War

Two U.S. taxpayer-supported Ukrainian soldiers, the one on the left wearing Nazi SS Galicia Division insignia, and on the right Nazi SS Totenkopfverbände insignia.

War is a prolonged state of violent conflict between two or more states. War has been conducted for many purposes, such as the acquisition of goods, seizing enemy territory, to satisfy the honor of the sovereign, eliminating a threat to the homeland, stamping out rival religious sects (see Religious war), or exporting political ideologies. Warfare between factions within a single state is called civil war.

Wars have often been periods of great technological innovation as each side finds itself faced with the necessity of creating new methods of offense and defense to ensure national survival. Modern warfare has to be adaptive to the practicalities of an ever-changing battlefield. Investing in complex expensive systems that take years to perfect can limit adaptability and flexibility and lead to defeat in war.

The American Civil War, coming shortly after the Industrial revolution in the United States, introduced mechanized warfare to the world with accurate rifles, metal warships, railroad transportation of forces and material, and instant communication via the telegraph.

World War I (1914-1918) introduced air combat, chemical warfare, submarine and tank warfare, and the large scale deployment of the machine gun.

World War II (1939-1945) refined tank tactics in the form of the Blitzkrieg, and introduced large-scale strategic bombing of enemy cities. The aircraft carrier took mastery of the seas. It ended with the first (and only) use of nuclear weapons.

When the Cold War began in 1947, there have been a few international wars and many civil wars with outside actors, such as the Vietnam War and the Korean War.

Clausewitzian theory

Carl von Clausewitz was Prussian military officer during the Napoleonic wars. Clausewitz' treatise On War, published posthumously, remains a fundamental study on the Art or Theory of war.

Clausewitz defines war as an act of force to compel our enemy to do our will. The object is to disarm the enemy.

Further reading

• Dupuy, R. Ernest, and Trevor N. Dupuy. The Harper Encyclopedia of Military History: From 3500 B.C. to the Present (1993)

Quotes

• God created war so Americans would learn geography. - Mark Twain
• War is a racket. - Smedley Butler
• If wars can be started by lies, they can be stopped by truth. Julian Assange

See also

• Military History
• War crimes
• Bombing a civilian population
• Nuclear target structures
• List of American Wars