(narrator) Weapons
have existed as long as humankind. For millennia, they have determined
the destiny of generations. Weapons bring suffering and death. They show what humans
can inflict upon other humans. But they are also intended
to keep the peace and pave new ways for technology. Ranged weapons. We will show how they have made history and shaped whole eras. Astonishing experiments will uncover the secret
of their deadly efficiency. The minié ball
with its precision and penetrating power is a real game changer
in the 19th century. It actually quite scared me. (narrator) The longbow
even frightens medieval noblemen. It's a piece of wood
that transports arrows very far. (narrator) And the Roman javelin
incapacitates enemies with a simple trick. If I was holding it,
it would have reached the man behind. (narrator) Our first weapon,
the pilum, the Roman javelin. According to ancient sources, it was the decisive weapon
for the imperial legions. The history of the pilum
dates back to the dawn of mankind. Humans have used spears
for hunting for more than 400,000 years. It is the only way for them to kill
dangerous animals like bison: an essential part
of the Neanderthals' diet. More than 40,000 years ago, a new species
enters the territory of the Neanderthals: Homo sapiens, the modern man. The intruders carry wooden throwing spears
that they use with efficiency. About 10,000 years later, Homo sapiens have
successfully outlived Neanderthals, probably thanks to
a better hunting and combat technique. (speaks German) A perfect
hunting weapon, like a spear, makes sure the human brain,
an organ which needs a lot of protein, gets enough nutrients. A good hunting weapon
helps keep the brain going. (narrator) A sensational find
in Germany from the 1990s. In Schöningen, Lower Saxony, archeologists discover
eight wooden javelins. They estimate they are
at least 300,000 years old. About 10,000 years ago, groups of people
started waging war against each other, making use of the weapons
that had proven successful in hunting. Ancient men developed
means of hunting using spears and throwing weapons
and eventually bows. Once they started fighting over territory, they used these weapons
against other humans. Weapons are not designed only
for use against other people, but for use against animals,
they are hunting tools, and they then become specialized
as military or hunting weapons. (narrator) Ancient peoples further develop
weaponry with great effort. Mike Loades is a weapons historian. He finds spears particularly fascinating. Spears come in all shapes and sizes. Heavy ones and light ones like this. (narrator) A normal throwing spear
carries a risk in battle. If it misses the target,
it falls into the hands of the enemy, who can throw it back at the attacker. From the 6th century BCE on, the rise of the Roman Empire marks the beginning of a new chapter
in the history of javelins. The most ingenious, the cleverest,
the most designed spear ever made was the Roman pilum. (narrator) Roman soldiers used spears
in battles for over a thousand years. (soldiers shout) Like in the year 52 BCE, the Gauls desperately oppose
integration in the Roman Empire. They do everything
in their power to defend Lutetia, which will later become Paris. Four Roman legions
are attacking the Gauls. Difficult territory
and the enemies' resistance make it tough. In the end, Caesar's legionaries triumph. How did they use
their miracle weapon, the pilum? The Romans fight mechanically. They fight in formation, not individually, whereas most people they fight,
fight as individuals. The pilum is
one more way of making sure that these enthusiastic warriors
coming at you don't have shields. (narrator) The basic equipment
of the Roman legionary consisted of protective mail,
a short sword and two pila. The length of a typical pilum: two meters. The weight: about two kilograms. The pilum looks strikingly different
than other ancient spears. It has a long shaft
with a broad, square head. What is it for? What's its secret? [metallic clanging] Jens Christiansen is interested
in historical blacksmith techniques. He will try and manufacture a pilum
the way the Romans did 2,000 years ago. First step: forge the head
and the shaft from a blank. That needs to be at 1,000 degrees Celsius
for the blacksmith to hammer it into the characteristic form. As you can see, it really... -That's hard work.
-You have to put power into it. I wasn't counting, but that was
several hundred heavy power blows. Just a third? -But now it's just grunt work.
-Yeah, yeah. -We can use the power hammer.
-Sure. -Let's finish it off with that.
