The Father of Us All: War and History, Ancient and Modern (28 page)

Read The Father of Us All: War and History, Ancient and Modern Online

Authors: Victor Davis Hanson

Tags: #Military History, #General, #Civilization, #Military, #War, #History

Islam/Muslims: and asymmetrical wars, 229, 231; caricatures of, 219; and classical lessons about modern wars, 38, 41, 47; and future of battles, 115; and military errors, 168, 181; and new-isms, 220

25; and present wars as reflective of origins of war, 241; and roots of war, 38, 41; and security versus freedom, 219, 220; sixteenth-century, 94

101; and spread of democracy, 206

7; and Western advantages, 233; and Western exceptionalism, 47.
See also specific person, nation or organization

isolationism, 152

53, 230

Israel: and asymmetrical wars, 227, 229, 230, 231; bombing of Syrian nuclear reactor by, 17; and decisive battles, 109, 112; and future of battles, 117, 118; and military errors, 165; and nation-building, 209; and security versus freedom, 219

20.
See also
Six-Day War (1967)

Italy, 150, 175, 193, 210.
See also
Lepanto, Battle of

Iwo Jima, 75, 111, 167, 246

Japan: and democracy, 193, 194, 202, 210; militarists in, 41; and morality of military history, 25; and present wars as reflective of origins of war, 242; and roots of war, 37; surrender of, 75; and Tsushima (1905), 130; and way of war in America, 150

51; and World War II, 25, 37, 72

82, 202

Jellicoe, John, 107

Johnson, Louis, 7, 174, 189

Johnson, Lyndon, 232

Johnstad, Kurt, 51

Jordan, 163, 183

Jutland, Battle of, 107, 108

Kagan, Donald, 29, 87, 89, 90

93

Kagan, Frederick, 111, 127

29, 135

Kagan, Robert, 29

Kant, Immanuel, 34

Kaplan, Robert, 199

Keegan, John, 8, 11, 28, 29, 78, 105

6

Kennedy, Edward “Ted,” 223

Kennedy, John F., 6, 232

Kershaw, Ian, 29

Khan, A. Q., 182

Khomeini, Ayatollah, 108, 167, 209

Kim Jong Il, 109

10, 208, 222

King, Ernest, 169, 177

Knox, Thomas, 176

Korean War: casualties in, 170; and Chinese invasion of Korea, 13

14; and contradictions and paradoxes about war, 244; decisive battles in, 108; and democracy, 198; and military errors, 165, 170

71, 172, 173, 174, 175, 178, 180; and military liberalism, 192, 193; and neglect of study of military history, 13

14; and paradoxes of the present, 238; public opinion about, 23, 24; and technology, 124; and way of war in America, 147, 148.
See also
North Korea; South Korea

Kosovo, 193, 197

Kuwait, 163.
See also
Gulf War (1991)

leadership, 28

29, 127, 173

76, 188

90, 222, 235

Lebanon, 17, 115, 117, 193, 227, 228, 230, 232, 237

lebensraum, 18, 36, 91

Lee, John C.H., 175

Lee, Robert E., 9, 28, 115

LeMay, Curtis, 141, 155, 178, 181, 189, 190

91

Leonidas, 51, 53, 54

Lepanto, battle of, 94

101, 105

Libya, 182, 193, 214

Liddell Hart, Basil H., 16

Lincoln, Abraham, 22

23, 28, 107, 171, 174, 177, 217

literature, and security versus freedom, 218

19

Livy, 6, 181, 238

“The Loneliness of the Military Historian” (Atwood poem), 10, 18

The Long March
(Fox), 67

69

Longford, Elizabeth, 28

Lovett, Robert, 174

Lucas, John, 175

Luisitania
(ship), 165

Lynch, Jessica, 185

Lysander, 88, 93

Ma, John, 67

MacArthur, Douglas, 24, 75

76, 170, 175, 176, 189

Machiavelli, Niccolò, 30, 181

MacNeice, Louis, 70

Manchester, William, 78

Manhattan Project, 144

Mao Tse-Tung, 15, 67, 119, 170

Marathon, Battle at, 16, 27, 34, 36, 64, 88, 105, 246

Marcos, Ferdinand, 168, 197

Marne, battle of the, 111

Marshall, George, 174

McCarthy, Joseph, 174

McClellan, George, 23, 141, 174, 189

McCullough, David, 11, 29

McMaster, H. R., 28

McPherson, James, 11, 29

McVeigh, Timothy, 224

media: and alternatives to punitive war, 213, 214, 215; and asymmetrical wars, 231

32; and classical lessons about modern wars, 85; and humiliation of enemy, 205

6; and military errors, 176, 178, 181

82, 185

86; and new-isms, 223; and security versus freedom, 219; as sensationalism, 185

86; and technology, 135; and Western advantages, 233

medical science, 242

Mediterranean, in sixteenth-century, 94

101

Meiggs, Russell, 68

Mexican-American War, 111, 165

Meyer, Eduard, 91

Middle East: and alternatives to punitive war, 214; and asymmetrical wars, 229

30, 231; and contradictions and paradoxes about war, 244; culture of, 233; and democracy, 198, 206

7; and military errors, 172; and nation-building, 201, 207; and paradoxes of the present, 237, 238; quality of life in, 229

