Causes, Practices, and effects of

War


Warfare is the greatest affair of state, the
basis of life and death, the way (Tao) to survival
or extinction. It must be thoroughly pondered and
analyzed.
-The Art of War Sun-Tzu 5th century b.c.

What is War?

War therefore is an act of violence intended to

compel our opponents to fulfill our will.
On War - Carl Von Clausewitz 1780 to 1831

He makes an attempt to understand the rapidly changing

nature of war in Napoleonic Europe, as the old military order
was destroyed and first national armies were raised.He tries
to explain how the war is now fought for ideas or a cause
rather than spoils. He was the first military strategist to
explain this fundamental change, and his book became the
standard text of warfare in the 19th and early 20th century.
The ideological nature of war that Clausewitz first outlined
was demonstrated in its extreme form on the eastern front in
the Second World War, where historys bloodiest battles
were fought between the extreme right-wing (Nazis) and the
extreme left-wing (Soviets) ideologies. It was a war of total
destruction and, as Clausewitz had predicted, one with
extreme costs and casualties and finishing only when one of
the belligerents was completely destroyed.

Why do we fight?
The political objective
War is a mere continuation of policy by other
means. - Von Clausewitz

Economic motive We want what our neighbors

have
Class warfare - Marxist point of view
Includes wars of liberation

Honor, fear and interest Thucydides

Kagan explains

Human nature - Aristotle

Why should we study war

Prevention idealistic- human nature can
be changed
So we can win realistic- we will always
fight so lets make sure we come out on top
We can minimize the inevitable by reducing
the likelihood of war and its impact
neo-realist or soft realist.

Types of War
I.TotalWar
Examples
World War I 1914 to 1918
World War II 1939 to 1945

Characteristics
Entire population mobilized for war effort
Complete defeat of enemy- unconditional surrender

Retaken from
On the Road to Total War: The American Civil War and the German Wars of Unification, 1861-1871 (Publications of
the German Historical Institute). German Historical Institute. August 22, 2002. p. 296. ISBN 0-5215-2-119X.

Certain actions regardless of legitimacy or illegitimacy

can characterize total war, such as:
giving no quarter (i.e., take no prisoners), as with
Hitler's Commando Order during World War II
strategic bombing, as with the strategic bombing of
enemy targets during World War I and World War II
blockade, as with the Allied blockade of Germany
during World War I
scorched earth policy, as with Union General William T.
Sherman's March to the Sea during the American Civil
War

 suppressing resistance movement, destroying entire

human settlement localities, and/or deliberately killing
or executing civilian inhabitants in collective
punishment and reprisal for any suspected or actual
resistance activity, as with The Rape of Belgium during
World War I
commerce raiding or unrestricted submarine warfare,
as with the German U-Boat campaign during World
War I against enemy and neutral merchant ships
the use of civilians and prisoners of war as forced labor
for military operations, as with Japan and Germany's
massive use of forced laborers of other nations during
World War II (see Slavery in Japan and Forced labor
under German rule during World War II)

Napoleon'sretreatfromRussiain
1812.Napoleon'sGrandeArme
hadlostabouthalfamillionmen.

The Taiping Rebellion (18501864)

was one of the deadliest wars in
history, and the first total war in
modern China. About 20 million
people died, many due to disease
and famine

 Civil War
Characteristics
1.
Fought between forces of one nation
2. Two sides vying for power
3.
Sometimes involves separatists- independence
movement
4.
Foreign support for one side or both is common

Examples
1.
2.
3.

Spanish Civil War 1935 1938

Chinese Civil War 1946 1949
Mexican Revolution 1911-1920

Berdal, Mats, and David M. Malone. Greed and Grievance:

Economic Agendas in Civil Wars. Lynne Rienner, 2000.
ISBN 1555878687

InternationalDefinition
The Final Record of the Diplomatic Conference of Geneva of
1949 (Volume II-B, 121) does not specifically define the term
"civil war." It does, however, describe the criteria that separate
any act committed by force of arms (anarchy, terrorism, or plain
banditry) from those qualifying as "armed conflict not of an
international character," which includes civil wars. Among
those conditions listed are these four basic requirements.
The party in revolt must be in possession of a part of the
national territory.
The insurgent civil authority must exercise de facto authority
over the population within the determinate portion of the
national territory.
The insurgents must have some amount of recognition as a
belligerent.
The legal government is obliged to have recourse to the
regular military forces against insurgents organized as military.

The American Civil War was fought in 1861

1865 between the "Union," a group of 24
Northern states, and the "Confederacy
(Confederate States of America), a collection
of 11 Southern states. The Confederacy
declared their independence from the United
States in 18601861. The most commonly
cited cause for the war is the issue of slavery,
but the conflict was in fact more nuanced.

The Salvadoran Civil War was fought between

1980 and 1992 and involved the government of
El Salvador against a coalition of leftist and
communist forces known as the Farabundo Mart
National Liberation Front (FMLN). This
coalition challenged the ruling military regime
because of poor economic conditions following
El Salvador's war with Honduras in 1969. The
government also organized death squads
targeting members of the opposition.

