Editing Sword (section)

===Late modern history===

====Military sidearm====
Towards the end of its useful life, the sword served more as a weapon of [[self-defence]] than for use on the battlefield, and the military importance of swords steadily decreased during the [[Modern Age]]. Even as a personal sidearm, the sword began to lose its preeminence in the early 19th century, reflecting the development of reliable [[handgun]]s.<ref name=Britannica>{{cite encyclopedia |url=http://www.britannica.com/EBchecked/topic/577385/sword |title=Encyclopædia Britannica-"Sword" |encyclopedia=The Encyclopædia Britannica |access-date=10 November 2010 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100419033120/http://www.britannica.com/EBchecked/topic/577385/sword |archive-date=19 April 2010 }}</ref>

However, swords were still normally carried in [[combat]] by cavalrymen and by officers of other branches throughout the 19th and early 20th centuries, both in colonial and European warfare. For example, during the [[Aceh War]] the [[Aceh Sultanate|Acehnese]] ''[[klewang]]s'', a sword similar to the [[machete]], proved very effective in close quarters combat with Dutch troops, leading the [[Royal Netherlands East Indies Army]] to adopt a heavy [[cutlass]], also called ''klewang'' (very similar in appearance to the US Navy Model 1917 Cutlass) to counter it. Mobile troops armed with [[carbine]]s and klewangs succeeded in suppressing Aceh resistance where traditional infantry with [[rifle]] and [[bayonet]] had failed. From that time on until the 1950s the [[Royal Dutch East Indies Army]], Royal Dutch Army, Royal Dutch Navy and Dutch police used these cutlasses called Klewang.<ref>{{Cite book|last=Moor|first=Jaap de|author2=Wesseling, H. L.|title=Imperialism and war: essays on colonial wars in Asia and Africa|publisher=Brill|year=1989|pages=69–71|isbn=978-90-04-08834-4}}</ref><ref>{{Cite book|last=Ion|first=A. Hamish|author2=Errington, Elizabeth Jane|title=Great powers and little wars: the limits of power|publisher=Greenwood Publishing Group|year=1993|page=60|isbn=978-0-275-93965-6}}</ref>

[[File:Jack Churchill leading training charge with sword.jpg|thumb|upright=1.05|British Major [[Jack Churchill]] (far right) leads commandos during a training exercise, sword in hand, in [[World War II]].]]
Swords continued in general peacetime use by cavalry of most armies during the years prior to World War I. The British Army formally adopted a completely new design of [[Pattern 1908 cavalry sword|cavalry sword]] in 1908, almost the last change in British Army weapons before the outbreak of the war.<ref>{{cite book |last=Wilkinson-Latham |first=John |year=1966 |title=British Military Swords from 1800 to the Present Day |publisher=Hutchinson & Co. |isbn=978-0-09-081201-1}}</ref> At the outbreak of World War I infantry officers in all combatant armies then involved (French, German, British, Austro-Hungarian, Russian, Belgian and Serbian) still carried swords as part of their field equipment. On mobilization in August 1914 all serving British Army officers were required to have their swords sharpened as the only peacetime use of the weapon had been for saluting on parade.<ref>Tuchman, Barbara W. (1962). ''The Guns of August'', p. 229. Constable and Co. Ltd.</ref> The high visibility and limited practical use of the sword however led to it being abandoned within weeks, although most cavalry continued to carry sabres throughout the war. While retained as a symbol of rank and status by at least senior officers of infantry, artillery and other branches, the sword was usually left with non-essential baggage when units reached the front line.<ref>{{cite book|first=Pierre|last=Lierneuz|page=366|title=The Belgian Army in the Great War. Portable Service Weapons|year=2017|publisher=Verlag Militaria GmbH |isbn=978-3-902526-86-1}}</ref> It was not until the late 1920s and early 1930s that this historic weapon was finally discarded for all but ceremonial purposes by most remaining horse mounted regiments of Europe and the Americas.

In China troops used the long anti-cavalry ''[[miao dao]]'' well into the [[Second Sino-Japanese War]]. The last units of British heavy cavalry switched to using [[Armored car (military)|armoured vehicles]] as late as 1938. Swords and other dedicated melee weapons were used occasionally by many countries during [[World War II]], but typically as a secondary weapon as they were outclassed by coexisting [[firearm]]s.<ref>{{cite book |last=Johnson |first=Thomas M. |year=2006 |title=German Swords of World War II – A Photographic Reference Vol.3: DLV, Diplomats, Customs, Police and Fire, Justice, Mining, Railway, etc. |publisher=Schiffer Pub Ltd |isbn=978-0-7643-2432-1}}</ref><ref>{{cite book |last=Youens |first=Michael |author2=Warner, Philip |year=1973 |title=Japanese Army of World War II |publisher=Osprey Publishing |isbn=978-0-85045-118-4 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=Zk8bF_ShpsoC&pg=PP1 |access-date=18 November 2010 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160513003714/https://books.google.com/books?id=Zk8bF_ShpsoC&lpg=PP1&pg=PP1 |archive-date=13 May 2016 }}</ref><ref>{{cite book |last=Taylor |first=Mike |year=1998 |title=Battles of World War II |publisher=ABDO Publishing |isbn=978-1-56239-804-0 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=OYVwusIBWPEC&pg=PP1 |access-date=18 November 2010 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160503090544/https://books.google.com/books?id=OYVwusIBWPEC&lpg=PP1&pg=PP1 |archive-date=3 May 2016 }}</ref> A notable exception was the Imperial Japanese Army where, for cultural reasons, all officers and warrant officers carried the [[Guntō#Shin guntō (new military sword)|shin-gunto]] ("new military sword") into battle from 1934 until 1945.<ref>{{cite book|first=Philip|last=Jowett|page=[https://archive.org/details/japanesearmyvolu00jowe_173/page/n42 42]|title=The Japanese Army 1931-45 (1)|year=2002|publisher=Bloomsbury USA |url=https://archive.org/details/japanesearmyvolu00jowe_173|url-access=limited|isbn=1-84176-353-5}}</ref>

