Lesson 1
The Character of War
Lesson Objectives
• Begin to understand the nature of war and the
factors used to define and characterize it.
• Understand the three levels of war and the unique
issues encountered at each level.
• Become familiar with elements of national power
and their potential impact on strategy and the
conduct of war.
Definitions
The beginning of wisdom
is calling things by their right names.
Confucius
Establishing a common context
What is war?
How has war been defined?
What are its characteristics?
What are its causes?
What is war?
War is part of the intercourse of the human race.
War is the province of danger, and therefore courage
above all things is the first quality of the warrior.
War is the province of physical exertion and suffering .
War is the province of uncertainty. War is the province
of friction.
War demands resolution, firmness, and staunchness.
Chapter titles to Ernest Hemingway's Men at War,
quoting Clausewitz
What is war?
War is nothing more than the continuation
of politics by other means.
Karl von Clausewitz
Politics is war without bloodshed
while war is politics with bloodshed.
Mao Tse-Tung
War is the point at which politics turns into murder
Michel Serres, (Le Contrat naturel, 1990)
Definitions of War
• the waging of armed conflict against an enemy
• a legal state created by a declaration of war and
ended by official declaration during which the
international rules of war apply
• condition of open, armed, often prolonged
conflict carried on between nations, states, or
parties
• a state of open and declared armed hostile
conflict between political units such as states or
nations; may be limited or general in nature.
Definitions of War
war, n., – 1. a contest between nations or states (international
war) or between parties in the same state (civil war), carried
on by force of arms for various purposes, as to settle
disputes about territorial possessions, to maintain rights that
have been interfered with, to resist oppression, to avenge
injuries, to conquer territory, to extend dominion, etc.;
a conflict of arms between hostile parties or nations;
open hostility declared and engaged in.
-- Webster's Monarch Dictionary , unabridged (Chicago, 1916)
Definitions of War
war, n., – 1. a contest between nations or states (international
war) or between parties in the same state (civil war), carried
on by force of arms for various purposes, as to settle
disputes about territorial possessions, to maintain rights that
have been interfered with, to resist oppression, to avenge
injuries, to conquer territory, to extend dominion, etc.;
a conflict of arms between hostile parties or nations;
open hostility declared and engaged in.
-- Webster's Monarch Dictionary , unabridged (Chicago, 1916)
Definitions of War
war, n., – 1. a contest between nations or states (international
war) or between parties in the same state (civil war), carried
on by force of arms for various purposes, as to settle
disputes about territorial possessions, to maintain rights that
have been interfered with, to resist oppression, to avenge
injuries, to conquer territory, to extend dominion, etc.;
a conflict of arms between hostile parties or nations;
open hostility declared and engaged in.
-- Webster's Monarch Dictionary , unabridged (Chicago, 1916)
Definitions of War
war \ n., a (1): a state of usually open and declared armed
hostile conflict between political units (as states or nations)
<cannot exist between two countries unless each of them
has its own government>.
-- Webster's Third New International Dictionary , unabridged
(Springfield, Massachusetts, 1981)
Definitions of War
war \ n., a (1): a state of usually open and declared armed
hostile conflict between political units (as states or nations)
<cannot exist between two countries unless each of them
has its own government>.
-- Webster's Third New International Dictionary , unabridged
(Springfield, Massachusetts, 1981)
Definitions of War
war, n ., – organized, socially sanctioned armed
violence employed by opposing groups against
one another, normally for political, social or
economic purposes.
John F. Guilmartin
Ohio State University
This will be our working definition
Definitions
Strategy
"the art of the general"
(from the Greek strategia: generalship)
Definitions
Strategy
“The practical adaptation of the means
placed at a general's disposal to the
attainment of the object in view. "
General Helmut von Moltke (1800 – 1891)
Chief of the German General Staff, 1857-1888
Quoted in Basil H. Liddell Hart’s Strategy
Definitions
Strategy
“The practical adaptation of the means
placed at a general's disposal to the
attainment of the object in view. "
General Helmut von Moltke (1800 – 1891)
Chief of the German General Staff, 1857-1888
Quoted in Basil H. Liddell Hart’s Strategy
Definitions
Strategy
“The practical adaptation of the means
placed at a general's disposal to the
attainment of the object
Definitions
Strategy
object
to
“The practical
objective
of the means
meansadaptation
placed at a general's disposal to the
attainment of the object
Definitions
Strategy
to
objective
means
A plan to
match resources
to objectives
Definitions
Strategy
A plan to match resources to objectives
[basic definition]
“Matching ends to means”
Definitions
Strategy
A plan to match resources to objectives
NOTE: Don’t confuse
Strategy (n)
with
Strategic (adj)
Definitions
Tactics
The art of fighting on or near the battlefield
The Oxford Companion to Military History
Definitions
Tactics
• The military science that deals with securing
objectives set by strategy, especially the
technique of deploying and directing troops,
ships, and aircraft in effective maneuvers
against an enemy
American Heritage Dictionary
Definitions
Tactics
• The military science that deals with securing
objectives set by strategy, especially the
technique of deploying and directing
troops, ships, and aircraft in effective
maneuvers against an enemy
• Maneuvers used against an enemy
American Heritage Dictionary
Definitions
Tactics
In warfare, the art and science of fighting battles.
It is concerned with the approach to combat,
placement of troops, use made of weapons,
vehicles, ships, or aircraft, and execution of
movements for attack or defense. In general,
tactics deal with the problems encountered in
actual fighting.
Britannica Concise Encyclopedia
Definitions
Tactics
In warfare, the art and science of fighting battles.
