American Resolve and The Art of War: A Study and Application of Military Tactics - Softcover

Proctor, John

Softcover

ISBN 10: 1477257586 ISBN 13: 9781477257586

Publisher: AuthorHouse, 2012

Synopsis

Since the end of World War II, Americans realized that the only way to keep America out of war is to keep the world out of war. Americans also realize that today their country is the leader of the Western World if not the whole world . . . The leadership role was thrust upon the United States when its traditional allies are weak. Thus, all decisions made by the United States must also be implemented by the United States. A Chinese general said, "Ultimate excellence lies not in winning every battle but defeating the enemy without ever fighting" This should be America's goal, but it seems that this can only be achieved with a large standing army. However, there is an alternative. This goal can be achieved with a strong, disciplined reserve force which will cost only a fraction of a large standing army. The reserve force should be trained to implement skillful and innovative tactics. Excellent training will also accomplish another significant goal: minimize American casualties.

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AMERICAN RESOLVE AND THE ART OF WAR

A Study and Application of Military TacticsBy John Proctor

AuthorHouse

Copyright © 2012 John Proctor
All right reserved.
ISBN: 978-1-4772-5758-6

Contents

Preface..................................................viiCHAPTER 1 A Gleam of Steel...............................1CHAPTER 2 Battles........................................19CHAPTER 3 Winners and Losers.............................35CHAPTER 4 "Fustest with the Mostest".....................49CHAPTER 5 First Strike...................................65CHAPTER 6 Salamis........................................75CHAPTER 7 The Perilous Seas..............................85CHAPTER 8 Military Power.................................93CHAPTER 9 Frontier Defense Force.........................107CHAPTER 10 Order of Battle...............................121Bibliography.............................................131End Notes................................................135

Chapter One

A GLEAM OF STEEL

Events that lead to the Second World War included the Sudetenland crisis. The Sudetenland was a mountainous region in Western Czechoslovakia that was inhabited by 3.5 million German-speaking people. Before World War I, the region was part of Austria and on the border with Germany. The region was mishandled by the treaties ending World War I.

Before the end of World War I, Czechoslovakia including the Sudetenland was a part of the Austrian Empire. Since Austria was allied with Germany in the war, Austria was treated as harshly as Germany in the Treaty of Versailles. Before the end of the First World War the Austrian Empire included not only Austria but also Hungary, Czechoslovakia, parts of Poland, Romania, Italy and Yugoslavia. The prewar area of the empire encompassed 261,029 square miles and included 51 million people. After the treaty, Austria had only six million people that encompassed 32,369 square miles. This was done under the guise of self-determination.

Self-determination had merit, but the war's losers should have had a voice in the consequences. The Sudeten Germans were part of German-speaking Austria. By treaty, the Sudeten Germans suddenly became part of another country that was dominated by another people speaking another language ... A cursory review of a map would readily indicate that the Sudetenland should have been made part of Germany. This would follow geographic logic and satisfy self-determination. Germany, however, lost the war and could not be granted additional territory.

Winston Churchill wrote, "The second cardinal tragedy was the complete breakup of the Austro-Hungarian Empire by the Treaties of St. Germain and Trianon. For centuries this surviving embodiment of the Holy Roman Empire had afforded a common life, with advantages in trade and security, to a large number of peoples, none of whom in our own time had the strength of vitality to stand by themselves in the face of pressure from a revivified Germany or Russia. All these races wished to break away from the federal or imperial structure, and to encourage their desires was deemed a liberal policy."

Nevertheless, the treaties were accomplished and the next generation had to suffer the consequences. One of the consequences was Adolph Hitler. It cannot be said that the Treaty of Versailles resulted in the direct rise of Adolph Hitler. It can be said, though, that the treaty made it easy for a person like Hitler to succeed.

The Germans believed that they would discuss a peace treaty ending World War I under the "Pact of November 5, 1918." that pledged they would negotiate within the framework of President Wilson's Fourteen Points. Wilson's Fourteen Points amounted to the internationalization of the American Declaration of Independence, The Constitution and the Monroe Doctrine. This was very idealistic, but if accepted, it would have led to conciliation and peace.

