The shelling near Málaga challenges the idea that large-scale civilian suffering began with the First or Second World War. Attacks on cities extend through the Napoleonic era and much deeper into earlier history. Medieval besiegers threw rotting cows and pigs into defended settlements in attempts to spread disease. The possible use of human bodies is mentioned for one siege, with uncertainty about that example. High explosives changed the means of bombardment, while the deliberate exposure of civilians to violence had a much longer history.
Notable Point · 23:06-24:40
Civilian bombardment long predates the world wars
The Malaga episode leads into a broader warning that attacks on cities and civilians have a much longer history than modern industrial war.