the index finger.
as far as man-made weapons are concerned, it's probably some form of sharp, pointy hand weapon, such as a sword, an axe, or a spear.
However, since statistics about war casualties and weapon used are not available from those days, I'd go with the AK47.
However, classical diseases ( smallpox for example ) and modern diseases ( obesity, smoking ) are much bigger killers. and at least the latter ones are definitely man-made...
However, since statistics about war casualties and weapon used are not available from those days, I'd go with the AK47.
However, classical diseases ( smallpox for example ) and modern diseases ( obesity, smoking ) are much bigger killers. and at least the latter ones are definitely man-made...
While the Ak-47 is very popular and very easy to get etc... it has never really been used in a "large scale" conflict (used in vietnam i know... but the casualties of nam dont compare to WW2/WW1) . personally im going to say Zyklon B Gas... also the K98 or M1 Carbine.
Is it because it is powerful or because it is a black market weapon that anyone can get their hands on?B.Schuss wrote:
I'd go with the AK47.
Agree. And remember that the AK-47 is widely used in African conflicts. And WAAAAY too much people have died there.usmarine2005 wrote:
Is it because it is powerful or because it is a black market weapon that anyone can get their hands on?B.Schuss wrote:
I'd go with the AK47.
probably because of its wide distribution and easiness of use. The caliber does play a role in modern conflicts, where soldiers are usually wearing body armor, but in most of the conflicts in which the AK47 has been involved, body armor isn't much of a factor, I'd say.usmarine2005 wrote:
Is it because it is powerful or because it is a black market weapon that anyone can get their hands on?B.Schuss wrote:
I'd go with the AK47.
I agree that WWI and WWII were huge conflicts, but because of the variety of guns being used, it's difficult to tell wether one weapon had a distinct "advantage" as far as casualties are concerned.Little BaBy JESUS wrote:
While the Ak-47 is very popular and very easy to get etc... it has never really been used in a "large scale" conflict (used in vietnam i know... but the casualties of nam dont compare to WW2/WW1) . personally im going to say Zyklon B Gas... also the K98 or M1 Carbine.
The AK47, however, has been the weapon to appear in all major conflicts since its inception, plus all major civil wars, terrorist operations, etc.. 50+ years...
In the end, since we don't have the stats to back up either claim, the truth will never be known.
An enemy that does not fear death.
Because the last 50 or so years are the extent of recorded history.B.Schuss wrote:
The AK47, however, has been the weapon to appear in all major conflicts since its inception, plus all major civil wars, terrorist operations, etc.. 50+ years...
What, I can't fish for fellow grammar nazis? One more name for the list.Flecco wrote:
Who are died? Make your time newbie, all your base are belong to me.unnamednewbie13 wrote:
HAH! Says who?! Ask the indians that came in contact with the Spanish...wait, most of them are died! And not by the sword, either.
ha ha ha ha
Last edited by unnamednewbie13 (2007-11-27 02:35:52)
Amen, the arty boys never get any credit, but they have taken so many many souls.Parker wrote:
artillery.
that's what I'm saying. This topic makes as much ( or little ) sense as the "which is best tank/plane" topics that occassionally spring up here. There is simply too little statistical information available to tell, and the "human factor" isn't even taken into consideration...unnamednewbie13 wrote:
Because the last 50 or so years are the extent of recorded history.B.Schuss wrote:
The AK47, however, has been the weapon to appear in all major conflicts since its inception, plus all major civil wars, terrorist operations, etc.. 50+ years...What, I can't fish for fellow grammar nazis? One more name for the list.Flecco wrote:
Who are died? Make your time newbie, all your base are belong to me.unnamednewbie13 wrote:
HAH! Says who?! Ask the indians that came in contact with the Spanish...wait, most of them are died! And not by the sword, either.
No. USSR is past. I'm not fond of communism or Soviet lifestyle. I just like soviet tech.Flecco wrote:
Still in love with the USSR eh?