The tiger of France, Georges Clemenceau who represented France, said, "God gave us the Ten Commandments, and we broke them. Wilson gave us the Fourteen Points, and we will see." The British representative, Lloyd George, said of the treaty negotiations, "It was like sitting between Napoleon Bonaparte and Jesus Christ." Clemenceau was determined to punish Germany. Wilson, above all else, wanted a League of Nations. Therefore, a compromise resulted. Germany was to be punished but Wilson got his League of Nations.

Germany was particularly incensed by the so-called "War Guilt Clause." Article 231 of the Treaty of Versailles reads:

"The Allied and Associated Governments affirm and Germany accepts the responsibility of Germany and her allies for causing all the loss and damage to which the Allied and Associated Governments and their nationalities have been subjected as a consequence of the war imposed upon them by the aggression of Germany and her allies."

In truth, Europe in 1914 was two armed camps: The Triple Alliance and the Triple Entente. All that was needed was a spark to set Europe in flames. Germany, Austria and Italy formed the Triple Alliance, while Britain, France and Russia formed the Triple Entente.

France and Russia formed a bond that was clearly intended to provoke a European war. The Franco-Russian Alliance was probably initiated about 1892. Raymond Poincare, the French Premier and Foreign Minister, who was born in Lorrain and witnessed French humiliation at the hands of the Germans when it was defeated in the Franco-Prussian War of 1871, wanted vengeance on Germany. Baron Izvolski, a Russian diplomat, plotted with Poinare to start a European War; so that Russia could obtain Constantinople and the Turkish Straits between the Black Sea and the Mediterranean Sea. The Russians coveted the Turkish Straits since the reign of Catherine the Great. (1762-1796)

Russia had contemplated a war without allies against Turkey. In this scenario, Russia realized that the German Navy may intercede in Turkey's behave. Thus, it would be expedient to await a general European War, whereby Russia could obtain allies such as the British and French fleets that could neutralize the German naval threat.

Russia did not have long to wait for a European crisis to develop and lead to a general European war. For some time, Serbia, a nation in the South Balkans, was going through a wave of nationalism. These feelings were intensified when Austria in 1908 annexed two-neighboring countries: Bosnia and Herzegovina. These states were inhabited by Slavs like Serbia. The Serbs felt that the annexation was aggressive and utterly unjustified.

Austria intended to institute liberal reforms in its newly acquired states. Archduke Franz Ferdinand, the heir apparent to the Austrian throne, planned a triune monarchy to give more liberties to Austrian Slavs. Germans, Hungarians and Slavs would be equal in the empire. Nationalists in Serbia realized that the archduke must be assassinated before the reforms could be instituted. More liberties for Austria's newly acquired Slavic states would cement Bosnia's and Herzegovina's desire to be attached to Austria. This would destroy any plans for a Greater Serbia.

Thereupon, Serbia enlisted some Bosnian adventurers for assassination training in Belgrade, Serbia. The Serbian military trained the adventurers in the use of firearms and bomb throwing. Afterwards, they were sent to Sarajevo, Bosnia and waited for the arrival of the archduke Russia was also culpable in the assassination plot, as it supplied munitions to the plotters in Serbia.

On June 28, 1914, the assassination plot was successfully carried-out. Austria immediately accused Serbia of complicity in the assassination. The only evidence Austria had of Serbia's culpability in the plot was newspaper articles in the Serbian press and the general attitude of the Serbian government Diplomats attempted to resolve the dispute but were unsuccessful. Austria then declared war on Serbia July 28, 1914.

Although Russia held no alliances with Serbia, it felt compelled to support Serbia. Russia and Serbia were both ethnic Slavs and both followed the same orthodox religion. Russia also wanted a general European war without the onus of starting the war. When officials in the Russian government were informed of the Austrian ultimatum to Serbia, the Russian foreign minister, Sazonov, exclaimed, "This is the European war!"