====Ceremonial use====
{{Further|Sword of state}}

Swords are commonly worn as a [[ceremonial weapon|ceremonial item]] by officers in many military and naval services throughout the world. Occasions to wear swords include any event in dress uniforms where the rank-and-file carry arms: [[parade]]s, reviews, [[Swords in courts-martial|courts-martial]], [[Military tattoo|tattoos]], and changes of command. They are also commonly worn for officers' weddings, and when wearing dress uniforms to church—although they are rarely actually worn in the church itself.

In the British forces they are also worn for any appearance at [[Court (royal)|Court]]. In the [[United States]], every Naval officer at or above the rank of [[Lieutenant Commander]] is required to own a sword, which can be prescribed for any formal outdoor ceremonial occasion; they are normally worn for changes of command and parades. For some Navy parades, [[cutlass]]es are issued to [[petty officer]]s and [[chief petty officer]]s.

In the [[U.S. Marine Corps]] every officer must own a sword, which is prescribed for formal parades and other ceremonies where dress uniforms are worn and the rank-and-file are under arms. On these occasions depending on their billet, Marine Non-Commissioned Officers (E-4 and above) may also be required to carry swords, which have hilts of a pattern similar to U.S. Naval officers' swords but are actually [[sabre]]s. The USMC [[United States Marine Corps noncommissioned officer's sword|Model 1859 NCO Sword]] is the longest continuously issued edged weapon in the U.S. inventory

The Marine officer swords are of the [[Mameluke sword|Mameluke]] pattern which was adopted in 1825 in recognition of the Marines' key role in the capture of the [[Tripoli, Libya|Tripolitan]] city of [[Battle of Derna (1805)|Derna]] during the [[First Barbary War]].<ref>{{cite book |first=Michael |last=Roffe |title=United States Marine Corps |year=1972 |publisher=Osprey Publishing |page=5 |isbn=978-0-85045-115-3}}</ref> Taken out of issue for approximately 20 years from 1855 until 1875, it was restored to service in the year of the Corps' centennial and has remained in issue since.

=====Religious=====
In the [[occult]] practices of [[Wicca]], a sword or knife often referred to as an [[athame]] is used as a [[Magical tools in Wicca|magical tool]].<ref>{{cite book|last=Regardie|first=Israel|title=The Complete Golden Dawn System of Magic vol. Four|date=1990|publisher=New Falcon Publications (Falcon Press)|location=Scottsdale, Arizona|isbn=978-0-941404-12-9|page=33|edition=Fourth}}</ref>

====Sword replicas====
The production of replicas of historical swords originates with 19th-century [[historicism (art)|historicism]].<ref>{{cite book |author1=Gabbay, Dov M. |author2=Anthonie Meijers |author3=Paul Thagard |author4=John Woods |year=2009 |title=Philosophy of Technology and Engineering Sciences |publisher=Elsevier Publishing |page=1208 |isbn=978-0-444-51667-1}}</ref> Contemporary replicas can range from cheap factory produced look-alikes to exact recreations of individual artifacts, including an approximation of the historical production methods.

Some kinds of swords are still commonly used today as weapons, often as a side arm for military infantry. The Japanese ''[[katana]]'', ''[[wakizashi]]'' and ''[[tantō]]'' are carried by some infantry and officers in Japan and other parts of Asia and the ''[[kukri]]'' is the official melee weapon for [[Nepal]]. Other swords in use today are the [[sabre]], the [[scimitar]], the [[shortsword]] and the [[machete]].<ref>{{cite book |last=Chappell |first=Mike |year=1993 |title=The Gurkhas |pages=31–32 |isbn=978-1-85532-357-5 |publisher=Osprey Publishing}}</ref>
* In the case of a rat-tail [[tang (tools)|tang]], the maker welds a thin rod to the end of the blade at the crossguard; this rod goes through the grip.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://knife-depot.com/pages/all-about-knife-tangs|title=All About Knife Tangs|website=Knife Depot|language=en|access-date=2018-12-02}}</ref>
* In traditional construction, Swordsmiths [[peening|peened]] such tangs over the end of the pommel, or occasionally welded the hilt furniture to the tang and threaded the end for screwing on a pommel. This style is often referred to as a "narrow" or "hidden" tang. Modern, less traditional, replicas often feature a threaded pommel or a pommel nut which holds the hilt together and allows dismantling.{{citation needed|date=July 2013}}
* In a "full" tang (most commonly used in knives and [[machete]]s), the tang has about the same width as the blade, and is generally the same shape as the grip.<ref name=TangTypes>{{cite web |url=http://www.gungfu.com/cart-htm/swords_tang_types.htm |title=Tang Types of a Sword |publisher=gungfu.com |access-date=7 November 2010 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://archive.today/20061030154047/http://www.gungfu.com/cart-htm/swords_tang_types.htm |archive-date=30 October 2006 }}</ref>