Well noted points Gonzalo, and indeed the sword was but one element of the European arsenal in combat against native warriors, but probably the best way to define the key weapon in either of these contexts would be to distinguish place, period, and cultures involved. I'm pretty much on the same page regarding metallurgy, and cannot specify whether wootz would have been as effective as it has been said in battle, or whether it had inherent brittleness.t would seem that if it were that fragile, the Europeans would not have sought reproducing it for so long, and unsucessfully until relatively recent times.
I think 'industrialized' might better be termed commercialized, as you are right in that industrialization and machines were indeed much later.
In looking further for examples following the theme of the thread, I found the following in "Arming America" (Michael A. Bellesiles, N.Y. 2000, p.48):
"...the Spanish battle tactic was simple and effective, taking advantage of the psychological impact of a few guns to fire a single volley and then pursue their fleeing enemies with swords and pikes. The Spanish appreciated the advantages of thier metal weapons in trained hands. For instance, in 1694, a Spanish contingent in New Mexico was surprised by a large group of Ute, who attacked with arrows and clubs, quickly wounding six Spanish. But the Spanish fought the Ute off with thier swords, killing eight Ute and driving the rest into full retreat. Spanish metal was the technological advantage, thier poled weapons with metal tips and thier strurdy swords overwhelmed the Indians in the sort of battle where firearms were useless".
While the Indians were originally certainly frightened by the firearms, it seems clear they quickly learned to work around them, and though thier weapons were admittedly inferior, thier warrior spirit drove them to still attack. Even though they were defeated ultimately in many such instances, they did not stop attacking, and thier intent defense of thier way of life remained relentless for centuries. While intrigued by the firearms, and eventually acquiring them and learning thier use, they never adopted the sword, but certainly did the knives and axes which became the tomahawk.
In a notable irony, recalling the initial fearsome exposure to the firearms of the Spanish in the early contact, centuries later at a place called Little Big Horn in 1876....Col. Custers troops were decimated in a battle where they were not only outnumbered by American Indian warriors, but hopelessly outgunned. The single shot rifles of the soldiers maintained by austere military regulations were little match for the much advanced repeating rifles used proficiently by the ever spirit driven warriors.
I thought these were interesting instances in accord with the idea for discussion originally posed, and perhaps other parallels in other colonial context might be found as well.
Best regards,
Jim
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