Investor’s Daily poll (22 July 2026)

Interestingly, do you know which invention made medieval civil wars far less common?

Gunpowder 250 votes (23.1%)
The printing press 423 votes (39.1%)
Standing national armies 220 votes (20.4%)
Double-entry bookkeeping 188 votes (17.4%)

Total votes: 1,081

The answer is standing national armies.

Most people assume gunpowder changed everything. In reality, historians often argue that permanent state armies gradually removed military power from feudal nobles, making private wars much harder to wage.

Get ahead of the curve with Investor's Daily

Enter your email to access exclusive insights and stay informed with our Investor's Daily daily email.

Because Investor's Daily is completely free, we do have to fund it with advertising. Occasionally we will send you promotional emails, which will contain advertisements from us. By signing up to our free emails, you are consenting to receive these promotions. However we will never give, sell or rent your email address to any other companies. If you want to stop receiving our free emails at any time, you can immediately unsubscribe by clicking on the link in each email. For more information, please see our privacy policy.