Editing Lance (section)

===World War I and after===
[[File:Stanley Wood CossackCourage.jpg|thumb|Drawing from The War Illustrated representing a Russian Don [[Cossack]] cavalryman lancing a German infantryman]]
[[File:RussianLance1910.jpg|thumb|Russian lance "cavalry pike", type of 1910.]]
Lances were still in use by the [[British Empire|British]], [[Ottoman Empire|Turkish]], [[Kingdom of Italy|Italian]], [[Spain|Spanish]], [[French Third Republic|French]], [[Belgium|Belgian]], [[British Raj|Indian]], [[German Empire|German]], and [[Russian Empire|Russian]] armies at the outbreak of [[World War I]]. In initial cavalry skirmishes in France this antique weapon proved ineffective,<ref>{{cite book|first=Alan|last=Steele|page=32|title=British Cavalryman versus German Cavalryman|year=2022|publisher=Bloomsbury USA |isbn=978-1-4728-4882-6}}</ref> German [[uhlan]]s being "hampered by their long lances and a good many threw them away".<ref>Barbara W. Tuchman, page 280, ''The Guns of August'', Four Square Edition 1964</ref> A major action involving repeated charges by four regiments of German cavalry, all armed with lances, at [[Battle of Halen|Halen]] on 12 August 1914 was unsuccessful.<ref>Joe Robinson, Francis Hendriks and Janet Robinson, ''The Last Great Cavalry Charge – The Battle of the Silver Helmets – Halen 12 August 1914'', {{ISBN|978-1-78155-183-7}}</ref> Amongst the Belgian defenders was one regiment of lancers who fought dismounted.

With the advent of trench warfare, lances and the cavalry that carried them ceased to play a significant role.<ref>A British officer writing in 1917 referred to lancers as "our marvellous medieval regiments"</ref> A Russian cavalry officer whose regiment carried lances throughout the war recorded only one instance where an opponent was killed by this weapon.{{citation needed|date=February 2023}}

The [[Greco-Turkish War (1919–22)|Greco-Turkish War]] (1919–1922), saw an unexpected revival of lances amongst the cavalry of the Turkish National Army. During the successful Turkish offensives of the final stages of the war across the open plains of [[Asia Minor]], Turkish mounted troops were armed with bamboo shafted-lances taken from military storage and inflicted heavy losses on the retreating Greek Army.<ref>Philip S. Jowett, ''Armies of the Greek-Turkish War 1919–22'', p. 47, {{ISBN|978-1-4728-0684-0}}</ref> 
 
The cavalry branches of most armies which still retained lances as a service weapon at the end of World War I generally discarded them for all but ceremonial occasions during the 1920s and 1930s. There were exceptions during this era, such as the [[Polish cavalry]], which retained the lance for combat use until either 1934<ref>Steven J. Zaloga, page 5 "The Polish Army 1939–45" {{ISBN|0-85045-417-4}}</ref> or 1937,<ref>Alan Larsen & Henry Yallop, ''The Cavalry Lance'', p. 76, {{ISBN|978-1-4728-1618-4}}</ref> but contrary to popular legend did not make use of it in [[World War II]]. The German cavalry retained the lance ([[Stahlrohrlanze]]) as a service weapon until 1927,<ref>Klaus Richter, ''Weapons & Equipment of the German Cavalry: 1935-1945'', p. 3, {{ISBN|978-0-88740-816-8}}</ref> as did the British cavalry until 1928.<ref>Alan Larsen & Henry Yallop, The Cavalry Lance, pp. 16 & 56, {{ISBN|978-1-4728-1618-4}}</ref> The Argentine cavalry were documented as carrying lances until the 1940s,<ref>Cavalry and carriages. Militariarg.com. (n.d.). http://www.militariarg.com/cavalry-and-carriages.html</ref> but this appears to have been used as part of recruit riding school training, rather than serious preparation for use in active service.