Twentieth-century Artillery: 300

Future military historians will surely look back upon the 20th century and say, "There was the zenith of artillery." Though it retains its importance on the battlefield, for sheer diversity of type and multiplicity of design, for size, numbers, and tactical influence, the likes of artillery as it stood in 1945 will never again be seen. Beginning with the guns that pounded the trenches in World War I, and the giant calibers of "Big Bertha," "Schalnke Emma," and the Paris gun, go through the century's most important hand-held and anti-tank devices, anti-aircraft guns, and World War II field pieces right up to the latest tactical and strategic missiles.