The `Military Revolution' Afloat: The Era of the Anglo-Dutch Wars and the Transition to Modern Warfare at Sea

1997 ◽  
Vol 4 (2) ◽  
pp. 123-149 ◽  
Author(s):  
M. A.J. Palmer
Keyword(s):  
Military Revolution ◽  
Modern Warfare ◽  
The Military

Shakespeare and the ‘Military Revolution’

2017 ◽  
Author(s):  
Paola Pugliatti
Keyword(s):  
Just War ◽  
Just War Theory ◽  
Ethics Of War ◽  
Technical Advances ◽  
Military Revolution ◽  
The Military

This chapter recounts how developments in the technology of battle had by Shakespeare’s time caught up with even the relatively resistant, cavalry-oriented English nobility. Outlining these technical advances, it discovers numerous moments in Shakespeare indicative of popular responsiveness to war and its new face. Alone among English writers, it was Shakespeare who (repeatedly) termed cannon-fire ‘devilish’; and the chapter demonstrates how different characters in 1Henry IV are on the turn in the long evolution from (equestrian) medieval chivalry, through (treacherous, infantry-deployed) gunpowder weapons, to the perfumed post-militarist courtier. It notes Shakespeare’s staged presentation of conscription as farcically at odds with the official theory of a voluntarism for able-bodied adults. Two soldiers miserably questioning the ethics of war the night before Agincourt prove well apprised of the Christian just war theory—yet Williams shrewdly contests its exculpation of royal leaders from responsibility for their subjects’ deaths.

scholarly journals The actor of power in the conditions of modern warfare: David's strategy vs Goliath's strategy

2021 ◽  
pp. 42-52
Author(s):  
Natalia Aleksandrovna Balakleets
Keyword(s):  
Guerrilla Warfare ◽  
High Tech ◽  
Political Actors ◽  
The Status ◽  
Regular Army ◽  
Natural Outcome ◽  
Military Activity ◽  
Modern Warfare ◽  
The Military ◽  
David And Goliath

This article is dedicated to solution of the crucial problems of the philosophy of war – the paradox of David and Goliath. The weaker, technically inferior side of military confrontation often defeats the stronger one, which is equipped with the latest technology by the world political actors. The author describes the heterogeneous and asymmetric nature of modern wars, which involve state and non-state actors, and combine regular and irregular combat practices. It is indicated that the mobile and flexible strategy of partisan war, which is more effective than the actions of regular army, is now being adopted by them. Therefore, if an irregular soldier, a partisan, in the conditions of classical inter-state war possessed the status of “unlawful combatant”, in modern wars, the soldiers of regular army must prove their superiority over the partisans. The scientific novelty of this research lies in determination of the two paradigms of warfare relevant to the current situation in the society, which correspond to the strategies of David and Goliath. The first is characteristic to high-tech societies, which have entered the post-heroic era losing imperative of sacrifice. The conclusion is made that the military activity of modern Goliaths is being transformed in accordance with transhumanistic and poshumanistic scenarios. The natural outcome of high-tech warfare of the future should become a post-human war waged by artificial intelligence. The response to high-tech challenges of the leading world political actors is the guerrilla warfare strategy of modern David, which is founded on the idea of sacrifice and willingness to take lethal risks, and debunks the key role of the factor of technological superiority in achieving victory.

scholarly journals Spatial aspect of modern warfare: from traditional warfare to cyberwar

2021 ◽  
pp. 136-149
Author(s):  
Natalia Aleksandrovna Balakleets
Keyword(s):  
Military Leaders ◽  
The Past ◽  
The Earth ◽  
Total Destruction ◽  
Spatial Aspect ◽  
Pessimistic Scenario ◽  
The Stability ◽  
Military Activity ◽  
Modern Warfare ◽  
The Military

This author substantiates the thesis on the importance of spatial factors for conducting warfare. The article traces the evolution of warfare associated with the involvement of new territories and new types of spaces in the orbit of military activity. If the warfare of the past demonstrated a direct dependence on the geographical territory and the related “tensions” (C. von Clausewitz), the modern warfare are emancipated from the geographical shell of the Earth. The article explicates the factors that justify the need for arranging the new warfare spaces. Special attention is given to cyberspace, its structure, and conflicts unfolding therein. The scientific novelty of consists in the interpretation of cyberspace as an expected result of the spatial evolution of warfare. The conclusion is drawn that the emergence of cyberspace contributes to solution of the problem of information vagueness and creation of the stability zones for the military leaders, but at the same is a source of problems not less dangerous for the humanity. The cyberwar winner faces a tempting challenge of establishing global control over the territory of the plane using cyberweapon, or in most pessimistic scenario, its total destruction.

The Hoplite Debate

Men of Bronze ◽  
2013 ◽  
Author(s):  
Donald Kagan ◽  
Gregory F. Viggiano
Keyword(s):  
Driving Force ◽  
Ancient Greece ◽  
Social Structures ◽  
Grand Narrative ◽  
Military Revolution ◽  
The Military

This chapter takes a more detailed look into the hoplite debate. It shows how modern historians of ancient Greece have come to develop a grand narrative. This “orthodoxy” explains the rise of the early polis in terms of a dramatic change or “revolution” in arms, armor, and tactics; the military revolution became a driving force behind the emergence of the characteristic political and social structures of the Greek state. A central part of the thesis is that the change in fighting style was directly related to recent innovations in arms and armor. Second, the phalanx depended on the weight and the cohesion of heavily armed men who employed “shock” tactics in brief but decisive battles. Third, it has been critical to identify the greatest number of hoplites with a middling group within the polis, which had the wealth to provide its own arms. Fourth, this middling group transformed Greek values.

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