Did any historical military force ever use daggers as a primary weapon rather than simply for utility or backup?

by EgoCraven

Just curious from the amount of rpg's where characters can go toe to toe with a sword wielder and sometimes parry better despite the shortness of the blade demanding far greater accuracy and whether their was any real world basis for a dagger focused fighting style.

elos_

As a "primary" weapon? No, not anywhere to my knowledge. As a less than unheard of weapon? Yes. The movie Alatriste has a depiction of the Battle of Rocroi (1643) which, in my opinion, gives a moderately accurate depiction of late 16th and 17th century pike-shot warfare; you can watch the relevant part from this link. What you see after the pike rattling and initial contact is actually a lesser spoken about but common part of this type of warfare; the chaos of it all. People don't like being stabbed with pikes so they rattle each other and prod away at each other so men dive and crawl under it all and use those compact weapons to get at the other side.

So certainly not 'primary', the pike and musket (as is the name) were the primary weapons of war in Europe in the 1500's and first half to two-thirds of the 1600's for infantry; lance and pistol for cavalry equally. However these compact weapons like sword and dagger and even hatchet saw their use in limited fashions like depicted above.

The Rise of Modern Warfare: 1618-1815, H.W. Koch

Thirty Years War, Peter Wilson