The Changing Face of Conflict: A History of the Military, Warfare & Espionage
()
About this ebook
Battles. Generals. Weapons. Tactics. Spies. In this concise history of war Anthony North takes you from Kadesh to the war on terror and asks: what really lies behind our need for war? His answer leads him to a new strategy and technology that could make war obsolete.
Anthony North
Thinker & Storyteller****7,453 Words to Save the UK and I,Writer are now FREE. Scroll down to find them.*****1955 (Yorkshire, England) – I am born (Damn! Already been done). ‘Twas the best of times ... (Oh well).I was actually born in the year of Einstein's death, close to Scrooge's Counting House. It doesn't mean anything but it sounds good. As for my education, I left school at 15 and have had no formal education since. Hence, I'm self-taught.****From a family of newsagents, at 18 I did a Dick Whittington and went off to London, only to return to pretend to be Charlie and work in a chocolate factory.When I was ten I was asked what I wanted to be. I said soldier, writer and Dad. I never thought of it for years – having too much fun, such as a time as lead guitarist in a local rock band – but I served nine years in the RAF, got married and had seven kids. I realized my words had been precognitive when, at age 27, I came down with M.E. – a condition I’ve suffered ever since – and turned my attention to writing.Indeed, as I realized that no expert could tell me what was wrong with me, I began my quest to find out why. Little did I realize it would last decades and take me through the entire history of knowledge, leaving me with the certainty that our knowledge systems are inadequate.****My non-fiction is based on P-ology, a thought process I devised to work with patterns of knowledge, and designed to be a bedfellow to specialization. A form of Rational Holism, it seeks out areas the specialist may have missed. I work from encyclopaedias and introductory volumes in order to gain a grasp of many subjects and am not an expert in anything, but those patterns keep forming. Hence, I do not deal in truth, but ideas, and cover everything from politics to the paranormal.When reading my work I ask only: do I make sense? Of course, an expert would say: a little knowledge is a dangerous thing. I agree. And an expert has so little knowledge of everything.I also write novels and Flash Fiction in all genres.
Read more from Anthony North
A History of Man: A Concise Study of the World Patterns That Brought Us to Here Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5Conspiracy of Icons: Understanding the Role of Conspiracy Theory, Culture and the Famous in Society Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5The 'Y' Files: A Study of Unexplained Paranormal & Occult Phenomena Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsArmageddon Road: A Study of Cults, Gurus, Alternative Religions & Society Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsThe Last Self Help Book: An Ultimate Guide to Who You Really Are Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5I, Horror Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsMysteries of the Bible: From Genesis to Revelation, the Unexplained Explained Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsEncyclopedie: P-ology Ideas on Almost Everything Quickly Explained Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsBlunderMan: A Study of Disasters, Mistakes & Knowledge Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsThe First Dawn of Man: A Study of Atlantis, Lost Civilizations & Consciousness Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsThose Little Green Men: A Study of Aliens, UFOs & Related Unexplained Phenomena Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsI, Observer Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsWotdunit to the Throat & Other Stories Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsMan & Planet: A Study of Our Environmental Madness & How We Got Here Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsA Family Loss: A Crime Horror Novel Rating: 3 out of 5 stars3/5God: A Study of Religion & the Search for the Root of Spirituality Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsOn Crime: From Cain to Cyber Crime - Jack the Ripper to Youth Gangs - a New Look at Villains & Criminality Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsA Natural History of Hallucination: Yeti, Nessie, Fairies, Werewolves, Vampires, Witches - A Study of Supposed Monsters Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsTowards a New Age: A Study of Alternative Thinking from Astrology to Space Exploration Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsAge of Victimhood: A Study of Knowledge and Culture as Dictator Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsI, Unexplained Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsI, Paranormal Rating: 3 out of 5 stars3/5Mort De Grael: Holy Grail, Science, Storytelling & the Half Life Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsThe Lamberts: A Wotdunit Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratings7,453 Words to Save the UK: A Socio-Capitalist Manifesto Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsI, Adventurer Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsThe Storyteller & Other Stories Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsMatthew Sturdy: A Novel Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsI, Society Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5
Related to The Changing Face of Conflict
Related ebooks
