Editing Infantry (section)

== History ==
{{Main|History of infantry}}
{{More citations needed section|date=May 2021}}

[[File:Greek soldiers of Greco–Persian Wars.png|thumb|Ancient Greek infantry of the [[Greco-Persian Wars]] (499–449 BC): [[light infantry]] (left, [[Sling (weapon)|slinger]]), and the [[heavy infantry]] (middle and right, [[hoplite]]s)|left]]
The first military forces in history were infantry. In [[ancient history|antiquity]], infantry were armed with early melee weapons such as a [[spear]], [[battle axe|axe]], or [[sword]], or an early ranged weapon like a [[javelin]], [[sling (weapon)|sling]], or [[bow and arrow|bow]], with a few infantrymen being expected to use both a melee and a ranged weapon. With the [[History of gunpowder|development of gunpowder]], infantry began converting to primarily [[firearm]]s. By the time of [[Napoleonic Wars|Napoleonic warfare]], infantry, cavalry and artillery formed a basic triad of ground forces, though infantry usually remained the most numerous. With [[armoured warfare]], [[armoured fighting vehicle]]s have replaced the horses of cavalry, and [[airpower]] has added a new dimension to ground combat, but infantry remains pivotal to all modern [[combined arms]] operations.<ref>{{cite web |last1=Smith |first1=Christopher |title=Contemporary Warfare, the Utility of Infantry, and Implications for the Project Land 400 Combined Arms Fighting System |url=https://researchcentre.army.gov.au/library/australian-army-journal-aaj/volume-7-number-2-winter/contemporary-warfare-utility-infantry-and-implications-project-land-400-combined-arms-fighting-system |website=Australian Army Journal |publisher=Directorate of Future Land Warfare |access-date=1 January 2010}}</ref>

The first warriors, adopting [[hunting weapon#History|hunting weapons]] or improvised melee weapons,<ref name="Kelly">{{cite journal|last=Kelly|first=Raymond|date=October 2005|title=The evolution of lethal intergroup violence|journal=PNAS|volume=102|issue=43|pages=24–29|doi=10.1073/pnas.0505955102|pmc=1266108|pmid=16129826|doi-access=free}}</ref> before the existence of any organised military, likely started essentially as loose groups without any organisation or formation. But this changed sometime before [[recorded history]]; the first [[List of empires|ancient empires]] (2500–1500 BC) are shown to have some soldiers with standardised military equipment, and the training and discipline required for battlefield formations and manoeuvres: [[Regular army|regular infantry]].<ref>Keeley, ''War Before Civilization'', 1996, Oxford University Press, p. 45, Fig. 3.1</ref> Though the main force of the army, these forces were usually kept small due to their cost of training and upkeep, and might be supplemented by local short-term mass-conscript forces using the older [[irregular infantry]] weapons and tactics; this remained a common practice almost up to modern times.<ref>{{cite web|last1=Newman|first1=Simon|title=Military in the Middle Ages|url=http://www.thefinertimes.com/Middle-Ages/military-in-the-middle-ages.html|website=thefinertimes.com|date=29 May 2012|access-date=6 October 2015}}</ref>

[[File:Rocroi, el último tercio, por Augusto Ferrer-Dalmau.jpg|thumb|''Rocroi, el último tercio'' ("Roicroi, the last tercio") by [[Augusto Ferrer-Dalmau]], portraying infantry of a battered Spanish ''[[tercio]]'' at the 1643 [[Battle of Rocroi]]]]

Before the adoption of the [[chariot]] to create the first mobile fighting forces {{circa|2000 BC}},<ref>{{cite web|last1=Wilford|first1=John Noble|title=Remaking the Wheel: Evolution of the Chariot|url=https://www.nytimes.com/1994/02/22/science/remaking-the-wheel-evolution-of-the-chariot.html|website=The New York Times, Science|access-date=12 November 2017|date=22 February 1994}}</ref> all armies were pure infantry. Even after, with a few exceptions like the [[Mongol Empire]], infantry has been the largest component of most armies in history.<ref>{{Cite web |date=2025-02-08 |title=Infantry {{!}} Soldiers, Tactics, Combat {{!}} Britannica |url=https://www.britannica.com/topic/infantry |access-date=2025-03-05 |website=www.britannica.com |language=en}}</ref>

In the [[Western world]], from [[Classical Antiquity]] through the [[Middle Ages]] ({{circa|lk=no}} 8th century BC to 15th century AD), infantry are categorised as either [[heavy infantry]] or [[light infantry]]. After the fall of Rome, the quality of heavy infantry declined, and warfare was dominated by [[heavy cavalry]],<ref>{{cite book|last1=Kagay|first1=Donald J.|last2=Villalon|first2=L. J. Andrew|title=The Circle of War in the Middle Ages|date=1999|publisher=Boydell Press|isbn=978-0851156453|page=53}}</ref> such as [[knight]]s, forming small elite units for decisive [[shock combat]], supported by peasant infantry [[militia]]s and assorted light infantry from the lower classes. Towards the end of Middle Ages, this began to change, where more professional and better trained light infantry could be effective against knights, such as the [[English longbow]]men in the [[Hundred Years' War]]. By the start of the [[Renaissance]], the infantry began to [[Infantry revolution|return]] to a larger role, with [[Swiss pikemen]] and German [[Landsknechts]] filling the role of heavy infantry again, using [[pike square|dense formations of pikes]] to drive off any cavalry.<ref>{{cite book|last1=Carey|first1=Brian Todd|title=Warfare in the Medieval World|date=2006|publisher=Pen & Sword Military|location=London|isbn=978-1848847415|page=chapter 6}}</ref>

Dense formations are vulnerable to ranged weapons. Technological developments allowed the raising of large numbers of light infantry units armed with ranged weapons, without the years of training expected for traditional high-skilled archers and slingers. This started slowly, first with [[crossbow]]men, then [[hand cannon]]eers and [[arquebus]]iers, each with increasing effectiveness, marking the beginning of [[early modern warfare]], when [[firearm]]s rendered the use of heavy infantry obsolete. The introduction of [[musketeer]]s using [[bayonet]]s in the mid 17th century began replacement of the pike with the [[infantry square]] replacing the pike square.<ref>{{cite book|last1=Archer|first1=Christon I.|title=World History of Warfare|url=https://archive.org/details/worldhistoryofwa00arch|url-access=registration|date=2002|publisher=U of Nebraska Press|isbn=978-0803219410|page=[https://archive.org/details/worldhistoryofwa00arch/page/291 291]}}</ref>

[[File:French bayonet charge.jpg|thumb|French Army infantry in a line formation performing a [[bayonet charge]] in 1913|left]]

To maximise their firepower, musketeer infantry were trained to fight in wide lines facing the enemy, creating [[line infantry]]. These fulfilled the central battlefield role of earlier heavy infantry, using ranged weapons instead of melee weapons. To support these lines, smaller infantry formations using dispersed [[skirmish line]]s were created, called light infantry, fulfilling the same multiple roles as earlier light infantry. Their arms were no lighter than line infantry; they were distinguished by their skirmish formation and flexible tactics.{{citation needed|date=May 2022}}

The modern [[rifleman]] infantry became the primary force for taking and holding ground on battlefields as an element of [[combined arms]]. As firepower continued to increase, use of infantry lines diminished, until all infantry became light infantry in practice. Modern classifications of infantry have since expanded to reflect modern equipment and tactics, such as [[motorised infantry]], [[Mechanised infantry|mechanised or armoured infantry]], [[mountain infantry]], [[marine infantry]], and [[airborne infantry]].{{citation needed|date=May 2022}}