AP World History
History is defined as the study of the past, particularly of human affairs. One of the most pivotal ways that humans or civilizations have interacted with one another throughout history is through warfare. Between 10,000 and 250,000 wars have been fought throughout human history so it is important to understand the change in weapons. In the 9th century, gunpowder was discovered in China and spread all across Eurasia. Today, 12 centuries later we have weapons such as the Uzi, and the AR-15. One of the most influential weapons throughout history is the AK-47.
The AK-47 or the Kalashnikov was the standard rifle for the Soviet Union. It was made in 1949 and was in service until 1974. The AK was created based on the German STG4, an automatic rifle. The Soviets wanted to replace their submachine gun with an automatic rifle so they created the SKS which was later replaced by the AK. The AK was developed by Mikhail Kalashnikov. Kalashnikov was a soldier who noticed the weapon disadvantage that the soviets had during WWII. He was quoted as saying ."I was in the hospital, and a soldier in the bed beside me asked: 'Why do our soldiers have only one rifle for two or three of our men when the Germans have automatics?' So I designed one. I was a soldier, and I created a machine gun for a soldier.
Something that makes the AK-47 revolutionary was its use of ammunition. The AK fires the 7.6239mm cartri...