The Korean Civil War was fought between 1950 and

1953. The war was the result of the division of the
country for use as a buffer zone in the Cold War. The
northern half of the peninsula was supported by the
Soviet Union, the southern half by the United States.
Leaders of both halves wanted to reunite the peninsula
under their regime, and in 1950 the North Koreans
began attacking in order to do so. The United Nations
condemned the attack, and with American aid, the
government of South Korea was reestablished and the
communist forces driven back to the dividing line of
the peninsula, which remains the 38th parallel.

 Limited War
Characteristics
1.
2.
3.

Post WWII Nuclear threat

Limited objectives avoid escalation
Use of Proxy forces no national mobilization

Examples
Korean War 1950 to 1953
Vietnam War 1964 to 1973

A limited war is a conflict in which the

belligerents participating in the war do not
expend all of each of the participants'
available resources at their disposal, whether
human, industrial, agricultural, military,
natural, technological, or otherwise in a
specific conflict

Many American Indian groups practiced limited warfare

or similar behaviors. Eastern groups at the time of
contact with Europeans often wouldn't kill all enemies;
they would capture many for adoption to replenish their
own populations. This is related to mourning wars. The
Aztec did flower wars to keep subordinate nations
symbolically defeated as well as capture sacrificial
victims (who were symbolically adopted). These wars
left non-combatants and materials without risk of
physical harm. It begun in 1622

PrimeMinisteroftheUnitedKingdom
LordPalmerstondecidedtofightalimited
waragainstRussia,sincewagingatotal
warwouldhaverequiredmassivereform
ofthearmedforces.Endedin1855

The Vietnam War also known as the Second

Indochina War, and also known in Vietnam
as Resistance War Against America or
simply the American War, was a Cold Warera proxy warthat occurred in Vietnam, Laos,
and Cambodia from 1 November 1955 to the
fall of Saigon on 30 April 1975. This war
followed the First Indochina War (194654)
and was fought between North Vietnam
supported by the Soviet Union, China and
other communist allies

 I.GuerrillaWar
A. Characteristics
1. Strong vs. Weak/Oppressor vs. Oppressed/Regular vs.
irregular
2. Associated with independence movements and civil
wars
3. Can be used in all sorts other wars.
4. Depends on indigenous population for concealment

B.
1.
2.

Examples
Vietnam war 1960 to 1968
Partisans in Europe during WWII

The Cuban Revolution (19531959) or

the revolution on Cuba was an armed
revolt conducted by Fidel Castro's 26th
of July Movement and its allies against
the government of Cuban President
Fulgencio Batista. The revolution began
in July 1953,and finally ousted Batista
on 1 January 1959, replacing his
government with a revolutionary
socialist state.

The Iraqi Kurdish Civil War was a

military conflict that took place
between rival Kurdish factions in
Iraqi Kurdistan during the mid1990s, most notably between the
Patriotic Union of Kurdistan and
the Kurdistan Democratic Party

Terrain
OpenPlains Favors Mechanized Infantry,
Armor, Airpower - Hard to defend, poor for
guerilla Warfare
Desert Same as open Plains but logistics critical
Mountain Favors Infantry, Airpower, - Easy to
defend poor for Mechanized, and Armor
Forest/JungleFavors Infantry, Guerilla tactics
- Poor for Mechanization and Armor
Urban Favors Infantry , guerrilla tactics Poor
for Armor

KeyTechnologicalinnovationsduring
Warinthe20thcentury.
Tank British WWI ended Trench Warfare
Airplane WWI - Many different reasons Added
3rd dimension
Jet Engine Germans - WWII Changed
Airpower
Radar British- WWII - Early detection, helped
win Battle of Britain

 Aircraft Carrier US/Japan - WWII

Changed Naval Combat
Ballistic Missile Germans - WWII
Unstoppable and long range
Nuclear Bomb US WWII - Most Bang
for the Buck
Helicopter US Korean War - Resurrected
Cavalry, Saved a lot of lives.

Military Terms
Military organization

Army Corp Division Brigade Battalion Company Platoon Squad -

depends on need
many divisions
2 to 3 Brig./Batts.
2 batts. + 1 comp.4 to 5 companies3 platoons 3 squads 10 men

led by
Gen.
Gen.
Gen.
Col
Maj.
Capt
Lt.
Sgt(NCO)

Military Ranks
Army
Officers

General
Colonel
Major
Captain
Lieutenant

Enlisted
Sergent (NCO)
Corporal
Private

Navy
Officers
Admiral
Captain
Commodore
Commander
Lieutenant
Ensign
Enlisted
Petty Officer(NCO)
Seaman/sailor

 Strategy
The big picture. overall plan for a war or
battle

Tactics
The methods used to implement the strategy
Smaller scale

Flanking attacking from the side or rear

Logistics getting people and supplies to
the battle or war.
Reconnaissance scouting and spying,
finding out where the enemy is

 Infantry foot soldiers

Armor Tanks, Armored Personal
Carriers(APC)
Artillery big cannons or rockets, shot
from a long distance usually
Ballistic Missile guided and self powered
projectile usually rocket powered
Capitol ships biggest vessels in navy used
to project power