Of Arms and Men: A History of War, Weapons, and Aggression

378 Pages·1990·28.18 MB·English

by  Robert L. O'Connell

Of Arms and Men
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OF ARMS AND MEN
A History of War, Weapons, and Aggression
ROBERT L. O'CONNELL
OXFORD UNIVERSITY PRESS
New York Oxford
Oxford University Press
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Copyright © 1989 by Oxford University Press, Inc.
First published in 1989 by Oxford University Press, Inc.,
198 Madison Avenue. New York. New York 10016-4314
First issued as an Oxford University Press paperback, 1990
Oxford is a registered trademark of Oxford University Press
All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced,
stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted, in any form or by any means,
electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording, or otherwise,
without the prior permission of Oxford University Press, Inc.
Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
O'Connell, Robert L.
Of arms and men : a history of war, weapons, and aggression
Robert L. O'Connell.
p. cm. Bibliography: p. Includes index.
1. Military art and science—History. 2. War. I. Title.
U27.026 1989 355'.009—dc!9 88-19526 CIP
ISBN 0-19-505359-1
ISBN 0-19-505360-5 (PBK.)
10 9 8 7 6 5 4
Printed in the United States of America
To Benjie, Jessica, and Lucy
whose love gave this life
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PREFACE
Every book has a moment of conception. This one's came during an extended
luncheon with Mike MccGwire of the Brookings Institution, as I complained for
what must have been hours over my dissatisfaction at the way weapons have
traditionally been studied. "How can we ever deal with these things effectively,
until we look at them more openly and with fewer preconceptions?" Perhaps as
much in self-defense as anything else, he replied: "Well then, why don't you do
it?" Mike MccGwire is a thoughtful and enthusiastic man; but he is also an ex-
Royal Navy officer, and his voice had the ring of authority. It occurred to me for
the first time maybe I really could do such a thing. So began an eight-year intel-
lectual odyssey.
As part of the Ph.D. glut of the mid-1970s, I was a historian by training, but
found myself working in military intelligence. My job was interesting, and my
background provided me with some useful perspectives on the present course of
arms. Nevertheless, the two never really came together in a way which took full
advantage of the insights I believed lay fallow in the field of military history. Yet
now, armed with Mike's suggestion, I thought I saw a means to this end. It was
clear that weapons were very old and that the military profession was a highly
traditional one. It also stood to reason that the accumulated rituals of military life
would have been deeply conditioned by the succession of arms, and that contem-
porary weapons choice should logically be an extension of this condition. Tech-
nology might appear dominant. Yet culture was subtle and pervasive. Therefore it
made sense to go to the very origins of these phenomena, and begin reconstructing
the matrix of thought and action from which weapons have sprung. Much of what
I found surprised me. And the conclusions I have reached are far from what I
might have anticipated. Yet at my journey's end, I do have the sense that I have
been on the right track, and that my work will serve as a useful guidepost to those
who venture onward.
Meanwhile along the way I have accumulated numerous debts of gratitude.
Although I can never repay most of those who helped me, I can at least thank
them. First 1 want to acknowledge a few scholars whose work had a particular
viii * PREFACE
influence on this book. Among them are Edward O. Wilson, John U. Nef, Wil-
liam H. McNeill, Elting Morison, John Keegan, John Dower, I. F. Clarke, and
Eric J. Leed. I also want to thank several of my colleagues at the U.S. Arms
Control and Disarmament Agency for their advice and guidance. Archelaus Tur-
rentine, Robert Guth, John Tierney, Col. Charles Hertel, Steven Lawrence, and
particularly Col. Garnett C. Brown were kind enough to read the manuscript and
make numerous valuable comments. At the U.S. Army Foreign Science and Tech-
nology Center, Herbert Ely has been a constant source of encouragement, Gerald
Halbert was extremely generous with his private library, and Stephen Eitelman
provided computer support for my index. The research for the book was done
primarily at the Alderman Library of the University of Virginia, the Library of
the U.S. Department of State, and the Pentagon Library. The staffs of all three
could not have been more helpful or cooperative. Nancy Lane, senior editor at
Oxford University Press, and Peter Kracht, assistant editor, rescued my manu-
script from obscurity and have been primarily responsible for bringing it to print.
No amount of thanks can express my gratitude to them both. At the University of
Virginia I want to thank Joseph Kett and John Casey for their continued interest
in my work, and in particular Norrnan A. Graebner, who introduced a generation
of students to the world of power, and demonstrated by his personal example that
decency and an effective approach to this world were not incompatible ends.
Finally, I want to thank my friends Gordon Bowen and Charles Shaffer, my
wife Benjie, and my mother Dorothea O'Connell for listening to my endless talk
on the subject, staying awake during my impromptu readings, and putting up with
me during what must have seemed an endless project.
Charlottesville, Virginia R.L.O.
Fall 1988
Of Arms and Men