Doctrine
French lessons of the Great War
A group of 13.2 mm-armed AMR 35s, belonging to 4e RDP, 1re DLM; the vehicle in front, N° 87347, is the second produced and shows the large rosettes typical of this unit from 1938. The French believed that they had mastered the lessons of the Great War. They, of course, had entered the Great War with one of the most…
![Operational Maneuver Group [OMG]](https://weaponsandwarfare.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/01/Operational-Maneuver-Group-OMG-330x205.jpg "Operational Maneuver Group [OMG] 6")
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The Master of the Battlefield Part I
“Battle of Moscow, 7th September 1812”, 1822 by Louis Lejeune Bonaparte was first and foremost a military man, a soldier, a general, a commander of armies, and a deadly destroyer of his opponents’ military capacity. His aim throughout his career was to move swiftly to a position where he obliged…
The Master of the Battlefield Part II
Napoleon at the Battle of Austerlitz by François GĂ©rard One suspects that Bonaparte would have subscribed to the modern American adage “If it ain’t broke, don’t fix it.” What he inherited, he improved and built upon, but he was disinclined to change a military apparatus that worked well for him.…
Pacific Destroyers – Japan
The IJN Shimakaze, one-off super-destroyer built for the Imperial Japanese Navy One of the functions of destroyers in the Pacific (much more prevalent than in any other theater) was the traditional role of launching torpedo attacks. Some of the earliest instances of this duty came in the wake of the…
Marines Share Hard-Earned Knowledge
1/8 Scout Sniper Platoon, Hadithah Dam, Iraq 2004 By Michael Peck Marines fighting in Iraq have concluded that, in order to defeat insurgents, the urban tactics learned in the United States require a substantial makeover “The most effective training in this environment is for the squad leader to sit down…
Late Middle Ages: The Resurgence of Infantry
Swiss Infantry Landsknechts Throughout the high Middle Ages, heavy cavalry had completely dominated warfare. It had become completely entrenched in both the military and socioeconomic systems of the day- the noble knight was a key component of the feudal system. In this way, infantry was overlooked as strategically important, even…
Some New Factors influencing Military Operations in the Later 19th Century
A German ammunition train. A number of factors began to affect the conduct of military operations in the second half of the 19th Century in ways which enabled operations involving huge armies with modern weapons to be carried out and controlled over great distances. These can be summarised as: a…