★★★★ Though many of the figures central to the reform of the Prussian army and state that took place between the battle of Jena-Auerstadt (1806) and the final defeat of Napoleon (1815) were of humble birth, none came from circumstances more desperate than those of August Neidhardt von Gneisenau. Gneisenau was born on the 27th... Continua a leggere →
Measuring combat effectiveness: a novel method based on two-dimensional frontline advancement rate
★★★★ Accurately measuring combat effectiveness is a cornerstone of military and political science research. Lanchester (1916) laid the foundation for this field with his renowned Lanchester equations, which focus on quantifying casualties based on the number of engaged combatants. These equations have profoundly influenced subsequent research, inspiring numerous variants over the decades. Notable adaptations include... Continua a leggere →
L’impiego tattico della fanteria durante la guerra Russo-Giapponese [ed.1911]
★★★★ Sebbene della guerra russo-giapponese non sia stata ancora pubblicata la storia ufficiale, pure le notizie che ci sono fin qui pervenuta per opera essenzialmente dello stato maggiore tedesco e di quello inglese, nonché per le numerosissime opere uscite fino ad ora sull'argomento, hanno ormai dissipata la fitta nebbia che fino a poco tempo fa... Continua a leggere →
L’OPERAZIONE BRITANNICA “CHARIOT”
★★★ Abstract: Questo saggio analizza in modo approfondito, attraverso fonti britanniche ufficiali e documenti tedeschi inediti, la pianificazione e lo svolgimento dell’audace attacco condotto dalla Marina britannica contro la base navale tedesca di Saint-Nazaire, tra il 27 e il 28 marzo 1942. L’obiettivo principale dell’operazione era la distruzione del grande bacino di carenaggio situato sulla... Continua a leggere →
De la Péninsule scandinave sous le rapport militaire et maritime en 1830 [ed.1830]
★★ Il est difficile, à ce qu’il nous semble, de ne pas attacher quelque importance à l’état actuel de la Suède, quand on songe à l’influence qu’elle a exercée sur le développement politique du monde moderne, aux services qu’elle a rendus à la civilisation et à la liberté, et à l’éclat avec lequel elle a... Continua a leggere →
The evolutions of the world military forces since the end of Cold War
★★★ The dominant liberal theory has presented military expenditure as unproductive and wars and economic conflicts are prejudicial to the good functioning of economic mechanisms. Today the success of the American economy, which was regarded as declining at the end of the years 1980, raises the issue of the correlation between war, military expenditures, and... Continua a leggere →
Strategy, Language, and the Culture of Defeat: Changing Interpretations of Japan’s Pacific War Naval Demise
★★ Introduction Military historians say that military history is written from the perspective of the victor. Japan’s naval defeat in the Pacific War, however, provides a highly arguable case. Much of the translated postwar literature on the Pacific War has been written from an Allied perspective which overemphasizes Japanese weaknesses, deemphasizes the strengths of the... Continua a leggere →
Military Law, the Canadian Militia, and The North-West Rebellion of 1885
★★★ Introduction On 18 March 1885, Louis Riel and a large group of dissatisfied métis took up arms against the Dominion of Canada and declared their own provisional government at Batoche, a small community south of Prince Albert on the South Saskatchewan River. Fearful that the insurrection might encourage similar uprisings among natives and métis in other parts of... Continua a leggere →
What went wrong in afghanistan: a primer
★★★ In 2001, the United States invaded and occupied Afghanistan, and eventually spent over a trillion dollars, as it and its allies killed some 170,000 Afghan citizens. Twenty years later, the United States withdrew from Afghanistan in defeat. Why was America there? Thucydides reminded us in The Peloponnesian War some 2,500 years ago that, war’s “three…strongest motives [are] fear, honor, and... Continua a leggere →
Patterns of War: A Re-interpretation of the Chronology of the German-Soviet War 1941–1945
★★★★ IntroductionThe Soviet-German War 1941–1945 was unprecedented in the scope of its size and scale, covering a vast geographic area and utilizing millions of people, horses, and machines, as well as a huge scale of destruction of population and property.[1] This has posed a challenge to historians to both understand the war and then portray... Continua a leggere →
