Social Impacts

      Cannons have been used for centuries to help liberate countries from dictators, or to help enslave countries: it all depends on who is using it. In the Revolutionary War, cannons were a crucial part in freeing the colonies. In World War I, the Germans used their super-cannons, such as the Paris Gun, to inspire fear in their enemies. Even though the Paris Gun was not effective at destroying cities or killing people, it destroyed the enemy’s morale, and, without morale, armies cannot function. This played a key part in the German's strategy. A quote from Lieutenant General Leman, who commanded the Belgian forces at Liege, shows how powerful and effective at destroying morale the Big Bertha was:

 "We could hear the shells coming. We heard a rushing of air which increased in intensity until it became a furious hurricane roar and ended in a dreadful crash of thunder; fountains of earth and smoke were thrown into the air, and the whole earth shook."

As illustrated in this quote, Big Bertha not only destroyed forts, but also destroyed morale. Below is an image of the destruction from the Paris Gun

    Furthermore, in the Revolutionary War, the American colonists trained with artillery daily, and it played a crucial part in the Battle of Yorktown, where the colonists had more artillery than the British, which they used it to bombard them 24 hours a day. Then, when the British were weakened, the colonists were able to overrun them. Meanwhile, at sea, the French were using cannons on board their ships to destroy the British fleet that had come to help Lord Cornwallis.