Team 19 in Vietnam: An Australian Soldier at War Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsThe Ultimate Battle: Okinawa 1945--The Last Epic Struggle of World War II Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5War on Two Fronts: An Infantry Commander's War in Iraq and the Pentagon Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Footprints of War: Militarized Landscapes in Vietnam Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsLeft for Dead at Nijmegen: The True Story of an American Paratrooper in World War II Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsThe World War II Collection: The Miracle of Dunkirk, Day of Infamy, and Incredible Victory Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5The Red Baron Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Michael J. Thompson. Chasing Shadows Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Korea 65: The Forgotten War Remembered Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsGreat Battles of the Great War Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Balibo Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5Lost Souls of the River Kwai: Experiences of a British Soldier on the Railway of Death Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsKokoda (TV TIE IN) Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Accidental Diplomacy Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5The Peking Incident Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Lonely Vigil: Coastwatchers of the Solomons Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Casualties of War: An Infantry Lieutenant in Vietnam Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsThe Best of Fragments from France Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5Trapped at Pearl Harbor: Escape from Battleship Oklahoma Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Guadalcanal Diary Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The World within War Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5A Fearful Freedom Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsBehind Iraqi Lines Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsWorld War 2 Japan Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/528 Months of Heaven and Hell Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Five Myths About Nuclear Weapons Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Red Tobruk: Memoirs of a World War II Destroyer Commander Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Taxi Stories from Finland: Over 100 Funny & Astonishing Stories by a Local Crazy Cabbie. Part One Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsThe Squad Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratings
Wars & Military For You
Resistance: The Warsaw Ghetto Uprising Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Rise and Fall of the Third Reich Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5How to Hide an Empire: A History of the Greater United States Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Sun Tzu's The Art of War: Bilingual Edition Complete Chinese and English Text Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Ordinary Men: Reserve Police Battalion 101 and the Final Solution in Poland Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Masters of the Air: America's Bomber Boys Who Fought the Air War Against Nazi Germany Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Art of War & Other Classics of Eastern Philosophy Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Killing the SS: The Hunt for the Worst War Criminals in History Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Art of War Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Last Kingdom Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5On Killing: The Psychological Cost of Learning to Kill in War and Society Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Doctors From Hell: The Horrific Account of Nazi Experiments on Humans Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The God Delusion Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Only Plane in the Sky: An Oral History of 9/11 Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5The Ethnic Cleansing of Palestine Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Rise of the Fourth Reich: The Secret Societies That Threaten to Take Over America Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Blitzed: Drugs in the Third Reich Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/577 Days of February: Living and Dying in Ukraine, Told by the Nation’s Own Journalists Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5A Daily Creativity Journal Rating: 3 out of 5 stars3/5The Girls of Atomic City: The Untold Story of the Women Who Helped Win World War II Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Making of the Atomic Bomb Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5The Doomsday Machine: Confessions of a Nuclear War Planner Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The History of the Peloponnesian War: With linked Table of Contents Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Unacknowledged: An Expose of the World's Greatest Secret Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5Washington: The Indispensable Man Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Unit 731: Testimony Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5109 East Palace: Robert Oppenheimer and the Secret City of Los Alamos Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5Raven Rock: The Story of the U.S. Government's Secret Plan to Save Itself--While the Rest of Us Die Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Faithful Spy: Dietrich Bonhoeffer and the Plot to Kill Hitler Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5
Reviews for The Changing Face of Conflict
0 ratings0 reviews
Book preview
The Changing Face of Conflict - Anthony North
The Changing Face of Conflict:
A History of the Military, Warfare & Espionage
By Anthony North
Copyright: Anthony North 2020
Cover image copyright: Yvonne North, 2020
Smashwords Edition
No part of this book may be reproduced, scanned or distributed in any printed or electronic form without permission
Other books by Anthony North
In 2019 I began a 3 year publishing program that will result in 14 volumes of my fiction, inc 7 novels in most genres, & 21 works of non-fiction covering cults, politics, conspiracies, religion, disasters, science, philosophy, warfare, crime, psychology, new age, green issues & all areas of the unexplained, inc ufology, lost worlds and the paranormal. Hopefully appearing at the rate of one a month, check out the latest launch at my bookstore at http://anthonynorth.com or buy direct from Smashwords for all devices at: https://www.smashwords.com/profile/view/anthonynorth
In addition to the above, you may like my ‘I’ Series – 8 volumes of flash fiction (horror, sci fi, romance, adventure, crime), 4 volumes of poetry & 5 volumes of short essays from politics to the unexplained. Available from same links as above. Also check out my bookstore for news of my books out in paperback.
