How barbed wire appeared and its role in historical events

It cannot be said that barbed wire belongs to the great inventions of mankind. But still it played its part in the well-known events of society, and this role was not positive. Only a few people know that it was originally intended not at all for the purposes for which it was used later.

1. Somewhere on the plains...

Few people know that the appearance of barbed wire dates back to the period of development of the Great Plains in the United States of America. For the arrangement of farms, cattle breeders had to build fences. So they tried to protect their herds from cattle belonging to other farmers, as well as from wild animals.

Building wooden fences was very expensive. For farmers, such fences were a luxury, because of the cost. The use of wire for this purpose was much more advantageous. But the problem was that the cattle practically did not notice the thin wire and tore it. Often this even led to the fall of the supporting pillars.

This continued until 1873, until one of the local farmers presented his unique invention at a fair in the De Kalb district. It was an ordinary board, into which sharply sharpened nails were driven in from different sides. As intended by the innovative farmer, such boards should be attached to a wire fence to create a reliable obstacle that animals could not overcome.

It is from this moment that the history of the use of barbed wire begins. The fact is that the invention of Henry Rose (that was the name of this farmer) interested his comrades. One of them, D. Glidden, tried to build a barbed fence without the use of boards. He cut the wire into small pieces and twisted each into a couple of turns around the main wire of the fence.

It is worth noting that the tips of such twisted segments were quite sharp and, in fact, successfully replaced the sharpened and driven nails proposed by Rose. However, the barbs made by Glidden were not securely fastened, and therefore continually shifted along the wire. Seeing this, Glidden tried to use additional pieces, winding them around the previously made thorns. The result is thorns with 4 spikes. These designs proved to be reliable and durable.

2. Connection of barbed wire with historical events

Thus the production of barbed wire began, which was in high demand among farmers. However, it was used not only by pastoralists. So, in the Russian-Japanese war, this invention was used to protect the trenches. And in some sections of the barbed fences it was electrified.

During World War I, there was a shortage of spiked wire. And then instead of it they began to use barbed tape. This invention belongs to the Germans. It is worth noting that, despite being less durable than wire, barbed tape was more dangerous. It caused painful injuries.

It should be noted that barbed tape is used in various ways even today. Therefore, we can safely say that it was during the First World War that effective designs of wire fences were invented. This protective measure could, in case of contact, not only leave scratches on the skin of the body or ruin clothes, but even cause severe bleeding, which can be fatal.

As already mentioned, barbed tape was invented in the face of a shortage of wire. However, in the same period, another idea was proposed by the Frenchman Bruno. His idea was to wind barbed wire around a cylinder. The result was a barbed spiral, which could be strengthened in place of the fence using long poles. Later this invention was named after the author. The fence was called so - Bruno's spiral.

During the Second World War, all modifications of barbed wire began to be perceived not as an army weapon, but as a symbol of violence and repression.