3/4 of AK's aren't from Russia. They are from China ( yes , China has lisence but breaks the technology ), Pakistan, Iran, Iraq, any other ME country,Flecco wrote:
For the record, that 'unlicenced piece of junk' is normally bought from Russian companies. Russia is one of the biggest arms dealers on earth.
Africa, Latin America etc. These AK's have very low quality.
A prime example of "too little statistical information" is found in a book titled "Armies of Pestilence: The Impact of Disease on History" by R. S. Bray. I also recommend it to anyone who thinks that disease is not a weapon, even if mostly accidental.B.Schuss wrote:
There is simply too little statistical information available to tell, and the "human factor" isn't even taken into consideration...
It's not relevant to the thread. It doesn't matter the efectiveness, what really matters is the amount of people killed by that weapon.usmarine2005 wrote:
Is it because it is powerful or because it is a black market weapon that anyone can get their hands on?B.Schuss wrote:
I'd go with the AK47.
And that's why I opened it, because I just don't know the answer. My guess is bows, but perhaps we should differentiate between before XXth Century and XXth Century and after.B.Schuss wrote:
that's what I'm saying. This topic makes as much ( or little ) sense as the "which is best tank/plane" topics that occassionally spring up here. There is simply too little statistical information available to tell, and the "human factor" isn't even taken into consideration...unnamednewbie13 wrote:
Because the last 50 or so years are the extent of recorded history.B.Schuss wrote:
The AK47, however, has been the weapon to appear in all major conflicts since its inception, plus all major civil wars, terrorist operations, etc.. 50+ years...What, I can't fish for fellow grammar nazis? One more name for the list.Flecco wrote:
Who are died? Make your time newbie, all your base are belong to me.
True, although the most effective users of this weapon didn't even know they were using it.Runs_with_sciss0rs wrote:
Small Pox
Not sure on this one, Ak maybe, but also the old WW1 MG's that mowed down all the poor guys at the Somme. Most deadly weapon of all time in all of history? Man.
If disease accidentally kills millions (say, the Black Death in the Middle Ages) then it is by definition not a weapon--man did not use it against another man. For a bug to be considered a weapon, it must be employed by man with the specific intent of harming his fellow man. For example, the smallpox-laced blankets given to the Native Americans. In that case, smallpox was indeed used as a weapon. Smallpox infestations wiping out entire communities in the Middle Ages...not a weapon.unnamednewbie13 wrote:
A prime example of "too little statistical information" is found in a book titled "Armies of Pestilence: The Impact of Disease on History" by R. S. Bray. I also recommend it to anyone who thinks that disease is not a weapon, even if mostly accidental.B.Schuss wrote:
There is simply too little statistical information available to tell, and the "human factor" isn't even taken into consideration...
Just saying disease--specifically, naturally-occurring disease--is a weapon shows a clear misunderstanding of what a weapon is (and what it is not).
http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/weapon
Not all-encompassing, but a good framework from which to proceed when you're talking about whether or not something is a weapon.
Bottomline: Just because something caused massive death (ie, swine flu in the early 1900's) does not mean that it is a weapon. It has to be packaged in some way so that it may be used intentionally by one against another.
Last edited by FEOS (2007-11-27 04:18:49)
“Everybody is a genius. But if you judge a fish by its ability to climb a tree, it will live its whole life believing that it is stupid.”
― Albert Einstein
Doing the popular thing is not always right. Doing the right thing is not always popular
― Albert Einstein
Doing the popular thing is not always right. Doing the right thing is not always popular
Please correct me if I'm wrong, but to my knowledge Zyklon B hasn't ever been used as a weapon in any large scale conflict either. It was used as a way to dispose of captured, already weakened by maltreatment, civilians. The gas's method of dispersion is way to cumbersome for deployement in the field. Yes in history it has made a huge ammount of cassualties, but so have falling coconuts.Little BaBy JESUS wrote:
While the Ak-47 is very popular and very easy to get etc... it has never really been used in a "large scale" conflict (used in vietnam i know... but the casualties of nam dont compare to WW2/WW1) . personally im going to say Zyklon B Gas... also the K98 or M1 Carbine.
