Prussian Needle-Gun - Austro-Prussian War

Creation of the famed Prussian Needle Gun began in 1824, when gunsmith Johann Nikolaus von Dreyse first began experimenting with rifle designs. The son of a locksmith in SÃ ¶mmerda, Dreyse spent 1809-1814 working in the Parisian gun factory of Jean-Samuel Pauly. A Swiss, Pauly tinkered with various experimental designs for breech-loading military rifles. In 1824, Dreyse returned home to SÃ ¶mmerda and opened a business producing percussion caps. Utilizing the knowledge he gained in Paris, Dreyse began by designing a muzzle-loading rifle that fired a self-contained cartridge. These cartridges consisted of a black powder charge, a percussion cap, and a bullet wrapped in paper. This single unit approach greatly reduced the time needed to reload and permitted a higher rate of fire. When the weapon was fired a long firing pin was driven by a coiled, conchoidal spring through the powder in the cartridge to strike and ignite the percussion cap. It was this needle-like firing pin which gave the weapon its name. Over the next twelve years, Dreyse changed and improved the design. As the rifle evolved, it became a breech-loader which possessed a bolt action. Revolutionary By 1836, Dreyses design was essentially complete. Presenting it to the Prussian Army, it was adopted in 1841 as the Dreyse ZÃ ¼ndnadelgewehr (Prussian Model 1841). The first practical breech-loading, bolt action military rifle, the Needle Gun, as it became known, revolutionized rifle design and led to the standardization of cartridged ammunition. Specifications Cartridge: .61 acorn-shaped round, paper cartridge w/ black powder and percussion capCapacity: 1 roundMuzzle Velocity: 1,000 ft./sec.Effective Range: 650 yds.Weight: approx. 10.4 lbs.Length: 55.9 in.Barrel Length: 35.8 in.Sights:Â  notch and front postAction:Â  bolt- actionolt-action The New Standard Entering service in 1841, the Needle Gun gradually became the standard service rifle of the Prussian Army and many other German states. Dreyse also offered the Needle Gun to the French, who after testing the weapon declined to purchase it in large quantities citing the weakness of the firing pin and a loss of breech-pressure after repeated firing. This latter issue led to a loss in muzzle velocity and range. First used by the Prussians during the 1849 May Uprising in Dresden, the weapon received its first true baptism by fire during the Second Schleswig War in 1864. Austro-Prussian War In 1866, the Needle Gun showed its superiority to muzzle-loading rifles during the Austro-Prussian War. In battle, Prussian troops were able to achieve a 5-to-1 superiority in rate of fire to their Austrian enemies due to the Needle Guns loading mechanism. The Needle Gun also allowed Prussian soldiers to easily reload from a concealed, prone position while the Austrians were forced to stand to reload their muzzle-loaders. This technological superiority greatly contributed to the swift Prussian victory in the conflict. Franco-Prussian War Four years later the Needle Gun was back in action during the Franco-Prussian War. In the years since Dreyse had offered his rifle to the French, they had been working on a new weapon which corrected the issues they saw with the Needle Gun. Despite its success during the Austro-Prussian War, the French criticisms of the weapon had proven true. Though easily replaced, the rifles firing pin had proven fragile often lasting only a few hundred rounds. Also, after several rounds, the breech would fail to close completely forcing Prussian soldiers to fire from the hip or risk being burned in the face by escaping gasses. Competition In response, the French designed a rifle known as the Chassepot after its inventor, Antoine Alphonse Chassepot. Though firing a smaller bullet (.433 cal.), the Chassepots breech did not leak which gave the weapon a higher muzzle velocity and greater range than the Needle Gun. As French and Prussian forces clashed, the Chassepot inflicted significant casualties on the invaders. Despite the effectiveness of their rifles, French military leadership and organization proved vastly inferior to the Needle Gun-equipped Prussians and led to their swift defeat. Retirement Recognizing that the Needle Gun had been eclipsed, the Prussian military retired the weapon after their victory in 1871. In its place, they adopted the Mauser Model 1871 (Gewehr 71) which was the first in a long line of Mauser Rifles used by the German military. These culminated with the Karabiner 98k that saw service during World War II. Selected Sources New York Times (December 25, 1868): The Needle Gun - Dissatisfaction with it in the Army

The Harlem Renaissance and Slave Narratives - 1431 Words