CONTENTS
Introduction - Let Loose the Dogs
Part One - BY OTHER MEANS
The Birth of Warfare
Classical Warfare
The Navy - First Watch
Knights In Shining Armour
Fighting Dandies
The Navy - Second Watch
Age of Revolution
The Navy - Third Watch
Military Blunders
From Guerrilla War to Attrition
Modern Warfare
Part Two - THE POSSIBILITY DOESN'T EXIST
Part Three - WITH MY LITTLE EYE
Conclusion - End Game
Content By Subject
Bibliography
About the Author
Connect With Anthony
Introduction - LET LOOSE THE DOGS
We are often told that Carl von Clausewitz wrote: 'War is the continuation of politics by other means.' Actually he didn't. He originally wrote: 'War is nothing but a continuation of politics with the admixture of other means.' The difference is subtle, the perversion suggesting politics stops when war begins. The reality is that war is simply an addition to the onward march of politics. So why is the statement misquoted? Because his real words were not such a good sound bite. What he really said forces us to think more deeply, and we do little of that in war.
Another sound bite: History is the plaything of war. This puts war into perspective. But even though a war has stood around every corner of history, Enoch Powell could still correctly say that: 'History is littered with the wars which everybody knew would never happen.’ Why is this? Why has mankind forever shied away from the inevitability of war? Perhaps because we do not truly understand what causes war.
Von Clausewitz may well have put wars down to politics, but is politics a cause or an effect in itself? For instance, what causes politics in the first place? Is it a means in itself, or a means to an end? If we rationalize the point, the most likely answer is that politics is the means of putting into social interplay a set of rules and values decided upon by sovereign authority. Whether that authority is a monarch, a dictator or a democratic parliament, the role of politics is the same. But if we have this identical process of social regulation, for the outcome to differ between societies, then another factor must be involved within a culture above the nature of politics. And in most cases, this additional factor comes down to a book.
Consider the simple facts of history. The Bible led to Christendom and the Divine Right of Kings to rule. How many wars were caused by that one? The Koran created Islam and a whole host of wars over the last 1400 years. The Enlightenment caused a whole host of books, such as Locke's 'Two Treatises of Government' which led to the American War of Independence, and Rousseau's 'Social Contract' which made the French Revolution and Napoleon inevitable. And do we need to mention Germanic philosophers Hegel and Nietzsche, whose books were perverted to Nazism, or Marx's 'Das Kapital' and the onward march of communism. The pen is indeed mightier than the sword.
A book and the idea it expresses is the fuel of politics and the 'justification' of war, and for as long as we do not understand this simple point, wars will always occur and always be unexpected. This is because a book can only express the ideal of a particular culture or particular way of life, leaving many outside the ideal who will disagree. And because of this difference in cultures, not all people will accept the authority arising from the book, making eventual war inevitable.
