Doctrine
CHANGES IN WARFARE SINCE GUSTAV ADOLF
While the military system of Gustav Adolf served as the basis for European warfare in the eighteenth century, few were able to apply it fully. While the external aspects of his ideas were practitioners failed to understand his flexible employment of the combined arms team on the battlefield. Arnold J. Toynbee refers to an historical cycle of invention, triumph, lethargy…
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The Soviet officer corps at war – WWII
As in peacetime, the army at war resorted to creative, non-traditional methods to fill leadership gaps with trained, semi-trained, and untrained personnel. To fill generals’ positions, the army resorted to rapid promotion and appointment of non-military personnel, particularly in the rear services, and occasionally for opolchenie units. By and large…
GUERRILLA WARFARE
Carl von Clausewitz wrote in On War (1832) that a people’s war (Volkskrieg) in ‘‘civilized Europe’’ was a phenomenon of the nineteenth century. He recognized that it was a function of the popular nationalism unleashed by the great French Revolution; it meant that war was no longer merely the business…
The Malayan Emergency – Last Colonial Victory?
Members of B Company 2 RAR about to go on a patrol in Perak in 1956. A Daimler Ferret armoured car has accompanied the patrol to its setting-off point in a rubber plantation. The patrol is responding to reports of communist guerrillas in the nearby jungle. Patrolling in search of…
Arab-Israeli Tank Warfare I
Although the tank only made its first halting appearance on the battlefield in September 1916 during World War I, it quickly be – came the dominant weapon system in modern ground combat. Combining both of the key elements of combat power—fire and maneuverability—the tank was also the product of the…
Arab-Israeli Tank Warfare II
The Israeli War of Independence (1948–1949) was primarily an infantry war, with tanks performing a supporting role. The Israel Defense Forces (IDF) had 15 tanks, 280 half-tracks, and some 20 other armored vehicles that carried guns. The Arabs had 45 tanks and some 620 other armored vehicles, of which 180…
Israel Tal
Israel Tal, Israel Defense Forces (IDF) general and commander of its Armored Corps, April 21, 1966 Born: 1924 Israeli general and armor expert. Israel Tal (Talik) was born in 1924 on a Jewish kibbutz in Palestine. He joined the British Army, served with the Jewish Brigade, and saw action in…