-Let's do that. (narrator) But even with a modern
power hammer at 250 blows per minute, turning a blank into a pilum head
takes several minutes. The elaborate manufacturing
of one single pilum shows how advanced
ancient blacksmiths' techniques were. The Romans produced weapons
on an industrial scale. The industrial complex
of the Roman arms industry was phenomenal. The average legion is 4,800,
so around 5,000 people in a legion. Roman legionary carried two of these, so that's 10,000 to supply a legion. Some battles had 20 legions. 200,000 of these.
What an extraordinary achievement. (narrator) The Romans
standardize manufacturing methods. This is how they can produce
millions of pila over the centuries. The iron shaft of the pilum is fixed
with two bolts on the wooden stick. (marching, soldiers shout) In the battle of Lutetia, the pilum gives the Roman troops under
Titus Labienus' command a decisive edge. Although the Gauls
are armed with heavy shields, they cannot protect themselves from the
penetration power of the Roman javelin. Caesar tells us "These front ranks were
transfixed by our javelins, by our pila." In just a couple of salvos of pila,
Labienus had managed to halt that storm of Gauls
coming towards his men. Not only did he stop that charge, but by building a wall
of dead and dying in front of his lines, he slowed any further charges. So that main tactic of the Gauls was now
thwarted for the rest of the battle. (narrator) Denmark. A historical village museum. Mike Loades and his team
are preparing an experiment to find out how the pilum actually performs when
an attacker approaches at high speed. What we've set up here
is to imitate the charge of a Barbarian against a Roman shield wall. So this is the Barbarian shield.
Carsten is the Barbarian. So he's going to pull this sled
as fast as he can, charging at me. And then see if it will penetrate
this very sturdy piece of wood. And I think we've got quite
a challenge on there. But let's give it a go. (narrator) According to Caesar's book
on the Gallic War, the pilum could punch through
several of their adversaries' shields. But can this actually be true,
or is Caesar wildly exaggerating? Look at that.
It's punched straight through. Effortless, almost. It was using
his momentum against him. This broad, conical head
has punched through. Then this narrow foreshaft,
because it's narrower, there was barely any friction,
so it came right through. (narrator) This explains
why the Romans worked so hard at forging the head of the pilum
and the long iron shaft. This is what allows the spear
to easily penetrate the enemy's shield. But could the adversary
have pulled it out and thrown it back? If I was holding that,
it would have reached the man behind. Even if it had only gone through that far,
then it would have done this. You can see the weight pulling down.
If I charge forward, see what happens. My shield gets stuck. I can't pull it out. So all I do is abandon the shield. Now I have to continue
my attack defenseless. (narrator) The battle of Lutetia
is a bloodbath, but the Romans score a pivotal victory. It is another step on their way
to conquer Gaul. Like many times in the history of war, discipline and technological
supremacy are decisive. The pilum
is a one-shot weapon. You can only throw it once. Once it's hit the target,
you can't use it again. That means you can't throw it
back at the Romans, but after the battle, the Romans pick up
the pila, take them to the armorer, mend them, and they'll be ready to use. This is a neat weapon. (narrator) The pilum is more potent
than a normal javelin. Effortlessly,
it transfixes enemies' shields and at the same time
becomes useless for them. A master stroke by Roman weapon designers. After the fall of Rome,
the pilum fades into oblivion. In order to use this ranged weapon, you need a veritable arms industry. No early medieval kingdom
has such capacities. Our next ranged weapon: the longbow. In the Middle Ages,
it becomes the fear of all knights. What is its secret? And why were English longbow archers
dreaded by so many on the battlefield? August 26, 1346. Crécy, a small town near the Norman coast. The forces of England's King Edward III are facing those
of his French antagonist, Philip VI. It is the first big battle of the Hundred
Years' War between England and France. They fight over French mainland territory
and the rule of France. England even claims the French throne. (horses neigh) (thunder rumbles) On paper, Philip's troops
are clearly superior. 30,000 French warriors are ready
to take down only 14,000 Englishmen. (men shout) The French, however, have overestimated
their chances of an easy victory. Thousands of English arrows
rain down on them. Historians estimate that the English
shot up to 35,000 arrows a minute. (horse whinnies) People have used bow and arrow
for at least 10,000 years. But why does this ancient weapon become
so crucial again in the Middle Ages? Bowyer Anton Weninger
knows their mysteries. This is an English longbow. It stands out for its length
and penetrating power. This weapon is very effective,
even at longer distances. What fascinates me
is that this is a piece of wood that is able to transport arrows very far. (narrator) The dreaded Hungarian riders
a few centuries earlier used shorter bows. These consist of several layers.