It is concerned with the approach to combat,
placement of troops, use made of weapons,
vehicles, ships, or aircraft, and execution of
movements for attack or defense. In general,
tactics deal with the problems encountered in
actual fighting.
Britannica Concise Encyclopedia
Definitions
Tactics
The art and science of fighting battles
NOTE: Don’t confuse
Tactics (n)
with
Tactical (adj)
Strategy v. Tactics
"Tactics teaches the use of armed
forces in the engagement; strategy,
the use of engagements for the object
of the war."
Clausewitz
Strategy v. Tactics
"I call strategy the hostile movement of two armies
beyond the view of each other; or -- if it be
preferred -- beyond the effect of cannon. Tactics I
call the science of movements which are made in
the presence of the enemy, that is, within his view
and within the reach of his artillery."
Gen. Winfield Scott
Infantry Tactics
1835
Review
Definitions
Strategy
A plan to match resources to objectives
NOTE: Don’t confuse
Strategy (n)
with
Strategic (adj)
Review
Definitions
Tactics
The art and science of fighting battles
NOTE: Don’t confuse
Tactics (n)
with
Tactical (adj)
Military Strategy
Applied
More traditionally
Strategy
The art and science of developing and using
political, economic, psychological, and military
forces as necessary during peace and war, to
afford the maximum support to policies, in order
to increase the probabilities and favorable
consequences of victory and to lessen the
defeat. [JP 1-02] (DoD)
chances of defeat
Grand Strategy
A more timely concept
High Strategy: at the highest level of the state
Deals with achieving national objectives even beyond war
“Grand Strategy is simply the level at which
knowledge and persuasion, or in modern terms
intelligence and diplomacy, interact with military
strength to determine outcomes in a world of other
states with their own “grand strategies.”
Edward Luttwak,
The Grand Strategy of the Byzantin e Empire
Instruments of National Power
All the means that are available for
employment in the pursuit of national
objectives.
DoD
Instruments of National Power
Examples:
• Military
• Diplomacy
• Economic
• Information
• Resolve (will)
Traditional
Instruments of National Power
Examples:
• Resolve (will)
• Information
• Military
Economic
• Diplomatic
•
Instruments of National Power
Examples:
• Diplomatic
• Information
• Military
Economic
• Resolve (will)
•
Levels of War
(classic)
Strategic
Operational
Tactical
Levels of War
FM 3-0
Strategic Level of War
Concerned with the overall conduct of the war
 The domain of the highest level civilian and military leaders
Determines theaters (regions) of operation,
resources allocation to each, general plans of
action
 Where to fight
 With what
Operational Level of War
Concerned with moving to the fight
 The domain of generals and admirals
Where campaigns (a series of maneuvers and
battles over an extended period) are planned and
conducted
 Generally how to fight
Tactical Level of War
Concerned with actually fighting the battles
 Domain of privates to colonels, sailors to captains
The detailed employment of forces and
weapons directly against an enemy
 Fighting individual skirmishes and battles
Levels of War
Strategic: grand plan for fighting war
Operational: getting the forces to the
point of battle
Tactical: actually fighting the battle
Levels of War
For our purposes, consider a “campaign”
as part of the Operational level of war
FM 3-0
Levels of War
Strategic
Operational
Tactical
Geopolitics
A study of the relationship between
geography and politics
Geopolitics
How grand strategy is defined by place
Why did Germany need a quick, decisive victory in 1914?
Why was it important for Britain to have a powerful navy?
Why did Japan go to war with the United States in 1941?
How is China’s grand strategy defined by its geopolitical
circumstances?
Things You Need to Remember
Characteristics of “war”
Instruments of national power
Levels of war
Strategy and Grand Strategy
Next:
Lesson 2
Begin With The End in Mind:
Operation Desert Storm
Gulf War Preview
©
Inside the Kill Box (YouTube: 0:00-0:57
"The Circle of Modern War" and logo
© Thomas D. Pilsch 2007-2013
Lesson Objectives
Begin with the end in mind
• Understand and be able to discuss the causes, conduct,
and consequences (C³) of the Gulf War.
• Develop a methodology for systematically studying the
changes in war over time.
• Begin to appreciate the impact of technology and logistics
on modern war.
• Establish recognizable end points for the major threads of
modern war (weapons, logistics, communications, strategy,
and operational art).
End
Grand Strategy
U.S. Grand Strategy
U.S. Military Posture
Implementing Grand Strategy
Why Do We Study War?
“History doesn’t repeat itself, but it rhymes.”
Attributed to Samuel Clements, 1835-1910
"It is not worth while to try to keep history
from repeating itself, for man's character will
always make the preventing of the repetitions
impossible."
Mark Twain, Eruption: Hitherto Unpublished Pages About
Men and Events, published 1940
Geopolitics
End
Military Strategy
Strategy
The art and science of developing and using
political, economic, psychological, and military
forces as necessary during peace and war, to
afford the maximum support to policies, in order
to increase the probabilities and favorable
consequences of victory and to lessen the
chances of defeat. [JP 1-02] (DoD)
Military Strategy
Strategy
“the employment of the instruments (elements)
of power (political/diplomatic, economic,
military, and informational) to achieve the
political objectives of the state in cooperation
or in competition with other actors pursuing
their own objectives. “
US Army War College
Quoted by H. Richard Yarger
“Toward a Theory of Strategy”
Military Strategy
Strategy
“the employment of the instruments (elements)
of power (political/diplomatic, economic,
military, and informational) to achieve the
political objectives of the state in cooperation
or in competition with other actors pursuing
their own objectives. “
US Army War College
Quoted by H. Richard Yarger
“Toward a Theory of Strategy”