THE HISTORY OF ARMIES AROUND THE WORLD in the word distance Prior to the appearance of gunpowder land battles were mostly hand to hand combat Whether soldiers were on foot on horseback or in chariots the weapons were much the same and battles were fought as close encounters Gunpowder made it possible to kill an enemy hundreds of feet away Bombs a natural outgrowth of gunpow der and nuclear weapons also revolutionized warfare changing the nature of many army operations While foot soldiers are still the main combatants in most wars modern infantrymen are supported by aircraft artillery tanks and all the complexities of modern communication systems Modern warfare with its land air and sea components has greatly enlarged the field of operations beyond a single battlefield as evident in the wars of the 21st century As militaries have become more inclusive of women and gays in service armies have become increasingly diverse in composition New weapons and technologies have revolutionized battle tactics and the nature of war Yet even as military policies technologies weapons and strategies continue to evolve armies remain an enduring and crucial part of armed forces around the world IO
WHAT IS AN ARMY n army is an organized land based military fighting unit From the ancient world to modern times the organization and composition of armies have varied considerably W COMPOSITION OF ARMIES The earliest armies consisted of warriors in horse drawn chariots infantry armed foot soldiers and cavalry armed soldiers on horseback These units were sometimes accompanied by engineers who operated siege weapons and by supply trains to feed and outfit the fighters With the introduction of cannons in the 15th century artillery units were added to the combat sections of armies In the 19th and 20th centuries as a result of great advances in technology other units were added signal troops engineer corps for OTI
A A 15th century cannon Ingvar Tjostheim Shutterstock com 12
WHAT IS AN ARMY building bridges and entrenchments medical units administrative troops mechanized units to replace cavalry transportation and commu nication units and explosives and munitions experts The number of such backup or sup port units has tended to increase as warfare has become more sophisticated CONSCRIPTION Conscription is the compulsory enrollment for service in a country's armed forces It has existed at least since the Egyptian Old Kingdom in the 27th century BCE It usually takes the form of selective service rather than universal conscription The latter generally refers to compulsory military service by all able bodied men between certain ages though a few countries notably Israel have also drafted women In the 19th century Prussia's system of building up a large standing army through conscription became the model for compet ing European powers During the American Civil War both the federal government and the Confederacy instituted a draft but the U S did not use it again until entering World War I in 1917 Like the U S Britain abandoned conscription at the end of World War Ibut reverted to it when World War II threatened Britain retained the draft until 1960 In the United States although peacetime conscription on a selective basis was ended in 1973 as part of a program to establish an all volunteer military service registration for a future draft if needed was reinstituted in 1980 13
