Premodern Warfare

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Compared to modern warfare, premodern warfare was more linear and limited. The soldiers usually faced off on to fronts until one side decides to cut retreat, and the range of fighting was limited by the small army size, the need for food, and inefficient means of transportation and communication. There were not efficient technological advances that allowed the armies to fight from a long range, live off the land, travel a long distance, or communicate effectively to allow the army to break into divisions. The soldiers had poor motivation to stay and fight, so one of the underlying issues for premodern armies was to keep the soldiers from running away. The leadership in premodern armies was determined by wealth and social status. An absolute …show more content…

Modern armies can live off the land and go farther distances. Weapons progressed to have longer ranges and deadlier effects, such as artillery and guns with rifling and breech loading. Modern wars have more effective means of communication and transportation. The invention of the telegraph in the early 1800s would make communication effectively instant. Railroads would allow armies and supplies to travel a greater distance in a shorter amount of time. The leadership in modern armies was appointed based on meritocracy. The army leaders were professional because they were trained and had experienced. A system of monarchy was not conducive to a modern army, so the monarch would have to be overthrown and a new system invoked to lead to modern warfare. Because the people are not as oppressed as they were under a tyrannical king, the soldiers had a higher motivation and sense of patriotism to fight. Because modern armies are better trained, better equipped, and able to communicate and move more effectively, they could use more modern strategies to fight the enemy: move in corps, surround them, trick them, outmaneuver them, etc. Modern warfare was not limited to fighting the opposition in a straight-forward, head-on

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