scholarly journals The Byzantine Military Strategy in Asia Minor During the Early Palaiologan Period (1259–1328)

Author(s):  
Vladimir Zolotovskiy ◽  

Introduction. The purpose of the article is to determine the specifics of the Byzantine war strategy in Asia Minor. A qualitative military and political characteristics of the main military expeditions to the eastern borders are crucial for the disclosure of this problem. From this aspect, the study addresses the following issues: defining of the role of the eastern military campaigns in the complex of military-strategic measures on the state scale; characteristics of the features the armed forces used, as well as the tasks solved during military expeditions to Asia Minor; disclosure of the features of military-technical measures to ensure the security of Byzantium eastern borders. Methods. Critical use of elements of civilizational, formational and systemic approaches is the methodological basis of this study. It should be noted that the use of a systematic approach in the analysis of the Byzantine troops combat practice in east direction, allows to determine the strategic objectives of military expeditions in Asia Minor, to reveal the logic of warfare in the eastern theater, to determine the functional purpose of military-technical measures. Analysis and Results. The study reveals the strategic concept of Byzantium armed forces military operations during the reign of the first Palaeologus on the Asia Minor territory. Analysis of combat practice allows us to conclude that the strategic priority of the western and northwestern directions, which required the use of the most combat-ready troops consisting of mercenaries during the reign of Michael VIII, determined the need to use the Byzantine troops at the eastern borders of the empire. TheByzantine army was episodically involved in major defensive expeditions to the borders of the empire. We determined that the purpose of these campaigns is to stop the advance of enemy armies and their subsequent expulsion from the empire. This logic of military operations does not mean the loss of strategic initiative at the eastern direction. The strategy of passive defense which determined the nature of the military confrontation in the Asia Minor region was ensured by the creation of a garrison system, or a line of fortresses, on the eastern borders of the empire. Fortification activities of Michael VIII and Andronikos II in 1280–1282 temporarily stopped the advance of the Turkish troops. However, natural factors and the intensification of the economic crisis at the end of the 13th century made it impossible to preserve the defensive line located along the banks of the rivers that served as the borders of the Byzantine state. In addition, the strengthening of the military-political power of the emirates of Menteşe, Aydinoglu and Osman led to the loss of the initiative by the Byzantine troops and, as a result, the reduction of the Asia Minor territories of the empire. In an effort to change the situation, Andronicus II proceeded to implement an active defense strategy.

Author(s):  
Miguel Dantas da Cruz

War played a crucial role in the political and administrative development of colonial Brazil. The adoption of different government solutions, from the initial naval expeditions and proprietary captaincies to the establishment of a general government, were, in part, a response to the military challenges the Portuguese faced in the New World. In the 17th century, the leading municipalities in Brazil expanded their political prominence and reinforced their autonomy precisely when they assumed the commitment to feed the troops and pay for the army’s wages. War and military conflicts also played an important role in the formation of the colonial society in Brazil. There was a natural overlay between the hierarchical structure of the military institutions created in, or transplanted to, the colony and the hierarchical society the Portuguese established in America. The armed forces consolidated the social status of local elites; while they provided opportunities for the more marginalized groups of blacks, mixed-race, and Indians—active participants in the defense of Brazil from the outset—they also helped colonial administrators organize society along racial lines. Regulars, militias, ordenanças, and other military units filled different functions in the territory. They often took part in different military operations in a territory that was hardly suitable for large-scale operations, prolonged siege warfare, or coordinated deployment of mass infantry formations. In Brazil, similarly to other colonies in America, a distinct kind of warfare emerged, marked by a synthesis of European, Indian, and African military knowledges. It was called Guerra Brasílica, and it was both admired for its effectiveness and disparaged for not fitting nicely in traditional European military orthodoxies and for being undisciplined and supposedly “uncivilized.” The negative imageries attached to military campaigns in Brazil persisted in the minds of colonial administrators for a long time, underpinning the territory’s undeserving military status (when compared with India and North Africa)—a status that the colony seldom escaped.


