Table Of ContentTHE ART OF WAR
ART WAR
THE OF
WAR AND
MILITARY THOUGHT
Martin van Creveld
General Editor: John Keegan
CASSELL&CO
For student and friend
COLONEL MOSHE BEN DAVID,
'From knowledge to competence it is a big step; from
ignorance to competence, a bigger one still.'
HANS VON SEECKT
Firstpublishedin GreatBritain2000
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ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
Formingpartof the CassellillustratedHistoryofWarfareseries,thisvolumewas
planned in consultation with the general editor, John Keegan, and the then
publishing director at Weidenfeld & Nicolson, Judith Flanders. With them I
decided to keep it free of references so as to retain as much as possible of the
limited space available for the text proper. The reader who is interested in
pursuing the topic further, however, will find a list of reading at the end. In this
way, it is to be hoped, the demands of both brevity and scholarship can be
reconciled.
MARTINVAN CREVELD
Potsdam
.,
ThesiegeofAntwerp,culminatinginitscaptureon17August1585byAlexanderFarnese,theDukeofParma.
r
CONTENTS
---...--::~:==:~••:@:.---:==~:+-I......---
ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS 5 5 THE NINETEENTH CENTURY
MAPLIST 9
Thediscoveryofthe'otherness'ofhistory;
CHRONOLOGY 10
DuPicqandthequalitiesofthesoldier;Helmutvon
Moltkeandthetechnologicalrevolutioninwarfare;
INTRODUCTION
theroadtotheSchlieffenPlan 121
STUDYING WAR
6 NAVAL WARFARE
I CHINESE MILITARY THOUGHT
Thepaucityofworksonnavalwarfarebefore1880;
Theearliestknownwritingsonwar;theepicpoems;
Mahan'sInfluenceofSeapoweruponHistoryasthe
Chinafromc.400BC;Chinesemilitarytexts;SunTzu
mostimportantworkonthesubjecteverwritten;
andTa'iKung;theeraofthewarringstates;
JulianCorbett'sadaptationofClausewitzianideas
LaoTzu'sadvice 19
tonavalwarfare 145
2 FROM ANTIQUITY TO THE
7 THE INTERWAR PERIOD
MIDDLE AGES
Military-technologicaldevelopments;Douheton
Ancientmilitary-historicalwritings;militaryworks
airwarfare;FullerandLiddellHartonarmoured
ofAeneastheTactician;Asclepiodotus;Onasander,
warfare;Ludendorffandtheroadtototalwar 161
FrontinusandVegetius;themilitarytreatisesofthe
ByzantineEmpire;medievalworksonwar 37
8 FROM 1945 TO THE PRESENT
3 FROM 1500 TO 1763 Thecollapseoflarge-scaleinterstatewar;therise
ofnuclearstrategyanddeterrence;Schellings's
Machiavelli;Militarythoughttothesecondhalfof
ArmsandInfluence; guerrillaactivityandterrorism
theeighteenthcentury:Montecuccoli,Vauban,
fromLawrencetoMaotoGiap 185
Folard,Puysegur,deSaxe,FredericktheGreat 67
SOMELEADINGMILITARYTHINKERS 214
4' GUIBERT TO CLAUSEWITZ
FURTHERREADING 218
TheendoftheSevenYearsWar;GuibertandhisEssai INDEX 220
tactiquegenerale;Miizeroy,vonBuelowandthe PICTURECREDITS
inventionofmodernstrategy;Berenhorstandthe
GermanRomanticschool;Clausewitz'sOnWar 95
KEY TO MAPS
Militaryunits-size
LJ armygroup
LJ army
LJ corps
LJ division
LJ brigade
LJ regiment
LJ battalion
Militarymovements
attack
-y retreat
airattack
X
battle
...
