9781422281284

Beginnings of the Arms Trade The arms industry is engaged in researching, designing, and building military technology, particularly weapons and protec- tion against weapons, such as armor. The arms trade is the buying and selling of weapons and defense equipment. It is a vast industry, one of the largest in the world, and it has major effects on how millions of people live their lives. The arms trade is not a new or even a 20th-century phe- nomenon. It can be traced back hundreds of years to the inven- tion of new weapons and their demand by different groups, forces, and countries. The arrival of gunpowder in Europe from the late 14th century onward led to a demand by various armies for gunpowder-charged muskets and cannons. During the 18th and 19th centuries, the Industrial Revolution and the rise of large factories saw companies able to build large numbers of more complicated weapons, such as machine guns and massive warships. These arms were touted for sale by powerful weapons traders, such as Sir Basil Zaharoff, “the merchant of death,” who dealt arms in 19th cen- tury Europe and Russia and became one of the richest people in the world. These businessmen did not care who bought their weapons, selling arms to all sides engaged in a conflict. The two world wars of the 20th century saw massive jumps in weapons technology, the range of weapons available, and the numbers built and sold. For example, at the start of World War I (1914-1918), aircraft were flimsy, unreliable machines. They were used in very small numbers and in a limited role as recon- naissance aircraft, or “spotters,” reporting the positions of troops and guns on the ground. By the end of the war, howev-

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The Arms Trade