Mon, 24 March 2008  According to Lawrence Keeley, "90-95% of known societies engage in
war". Why? What compels homo sapiens to kill each other? Why do we
fight? Part one will describe two hypotheses.War is Rational: Sun Tzu argued that political struggles would eventually lead to armed conflict. Clausewitz took this one step further by saying that "war is a mere continuation of policy by other means". Machiavelli completed this entire line of thought by saying that war was the most efficient means of attaining any political goal. War is Inevitable: Hobbes argued that humans are inherently violent. Raymond Dart and Robert Ardrey found a scientific basis for this by claiming that homo sapiens became the dominant humanoid through their martial prowess (and we have kept this prowess ever since). Another group of philosophers believe that war can be attributed to the reckless aggression caused by testosterone in males. For more information, read: Sun Tzu's Art of War Clausewitz's On War Machiavelli's The Prince Mao's Quotations Hobbes' Leviathan Military History Podcast is sponsored by Armchair General Magazine Comments[63] |
Thu, 13 March 2008 Joan of Arc (1412-1431) was a poor peasant girl from
Lorraine. One day, she had a vision in which three saints urged her to
lead the French to victory over the English in the Hundred Years' War.
She traveled to Charles VII's court and was appointed head of the
French Army (headed to relieve the besieged city of Orleans) because
her unlikely presence would inspire hope in the French forces. Upon
arriving in Orleans, Joan launched several counterattacks against the
English and broke the siege in only eight days. Then, she led a
campaign to clear the English out of the Loire River Valley, eventually
liberating the city of Reims. During a later skirmish, Joan was captured and tried for heresy. She was found guilty and burned at the stake. Later, she was exonerated and made a saint. She has served a symbol of French nationalism and feminist pride ever since. For more information, read:. Joan of Arc: Her Story by Regine Peroud Joan of Arc: A Military Appreciation by Stephen Richey Military History Podcast is sponsored by Armchair General Magazine and Audible Comments[22] |
Sun, 2 March 2008 Frederick the Great, King of Prussia, is considered the best commander
of the European Enlightenment. Despite possessing relatively few
people and resources, he transformed the tiny Prussian state into a
great military power (which arguably wouldn't be brought down until
1945). Strategically, he modernized the Prussian military into a
well-trained, well-disciplined unit. He taught them to fire faster,
march with more precision, and deploy artillery quicker. Tactically,
he employed oblique tactics which massed all units on one side of the
battle line in order to sweep through the enemy forces one at a time
(instead of all at once). This allowed Frederick to achieve victories
against numerically-superior enemies at Hohenfriedberg, Rossbach, and
Leuthen. For more information, read: Military Blunders by Geoffrey Regan Dictionary of Battles by David Chandler Extreme War by Terrence Poulos Military History Podcast is sponsored by Armchair General Magazine Comments[11] |
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