The Oxford History of Modern War - Central Intelligence Agency

[Pages:430]THE OXFORD HISTORY OF MODERN WAR

CHARLES TOWNSHEND Editor

OXFORD UNIVERSITY PRESS

THE OXFORD HISTORY OF MODERN WAR

the editor C H A R L E S T O W N S H E N D is Professor of International History, Keele University.

THE OXFORD HISTORY OF

MODERN WA R

edited by

CHARLES TOWNSHEND

1

3

Great Clarendon Street, Oxford ox2 6dp

Oxford University Press is a department of the University of Oxford. It furthers the University's objective of excellence in research, scholarship,

and education by publishing worldwide in

Oxford New York

Athens Auckland Bangkok Bogot? Buenos Aires Calcutta Cape Town Chennai Dar es Salaam Delhi Florence Hong Kong Istanbul

Karachi Kuala Lumpur Madrid Melbourne Mexico City Mumbai Nairobi Paris S?o Paulo Singapore Taipei Tokyo Toronto Warsaw

with associated companies in Berlin Ibadan

Oxford is a registered trade mark of Oxford University Press in the UK and in certain other countries

Published in the United States by Oxford University Press Inc., New York

? Oxford University Press 2000

The moral rights of the author have been asserted Database right Oxford University Press (makers)

The text of this volume first published 1997 in The Oxford Illustrated History of Modern War First issued as The Oxford History of Modern War 2000

All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted, in any form or by any means,

without the prior permission in writing of Oxford University Press, or as expressly permitted by law, or under terms agreed with the appropriate

reprographics rights organization. Enquiries concerning reproduction outside the scope of the above should be sent to the Rights Department,

Oxford University Press, at the address above

You must not circulate this book in any other binding or cover and you must impose this same condition on any acquiror

British Library Cataloguing in Publication Data

Data available

Library of Congress Cataloging in Publication Data

Data available

ISBN 0?19?285373?2

1 3 5 7 9 10 8 6 4 2

Typeset by Cambrian Typesetters, Frimley, Surrey

Printed in Great Britain by Cox & Wyman Ltd. Reading, Berkshire

PREFACE

The aim of this book is to provide a history not merely of modern warfare but of modern war as a whole. It is an attempt to go beyond military history. Violent conflict is as old as humanity, but modern war is different. Somewhere between the sixteenth and eighteenth centuries an historic change took place in the military power of European states. The first result was to end for ever the vulnerability of Europe to invasion and conquest from Asia. The symbolic turning-point was the defeat of the Ottoman besiegers of Vienna in 1683. Thereafter the military balance shifted further until, in the nineteenth century, the West came to dominate the world. This shift cannot be understood in purely military terms. It was part of a complex process of social and economic modernization.

War is more than military operations. Modern war, above all, came to enlist every aspect of life. This enlargement has altered the way historians write about war. Traditional military history has evolved into a broader and deeper approach to the relationship between war and society. The contributors to this book have aimed to draw together recent interpretative studies to provide as clear a view as possible of this complex relationship. The book is divided into two parts, the first offering an account of the historical development of war since the time of the Renaissance in Europe, the second providing overviews of a number of vital dimensions which have combined to create the characteristic modern structure of war. The final chapter addresses the question whether this distinctively modern form of war will survive into the twenty-first century.

CONTENTS

list of plates

ix

list of contributors

xi

Part I: The Evolution of Modern War

1. Introduction: The Shape of Modern War

3

charles townshend

2. The Military Revolution I: The Transition to

Modern Warfare

20

john childs

3. The Military Revolution II: Eighteenth-

Century War

40

jeremy black

4. The Nation in Arms I: The French Wars

55

alan forrest

5. The Nation in Arms II: The Nineteenth Century 74 david french

6. Imperial Wars: From the Seven Years War

to the First World War

94

douglas porch

7. Total War I: The Great War

117

john bourne

8. Total War II: The Second World War

138

richard overy

 ................
................

In order to avoid copyright disputes, this page is only a partial summary.

Google Online Preview   Download