The Great Divergence in Global Military History

Around 800 C.E., gunpowder was invented by the Chinese, who quickly adapted it for military use. For five hundred years, the polities of China led the word in gunpowder technology, but it was Europeans who brought guns to their most lethal potential. When and why? As a historian of China I have long pondered variants of the famous “Needham Question”: Why did China, once the wealthiest, most powerful, and most technologically-advanced country in the world, find itself overcome by the once-backward Europeans? Many explanations have been put forward, focusing on economics, agriculture, social structure, political philosophy, etc., and in recent years debate about the “Great Divergence” has been vehement and voluminous. I believe that warfare – and the gun in particular – may help us untangle the controversy and come to a clearer understanding of when and why China and Europe diverged.