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The War of Positions

By Paul Azan

Military history texts discuss the historical record of armed conflict in the history of humanity, its impact on people, societies, and their cultures. Some fundamental subjects of military history study are the causes of war, its social and cultural foundations, military doctrines, logistics, leadership, technology, strategy, and tactics used, and how these have developed over time. Thematic divisions of military history may include: Ancient warfare, Medieval warfare, Gunpowder warfare, Industrial warfare, and Modern warfare.

Military strategy texts present ideas for military organizations to achieve their desired strategic goals. Military strategy discusses the planning and conduct of campaigns, the movement and disposition of forces, and how to deceive the enemy. Carl von Clausewitz (1780–1831), defined military strategy as "the employment of battles to gain the end of war." B. H. Liddell Hart defined strategy as "the art of distributing and applying military means to fulfill the ends of policy", which places more emphasis on political aims relative to military goals. Sun Tzu (544-496 BC) is the father of Eastern military strategy and greatly influenced Chinese, Japanese, Korean and Vietnamese war tactics. His book The Art of War has been very popular and has seen practical implementation in Western societies.

Cambridge. Harvard university Press. 1917. 183p.