30; and technology, 131; views about U.S. in, 42; and Western advantages, 233; where to start studying about, 28.
See also
Islam/Muslims;
specific person, nation, or war

militarism, fear of, 191

military: and antithetical cultures, 190

92; as change agents, 195; civilian relationship with, 188

90; constraints on, 212, 241; coups by, 191

92; criticisms of Western, 243; and democracy, 195

97; distrust of, 188

90; preparedness of, 17, 43, 48, 217, 222, 246; racial and gender integration in, 195; and “revolt of the generals,” 189

90; self-interest of, 195

97; using full force of, 203

4

military historians, 9, 10.
See also specific person

military history: academic study of, 3

14, 24

26, 161, 162; benefits of studying, 246; classical foundation for studying past, 31

32, 48; constants in, 15; and lessons learned from the past, 246; morality of, 24

26;popularity of, 83; utility of, 14

19; and what it teaches, 3

30; where to begin study of, 26

30

Military History Channel, 11

military liberalism, 192

93, 202

military service, benefits of, 145

Mill, John Stuart, 17

Miller, Frank, 52, 54

Milošević, Slobodan, 17, 109, 115, 148, 208, 213

Mogadishu, 19, 39, 114, 162, 204

Mohammed, Khalid Sheik, 48

Montgomery, Bernard, 148

Moore, Michael, 23, 204, 218

moral equivalence, 220, 223

25

morality: and classical lessons about modern wars, 32, 35, 41

42, 49, 86; and military errors, 161, 167; of military history, 24

26; and new-isms, 220; and paradoxes of democracy and war, 203; and roots of war, 35, 41

42; and Sledge’s account of World War II, 78

79; and war as “human thing,” 155, 156; and war in the future, 245

Morris, Donald R., 27

Moyar, Mark, 29

Muhammad, cartoon caricatures of, 219, 220

multiculturalism, 220

21, 225

multilateralism, 147

49, 153, 205

Mussolini, Benito, 18, 36

Mustafa, Lala, 95

mutually assured destruction, 6, 17, 213, 240

Napoleon.
See
Bonaparte, Napoleon

Napoleonic Wars, 65, 108, 110

11, 216

Nation-building, 199

202, 207

11

nationalism, 111

12, 214

NATO (North Atlantic Treaty Organization), 15, 17, 21, 112

13, 115, 148, 149, 180, 205, 213, 228, 238, 239, 241

natural disasters, 15

16, 224, 238

new-isms, 220

26

1960s cultural and social revolution, 7

Nixon, Richard, 6, 22, 176

Normandy, Allied landing on, 23, 41, 76, 107, 146, 171, 179

North Korea: and alternatives to punitive war, 213; and American way of war, 147, 154; and constraints on military power, 213; and contradictions and paradoxes about war, 244; and decisive battles, 109

10, 113, 114, 121; and the future of battle, 113, 114; and military error, 165, 170, 173, 184; and nuclear power, 184, 237; and paradoxes of the present, 237; and roots of war, 37.
See also
Korean war

nuclear power: and American way of war, 154; and asymmetrical wars, 227; and constraints on military, 212

13; and contradictions and paradoxes about war, 243, 244; and decisive battles, 106, 113, 117, 121; and the future of battle, 113, 117; and military error, 165, 182, 184; and nation-building, 207, 208, 209; and neglect of military history, 6, 7; and paradoxes of the present, 237, 238; and present wars as reflective of origins of war, 241; and roots of war, 37; and spread of democracy, 197; and utility of military history, 17.
See also specific nation

Obama, Barack, 149, 200, 201, 209, 218

Odom, William, 162

officers, military, 73, 79, 129, 193, 197, 199

oil, 120, 207, 229, 230, 231, 232, 240, 244

Okinawa, battle for, 13, 25, 71

82, 105, 111, 113, 115, 166

67, 175, 242, 246

Oren, Michael B., 28

Ottoman Empire, 94

101, 219, 241

Oxford University,
Anabasis
conference at, 67

pacifism, 7, 119, 220, 221

23, 225

Pakistan, 25, 113, 114, 121, 149, 165, 182, 208, 213, 218, 238, 244

Panama, 109, 115, 185, 192, 193, 197, 200, 214

Papadopoulos, Georgios, 197

Paret, Pater, 30

Patriot Act, 217

Patton, George S.: memoirs of, 27; and military culture, 190; and military errors, 162, 167, 175, 177, 178; and neglect of study of military history, 12; and public opinion, 23; resignation of, 162; and way of war in America, 141, 142, 146; and where to start studying about war, 27, 29

peace: and classical lessons about modern wars, 33, 34

35; and 1960s culture, 7; as “parenthesis” in human affairs, 33

peace studies, 9, 222

peacekeeping exercises, 189, 210

Pearl Harbor, 129, 165, 177

Pearson, Drew, 176

Peleliu, battle on, 71

82, 242

Peloponnesian War: and anti-classical view of war, 45; casualties in, 32; as “clash of civilizations,” 88; and classical lessons about modern wars, 32, 34, 36, 40

41, 45; decisive battles in, 110; and democracies, 196; impact upon Greeks of, 55, 87

88; Kagan’s views about, 87, 89, 90

93; Kupelian’s study of, 4

5; lack of interest in study of, 84; length of, 86; modern books about, 85; as paradox, 89; and present wars as reflective of origins of war, 242; ravaging of Athenian countryside during, 4

5; roots/causes of, 35

36, 40

41, 56; and technology, 127, 132

33, 134; Ten Thousand in, 64; Thucydides’ history of, 21, 27, 34, 36, 55

56, 57, 58, 63, 84, 85, 86

87, 88

90, 92, 93, 186, 196.
See also specific person

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