A lengthy manufacturing process. Composite bows
are hardly weather-resistant, but are handy for rapid deployment. But the penetrating power
of Hungarian composite bows is limited. In 955, the attackers lose against
the armed forces of German King Otto. The English longbow is special, because it consists of
one single piece of wood, one trunk. Anton Weninger
explores the historical techniques that our ancestors employed
to make this weapon. When you look at this yew,
you can see the sap wood. That's the pale layer.
And this is the heart wood. The heart of the yew
is tough and durable, while the sap wood
is very flexible and elastic. In yew bows,
the part that faces the archer, is made of core wood and the sap
is used for the front side of the bow. There is a lot of tension when shooting,
so this part needs to be bendy. (narrator) Yew wood grows very slowly,
which makes it perfect for bowyery. This resistant wood
is hard to get nowadays. One trunk costs about 200 euros. In the Middle Ages,
the English bowyery industry almost wipes out
the entire European yew population with its insatiable demand
for the wooden raw material. The timber for English longbows
often comes from Southern Germany. In the middle of the 16th century, there is hardly any yew left
in the woods of Bavaria. Clearcutting has left a lasting mark. In Germany, yew is an endangered species. Men have
always treated nature carelessly when it comes to procuring
resources for producing weapons. Take Mitterberg in central Austria. In the Bronze Age,
people mined copper ore in this region. The area around some of the mine tailings
is still completely dead today. (narrator) Raw materials have always been
essential for manufacturing weapons. The Romans needed 30 tons of iron
to equip one single legion for battle. Since antiquity, mining and smelting
for the weapons industry have contaminated European rivers. Air pollution even
presented a problem in Ancient Rome. Hundreds of furnaces
produce toxic emissions, generated during the smelting
of copper, iron or lead ore, raw materials that were largely used
to produce weapons. You work with what you've got. If you can pick it up,
it's better than paying for it. If you have control,
and the King of England has ownership of
everything under the ground, so anything you mine belongs
to the King of England. So if you need iron, when
it's dug up the king owns it. He'll pay you for digging it out, rather than paying you
to own the property. So medieval and modern states have found ways
of concentrating their resources to maximize their ability
to manufacture weapons. (narrator) Back to the longbow.
In his studio in Austria, Weninger is working on
the fine-tuning of the bow, which has taken
its characteristic round form now. The grooves
at the ends will hold the string that Weninger will manufacture next. The string is key
to the performance of the longbow. The more robust it is, the further
and more precisely the bow will shoot. (Weninger speaks German) Nettles or flax strings were used, but they don't grow
as well as they used to. In the Middle Ages,
nettles could grow as high as 1.5 meters. For safety reasons, we use a nylon string. This also protects the bow
from the vibrations and we can be sure
that the string won't break. (narrator) Medieval bow strings made of
natural materials lose tension when wet and have to be replaced more frequently. The last step of the procedure
is the most difficult one. Anton Weninger
scrapes off razor-thin layers to affect the draw weight of the bow. The more he scrapes off,
the lighter it will be. The medieval longbow made of yew wood.
Almost two meters long. Draw weight: about 140 pounds. Today's competitive target shooters
work with 30 to 50 pounds. Continued training
with these massive weapons comes at a high price
for English longbow shooters. This archer has a really large
and oversized bow. And most of the archers
suffered from skeletal lesions. On the left, that is the bow hand,
they had underdeveloped shoulders. On the right, the draw hand,
the shoulder was overdeveloped. This is something archeologists
found in skeletons. You know immediately
if someone was an archer or not. (narrator) In battle, a well-trained
medieval archer has one main task: to break through the ranks of
the enemy with targeted long-range shots. But how well does this work
with the historical yew bow? The first shooting test at 50 meters.
