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Theories of divergent advancement in Gunpowder technology leading up to the Early Modern era
The advancement of gunpowder technology experienced by Western Europe around the 1500's sparks scholarly debate wither the technology's implementation in the military was either a military revolution or an evolution. The debates surrounding the implementation of guns in the military have been heavily associated with western Europe but scholars such as Tonio Andrade debate that the use of firearms in military units have been found in civilization other than Western Europe. Indeed during the 14th century the Ottoman civilization along with European civilization constructed different gunpowder weaponry that differed from initial weaponry produced by the Chinese civilization. The scholars such Andrade explain that the knowledge of guns and gunpowder being used in the military was not what gave Western Europe the advantage in military assaults indeed that the divergence of gunpowder development of was due to many elements involving warfare culture ,difference in fortification ,and frequency of warfare.

One significant element according to scholars such as Tonio Andrade for the divergence of gunpowder weaponry between Western Europe and civilizations such as China was the different kinds of warfare that took place in their respective regions. The western European civilizations were able to construct several innovations to gun powdered technology due to the siege tactics which made the goal to destroy the specific architecture of European civilizations. European warfare during the 14th century and towards the 16th century involved assaulting heavily fortified structures using artillery which aimed to either completely destroy the walls of the forts or cause fire to the walls which could spread along the defenses of the fortification. European sieges lasted for months at time making it a significant part of warfare in the 14th to 16th century. Western European fortifications were susceptible to artillery fire either containing weakness in a position of the walls or being able to catch fire. The warfare in China was different in that it consisted less on siege warfare but various warfare depending on what areas of China conflicts took place. In South China their strength consisted of infantry and naval forces which made it difficult to involve themselves in Calvary warfare as traditionally associated of warfare in China. In Central China siege warfare was common involving walled cities next riverbanks which made difficult for cavalry to be used in the region. Fortifications in China in the other hand contained walls made of tamped earth which is fireproof and able to resist more damage than European walls. The way the walls were constructed played a role in the effectiveness of their defense, China's walls were constructed at a slope angle which essentially deflected projectiles and made it difficult to absorb significant damage. European civilizations while improving their defenses against artillery fire were appearing closely to Chinese wall construction. The suburb fortification of China made it difficult to maintain a significant siege but more importantly made it difficult for occurring enemies which consisted of mounted nomadic civilizations to sustain attacks to walled cities. In North China however cavalry warfare was prevalent in conflicts due to attacks from mounted nomadic civilizations. The various types and consistencies of warfare in the region developed the gun powdered technology differently. The warfare in China which consisted with dealing with mounted enemies focused conflict on weaponry that dealt with fast acting enemies who were able to deploy rapidly making the slow reloading of guns all but inefficient. However, it did not mean that China did not use guns and gunpowder. The Ming dynasty used guns to deal with much of the nomadic enemies making several improvements to their guns to make them more efficient but the development of the weaponry slowly stopped around the 15th century. The decline in innovation consisted with the decline of major conflicts in the regions of China by the 16th century, much of the guns were used for domestic order and suppressing minor enemies since the Ming dynasty had significant control of the regions of China. Western Europe however between the 14th and 15th century consisted of constant warfare between several civilizations making gunpowder innovations to aid in their conflicts that lead to inventions such as artillery to breach fortified structures. Scholars such as Tonio Andrade debate that differences in frequency, culture, and fortification of warfare explain the divergence of gunpowder technology while other scholars debate the integration of gunpowder in military units explains the advantage that Western Europe had in further developing gunpowder technology.