Origins of Land Mines
Early Land Mines were developed by the Chinese as early as the 1200s. In the year 1277 the Chinese detonated hollow cannonballs filled with gunpowder in order to try and defeat Genghis Khan's army who had sieged a Chinese city. A man by the name of Lou Qianxia is credited as being the creator of this primitive land mine. Early land mines were also created in Europe in the early 1500s by Don Pedro Navarro. The first modern mechanical land mine was created in 1862 during the American Civil War by troops of General Gabriel J. Rains. Towards the end of the First World War in 1918 land mines began to become more common. These land mines were called Anti-Tank Mines as they were designed to destroy tanks. But they weren't very effective and could easily be removed and re positioned. Land mines as we know them today were invented around the time of World War 2. They were put to wide use, especially the Anti-Tank Mine. However, a second, more efficient, land mine was also used in World War 2, particularly by the Germans. The Anti-Personnel Mine, which was specifically designed to kill or maime humans. Throughout WW2 land mines were largely used in North Africa and France which still has some mine fields today. However, casualty rates remained quite low with only 2.5 % of American fatalities being attributed to land mines. However, in the 69 years since WW2 ended land mines and casualties because of land mines have become more and more commonplace and nowadays there are over 70 million land mines laid in the ground worldwide.
A drawing of an early Chinese land mine.
An Anti-Personnel Mines
An Anti-tank Mine
- Don Pedro Navarro