«Keys to the cities»: The Livonian war as a war of technology

Abstract

Firearms have significantly changed the face of wars in both Western and Eastern Europe. The Livonian war, which unfolded in Europe in the sixteenth century, became a war of technology. The opponents used against each other the most advanced achievements in metallurgy and military Affairs. The author considers the production aspects of artillery weapons of the participants of the Livonian war — the Livonian order, the Grand Duchy of Lithuania, the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth, Sweden and Russia. By the 1550s there is an integration of artillery technologies between Riga, Revel, Narva and the Order as a whole, on the one hand, and the Grand Duchy of Lithuania, on the other. New items in the artillery business penetrated with some delay in Russia. All artillery «systems» of the countries participating in the Livonian war were connected with the German classification and nomenclature. According to the author, in the XVI century, artillery was the basis of the metallurgical industry, where iron-making and foundry production was concentrated. Artillery had an impact on the development of mining, saltpeter making, and gunpowder farming. The engineering part, the construction of fortresses and fortifications, also formed the branch of «artillery art».