2021 ◽  
Vol 6 (2) ◽  
pp. 78-83
Author(s):  
Serhiy Orel ◽  
◽  
Vadim Durach ◽  
Bohdan Sjoma ◽  
◽  
...  

Military impact on the environment can be defined as two components: 1) impact on the environment in time of daily activities during the training of troops and 2) impact on the environment during the combat operation. In the Armed Forces of Ukraine, to some extent, environmental security measures are implemented only during daily operations in peacetime. As for taking into account the impact of fighting on the environment in time of planning combat operations, this issue is usually not even raised in their preparation. On the other hand, NATO member states understand that military operations can be inherently destructive to human health and the environment. Therefore, this study was conducted to determine the educational requirements for commanders, especially for officers who provide environmental protection in the Armed Forces of Ukraine, based on NATO regulations and the experience of Allies. The article considers how environmental issues are integrated into the military operation at each stage: planning, pre-deployment, deployment (execution and force rotation), redeployment, and post-deployment. The main tasks of environmental officers at each stage of the operation are defined. Based on the tasks solved by officers, the requirements for their education are formed, the subjects studied by US environmental officers are considered.


Author(s):  
Fabrizio Coticchia

Public attitudes are greatly shaped by the cohesiveness of the strategic narratives crafted by policy-makers in framing the national involvement in war. The literature has recently devoted growing attention toward the features that define successful strategic narratives, such as a consistent set of objectives, convincing cause–effect chains, as well as credible promises of success. This paper provides an original framework for ‘effective strategic narratives’ for the case of Italy. The military operations undertaken by Italian armed forces in Iraq, Lebanon, and Libya represent the cases through which the framework is assessed. Drawing on content and discourse analysis of political debates and data provided by public opinion surveys, this paper explores the nature of the strategic narratives and their effectiveness.


2019 ◽  
pp. 829-836
Author(s):  

This study reveals the research principles of the results of the management of the Ukrainian military administration of the strategic (operative) level in the course of organizational issues evaluation during state defense system forming as well as building and development security and defense components, particularly the Armed Forces of the Ukraine. This principles structure defines the subject, the object and the parties, the basic tasks of the military legal expertise, guidelines for legal expert (board of legal experts) in the course of evaluation of the military administration management activity in the course of reforming and development of the Armed Forces, as well as during the course of planning and conducting military operations (battle actions) of the military units (forces). Developed principles also refer to the following researches: cause and effect relationship of the breach of legislation of the Armed Forces of the Ukraine and other legal military and law enforcement units administrations officials, which led to negative consequences such as people deaths, loss of weapons and military equipment in the course of military operation. Key words: level of state defense, evaluation of managerial decisions, officials.


Author(s):  
Vladimir Zolotovskiy

Introduction. The purpose of the paper is to reveal the state, nature and the leadership system of stratiotic forces as part of the Byzantine provincial armed forces of the Early Palaeologian period. The paper aims to determine the methods of organizing Byzantine provincial armed forces in the context of the characteristic of the early Palaeologian armed forces and the institute of pronoia. The author defines the military-strategic, social and economic characteristics of the stratiotic military service. Methods. Critical use of elements of civilizational, formational and systemic approaches is the methodological basis of this study. It should be noted that the system approach is used to determine the specificity of the relationships within all essential structural elements of the military organization. It also makes it possible to identify the factors of its modernization in connection with social and state processes. It allows to reveal the functional features of the military organization elements. Analysis and Results. The analysis of act materials and narrative sources shows a clear social difference of soldiers-stratiotes from the rest of the empire’s population, including proniares. The author determines that the sources contain information about all economic institutions that characterize stratiotes in their traditional, early byzantine military-technical definition. The statements of Byzantine historians about the participation of stratiotes in military actions clearly indicate the preservation of the military-administrative function of “theme organization”. Act materials do not contain information about a specific number of stratiotes. This makes it difficult to determine the total number of stratiotic formations. However, the participation of stratiotic detachments in almost all military operations of the Byzantine army is a well-known fact. Narratives indicate their number. All this makes it possible to draw a reasonable conclusion about the preservation of stratiotic armed forces and the traditional system of their recruitment.