At 6:00 p.m. on July 30, 1914, the final general mobilization order was sent out by the Russian government. The Russians knew that this order actually and technically meant the beginning of a European war. General Dobrorolski, chief of the mobilization division of the Russian army wrote, "This (the mobilization order) once fixed there is no way backwards. This step settles automatically the beginning of war. This affair now began irretrievably. The order was already well known in all the larger cities of our huge country. No change was possible. The prologue of the great historic drama had begun." A few days later, other European nations followed Russia to war. At 4:00 p.m. August 1, 1914, France gave the mobilization order. Germany followed 30 minutes later Britain waited until August 4, 1914 to declare war.

None of the European governments had any foreknowledge of the horrific war that would be fought. When Kaiser Wilhelm addressed his troops departing to the front, he said, "You will be home before the leaves have fallen from the trees." "The French counted mainly on the active army of about one million men to strike the blows in the short, victorious campaign they expected."

France developed Plan XVII, which emphasized elan, the offensive spirit. General Ferdinand Foch, commandant of the French Ecole Superieure de la Guerre, was convinced that the indomitable will to win was the major ingredient to victory. Other French officers, such as Colonel Louzeau de Grandmaison, enhanced this view and presumed the French military doctrine was: to attack at all costs, at all times, and under any circumstance, l'offensive a' outrance. Defensive thought was despised. The entrenching spade was abandoned. "To dig one's self in diminishes the intensity of one's fire and depresses the offensive spirit." The French plan was to launch an offense assault through Alsace-Lorain and then head straight for Berlin.

Germany prepared the Schlieffen Plan that would deploy the German Army to advance west through the Belgian Plain and follow along the English Channel to a point west of Paris and then wheel about and attack the rear of the French Army and destroy it. The German General Staff had anticipated that the French Army would attack through Alsace-Lorain. Therefore, Germany would deploy a relatively small defensive force in Alsace-Lorain to oppose the French axis of attack. Consequently, the main German force closing from the west would become the hammer and the German defense force near Alsace-Lorain would become the anvil.

These plans rapidly fell apart. Most war plans never survive the first battle. The early battles conveyed to the European leaders the harbinger of the European war that lay ahead. Ypres was one of the first battles. The battle takes its name from a small town in Belgium that lies near the North Sea. The battle began on October 20, 1914, and subsided on November 11, 1914 at a cost of 130,000 German casualties, 58,000 British casualties and about 250,000 French casualties. When Lord Kitchener, the British Secretary of State for War, was made aware of the casualty figures he immediately exclaimed, "This isn't war!"

The Ypres Battle foretold a war of attrition. A war of attrition is the worst kind of war, as it emphasizes the killing of enemy troops. Its objective is to wear-down the enemy and force him to meet your will. Military tactics are minimized, as only head long frontal attacks are ordered. Mounting casualties are ignored.

A war of attrition, if it goes on for more than a year, becomes an infectious disease. Troops in each opposing army begin to believe that the enemy troops are less than human. They will shoot prisoners; bayonet the wounded and mutilate the bodies of fallen enemy soldiers. Mounting casualty figures sent to kinsmen back home will infect the civilian population. They in turn will demand that their government take more brutal action against the enemy. When it's time to sign a peace treaty, justice will not prevail. The winning side possesses the judge, jury and prosecutor. The peace treaty at Versailles, as understood by the Germans, was not negotiated. It was imposed and became known as the diktat of Versailles. It paved the way for another horrific war....

The Ypres battle had arisen too soon. The soldiers on both sides were ill-prepared for the battle. Their training and tactics were obsolete in the face of advanced technology such as machine guns, barbed wire and heavy artillery. American historian, Richard M. Watt, wrote of the battle, "The generals are to be blamed not so much because they failed to open up the trench war as because they went on trying to do it, wasting thousands of lives with each attempt, long after it should have been apparent that they could not succeed with the old methods." Albert Einstein defined insanity, "doing the same thing over and over again and expecting different results." German general Max Hoffman's term for the stubborn British generals: "the donkeys." Though, the British generals concluded after Ypres, "We must dig deeper!"

