Military History Test 1

Warring states

• This period was from 200BC to 500BC

• 7 Chinese kingdoms were constantly fighting

• Chinese use cavalry 

• Chinese invented the crossbow during this period

Crossbow

• Ranged weapon 

• It fires bolts

• They have triggers

• Soldiers don’t need a lot of training to use it

Sun Tzu

• He wrote about military strategy

• His book is called “The Art of War” 

• This book influenced Asian armies for centuries  

• His most favorite saying is “All warfare is based on deception”

Shi Huangdi

• He was the king of the Qin 

• He became the first emperor of China 

•  He created a powerful central government 

• He killed anyone who disagreed with him

Terra-Cotta Army

• These are thousands of statues of Chinese army soldiers

• They were buried in the tomb of the first emperor 

• They were supposed to protect him in the after life 

• The tomb was discovered in the 1970s by accident

Martial Arts

• Are chinese combat training 

• Kung fu started in the warring states period 

• Certain types of Monks developed their own kind of martial arts

• Each Asian country developed their own version of martial arts

Cyrus

• His grandfather had a dream that he would overthrow him

• He ordered Cyrus to be killed 

• He was smuggled out of the palace

• He was raised in the country

The Great

• He became a strong leader 

• He eventually overthrew his grandfather 

• His kingdom was located in Iran 

• Began to conquer his neighbor

Tactics

• In some battles, he placed camels in the front of his army 

• Enemy horses were not used to camels 

• Eventually took over most of the Middle East 

Immortals

• Were the elite troops of Persia

• Were an imperial guard 

• Every time a soldier died, he was replaced 

• Always around 10k of them

Scythians

• Cyrus died fighting against this tribe

• Barbarians from Central Asia

• Used archers on horseback 

• Difficult enemies to fight

Darius

• Related to Cyrus 

• Was the second greatest Persian emperor 

• Took over western Turkey 

• Fought against the Greeks

Polis

• This was a Greek city state 

• Each Polis raised its own army 

• Most cities had citizen soldiers 

• They would call to fight when a war broke out

Hopelite

• This was the Greek infantry

• They were heavily armored

• They wore helmets with a nose guard

• They all used spears

Phalanx

• This was an infantry formation using Hopelites 

• It was densely pack 

• They would link their shields

• It was difficult to attack

Sparta

1. This was the most famous Greek polis

2. It was located in southern greece 

3. All adult men were in the army 

4. They used slaves to do all the work

Training

• If a boy were born unhealthy he or she was killed 

• Girls were trained in gymnastics

• Boys were taken from home at the age of 7 

• Boys trained until they were 20 

Government

• Men served in the army from 20 to 30

• A man became a citizen at 30

• Sparta had a council of elders

• The council elected 2 kings

Ionia

• This is a region in western turkey 

• People who lived there were greek speaking people 

• The Persian Empire took over this region

Revolt

• The people of Ionia revolted against Persia 

• Ionia asked for help from other greek cities 

• Athens sends ships to help the rebels

• After a few years Persia crushed the revolt

Athens

• This was a city in central Greece 

• Athens was a democracy

• They had a strong navy 

• Persia wanted to punish Athens for helping the rebels

Expedition

• The Persia sent thousands for soldiers to invade Greece   

• They landed near the town of Marathon 

• This town was near the coast 

• It was about 26 miles from Athen

Battle

• The Greek army kept its center weak

• It made the two flanks strong

• The Persian center pushed back the Greek center 

• The Greek flanks crushed the Persian flanks

Aftermath

• The Greek flanks hit the Persian center

• The Persian panicked 

• The Persian have retreated to there ships

• The Greeks sent a messenger to marathon