Theorists Flashcards
1
Q
Stephen Biddle
A
- 1957 -
- Art History Guy
- Mixed Methods approach (quant & qual)
- Modern system of force employment is exposure reduction through the “tightly interrelated complex of cover, concealment, dispersion, suppression, small-unit independent maneuver, and combined arms at the tactical level, and depth, reserves, and differential concentration at the operational level of war.”
- Modern System assesses a military’s capability through its ability to control territory, the ability to inflict casualties, and the ability to control duration for mid to high-level conflicts.
- This is a Theory of Warfare based on its limited scope to mid and high-level intensity conflicts and the fact that its definition is only defined at the operational and tactical levels of war
2
Q
Jean de Bloch
A
- 1836-1902
- Polish, educated in Berlin, lived in Russia
- Peace advocate
- Foreshadowed trench warfare
- Born into poverty, self-made in the rail-road industry
- Analyzed material and economic impact of war
- Observations / Interpretations
- War of entrenchment - not decisive results, economic attrition, break up of social organizations
- Key Take-aways
- Prescient - but politically and military unacceptable
- Military does not have a monopoly on understanding war
- Political value - nuclear peace theory and relationship to the cold war
3
Q
Maurice de Saxe
A
- 1696-1750
- Soldier of fortune
- Joined French army in 1720
- Marshal General of all the Armies of France and Europe
- Influenced Jomini
- “War is a science covered with shadows in whose obscurity one cannot move with an assured step…All sciences have principles and rules; war has none.”
- How to get people to fight; not the way to fight
- Advocated seige warfare (less bloody)
- Part of the USMA curriculum in before the Civil War
4
Q
Marquis de Puységur
A
- 1655-1743
- Sought to make warfare theory a science
- Studied and wrote about the geometry and geography of warfare focusing efforts on maneuvering forces in time and space
5
Q
Count Turpin de Crisse
A
- Focused more on the art…general guidelines on how to think, not what to think
6
Q
Paul Gideon Joly de Maizeroy
A
- 1719-1780
- Humble - he acknowledged that he was consolidating theories
- He took a different approach in that he studied historical lessons learned back to the Romans and Greeks rather than focus exclusively on present theories
First theorist to directly distinguish a difference between tactics and strategy (although Turpin and de Saxe implied the as to a difference)
“Tactics is easily reduced to firm rules because it is entirely geometrical like fortifications. Strategy appears to be much less susceptible to this, since it is dependent upon innumerable circumstances–physical, political, and moral–which are never the same and which are entirely the domain of genius. Nevertheless, there exist some general rules which can be determined safely and regarded as immutable.” - Translated many old texts into French to help study them
First known use of ‘generals’ for senior leaders
7
Q
Jacques Antoine Hippolyte Comte de Guibert
A
- 1743-1790
- True enlightenment baby
- Influenced by and like Frederick the Great
- Much of his military mentorship came from his father including serving on his staff at the later part of the Seven Years War
- Colonel at 26 years old
- Elementary Tactics: deals w/ various arms
- Great Tactics: deals with marching, combat deployment, and encamping
- Seemed poised to provide great insight just based on his upbringing and his proximity to politics and the military.
- However: His work seemed sloppy and far-reaching
Like many others, in his possible arrogance, he didn’t acknowledge other theorists as if he was the only one with the ‘right answer’ - “Guibert alleges that the great generals of history left no principles.”
- Believed in the military methods of antiquity
- Achieved celebrity status
- Therefore, created divides between various groups
- Died at the beginning of the French Revolution
8
Q
Henry Humphrey Evans Lloyd
A
- 1718-1783
- Only English theorist until Fuller and Liddell Hart
- Soldier of fortune – led him all over Europe
- Based everything in math
- Enhanced map making
- Evaluated the necessary size of the military compared to the nation’s population and GDP
- Had a profound effect on logistics with better time-distance analysis
9
Q
Adam Heinrich Dietrich von Bülow
A
- 1757-1807
- Extremely arrogant
- Used geometry to develop sustainment security plans
- Claimed he could predict the outcome of campaigns by this geometry
- I think a key take-away from Bülow is his ability to pick and choose information to support his claims. He presents information that only loosely supports his theories. Clausewitz initially was impressed by Bülow, but after studying him,
- Clausewitz realized that Bülow was really an idiot.
- “War was a map-game for him. A true study of war must take into account the full diversity and complexity of the conditions involved. Bülow’s system was but one abstraction on top of the other; a single concept was generalized to create a false science.” –pg 92
- There is one key flaw in Bülow’s theory that everyone overlooked: his geometries assume an offensive force attacks on a much narrower front than the defender giving the defender more flexibility and advantage. The flaw is that in geometry alone, the broader the attacking force, this advantage quickly diminishes.
10
Q
Roger Trinquier
A
- 1908-1986
- Crime vs. war vs insurgency
- Police = crime; military = war; insurgency is in a void
- Countering Insurgencies
- Cut off the insurgent from the population
- Render guerrilla zones untenable
- coordinate actions over a wide area
- Take-away
- generally some obsolte theories, but has parallels to today
- “But that which is essential–the destruction of the enemy’s potential for warfare–is never accomplished, principally because it is never seriously contemplated.”
11
Q
Thucydides
A
- Thucydides provides theory on Fundamental Nature of War
- Premise: **Human Nature is Constant and Predictable**
- Human behavior shapes war and war effects humanity
- Capability of leaders correlate to victory/defeat
- Adaptability shapes future conflict
- Sparta’s transformation to sea power led to victory
- Fundamental motives: “Fear, Honor, and [Self]-Interest”
- The role of power
- Power links military, economics, politics, and society
- Human inclination for power
- Quest for power often leads to failure
12
Q
Friedrich Engles
A
- 1820-1895
- Co-founded Marxism
- Largely caused the Prussian coup in the mid-1800s
- Carried on the torce after Marx’s death
13
Q
Sun-Tzu
A
- Ideas:
- “Shih” (Strategic Advantage)
- “Hsing” (Strategic Positioning)
- Principles:
- Deception
- Intelligence
- Command
14
Q
Niccolo Machiavelli
A
- 1469-1527
- Largely considered the father of political science and the first western scholar on leadership
- Theory of War: Life of the state depends on the excellence of the Army
- Theory of Warfare: Defense of the state should be the concern of all who live in the same society
- Theories of Action:
- Citizen militias
- Planned Operations
- Impose will on adversaries
- Implements the idea of a citizen militia in the Florentine Republic with success.
15
Q
Hans Delbrück
A
- 1848-1929
- Historian who relooked the history of war to argue against many notions. e.g. many battles were won by superior logisitics and troop strength rather than the discipline of the winning army
- Echo’s Clausewitz’s theory of war
- Proposes two theories of warfare
- Strategy of Annihilation
- Strategy of Exhaustion
- Legacy - work not translated into English, so not as widely known, but is influential in some small groups
17
Q
John A. Warden, III
A
- 1943 -
- 5-Rings Model (Enemy is a system)
- Leadership
- Organic Essentials
- Infrastructure
- Population
- Fielded Forces