Digging deeper was the order of the day. Both armies dug deep pits to protect their troops from heavy artillery bombardments. Consequently, a continuous, 400 mile trench line was dug from the North Sea to the Swiss frontier. Seven German armies then faced eight French armies plus the British Expeditionary Force and the Belgian Army. From December 1914 until November 1918, a stalemate existed along the 400-mile front. Each side attacked the other's trenches but made little progress other than inflicting more casualties. After three years, the trench line did not vary more than 10 miles.

The main hypothesis of the Schlieffen Plan was to prevent Germany from fighting a war on two fronts. Germany was aware of the Franco-Russian alliance. In the event of a war with both Russia and France, the bulk of the German Army would crush France in the West during the first weeks of the war and then turn about and assault the slower mobilizing Russian Army in the East. After the first weeks, however, France was not crushed, and two Russian armies were converging on the German province of East Prussia. Germany then found itself fighting a war it wanted to avoid: a war on two fronts. Germany though, had an advantage: it geographically separated its two adversaries; so that they could not directly support one another. Also, Germany had an excellent rail system that could quickly shift troops from one front to the other

By December 1914, Germany held most of Belgium and a large portion of Northern France. Germany then opted for defense in the West, as much of its army had to be deployed to the East. In 1915, Germany was outnumbered by a ratio of three to one in the West. Thus, Germany adopted an elastic defense system in the West: The initial, or front line trench had two or more widely separated defense trenches dug-in behind it. When assaulting troops broke through the initial trench, they were decimated by troops in the secondary defense trenches. In WWII, this defense system was known as a pak-front.

The Battle of Ypres fought in October-November, 1914, became known as First Ypres. Two more battles were fought at Ypres. Second Ypres was between April 22 and May 25, 1915, at a cost of 60,000 British casualties and 10,000 French casualties. Third Ypres was fought from July 31 to November 10, 1917 at a cost of some 300,000 British casualties and 8,528 French casualties.

Other significant battles fought along the 400-mile Western Front were: Verdun in 1916, which cost the French some 542,000 casualties; Somme in 1916, which cost the British 420,000 casualties and France 195,000 casualties, Aisne in 1917 which cast the French 120,000 casualties, and the Cambrai in 1917, which cost the British 45,000 casualties.

The total World War I casualties for three nations were as follows: France, 5,623,800; British Empire, 2,998,583; Germany: 6,055,689 These casualty figures represent losses as a percent of the total forces mustered as follows: France 67 percent; British Empire 34 percent, and Germany 55 percent. None of these nations wished for another war.:

France, after the war, became passivist and defensive. Its dominate Emphasis was: Securite. The 1914 spirit of élan was totally dismissed. Between 1929 and 1934, France constructed the Maginot Line, a series of concrete and steel fortifications placed opposite the German frontier. Additionally, between 1920 and 1926, it made military alliances with Belgium, Poland and the so-called "Little Entente" composed of Czechoslovakia, Rumania, and Yugoslavia, This was known as the "Iron Ring" around Germany, which caused consternation within Germany.

Britain, too, lost interest in European affairs.

"Well over one million were unemployed, economic recovery was slow in coming. What, these people asked, what had been gained in winning World War I? What would be gained by winning-or losing-another war against the dictators? Students of the Oxford Union, which had provided generations of British leaders, now voted for a resolution: That this house refuses to fight for King and Country."

(Continues...)

Excerpted from AMERICAN RESOLVE AND THE ART OF WARby John Proctor Copyright © 2012 by John Proctor. Excerpted by permission of AuthorHouse. All rights reserved. No part of this excerpt may be reproduced or reprinted without permission in writing from the publisher.
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Edition details

• Publisher: AuthorHouse
• Publication date: 2012
• Language: English
• ISBN 10: 1477257586
• ISBN 13: 9781477257586
• Binding: Paperback
• Number of pages: 156