fortress
Geographicalsymbols
urbanarea
road
railway
river
seasonalriver
canal
border
..-- bridgeorpass
MAP LIST
I. WARRING STATESTOTHE UNIFICATION OF CHINA 20-21
IMPERIAL CHINA 300BC 20
IMPERIAL CHINA 250BC 21
IMPERIAL CHINA 220BC 21
2. SPIES 32
3· BATTLE OF CHAERONEIA 44-5
4· LIVING OFFTHE LAND: PRINCIPAL CAMPAIGNS AND BATTLES 60
5· BYZANTINE EMPIRE 562-1430 64-5
6. MACHIAVELLI'S ITALYC. 1500 74
7· THE SPANISH ROAD- THE HABSBURG EMPIRE C. 1600 79
8. PRUSSIA 1713-86 96-7
9· WAR ZONES OF SEVEN YEARS WAR 1756-63 98-9
10. MANOEUVRE ON ULM, SEPTEMBER 1805 106
II. BATTLE OFLEUTHEN 1757 112-13
12. ROMAN LEGION BATTLE ORDER 128-9
13· SIZE OF ARMIES 132-3
14· THE SCHLIEFFEN PLAN 1914 142-3
15· LANDVERSUS MARITIME POWER C. 1812 149
16. DOUHET'STHEORY, GUERNICA 166-7
17· SCHWEINFURTBOMBING RESULTS 168
18. LIDDELL HART'SEXPANDING TORRENT 176-7
19· SOVIETAND AMERICAN BLOCS 1957-67 194-5
20. ApBAC, VIETNAM 206-7
21. WAR BYTELEVISION 212
THE ART OF WAR
CHRONOLOGY
Be
1492 ColumbusreachesHispaniola.
453-221 PeriodoftheWarringStates (China). 1494 BeginningoftheFrench-Spanish
c.400 SunTzuwrites The ArtofWar, one Austrianstrugglefor Ital~
ofthebestworks onwareverwritten. 1494 Vascoda GamareachesIndia bysea.
371 Spartanhegemony brokenatthe 1520-21 Machiavelliwrites The ArtofWar.
battleofLeuctra. 1522 Firstuseofthe'Italiansystem'of
midthirdcentury Workof AeneastheTactician. fortification.
334-323 Alexander'scampaigns. 1566 BeginningoftheDutchRevolt.
210 Handynastyunifies China. 1571 Ottomannavalpowerbrokeninthe
146 Fallof Carthageandof Corinth; battleofLepanto.
Romanrulenowextendsoverthe 1584 MauriceofNassauassumes
entireMediterranean. commandoftheDutcharmyatthe
firstcentury Asclepiodotuswritesan Outlineof struggleagainstSpain.
Tactics. 1588 SpanishArmadadefeated.
29 BattleofActium;RomanEmpire 1618-48 ThirtyYearsWar.
definitelyestablished. 1625 Grotiuspublishes The LawofWar
andPeace.
AD 1632 GustavusAdolphuskilledatLuetzen.
midfirst century Onasanderwrites The General. 1639-43 Montecuccoliwrites Treatise onWar.
latefirst century FrontinuswritesStrategemata. 1643 BattleofRocroi breaksSpanish
c. 117 RomanEmpirereachesitsgreatest powerandlaysthefoundationfor
extent. FrenchhegemonyinEurope.
latefourthcentury Vegetius writesEpitomaReiMilitaris, 1702-14 WaroftheSpanishSuccession.
the bestworkeverwrittenonRoman 1705-6 Vaubanpublishes TheAttackand
militaryorganizationandtactics. DefenceofPlaces.
476 Fallof theWesternRomanEmpire. 1712 BattleofPoltavamarksthetriumph
535-567 CampaignsofBelisariusandNarses. ofRussia overSwedenandtheriseof
latesixthcentury Strategikon attributedtoEmperor theformer tothestatusof agreat
Maurice. power.
800 CharlemagnecrownedEmperorof 1720s FolardwritesA History ofPolybios.
Rome. 1720s Puysegur, attemptingto adapt
lateninthcentury Tacticon attributedtoEmperorLeo Vauban'ssystemtofieldwarfare,
(theWise). writes The ArtofWarbyPrinciples
1096 StartoftheFirstCrusade. andRules.
1291 Lastcrusaderfoothold inPalestine 1732 DeSaxewritesMes Reveries,
lost. expoundingeighteenth-century
1336-1453 HundredYearsWar. warfareatits best.
1348 Battleof Crec~Firstrecordeduseof 1741-63 CampaignsofFredericktheGreat.
gunpowderin battle. 1756-63 SevenYearsWarleadstotheconquest
1400 HonoreBonetwrites The Tree of byBritainofIndiaandCanada.
Battles. 1770 Guibertwrites GeneralEssayon
1410 ChristinedePisanwrites The Artof Tactics, pointingthewaytothe
Chivalry. militarysystemoftheFrench
1453 Fallof Constantinopletothe Revolution.
Ottomans. 1776-83 WaroftheAmericanRevolution.
1492 Spanishreconquistacompletedwith 1780s 'Strategy'invented.
thefall of Granada. 1789 StartoftheFrenchRevolution.
IO