A normal distance in competitions today. Different factors affect
the trajectory of the arrows: the crosswind and the vibrations
when the arrow is shot. You always create tension in a bow
by pulling back the string. Energy is stored in it
due to this tension. Once I release the string, this potential
energy becomes kinetic energy. But when I release the string,
it vibrates. Think of it like a guitar string.
This vibration transfers to the bow. If I don't pay close attention
and hold on tight to the front part, I will get a little shock
and I might miss my target. (narrator) Weninger
is an experienced archer. He has to keep all these factors in mind
and intuitively anticipate the trajectory. Five out of ten arrows hit the target
from a 50 meter range. I'm satisfied. (narrator) Medieval archers
were not only known for precision, but also for a high fire rate. How many arrows a minute are possible? Sticking the arrows in the ground is one technique
that facilitates fast shooting. For this experiment,
Anton Weninger puts on a gambeson, a historical piece of padded armor
that the archers at Crécy wore as well. (man) Ready, steady, go. Oh. I can't believe it. (narrator) An unusual situation. The medieval armor seems to greatly
restrict Weninger's movements. -And what was my time?
-(man) 59.35. (he chuckles) Okay, almost. But it's really not easy
with this thing on. It's really heavy, very stiff. I could only draw the first one downwards.
I just could not lift my arm. The arrows are all over the place.
That's bad. And incredibly hard. (narrator) Some modern archers
train for fast shooting. They can fire an arrow
every one or two seconds. Ancient sources
also mention special techniques, like holding several arrows in one hand. The longbow is a significant part
of England's medieval culture. Kind Edward III issued a decree in 1369 that obliged Londoners
to regularly practice archery. Even six-year-old children
were trained to shoot a bow. Most archers did not get older than 25. That was their expiration date,
if you will. Young people were almost abused
in the desire to produce good archers. (narrator) The well-trained archers
also represent a threat to feudal order. This is a terrifying weapon
for two reasons: It'll kill you, but it also means
peasants can kill noblemen. It's changed the natural order of things. A nobleman should be
able to knock over all peasants. Now one peasant with a longbow
can kill a nobleman. This terrifies
an aristocratic order that believes that it has superiority because of birth, because of privilege
and because it has money. It's a leveling weapon.
It takes away the advantage of privilege and restores it
to that of skill and practice. (narrator) This also explains
why archers are surrounded by myths. The most popular among them
lives in the forest. Robin Hood. In the first medieval ballads,
he is described as a highwayman, an ordinary criminal. But later, in 16th century literature, he becomes
an almost altruistic robber leader, who takes from the rich
and gives to the poor. He went down in history
as a highly skilled longbow archer. His story remains fascinating to this day. Countless movies celebrate
the heroic Robin Hood. It's unlikely. Villains don't give money
to the poor, they just take from the rich. He's a folk hero
who's invented at a time when the king
is oppressing the peasants. So the idea that a mythic figure
would take the money back that the king has stolen
and return it to the people... It's the myth of all myths.
Every country has a figure like this. In England, he's Robin Hood,
he dresses in green, and he uses a longbow against the king's
men, who wear armor and carry swords. So he's leveling the playing field.
He's a working-class hero. (narrator) English longbow archers pose
a threat to noblemen in real life, too, with arrow salves shot from far away. How does such a long-range shot work? Anton Weninger will now test his yew bow
on a distance of 100 meters. He has to shoot high. I have to aim far above the target,
in the forest. That is where my target is now.
