Category Campaigns & Operations
As I was getting ready for work this morning I started thinking about military uniforms and what their purpose is. I have heard all the typical reasons such as discipline, Esprit de Corps, identification, distinctiveness, economy, and of course, uniformity…. Continue Reading →
The First Crusade was arguably the most successful of the various numbered crusades; however, they were not particularly well equipped for a campaign in Asia Minor. It is no surprise that they were not, as the climate in Anatolia… Continue Reading →
This little tome by the Roman scholar Flavius Vegetius Renatus was written sometime in the 5th Century A.D. and is known by several titles, the original Latin title is De re Militari but is variously known as the Epitome of… Continue Reading →
The Franco-Prussian war was a modern war although it was not the first of Europe’s modern wars. The Franco-Prussian war was also not a total war because while it was intensive in manpower while it lasted, its limited duration… Continue Reading →
A Mrs. Nora Holloway from the Military Gear Blog (Opennes Note:Â The blog links to an an online store so it could be subtle spam)sent me an email a few days asking me to share an article she wrote concerning… Continue Reading →
I recently re-watched the movie Gladiator and was struck again by the lack of historical accuracy in films. This is the scene of which I am writing about. What strikes me about this scene is the way the Romans stood… Continue Reading →
In the spring of 1918 the German army attempted a series of war winning offensives on the Western Front that ultimately were to fail and their failure led directly to the German signing of an armistice in November of 1918…. Continue Reading →
I hope that most people have heard of the stuxnet (Wikipedia, but the best description I have found)worm that supposedly infected and crippled Iran’s illicit nuclear program last year. It is supposedly the new wave of warfare, with faceless hackers… Continue Reading →
None of us in America should forget D-day, today 67th anniversary of the opening of the Second Front against Hitler in WWII. Â The national archives has an excellent page with a election of documents and photographs related to that day…. Continue Reading →
After Turkey’s entry into the war towards the end of 1914, the Dardanelles was closed to allied shipping and thus the only warm water route to Russian ports was closed. The allied solution to this dilemma was to use… Continue Reading →
The opening months of World War I on the Eastern Front did not proceed at as the German General Staff thought they would. When General Alfred von Schlieffen (1833-1912) was drawing up the German war plan that would subsequently… Continue Reading →
I got a chance to visit the Geichberg Castle yesterday and decided to post a picture esay of the castle and a brief description of the fortifications and discuss the strong and weak points of the fortifications. The Geichberg is… Continue Reading →
The work of neither Sun Tzu nor Clausewitz is adequate to describe naval warfare except in the most general terms. While it is true that until recent times warfare on both land and sea was largely two dimensional, there are… Continue Reading →
I originally saw Neiberg’s Fighting the Great War mentioned in a review essay covering recent works on WWI. The essay had good things to say about the work and then I decided to check and yes, the book had been… Continue Reading →
Tilting at Windmills: What the Hell is Obama, NATO, and the West Doing in Libya?
I have been pondering this one for a while now. Â What exactly, is the west trying to accomplish in Libya? Â I have posted on this before here and here, and I am still puzzled as to what we are trying… Continue Reading →