Author(s):  
Dubuisson François ◽  
Koutroulis Vaios

This contribution discusses the hostilities that opposed Israel against Egypt, Syria and the armed forces of other Arab states, which took place in October 1973. After setting out the context of this confrontation, which is directly linked to the 1967 Six Days War, it presents the legal positions of the main protagonists (Israel, Egypt, Syria) as well as those of third states and international organizations. The third section examines the legality of this resort to force under jus ad bellum and concludes that the military operations on behalf of the Arab states can be justified as an exercise of the right to self-defence. Finally, the conclusions discuss the limited precedential value of this specific incident with respect to the interpretation of the prohibition to use force in international relations.


Hadmérnök ◽  
2020 ◽  
Vol 15 (2) ◽  
pp. 93-101
Author(s):  
György Leskó

The fulfilment of environmental protection requirements and social expectations has become a requirement in the field of military operations as well. Impacts that threaten the ecosystems increasingly occur during the activities of the armed forces and military operations. A recently created new field of science, the ecology of warfare, investigates the military, the support systems for the armed forces and national defence, and their relation to the environment as living systems above the level of the individual (like human ecology). Ecology of warfare examines habitats, the relationship between organisms and the environment in the military field. The capability-based, mission-based, coordinated (target, place and time) ability to use military forces has an impact on the ecology. The analysis of the place and role of military operations from the perspective of the ecology of warfare is an important, timely issue. In the study, the author analyses the tasks required for planning, organising and conducting a military operation and their relationship to environmental protection.


2017 ◽  
Vol 1 (1) ◽  
pp. 19-35
Author(s):  
Fadillah Agus

Abstract The preferable implementation of article 47 of the First Geneva Convention 1949 is conducting activities in the format of military training and exercises rather than seminars. The contents, methodology as well as the instructor should be in accordance with military operations that will be encountered by the soldiers. “do what you have trained and train what you will do”. The implementation of article 47 GC I is related to article 82 and 87 AP I. Furthermore, within Tentara Nasional Indonesia (TNI) it is related with the formation of “the professional soldier” as enshrined in Article 2 section (4) of the Law No. 34 of 2004 of TNI. In addition to the increased awareness, some additional achievements related to operational and training aspects were also achieved in the period of 1998 – 2015. These include the issuance of Technical Guidance on the Implementation of international humanitarian law and human rights into the Training, the three standing ROEs and the TNI Commander decree on Prohibition of Torture. These all doctrinal impact are resulting from the dissemination program that may have influence on the betterment of the TNI operations in the future. However, some further improvements are required, among others, to improve the skills of the concerned officers to draft appropriate ROEs and to complement the legal unit with an operational law / international humanitarian law section. Moreover, the challenge for Indonesia in the future is to improve its enforcement mechanisms i.e. to enhance the military justice system to be more reliable and independent in line with the spirit of article 49 GC I. Keywords: international humanitarian law, armed conflict, military academy, dissemination program, laws of war.   Abstrak Pelaksanaan Pasal 47 dalam Konvensi Genewa Pertama 1949 adalah melaksanakan aktivitas dalam format aktivitas pelatihan dan militer dibandingkan dengan melakukan seminar. Isi dari pelatihan, metodologi dan instruktur harus sesuai dengan operasi militer yang dihadapi oleh seorang prajurit, “lakukanlah apa yang telah dilatihkan kepadamu dan latihlahlah apa yang akan kamu lakukan”. Pelaksanaan pasal 47 Konvensi Genewa Pertama 1949 berkaitan dengan Pasal 82 dan 87 dari Konvensi yang sama. Lebih lanjut lagi, dalam Tentara Nasional Indonesia (TNI), berkaitan dengan pembentukan “prajurit profesional” seperti yang disampaikan dalam Pasal 2 ayat (4) Undang-undang No. 34 tahun 2004 mengenai TNI. Dalam rangka untuk meningkatkan kewaspadaan, beberapa capaian tambahan berkenaan dengan aspek operasional dan pelatihan juga dicapai dalam periode 1998-2015. Hal ini termasuk mengeluarkan Panduan Teknis mengenai Implementasi Hukum Humaniter Internasional dan HAM dalam pelatihan, dan tiga pilar ROEs dan keputusan Panglima TNI tentang Larangan Penyiksaan. Semua doktrin ini lahir dari dampak diseminasi dalam program pelatihan untuk melahirkan prajurit TNI yang lebih baik dimasa yang akan datang. Meskipun demikian, sejumlah peningkatan terhadap pengetahuan mengenai hukum humaniter telah tumbuh dikalangan prajutit TNI. Tantangan selanjutnya adalah mendorong peningkatan mekanisme pentaatan, misalnya mendorong sistem pengadilan militer untuk lebih indeoenden dan dapat diandalkan sejalan dengan semangat Pasal 49 Konvensi Genewa Pertama 1949. Kata kunci: hukum humaniter, konflik bersenjata, akademi militer, program diseminasi, hukum perang.