This is where I want to get up to. The distance is okay,
but the wind is giving me a hard time. Now I calculated with the wind, the direction should be perfect. (narrator) At this distance,
an archer faces many problems. Weninger needs to inch
towards the target. (Weninger) We're not far off. (narrator) All his arrows
fall near the target and dig deep into the ground. Such long-range shots in a high curve
develop an enormous force and would have penetrated the armor
of fast-approaching knights. The English longbows
were even stronger than this bow. This one is at 50 pounds. Back in the day,
they were 100 to 120 pounds. Their trajectory is lower. They did not
have to aim as high as I just did. And the arrows were heavier. That means
there was less drift in the wind. (narrator) We want to find out how
bad the injuries caused by an arrow are. Weninger is setting up
a torso made of ballistic gelatin. For the targeted shot, he gets assistance
from trick-shot artist Peter Stecher. The arrow shot from a 30-meter distance
enters deep into the ballistic gelatin. The material closely simulates
the characteristics of human tissue and shows how fatally longbows
could injure a man. Ten centimeters. That's very deep. Let's see. How deep is that? (Weninger) Right in the heart. (narrator) This also explains
the outcome of the battle of Crécy. Several thousands dead
in the French ranks, while the English
only lost a couple of hundred men. This defeat will weaken
the Kingdom of France for decades. Once again, sophisticated
technology has given the decisive edge. (Lambert) The longbow is not precise. It's not designed
to hit a single man at long range. It's designed
to engage a large body of men, and almost certainly horses as well,
moving towards the longbowman. And they will fire volleys of arrows
at the great mass of the enemy. It's about a very large amount of fire.
So it's quite modern. (soldiers shout) (narrator) The longbow. A decisive weapon
in late medieval battles. After years of training, the English
archers can defeat the French knights. Other European rulers would like to
have troops with such penetration power, but only the English king invests
enough money to build an army of archers. But as time goes by,
the longbow quickly loses impact. At the end of the Middle Ages, new weapons
arise, bringing noise and smoke. And a more efficient form
of ranged warfare. Fire weapons fundamentally change
military technology around the globe. One of the deadliest inventions
of the 19th century: the minié ball. It decides
on life and death on the battlefield. And also sparks significant progress
in medical care for soldiers. What is so special
about this new kind of ammunition? Before the minié ball,
until the mid-19th century, combat tactics were simple. Soldiers moved in closed ranks
towards one another and then shot at their enemies
with muskets. These weapons were powerful. They
did a lot of damage if they hit a body, but they were not accurate beyond
about 50 paces, about 40 meters. And they tended to be fired not
at targets, but they would be leveled. A platoon of soldiers would level
their muskets towards the target, fire them all at once,
hoping some rounds would hit. Beyond 100 yards,
you would make a lot of noise, you might hit a few things
and frighten horses, but that's it. So this is a weapon which lacks range. (narrator) The minié ball
will end this way of warfare forever. Summer 1853. Russian troops invade the Ottoman Empire. The Crimean War begins.
The first media war in history. Photographer Robert Fenton
has a mobile development lab. His photos document
the everyday life of the soldiers. Telegraph lines spread the news
across the continent in the blink of an eye. France and England fight side by side
with the Ottoman Empire. In the Battle of Inkerman
on November 5,1854, they use the new minié ball
against the Russian troops. And score an important triumph. On a firing range
near Gotha in central Germany, we want to uncover the secret
of the minié ball and find out how it could make
the round lead balls obsolete so quickly. The whole different form of this new type
of ammunition immediately catches the eye. Wolfgang Stabe
trades in historical weapons. He knows how deeply the new ammunition
affected the wars of the 19th century. (speaks German) The minié ball changed history. It allowed much higher precision. (narrator) In 1846,
French officer Claude-Étienne Minié invents the revolutionary ball, which requires a special barrel. The minié ball is not round,
which was the norm before, but is conical at the front. It's not even three centimeters long
and only weighs 32 grams. A tiny projectile
with dramatic effects. Minié designed the ball
in such a way that it became the basis for all modern bullets. (narrator) What made Minié's ammunition
better than the existing lead balls? Our shooting experiment begins,
at a distance of 50 meters. I'll shoot ten times and see how
significant the dispersion is. (narrator) Stabe puts in the gunpowder, then the round lead ball
wrapped in wadding, which seals the gas behind
the projectile in the barrel. He uses a Brown Bess for the experiment. A standard musket
of the British army in the 18th century. You can hit the target,
but there is much dispersion. (narrator) The musket has a flintlock
mechanism to create a spark that ignites the gunpowder, which then in turn ignites
the main charge in the barrel. Two ignitions in a row. The technology is prone to malfunction. That's typical for flintlock weapons. The ignition often fails.
