, among the "cabinet wars," as it was conducted with limited goals and released only moderate passions from the people of the involved belligerent states. The War of the Polish Succession (1733–1738) Was a major European war for princes' possessions sparked by a Polish civil war over the succession to Augustus II, King of Poland that other European powers widened in pursuit of their own national interests. France and Spain, the two Bourbon powers, attempted to check the power of the Austrian Habsburgs in western Europe, as did the Kingdom of Prussia; whilst in the East, Saxony and Russia mobilized to support the eventual Polish victor. The slight amount of fighting in Poland resulted in the accession of Augustus III, who in addition to Russia and Saxony, was politically supported by the Habsburgs. The war's major military campaigns occurred outside Poland. The Bourbons, supported by Charles Emmanuel III of Sardinia, moved against isolated Habsburg territories. In the Rhineland France successfully took the Duchy of Lorraine, and in Italy Spain regained control over the kingdoms of Naples and Sicily (lost in the War of the Spanish Succession), while territorial gains in northern Italy were limited despite bloody campaigning. Great Britain's unwillingness to support Habsburg Austria demonstrated major cracks in the Anglo-Austrian Alliance and may have contributed to Austria's military failures. Although a preliminary peace was reached in 1735, the war was formally ended with the Treaty of Vienna (1738) in which Augustus III was confirmed as king of Poland and his opponent Stanisław Leszczyński (who had received virtually no foreign military support) was awarded the Duchy of Lorraine.