Conclusion

= Conclusion =

//"War, war never changes" - Ron Pearlman//

The Warring States era was a time of social upheaval and changes. Power waned from the authority of the Emperor and resided in a few powerful lords. The lords consolidated their power within their region and created their own states to which to wage war from in hopes of acquiring the whole of China. A lords ability to wage war depended entirely upon large armies comprised of peasants.This shift of dependency to peasants as means of soldiers instead of trained aristocrats will have an impact on future wars as well. Their armies were used for large scaled organized political warfare against neighboring states.

What made this possible was the advancement of agricultural technology that allowed China to experience a population boom.The weapons and thinking processes of the era reflect this social change. Gone were the privileged chariots of the aristocrats replaced by mass produced weapons such as crossbows, swords, pikes, and spears. New military strategies resulted from the change as well, such as the rise of cavalry.

The methods, reasons, and execution of warfare in China was very different from the way warfare was waged in neighboring Southeast Asia. Emphasis on the group was much more important than emphasis on the individual. This is similar to how warfare was conducted in the Aegean and Central Mexico as I have pointed out.

//" No leader should put troops in the field merely to gratify his own spleen; no leader should fight a battle simply out of pique. But a kingdom that has once been destroyed can never come again into being; nor can the dead ever be brought back to life. Hence the enlightened leader is heedful, and the good leader full of caution.//" - Sun Tzu

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