The gunpowder makes everything messy. The flint, that's here, stops
emitting sparks at some point and you have to replace it. They often malfunction. (narrator) The experiment continues
with new flint and new ignition charge. And the musket causes more problems. I can barely touch it, it's so hot. It's getting harder to charge,
because the barrel is blocked. It needs to be cleaned thoroughly. Alright, let's try and fire the last shot. (narrator) Stabe's last shot
misses the target. It's astonishing
you can hit this target at all. Eight shots hit, two missed. You can already see all the dispersion.
That is why the musket has no fixed sight. From a military point of view,
it was scattershot. They passed the firing line, said "fire!"
hoping someone would hit the target. (narrator) The minié ball.
It needs to be greased first. Otherwise it would scratch
inside the barrel and leave lead traces. The layer of grease in the characteristic
grooves of the projectile prevents this. To match the ammunition,
Stabe uses an Enfield rifle that was introduced to
the English army in 1852. The minié ball is easier to charge
than the round ball with the wadding. (gunshot) (narrator) Targeting is much easier too, because unlike the musket,
the Enfield rifle has sights. (Stabe) They are much closer together. It's clearly more accurate. (narrator) Aiming with
the musket is down to luck. Stabe shoots
more accurately using the minié balls. You can see clearly
the minié ball is superior. All these shots would have been deadly. (narrator) The evaluation shows:
using the new projectile, Stabe hits the target seven times out
out of ten perfectly or almost perfectly. He can only score
three hits with the lead ball. The other shots are widely dispersed. The minié ball
was designed to hit a target from several hundred meters away. This is only possible in combination
with another invention. The minié ball
was not the only innovation. The barrel is part of the new design. (narrator) The rifled barrel
was invented before the minié ball, presumably in the late 15th century. The idea was
that the grooves machined into the walls impart spin to the projectile. The spinning motion
stabilizes the trajectory. There are different ways
to make rifled barrels. Historically, the grooves were cut in
in a complicated process. Today, they are usually formed
with a hammer. It's delicate and very detailed work. These barrels are
high-precision instruments. (narrator) This is
how the mechanism works. The explosion of the gunpowder
generates a gas cloud, \which drives the projectile forward. Minié's ball
has a conical hollow in its base, which expands
under the pressure of the explosion and seals the barrel perfectly. Due to the spiral grooves,
the bullet starts spinning. The stronger the spin,
the bigger an external force must be to diverge
the trajectory of the projectile. This means the spin
ensures a stable trajectory. If you shot these bullets without spin,
the distribution of the mass would be so imbalanced that the minié ball
would tumble and flip over. (narrator) Military officers worked on
developing ammunition long before Minié. The objective was always
to increase accuracy and range. And most importantly,
the firing rate per minute. As early as the 16th century, musketeers use
specially designed, small wooden tubes filled with the exact amount
of powder charge they required. In the 17th century,
the first paper cartridges were invented that further facilitated
the charging process. In just one case, they contained
the gunpowder and the lead projectile. The next leap forward is the integration
of all components in one metal cartridge. Two French gunsmiths
were successful in this endeavor. The first was Casimir Lefaucheux
with his pinfire cartridge. The second weapon inventor
was Louis Flobert. These cartridges
almost look like modern ammunition. The metal cartridge was crucial
in the development of firearms. The cartridge brought together
the four elements in one place. It contained the bullet
or projectile. It contained the main charge
to launch the projectile. It contained the cap,
which initiated the main charge. And finally, the case itself. (narrator) 100 years ago, John Moses
Browning, an American firearms designer, developed ammunition with a large
cartridge and a slim, pointed projectile. To this day,
the design has barely changed. But the way ammunition
is manufactured influences its effect. Some bullets have such
disastrous effects on the human body that they have
been internationally outlawed. I'd like to know
how powerful this minié ball is compared to a round ball
and the modern NATO cartridge. I'll shoot at this ballistic block.
It's a special gel. It shows me the real impact
of a bullet on a human body. (narrator) Each bullet
needs the right rifle. For the lead bullet,
Stabe uses the musket. The bullet goes through the ballistic
block and exits again at the back. For the NATO cartridge,
Stabe uses a semi-automatic rifle. The cartridge has been
an integral part of the standard equipment of Western armies for almost 50 years. Same thing here: a perforating shot. In the last round,
Wolfgang Stabe uses a minié ball to shoot at the dummy. The projectile that dates back more than
150 years has the biggest impact energy. Here was the round ball.