The advanced weather machine !
as used by God (AKA killy mcgee)
the whole noah's ark/flood nearly wiped out the population of the world
as used by God (AKA killy mcgee)
the whole noah's ark/flood nearly wiped out the population of the world
women..
My guess is Blades and blunt weapons of various sorts. We have only had rifles for about humm *guessing* 300-400 years? And we have had swords, daggers, axes, maces, spears etc. for at least 7000 years. But the population on earth where not so wast the first 6000 years, so the number of killable humans where fewer.
But then we managed to kill more than 6milj during WW1 and 2, not sure about the numbers but that's pretty high to. But AK or artillery seems to take the price.
First sentence.Varegg wrote:
Nice post Kmarion but it was not about the deadliest weapon, its about what weapon killed most people throughout history.Kmarion wrote:
Not all of these meet the criteria of the OP but interesting none-the-less. So sayeth the History Channel.They’re the most lethal devices ever invented. Built for a single purpose; to end life. This programme will profile five of man’s deadliest weapons, focusing on the inventors, the battles, and the dark technology behind their lethality.
During World War I, technological advances in weaponry led to the deaths of over 8 million. One of the deadliest killers of the war was the machine gun. Steadfast commanders relied on old tactics developed for cavalry to attack this new killing machine. After the first 24 hours of the Battle of Somme, 20,000 British soldiers were mowed down behind a barrage of bullets from this new killing machine.
In World War II, the use of incendiary bombs killed hundreds of thousands of people. The RAF, under the command of "Bomber" Harris attacked the city of Dresden, Germany with incendiaries, creating a deadly firestorm that killed 50,000 in a single day.
The invention of napalm led to more effective incendiaries that literally destroyed countless Japanese cities. During two days of incendiary bombing over Japan, B-29’s dropped more than 1500 tons of incendiary bombs creating a firestorm that killed over 100,000. By the end of the war incendiary bombs had killed more people than the two atomic bombs combined.
Another deadly invention of the Second World War was the proximity fuse, or VT fuse. The proximity fuse made it possible for artillery to detonate within a predetermined range of an enemy target, a marked improvement over the contact and timed fuses used earlier in the war.
The result was increased lethality for anti-aircraft weapons and mortar shells. Developed under the utmost secrecy at the Applied Physics Laboratory at Johns Hopkins University, the VT fuse destroyed numerous Japanese aircraft in the war for the Pacific Ocean. Later it was an effective anti-personnel weapon that killed countless Germans during the Battle of the Bulge leading General Patton to claim that it was the most important invention of the war.
There is little doubt that the deadliest weapons ever used on people were the atomic bombs, known as "Little Boy" and "Fat Man" that exploded over Hiroshima on August 6, 1945, and Nagasaki on August 9th. Over 150,000 were killed instantly, with countless others dying in the days, weeks, and months that followed.
Yet science had only scratched the surface of lethality. The atomic bomb was followed by the thermonuclear bomb. By releasing immense energy and irradiating debris, this weapon of mass destruction has the potential to kill millions.
Finally, we will profile what many believe to be the deadliest chemical agent ever created: VX nerve gas. It takes only fifty micrograms of VX to kill a person within minutes.
This deadly agent has only been used twice on people, both by Saddam Hussein, with devastating results.
Xbone Stormsurgezz
take in account that firearms slowly became the dominating weapons on the battlefield only since the 30 years war 1618-1648 (of course, other weapons have still been used even until ww2). that's 350 years of firearmuse. swords have been in use in combat from at least the early bronze age until ww2 (damn, there have been cavylry attacks in ww2, some even successfull!) that's a long time and lots of dead from the end of the 3rd millenium BC to ww2, over 4000 years! fuck, even nowadays, people are still butchering each other with machetes or something like that.