War scythe

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War scythe
Polish insurgents with war scythes. Photograph from 1863
Information
Weapon type: Scythe
Designations: War scythe, storm scythe
Use: War weapon, tool
Creation time: approx. 12th century
Working time: approx. 12th - 19th century
Region of origin /
author: 		England , peasant army
Distribution: Europe
Overall length: approx. 200 cm
Blade length: approx. 90 cm
Handle: Wood, leather, metal
Lists on the subject

The war scythe , also known as the storm scythe , is a polearm that originated in the Middle Ages and was used until the 19th century. It has a flat, curved, saber-like blade, which is reinforced on the convex edge or, like the grass and grain scythe, is bent on the back. The concave parts of the scythe, however, are sharpened. It was used by infantry formations as both an offensive and a defensive weapon.

history

In the Middle Ages, free farmers and townspeople were obliged to serve on the side of their warlord in the event of war. Military equipment such as armor or swords , however, were very expensive. The war scythe is a simple farmer's weapon that came closest to what the peasants thought of a weapon. This also explains the widespread use of this weapon. As it became apparent how effective the war scythe could be in combat, it was gradually improved.

As early as the 12th century, a polearm was described in England that comes close to a storm scythe. However, such a typification has not been proven precisely, as this weapon was a model that was then assigned to different branches of weapon. It was partly counted among the glazes , partly also called Guisarme in France and England .

The first "real" storm scythes appeared in the first half of the 16th century during the peasant unrest in Tyrol , as well as in the Tyrolean uprisings of 1703, 1805 and the Tyrolean people's uprising of 1809 , as well as in the Polish uprisings of 1830/31 and 1863/64 . A small number of them are likely to have been waged by the Swiss during the Burgundian Wars .

When Vienna was besieged by the Turks in 1683, the Viennese defenders used a kind of storm scythe, which was extremely effective in defending breaches . This storm scythe consisted of a 90 cm long, flat spear blade that was attached to a short shaft (handle part). Shortly before the fastening socket ( socket ), concave upward-pointing, scythe-like blades spread out on both sides, the tips of which protruded 80 cm from the spear blade. In the middle of these scythe blades there were square holes that were used to connect several of these scythes with the help of spring bolts, so that a whole series of these weapons practically formed a unit.

use

As many storm scythes as needed were linked together in an attack. As many soldiers as possible grabbed the stocks and stormed forward. In this mode of operation, the storm scythes were an extremely effective weapon. At the end of the Peasant Wars, forging a scythe was punishable by death .

In the 18th century, the teams of the navies on the lower Danube , the so-called Czaikists , carried storm scythes on their ships in order to be able to defend themselves against boarding .

With the increased use of firearms , the storm scythes lost their importance.

literature

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ Norbert Ohler : War and Peace in the Middle Ages. Nikol, Hamburg 1997, ISBN 3-937872-02-7 , p. 155 f.