The Harlem Renaissance began around the 1920’s and was the hub of African American artistic endeavors, with less discrimination, more freedom, and amazing strides in politics and economics which was very different from how the slaves lived and hoped, but there still were similarities like a will for a better life, and hope for the future which both embraced even though they were in a dreadful position. Of course there also are differences, in this case that Harlem writers and artist were more educated and saw education as a stair way towards progress and equality, where the slave authors didn’t have education and didn’t care about it, the second difference is their purpose and their audience which are both different in the slave narratives†¦show more content†¦Ã¢â‚¬Å"The shrieks of the women, and the groans of the dying, rendered the whole a scene of horror almost inconceivable. Happily perhaps, for myself, I was soon reduced so low here that it was thou ght necessary to keep me almost always on deck.† Here Equiano explains to us the condition and atmosphere that the slaves are in, but fails to tell us what he thought of the white men who had allowed him on the deck. If Equiano had been educated like most of the Harlem Renaissance writers he could have written a magnificent narrative. Unlike the slave narratives the Harlem writers like Langston Hughes wrote stories and poems which were full of artistic creativity and were complex unlike the slave narratives. In the poem The Weary Blues† Hughes informs the readers (black or white ) about the Blues which was a style of music invented by African-Americans around the end of the nineteenth century, typically expressed sorrow and was influenced by the struggles of the previous generations of African Americans. â€Å"Droning a drowsy syncopated tune, rocking back and forth to a mellow croon, I heard a negro play. Down on Lenox Avenue the other night by the pale dull pallor of an old gas light He did a lazy sway, he did a lazy sway.† From the two examples you can see that Hughes’ poem is much more sophisticated and that it has a lot moreShow MoreRelatedThe Influence Of The Harlem Renaissance On African American Literature1144 Words   |  5 PagesThe Affect of the Harlem Renaissance on African American Literature The second half of the eighteenth century introduced a new expression to the literary world. The new expression was a voice that belonged to the African American writers. The African American writers wrote with a flair and brought a new perspective to the realm of literature. 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The Ballad was preserved orally until it was published in 1855 in Josiah Holland’s History of western Massachusetts. Wheatley was the contemporary of Lucy Terry. She was also a slave, born in West Africa. She was sold into slavery at the age of seven and transported to North America. She was purchased by the Wheatley family of Boston, who taught her to read and write and encouraged her poetry when they saw her talent. Because ofRead MoreAnalysis Of The Poem September Cotton Flower By Jean Toomer1586 Words   |  7 Pagesamongst doleful situations. From every ending comes a new beginning. The poem, â€Å"November Cotton Flower†, written by Jean Toomer, describes (the conditions when slaves were under the Harlem Renaissance) the conditions in which slaves were under during the Harlem Renaissance where there seems to be no prospect for a brighter future for the slaves in the society. 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Frankenstein and Bladerunner Essay Free Essays

A holistic understanding of a text can be only be pursued by the audience only when they are able to pinpoint the intended values of the composer and resonate these values with the time and context of the text. It is evident that through a comparative study of Mary Shelley’s 1818 novel Frankenstein together with Ridley Scott’s 1992 film Blade Runner, despite the one hundred year gap between the two texts, the values each composer wishes to deliver to the audience echo the concerns of humanity and its susceptibility against themselves. Frankenstein explores how humanity’s obsession with scientific and medical developments in the 19th Century while Blade Runner explores the societal vales of consumerism and capitalism in the 20th Century. We will write a custom essay sample on Frankenstein and Bladerunner Essay or any similar topic only for you Order Now Evidently, it is clear through the comparison of the texts as to how the social values of each society bring detrimental outcomes for humanity. A theme that is seen in Frankenstein is the danger of unrestrained scientific progress and creation, a theme most evident when Frankenstein bestows the â€Å"spark of life† upon his creature in his effort to â€Å"pour a torrent of light into our dark world†. Here Shelley alludes to the sciences of the period of enlightenment or in particular, Galvanism which held the belief that corpses could be reanimated through an electrical current, or â€Å"spark†. The characterization of Frankenstein serves to symbolize the desire of humanity to be able to create and control aspects of life which were limited to god. This becomes clearer as Frankenstein states, â€Å"A new species would bless me as its creator and source; many happy and excellent natures would owe their being to me. Here, Shelley uses a listing of descriptive language which embeds positive connotations in order to depict the naive hopes of humanity’s desire to create and control life and nature. As the plot unfolds, it becomes evident that this desire only leads to false hopes as Frankenstein’s creation states, â€Å"You are my creator, but I am your master; obey! †. Here, the paradoxical statement by the creation is indicative of how humanity’s desires will ultimately backfire when the power to create and control is unchecked and abused. Ultimately, the monster is responsible for the death of many associates of Frankenstein as well as Frankenstein himself which shows the ultimate backfire of scientific progresses on humanity. Scott’s Bladerunner recognizes the same flaws within humanity as Mary Shelly’s Frankenstein. He portrays a world where humanity’s hunger for power, control and technological advances ultimately leads to