Article Outline
Warfare, use of force on the part of two or more nations or other organized groups for the purpose of deciding questions at issue that cannot be settled by diplomatic means. Warfare takes a variety of forms besides organized military confrontations—among them insurrections, revolutions, coups d'état, guerrilla warfare, and terrorism. A state of war can also exist without actual recourse to arms, such as the cold war.
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The Conduct of Warfare
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The military institutions of a nation and the way it wages war are determined principally by its form of government, social structure, economic strength, and geographical position. Before World War II, the United States, taking advantage of its isolated geographical positions, maintained only a small standing army and depended on its navy and that of Britain.
Warfare is employed to bring about or to resist political, social, or economic changes. History provides evidence of such tangible, and frequently interrelated, causes as religious conflict, protection of dynastic succession, or acquisition of territory. War for acquisition of land is directly related to the necessity of providing food for a nation or a group; thus, pioneer settlers in the U.S. waged war against the Native Americans for land on which to grow their crops and graze their cattle. In antiquity and during the Middle Ages, wars were often based on the desire to subjugate other peoples and to increase wealth by exacting taxes and tributes from them. Wars are also often linked to a desire for security, on the theory that a so-called first strike prevents an enemy from carrying out threats. According to some much disputed theories, such as those of the Austrian zoologist Konrad Lorenz, innate aggressive drives are responsible for human beings' frequent recourse to warfare.
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Planning and Organization of Warfare
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The overall plan devised to defeat an enemy is called strategy. The actual techniques carried out against the enemy are tactics, which consist of the procedures for winning on the battlefield, in naval battle, and in aerial combat. Once the overall strategic plan has been approved, planning cycles at lower echelons are implemented. The execution of plans, making possible the attainment of military objectives, involves functions carried out by a field commander whose tactical judgment and leadership are critical. Logistics, which involves transporting troops and furnishing continuous supplies in support of military operations, is essential to the success of the mission. Mobilizing industry, utilities, and medical service, as well as scientific research facilities and propaganda sources, are also part of the logistics planning function.
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