The people of these thirteen colonies felt it was more advantageous to band together and wage war against, arguably, the most powerful nation in the world rather than be subject to its unfair laws. Given this brief background of the American Revolution, it is safe to admit that the Revolutionaries were greatly out manned, and out gunned on the battle field. Therefore the rebellious continentals had to resort to other, more unconventional forms of waging war; a method that has come to be called Guerrilla Warfare. Encyclopedia.com defines this new form of warfare as “often the means used by weaker nations or military organizations against a larger, stronger foe. Fought largely by independent, irregular bands [of armed forces]…it is warfare of harassment…It features the use of ambushes, hit‐and‐run raids, sabotage, and…terrorism to wear down the enemy.” That’s it then, isn’t it?
Paper #2 The Tet offensive proved to be the turning point of the war, delivering a fatal blow to political support for the war in the United States. Even though Tet was a disappointing defeat for North Vietnam in strictly military terms, it exposed the bankruptcy of U.S. war policy and aims in Vietnam, and paved the way for America’s eventual humiliation. The most surprising aspect of the Tet offensive was that it was not really a surprise at all. Yet the episode shows how even a superior force can be taken by surprise both militarily and politically when it lacks the initiative in war. Since the North Vietnamese had the initiative instead of the U.S., it was possible for their elaborate campaign of deception to succeed in maintaining the element of surprise, even though the U.S. discovered numerous details of the attack to come.
In Why Nations Go to War, Dr.John G Stoessinger talks about the role of individuals in starting wars. He is of the view that factors like economics, nationalism, alliance networks and even fate are often put forward as the primary reasons for the outbreak of a war, but the human element, the personalities, the hopes and fears and the particular worldview of the individual leaders of the country are not given nearly as much importance. The writer points out that wars are after all, started by people and to a large extent, the book deals with the lead up to the moment when people finally decide to go to war. The author holds a Ph.D. from Harvard and has taught at Harvard, M.I.T, Columbia and Princeton. He won the Bancroft Prize for his book, The Might of Nations and he has served as acting director for the political affairs division at the United Nations.
Many of Lord Liverpool’s government’s policies in response the countrywide radical threat that involved the lower and middle classes were successful in preventing a revolution. The use of spy networks to infiltrate serious radicals and the suspension of Habeas corpus helped decrease the radical threat. Additionally the introduction of the six acts also contributed to the prevention of revolution. Lord Liverpool’s network of spies was a crucial factor to the government’s success in dealing with the radical challenge. Through the government’s use of spies it effectively managed to infiltrate what they believed to be groups of serious radicals, therefore the government new exactly who the trouble makers were.
How far do you agree that the limited appeal of Mazzini’s ideas was the main reason for the slow progress of national unity in Italy in the years 1815 – 48? National unity is when a nation comes together through sharing the same physical and religious beliefs. During 1815 and 1848 man revolutions took place in Italy, specifically in The Papal states, Piedmont, Sicily, Modena and Parma. The revolutionaries varied from students to soldiers who were all fighting against the Monarchy. The monarchy treated its states people terribly and they were fed up, this is how the revolutionaries came to be, in general the revolutionaries were to an extent successful because they overthrew the monarchies however they were then beaten by the Austrian reinforcements that the monarchy asked help from.
David Osborn HIST 202 Principles of War Professor Howard J. Fuller Research Essay 2 The use of asymmetric, or irregular, warfare by our adversaries has changed how we fight on today’s modern battlefield and helped to redefine our doctrine. The MacMillian Dictionary defines asymmetric warfare as: Acts of war against countries and ordinary people by individuals or groups who are not part of a country's army. A more globally accepted definition is: War between belligerents whose relative power differs significantly, or whose strategy or tactics differ significantly. This type of warfare, all though not new, has caused Commanders and doctrine writers alike to look for new Tactics, Techniques, and Procedures (TTP) in which to engage this enemy; for their tactics are increasingly unpredictable and irregular. “Future adversaries are more likely to pose irregular threats.” Many tacticians and strategist alike long for the days of a battlefield that was understandable and had symmetry as to the conduct of warfare.
First, there are the obvious strategic and tactical similarities. American troops are now fighting a guerrilla war in Iraq. Urban warfare has become the norm with insurgents staying close to U.S. troops, often engaging civilians to support or shield their operations. As a result, the uncertain battleground of Iraq poses enormous challenges for American soldiers, seeking to separate combatants from civilians without alienating most Iraqis. We face in Iraq, like we did in Vietnam, an enemy who refuses to play by our rules and is clearly willing to die for his beliefs.
This was a major encouragement for peasants to follow Mao as they have been mistreated for so long and now finally a leader has come up willing to defend them and treat them as equals. The CCP was very capable of fighting the Japanese and they were also very willing and determined (4A), even though they lacked the aid and resources the KMT was receiving from America, despite the support the KMT struggled against the Japanese. The KMT's incapability to effectively defeat the Japanese despite the amounts of resources handed to them was a reason General Stillwell insisted to "get arms to the Communists, who will fight." (2A). This was also a key reason for entire divisions of their military to defect to the CCP (6A).
The American Revolution was perhaps one of the most profound moments in United States history because of its consequences that followed. The wars that happened during the revolt of American colonists against Europe were brutal, bloody battles. These battles were not only costly with resources, but also costly through lives. The constant fighting that happened between colonial America and Europe was enough to make life incredibly hard during those times. Before the American Revolution, life was simple and in fact very boring because of the way England was treating them; governing them even though they were not in England.
In the writing of ‘Warmaking and Statemaking as Organized Crime,’ he tells a story of capital, sphere of exploitation, and coercion, realm of armed forces. According to him, the main characteristic of the state is to use coercion to sustain its existence. State making began with the effort to monopolize the means of violence within a given territory. And as war became more expansive and expensive due to expansion of territory and military innovation, respectively, only states with a sufficient capital and large population could afford paying for security to survive in the hostile war era (Taxation was created to allow war-making). Furthermore, Tilly emphasized the application of cultural control through developing national languages and education systems.