their downfall. In the opening scene, Scott portrays the dominating figure of Tyrell’s building through the use of a panoramic shot, where the large and tall building juxtaposes with the other buildings of the society. In order to give more focus on Tyrell’s building, a dolly shot is used and together with eerie background music, the director creates a mysterious atmosphere concerning Tyrell’s practices. Tyrell’s company alludes to the rise of capitalism and consumerism in the twentieth century, where this lead to large transnational corporations being one of the dominant forces of globalization. This can be witnessed in the low angle shot of the high rise buildings, which embed Coca Cola and Pan Am Airlines advertisements through neon lighting. The forces of globalization can be further recognized with the oriental background music which accompanies the advertisements together with a follow up mid shot depicting a large screen with a Japanese geisha dominating the screen. This alludes to the dominant Asian culture in LA alludes to the aggressive Asian Tiger Economics of the late 20th century, where the drastic rise of Asian countries such as Japan and China was seen. Hence, by blending these notions of social values with the dystopian depiction of LA, where the continuous rainfall and the absence of sunlight indicates the destruction of nature and its endowments, Scott is foreshadowing a society which humanity has ultimately destroyed with their own hands. Once the responders understand the contextual influence on the two texts, the responders are then able to grasp the core idea of both texts – humanity’s negligence in their power. Both texts indicate the self-destructive nature of humanity’s empowerment to which responders can reflect upon in correlation with their contemporary society. Firstly, Frankenstein portrays how the ambition to redefine human limitations through creation is bound to result in failure, and accordingly create something monstrous. Frankenstein’s Creature is the very embodiment of the monstrosity that humans are capable of creating. The symbolism of light in, â€Å"until from the midst of this darkness a sudden light broke in upon me† conveys Victor’s instinctive awakening to the possibility of creating a perfect being impervious to diseases. The contrast between the ‘darkness’ and ‘light’ hints the didactic purpose which Shelley tries to convey to her responders. Such a taboo act of trespassing the domain of the divine providence signifies the beginning of Frankenstein’s blindness. Frankenstein is quick to realize that he has created a monster, as shown by the regretful tone in, â€Å"I beheld the wretch – the miserable monster whom I had created. † This depicts that untamed human ambition can lead to the inadvertent creation of the ‘grotesque’ and through this, Shelly is alluding to the ideology that creation is the work of God and should not be attempted by humanity. Blade Runner examines this notion of the negligence of humanity’s empowerment on a much broader scale than Frankenstein. This is achieved by depicting the detrimental consequences of humanity’s misuse of power upon an entire country. Frankenstein was a forewarning of the dangers of human ambition of that context, but Bladerunner portrays the aftermath of the overambitious quest for knowledge in the future if the misuse of power cannot be contained by depicting a dystopian world. Appropriately, the human beings in this alternate future seem artificial and lacking humanity except for the protagonist Deckard. Deckard is the primary voice of the director, where Scott portrays his ideas on how humanity should be living through the actions of Deckard. In Bladerunner, Deckard is a character who distances himself from the social norm of technology and the rigid structure of society. He is indicative of the traditional ‘human’ who responds emotionally and takes part in conventional human actions. Although this notion is strongly evidenced towards the end of the film, the director foreshadows Deckard’s humanitarian characteristics from the beginning of the film. The idea of Deckard holding human qualities can be witnessed in the scene when Deckard is reading the newspaper. A dolly shot is utilized by Scott in order to capture the setting of the city and gradually focus on Deckard. Through this shot, the responders recognize the strong juxtaposition between the social values and Deckard. Deckard is reading the traditional ‘newspaper’, whilst in the background, numerous television screens showing the news can be seen. This contrast in effect highlights that Deckard abides by the more ‘traditional’ conventions of humanity and through his heroic portrayal, it becomes evident that Scott wishes to address that in order for humanity to survive, it will require us to restrain ourselves from being too consumed with social cults and conventions which invoke control, creation and power. In order to fulfill an understanding of a text, responders need to identify and understand the true intentions of the composer. When both Frankenstein and Blade Runner are read on parallel, although their contexts are different, the problematic issues resonate with each other and furthermore, responders can also illustrate that these texts induces the responders to reflect on the contemporary society to understand that the social values of our time, although they may seem standard may be in fact detrimental for humanity. How to cite Frankenstein and Bladerunner Essay, Essays