The biggest and heaviest bullet. Incredible impact. A large wound channel. The smallest bullet,
the NATO cartridge, darted through. Brutal. It would have perforated anyone. The minié ball was the most effective.
It's the one that displaced most tissue. You can see the enormous impact energy. It scares me
that this ancient minié ball has had such an impact. (narrator) A direct comparison: On the left the lead bullet,
on the right the NATO cartridge, in the middle the minié ball with powerful effect. If you look closely at a bullet wound, you can see an area
where the tissue is destroyed. This was also true
if the bullet hit a bone. It was simply splintered. That means the wounds were big.
The bones within were splintered. In the past, it was extremely difficult
to do anything, to operate for example. (narrator) The wounds caused by the
new bullet have far-reaching consequences. The battle of Solferino
takes place in 1859, in the Second Italian War of Independence. Austria fights
the Italians and the French. Swiss businessman Henry Dunant witnesses
the terrible wounds the minié ball causes. Almost 40,000 dead and wounded people
lie on the battle ground. Spontaneously and with volunteers Dunant organizes
makeshift first-aid for the wounded. It's the beginning of a movement that
will soon become known as "The Red Cross." From 1864 on, a predecessor of the German
Red Cross is employed for the first time in the Wars of German Unification. The 19th century is marked by discussions
about how to make wars more human, focusing on helping the wounded
and setting up binding rules for warfare. In 1899, the major powers
agree on the Hague Convention. Among other things, it prohibits weapons
that cause unnecessary suffering. A milestone on the way
to humanitarian international law, its impact, however, remains limited. Everybody broke the
Hague Convention in the First World War. Some more than others. They broke it because the
alternative was to be defeated. Rules are rules,
but when you're up against it, the opportunity to cheat
a little is quite attractive. It's a human thing. (narrator) Only after millions died in the
two world wars do people start to rethink. Societies of the 21st century
are no longer willing to sacrifice entire generations of young soldiers. States are interested in ranged weapons which minimize
the danger for their soldiers. It's tempting
to think we can sanitize warfare and make it such a one-sided process
that it looks like a video game. We sit at a long distance, press buttons
and the bad guys go away. That isn't a game
the bad guys want to play. We have to accept that distance
is a great advantage, as is precision, but battles are won ultimately
when the enemy is defeated. If he won't play,
you have to go get him. That means getting closer
to the place where he wants you to be. (narrator) Nevertheless,
effort and money is put into developing new ranged weapons. Sometimes they look like they come
straight from a sci-fi movie. For example, the railgun. But the US Navy is indeed testing it. The first phase is stationary. But the long-term goal is to operate
the weapon from ships or ground vehicles. The patent for the railgun
was filed in 1918, but it took almost 100 years
for this technology to be ready to use. In railguns,
propellants become completely redundant, because the acceleration is caused
by a magnetic field, not by an explosion. The principle behind railguns
comes from physics: I have a conductor, like a piece of wire,
which electricity runs through. There is also an external magnetic field
that affects the wire. This creates a force
that wants to move the conductor. If you take a railgun,
you don't have a wire, but you send the current
right down the projectile. If I now have
a strong external magnetic field, there's an accelerating force impact
on the projectile so powerful it can generate a velocity
seven times the speed of sound. (narrator)This novel technology breaks all
limitations of conventional fire weapons. For physical reasons, they cannot eject
a projectile faster than 2 km per second. The railgun on the other hand
fires almost four times as fast. Today, it can accurately hit a target
that is 185 km away. It was a long way
until this futuristic weapon was born. The first ranged weapons,
like the javelin, were used at close range
of a couple of meters. Over the centuries, the battle distance
has gradually increased. In a test setting, the railgun projectile effortlessly penetrates
several steel plates. But it has a downside. It uses a lot of power to generate
the enormous projectile velocity. Whether the railgun will really change
future wars, remains to be seen. Subtitles: Jacqueline Ball et al.
Eurotape - Nordkurier Mediengruppe - 2018