2021 ◽  
Vol 9 (3) ◽  
pp. 931-942
Author(s):  
Muhammad Riaz Raza ◽  
Muhammad Usman Saeed ◽  
Zafar Ali

Purpose of the study: This study aims to analyze and compare the media images and coverage of three countries regarding their security forces. For this purpose, researchers have examined the media image of the American Army in the New York Times, the Indian Army in Indian Express, and the Pakistani Army in The Dawn. Methodology: The researchers selected news stories of three sampled newspapers; New York Times, Indian Express, and The Dawn for one year from 1st January 2018 to 31st December 2018 purposively for the content analysis. Spearman correlations, central tendency, frames of the stories in terms of positive, negative, and neutral have been examined. The researchers have examined coverage patterns of security forces at the object, attribute, and network levels in the light of agenda-setting theory. Main Findings: There are significant differences in the image of the armed forces. Indian Express covered the Indian army positively with the special emphasis on the success of the armed in internal military operations and the glorification of the military leadership. Similarly, New York Times covered the American Army favourably with a particular focus on external military operations for peace and security purposes. Whereas, The Dawn covered Pakistan Army differently. Applications of this study: The study will be helpful and of great importance for media owners, media regulatory bodies, military establishments, foreign and international relations. The study will also be a significant contribution towards civil-military relationships in geostrategic locations of the sub-continent. Since these countries have been involved in war-on-terror in this region as far as peace and stability are concerned, the study will be a roadmap for the peacekeeping forces. Novelty/Originality of this study: Few research studies have been witnessed so far on the media image of these countries. This study is new and different in nature as the military image of three different countries in terms of civil-military relationship has been measured on their mainstream media.


2021 ◽  
Vol 53 (1) ◽  
pp. 1-12
Author(s):  
Rostyslav Sossa

Abstract The fundamentals and contemporary status of topographic mapping of Ukraine’s territory has been studied. Prior to declaration of Ukraine’s independence, its territory was covered with 1:10,000 to 1:1,000,000 scale topographic maps made by sub-divisions of the Chief Department of Geodesy and Cartography affiliated with the Council of Ministers of the USSR (GUGK USSR) and sub-divisions of the Military Topographic Service (MTS) of the USSR Armed Forces. Topographic mapping related cooperation between these institutions has been described. Topographic study of Ukraine’s territory as at 1991 has been subject to close analysis, with due consideration of the coordinate systems used for topographic maps. During the first years after Ukraine’s independence declaration topographic maps in Ukraine were made according to the previously effective Soviet instructions in the 1942 coordinate systems and 1977 Baltic height system. Since mid 1990s, Ukraine enjoyed transition from analog technology of making topographic maps to digital one. The contemporary legal and statutory support of topographic mapping in Ukraine has been studied; the implementation since 1 January 2007 of the UCS-2000 national geodetic reference coordinate system and the height system measurement works have been analyzed. Focus has been made on obsolescence of information of contemporary topographic maps and on extensive deprivation of secrecy for topographic maps in 2000s. Critical for the development of topographic mapping in Ukraine is now the Law of Ukraine “On National Geospatial Data Infrastructure” adopted in 2020. The Topographic Service of the Armed Forces (TS AF) of Ukraine carried out big scopes of works to update the topographic maps related to Russia’s military operations against Ukraine.


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