Cambridge WarfareHIST MISC

Reading Notes: Cambridge History of Warfare
Preface, Introduction (p. 1-11)
 Western nations advantaged in many wars
 5 essentials: tech, discipline, aggressiveness, rapid response to challenges, use of capital
(not manpower)
1. Tech: compensated for less manpower, invented musketry/artillery, much tech from
Asia (e.g. gunpowder)
 West receptive to new tech
 Innovation, response to innovation crucial
 Cultures develop unique war ways
 Much land, less people: ritualized conflict, few fighters, fate-deciders
 Aztecs, Indonesians: minimum bloodshed, seized people (not territory), not
waste lives
 China: little battle
- Sun-Tzu: win w/o fighting optimal
 Primacy of technology and discipline
 Tech edge insufficient for victory
 Good war plans, surprising, economic strength, discipline important
 Discipline = primary instrument = drill, long-term service
 Hoplites (5th century Greece): farmers first, combat effectiveness
 Ability to form quickly before enemy, ignoring panic
 Repeated group tasks: Drill = not related to combat
 Firing practice = combat related
 Tasks simulate kinship groups, small fellowships organized
 Enforce cohesion, combat efficiency
 Compensate for numerical inferiority (half of soldiers, or worse)