If I wanted to find a conflict in history which had equal use of melee combat with swords, sabers, spears or whichever weapons and also 'modern' bolt action rifles, like the ones in WWI, which conflict or period should I be looking at?
It's pretty interesting to me, at first I thought WWI, but melee was really scarce. And I don't want to go back to napoleonic period with that kind of warfare.
Was there even a period like this?
Pic related it's that nutjob from WW2
>>376547
About the only thing you'll get, and it'll be hard to find good sources, are third world conflicts, like in Sub-Saharan Africa, where domestic weapon manufacture is limited or nonexistant, and where the modern stuff's primacy is limited by its unavailability.
pre-gunpowder weapons were only "balanced" with gunpowder weapons in the early, primitive days of firearms. By WW1, the advantage had long since swung to the guns.
The 30 Years War was basically the prototype for all conventional wars prior to the emergence of aircraft. It, and the wars leading up to it, are a fascinating part of military, philosophical, religious, and legal history that are definitely worth looking into.
>>376561
Oh, Napoleonic is too early for OP, never mind.
The Pacific Theater maybe? Or any imperial-aboriginal conflict.
>>376547
Italian - Ethopian war
Sino-Japanese War
Zulu war
>>376564
Not, not too early, but fuck french shit.
>>376624
You're not OP though
>>376624
Well then look I to the 30 Years War. The Spanish basically invented combined arms warfare around the 16th and 17th centuries and had the first modern armies.
https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tercio
>>376547
Second Sino-Japanese war is exactly what you're looking for senpai
>>376625
A coworker of mine went to Afghanistan, and he said that while they did train them up in martial arts, they often said that if you ever actually had to use it you were probably already dead "because if he doesn't have a gun and you don't have a gun, the guy behind him will have a gun".
>>376686
Makes sense actually, but in some extreme cases it could be a life-saver.
>>376772
I assume that's why they still teach it.
