Back then 13 cm, 15 cm, 17 cm and 21 cm artillery cannons were in use, so the shells were not necessarily significantly smaller. However, modern artillery shells surely are more complex involving microelectronics or even rocket propulsion and the use of modern explosives makes the ‘boom’ also bigger.
In terms of modern shells being more complex in general: yes and no. modern shells pretty much always use some kind of electronic fusing, sometimes multiple kinds of electronic fuses. back then they had bombs, mines and grenades with literal clockwork inside and electronics was still very rare. also fuses and primary charges were not easy to produce reliably.
Back then 13 cm, 15 cm, 17 cm and 21 cm artillery cannons were in use, so the shells were not necessarily significantly smaller. However, modern artillery shells surely are more complex involving microelectronics or even rocket propulsion and the use of modern explosives makes the ‘boom’ also bigger.
In terms of modern shells being more complex in general: yes and no. modern shells pretty much always use some kind of electronic fusing, sometimes multiple kinds of electronic fuses. back then they had bombs, mines and grenades with literal clockwork inside and electronics was still very rare. also fuses and primary charges were not easy to produce reliably.