Wars
The First Two Generations of Modern War
First-Generation War Although Lind and his fellow authors outlined the changes between the generations of modern war, it is essential to understand what caused these generational shifts. The article states that each of the first three generations evolved in response to technical solutions to specific tactical challenges. Although tactical challenges clearly had an impact, attributing the generational changes in warfare…
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Italy Triumphant
Italian troops landing in Trieste, 3 November 1918 The Battle of Vittorio Veneto meant something to Italians that cannot be found in a summary of operations. It brought the balm of victory and the promise of peace. Piero Pieri, the war veteran and historian, would hail it as a masterly…
Russian Preparation for a New Offensive on the Karelian Isthmus 1940 Part I
Reorganization of Forces and a New Strategy. After suffering stunning defeats on the Karelian Isthmus during December, the Red Army “licked its wounds” and, at the same time, looked for ways to improve its performance. It is apparent that Stalin himself undertook a reappraisal of the situation. He dismissed his…
Russian Preparation for a New Offensive on the Karelian Isthmus 1940 Part II
High Level Conference on Future Operations. A meeting was held at II Corps Headquarters on the morning of 14 February. It was attended by Marshal Mannerheim and Colonel Airo, the Marshal’s right hand for plans and operations. Lieutenant General Osterman, the Isthmus Army Commander, and his Chief of Staff, Colonel…
Lessons Learned in 1939-40 Winter War
The Setting is the Enemy The peculiarities of the Finnish theater of war that caused the greatest combat difficulties were the absolute lack of roads and the close character of the terrain which, with its vest zone of virgin forests, is so very different from the European landscape in latitudes…
Warfare in the Spanish Reconquista Era III
A century later Alfonso VIII chanced the future of his kingdom on a pitched battle at Alarcos on 19 July 1195. There, a few miles south of Toledo, a castle, still unfinished, was situated on a small hill adjacent to the Guadiana River and overlooked a broad plain. Thinking that…
Clement VII and the sack of Rome
Giulio de’ Medici, who finally emerged as Pope Clement VII in November 1523, was not only a tried administrator but a prelate hardened by much experience of armed conflict. As a youth in 1497 he had taken part in an attempt to restore the family to power in Florence; indeed,…