This is a sad statement of history and mankind. But just because it is sad, it does not mean it is not true. Truth is relative to what a particular person wants to believe. But when a particular truth IS believed, people will die to uphold its validity. Of course, in the modern world this is partially understood by the fact that we are becoming too frightened to think, lest we let loose the 'dogs of war' once more. But this is running away from the problem. Not thinking is not the answer. The answer is to turn the dogs into puppies by thinking more and getting to the heart of the mechanisms that lead to war in order to break the process.
We must get to grips with war and the processes involved in its actions. Aristotle said: 'We make war that we may live in peace.' (Nicomachean Ethics). One easy way of understanding this seemingly contradictory statement is to say that in making war we are clearing away the chaff of out of date ideology and imposing ideology anew. But is this a process that leads to peace, or simply a cauldron for the growth of new grievances awaiting another ideology, ad infinitum? Most likely the latter, but regardless, we can easily agree with early 20th century French statesman Georges Clemenceau when he said: 'It is easier to make war than to make peace.' Indeed, it may be so because of the cauldron I mentioned above.
German philosopher Georg Hegel believed war to be a struggle between civilizations. This is bunkum. True civilizations wouldn't make war - suggesting we've never yet made one. So is war a struggle between peoples? No. Most members of any culture would rather not go to war. Indeed, the populace usually consider themselves pawns of war. The making of war is the preoccupation of politicians, no doubt based on a book or idea, but politicians nonetheless. Hence, the popular British pacifist slogan from the 1940s: 'A bayonet is a weapon with a worker on each end.'
Albert Einstein was a pacifist, pointing out in an interview in 1931 that: 'Nothing will end war unless the people themselves refuse to go to war.' Such naivety is on a par with Jesus and turning the other cheek. The sentiment is beautiful and I wish it could be true. But the fact is, it can only be true if both sides of the argument agree. To attack another is undoubtedly wrong. But if attacked, you fight back or be enslaved.
What is war like? Churchill gave a hint upon taking office in 1940: 'I have nothing to offer but blood, toil, tears and sweat.' Once this is realized, the Comte de Bussy-Rabutin understood the direction to victory when he wrote: 'As you know, God is usually on the side of the big squadrons against the small.' The Comte was wrong about one thing. In war, God is on no side. War is hell, so let's not civilize it with talk of God. But if we substitute 'Might' for God, then we approach the factor that, for so long, led to victory.
Of course, this was written in the 17th century, and much has changed since then. Since that time, the notion of freedom has entered war and given men exceptional courage and morale. Similarly, technology and guile play an important part, often outwitting mere might. But such guile and technology should never let an army forget the too true warning from von Clausewitz: 'Everything is very simple in war, but the simplest thing is difficult. These difficulties accumulate and produce a friction which no man can imagine exactly who has not seen war.' (On War, 1832-4)
With this truth we understand the fog of war; the uncertainty and the complication. But we can be certain of one thing. War IS hell, and we must never forget it. And of course, we cannot as long as we read the accounts; the impressions. For as John Bright said of the Crimean War: 'The angel of death has been abroad throughout the land; you can almost hear the beating of his wings.'
One train of thought regarding war is that we can reduce the hell of war by devising less deadly weapons. As regards the death toll of civilian populations, this is undoubtedly noble. But as for soldier fighting soldier - never! If soldiers clash it must be clear they dice with death; and not only this, but also horror and injury and bloody, painful disablement. For as General Robert Lee is thought to have pointed out in 1862: 'It is well that war is so terrible. We should grow too fond of it.'
It is the hell of war and rivers of blood that prick the conscience and accumulates to the day when war may be too horrible for civilized men to contemplate. For as Wellington mused on contemplating the gore of French defeat at Waterloo: 'Next to a battle lost, the greatest misery is a battle gained.' And forget not the words of British statesman Neville Chamberlain: 'In war, whichever side may call itself the victor, there are no winners, but all are losers.'
This sentiment is, of course, always abroad in peacetime.
Ideas cause politics, and politics causes wars.