A Comparative Analysis: Gunpowder and Nuclear Weapons in Military History

Since the establishment of civilizations, man has been interested in inventing simple tools to defend himself, but with the development of lifestyles and the rise of nations. The interest has become greater in developing military methods and developing weapons. In this article I will discuss about two types of technology methods in military weapons, the first was before the fifteenth century and the other after the 15th century. Then I will dwell in this research on the similarities and different things between these two weapons and which of them contributed to the formation of human history.

What is Gunpowder?

Chinese scientists had previously been manipulating the saltpeter, the standard name for the strong oxidant salt scale, and they had been manipulating medical compounds for hundreds of years, once a hardworking person could combine it with sulfur and coal, the result of which was a mysterious powder. Observers note in a highly dated text dating back to the mid-ninth century that shows that as a result of smoke and flames, the faces and hands of scientists and homes were completely burned with which they were working.

The powerful Chinese tribe of Song developed gunpowder and its use in its war with the Mongols, whose constant invasions of the country disturbed the Chinese. The Mongols were the first to be attacked by flying, this attack was through an arrow with a tube of powder that was lit and was pushing itself across enemy lines. There were many types of weapons relying on gunpowder by the Chinese. Scientists believe that the psychological impact in terms of technological advances in military weapons contributed to the success of the Chinese in their wars with the Mongols.

Gunpowder remained monopolized by the Chinese until the thirteenth century, as soon as the flag was transferred through the silk trade to Europe and also in the Islamic world where this invention became something is very important used in many countries to develop their armies.

At the beginning of the year 1350. Powder cannons were common in the English and French army, which used technology in their war against each other in the Hundred Years War. Ottoman Turks also used cannons with this powder. With the invention of this powerful weapon, it became rich from the ordinary walls of Europe, which were considered weak and difficult to protect the army.

The next step in developing the uses for this powder was to insert this powder in the barrel of the gun. This idea appeared in the middle of the fifteenth century and it was a new and effective idea because it was using this powder in moving places and the number of cannons that were fixed throughout the war was reduced. With this idea, a new method emerged from which the soldier and the military forces could learn from, and it is considered one of the foundations of the advanced army at that time.

What are Nuclear Weapons?

A nuclear weapon is a device designed to release energy in the Associate in Nursing program in such a way that this device explodes as a result of a nuclear fusion reaction, a nuclear reaction, or a combination of these two fusion combinations. The unity of the area of division of these weapons is usually represented as nuclear bombs, and fusion weapons are used as atomic bombs. It is usually identified as a nuclear weapon, during which there is little energy that is free from nuclear fusion reaction.

Manufacture of massive explosive energy in nuclear weapons. Its importance can best be illustrated by formulating the kelton (1,000 tons) and (one million megaton tons) to explain the energy of the explosion in the equivalent weights of the conventional triple nitrogen explosive chemical. For example, the atomic bomb that occurred in the Japanese capital, in 1945, contains only 60 kilograms (140 pounds) of enriched uranium and is a free energy equal to fifteen kilotons of chemical explosives. This explosion simultaneously caused very strong impact and formation, enormous amounts of warmth, and deadly radiation. The convection currents resulting from the explosion increased the spread of scrap and dirt in the air. This makes the cloud that has since become a hypothetical sign of a nuclear explosion. In addition, the garbage affected by nuclear radiation was transported by high winds in the atmosphere, and this was then settled on the ground as a radioactive fallout. There were significant losses through the destruction, deaths, injuries, and diseases caused by the explosions in the capital, and three days later in Nagasaki, on a large scale before any single weapon occurred. Through the passage of contracts since 1945, while many countries have developed nuclear weapons and made them more strongly than they have signed on Japanese cities. For these reasons, the governments considered the terrible effects that resulted from these nuclear explosions to conclude agreements that limit the use of these destructive weapons, such as the Convention to limit nuclear tests in 1963, as well as the agreement that was held in 1968, which stipulates the non-proliferation of nuclear weapons. Between military strategists and planners, the presence of these asymmetric harmful force weapons has created a specific discipline called the nuclear strategy.

The bombs that occurred from the planes were considered the first nuclear weapons, after which the warheads of strategic aviation missiles were developed that became very far from the vital nuclear weapons. The nuclear weapon was developed by military scientists who contributed to the development of artillery projectiles, landmines, vertical defensive shipping charges, torpedoes, short-range flight missiles and cruise missiles.

There are nuclear stockpiles in many countries, for example, the inventory of Soviet nuclear weapons reached a peak in 1988, when the number of working nuclear war bombs reached thirty-three with the presence of bombs that were withdrawn but not dismantled, and the number reached ten thousand. Once the ground was disintegrated, Russia accelerated its explosive activities program, but the placement of many of the twelve nuclear warheads, which can be calculated to remain in Russia’s stockpile in 2010, was unclear. Given the limited Russian resources and the absence of legitimate military missions, approximately 4,600 of the twelve warheads were usable and maintained sufficient to deploy them. With 4,600 warheads ready for deployment, only 2,600 heads have been deployed on strategic systems and a small number of nuclear warheads numbering 12,000 on non-strategic systems.

One of the things that worries the world from a security standpoint is that the safety of nuclear warheads must be sound, as well as the security of nuclear materials far from destroyed nuclear warheads.

Overall, the similarities between these two weapons are that they contribute to strengthening the army and improving its defense methods well, but the difference is very large between gunpowder and between nuclear weapons, because gunpowder affected the era of its invention very well and helps the army to win, but nuclear weapons are weapons Mass destruction, very strong and may lead to the death of people. The weapon that contributed to the context of military life and the fundamental impact on it is gunpowder because, since its invention and it contributes to the success of weapons until the present time, it is used in firearms in the army and the army can use it most of the time, but nuclear weapons, if used at any time, affect In a very negative way on both sides and affects the lives of people in the future so that the army cannot use it at a time.