History Repeats Itself

History gives us many examples of new weapons defeating “tried and true” technology. The Greeks utilized its armored phalanx to overcome unarmored Persian warriors. Likewise the Romans used the Legion to outmaneuver the phalanx on the battlefield and establish their own culture. In due course the horse was adopted by who Romans considered barbarians, the Germans, who gave us the modern world. In a case of history repeating itself, the Germans nearly conquered Europe again, by use of modern cavalry, the tank, along with aircraft and submarines. Luckily, the West and Russia could produce more of these weapons, and turned them against their would-be conquerors.
Newer armaments are now dominating the battlefield, including satellites, precision munitions, and cruise missiles. So far they have only been used against barely industrialized countries in the Third World. With arms proliferation an ongoing problem, it may be interesting to see what happens when the new technology is better understood by our enemies and used against us.