For today’s post I am going to be talking about historical significance, meaning what makes an event historically significance to this day. The event I am going to be arguing for is not only the invention of the machine gun, but also the improvements made during the First World War and in years after that have greatly improved the abilities and efficiency of the weapon. I didn’t know what to expect when finding out more about the machine gun, but I had a good time making this post, enjoy.

To begin with we have to understand what makes something historically significant. In class I got a few really good definitions from my teachers that helped me understand the requirements for a history event. Here are the five I think best describe a historic event.

Did the event result in change or consequences for a long period of time?

Was it known by a significantly large amount of people?

Does it affect us to this day?

Was it important at the time?

Did it show us what issues existed in the past?

 One last one I wanted to add in as a piece of criteria is that if an event is not recorded then it is not considered historically significant. By that I mean if there is no way of knowing that an event happen in the past, then it is impossible to judge its significance ( ex. If a group of people discover a new medicine but they fail to record it and none of them are able to pass on the knowledge, then if can not be significant). 

Below I have created my own version of Partington’s Criteria with the five I listed above. I learned that trying to memorize what makes something significant is very hard for me to do, but my organizing it this format I am able to quickly see how important each part of this event is.

Now I have talked a bit about the criteria when evaluating events in the past, so it’s time to move onto the machine gun. In 1884 the first machine gun was developed by a man named Hiram Maxim . He created a system where the bolt ( the part where the bullet is ignited) and the barrel ( where the bullet is fired from) recoiled as one. The barrel will reach a certain distance them stop recoiling, and in the process drop out the used cartridge of the previous bullet. At the same time the bolt will continue to recoil which will load in the next round, and once it has reached its maximum recoil it will load and fire the next round. This was the first system that allowed an incredible firing speed, and during WW1 it would be improved upon, and used in battle. Just reading this information was hard for me, so I decided to sketch out what I thought this would look like.

I actually really enjoyed learning about this function. I thought is was very interesting the way pieces of the gun work as one to produce the most effective result. I also think it is cool that people are able to take these tiny components and change or rearrange them to completely change the end result.

When looking at our criteria I would think it is safe to say that this invention lead to much change and consequences that considerably affected people in the past, but also until this day. This weapon changed the way WW1 was fought and resulted in unique battle tactics from all countries. However it also lead to an estimated 5 million casualties during WW1, and I would guess that if the machine gun had not been invented at that time, the number of overall deaths would dramatically drop. It has also shaped how we fight to this day. It continues to be improved upon over and over again, and I believe this has also lead to a different way of viewing war. I can guarantee my view on how wars are fought is different from someone who lived in the early 1900s, and it’s all thanks to the invention of the machine gun.

Lastly I believe this invention tells us something about strategy in the past; those who are not able to adapt are likely to produce high casualties number. I say this because even after the machine gun was produced, armies still focused on standard bayonet combat techniques and somewhat disregarded that there would be any strategy with the machine gun. However those armies who designed tactics for this new weapon were the ones that easily over took unprepared enemies. Below is a very good video that helped me understand  all the information about the recoil systems in the first machine guns along with its use in WW1. To view the video click Here.

To wrap up I wanted to also say that I think this event is very much a significant event, if not the most significant event of the 19th century, however I think what is more significant is the time in which this invention was developed. I believe that even if Hiram Maxim did not invent the machine gun then someone else would have. Some was bound to think of ways to make the gun faster and more dangerous, it’s just how people think. However because it was invented in the late 80s early 90s, it had the time to develop into a more and more deadly machine even by the First World War. I wonder how different the machine would be if it was discovered even earlier?

In conclusion I believe the machine gun is consider a historically significant event if not the most historically significant even of the 19 century. It changed WW1 and still impacts the current wars going on in modern day. The recoil system that Maxim designed has been adapted many times over which has lead to many different types of guns over many years.

That’s all for now.