Page 240 - Encyclopedia Of World History Vol V

warfare, naval 2017

firepower. More advances in warfare technology oc- spectacular successes, such as the plans to rebuild Europe
curred during the past century and a half than during and Japan after World War II.
the rest of world history combined.The Industrial Rev- Land warfare has remained the key to conflict. The
olution, Western civilization expansion around the land war between Nazi Germany and Russia in World
globe, and the integration of regions by advances in sea, War II turned with the battles at Stalingrad and Kursk,
air, and land technologies created an unprecedented the latter being the largest tank battle in history. Despite
mixing of land warfare approaches. Interestingly, ad- the unprecedented success of D-Day as the largest com-
vanced, settled civilizations had overcome their old bined land, sea, and air operation ever, the Russian
nomadic nemesis only to find new threats from within ground successes changed the tide of World War II.The
in the form of guerrilla warfare. From biological occupation of lands after wars is just as vital for success-
weapons to rocketry, jets, and nuclear weapons, this ful land warfare. Examples include the occupation of
rapid rate of change has led to unprecedented access to Japan and Germany after World War II, Japanese occu-
high-technology weapons by even the smallest of guer- pation of China between World War I and World War II,
rilla and militia groups. Around the globe even minor and the problems of U.N. forces worldwide to keep
rebel groups now have access to weapons left over peace in regions where total victory on land appears to
from the wars of the past century and are effectively have been achieved.
using such weapons in ways that threaten even the most
Chris Howell
advanced land warfare civilizations.Wartime technology
has also affected peacetime affairs with computers, jet See also Firearms
travel, rocketry, radar, sonar, Global Positioning Systems
(GPS), and more.
Many firsts in land warfare occurred, including Further Reading
machine guns, biological weapons such as mustard gas Archer, C., Ferris, J., Herwig, H., & Travers, T. (2002). World history of
warfare. Lincoln: University of Nebraska Press.
in World War I, the engagement of most of the world’s Davis, P. (1996). Encyclopedia of invasions and conquests. New York:
armed forces in World War I and World War II, nuclear W.W. Norton.
Ferrill,A. (1985). The origins of war: From the Stone Age to Alexander the
weapons used on Japan during World War II, the first use
Great. London: Thames and Hudson.
of intercontinental missiles and jet bombers—the list is Haas, J. (Ed.). (1990). The anthropology of war. Cambridge, UK: Cam-
almost endless. bridge University Press.
Keegan, J. (1993). A history of warfare. London: Hutchison.
World War II leaders such as Germany’s Adolf Hitler, Keeley, L. H. (1996). War before civilization. Oxford, UK: Oxford Uni-
the Soviet Union’s Joseph Stalin, Japan’s Hirohito, Eng- versity Press.
Lynn, J. (2003). Battle: A history of combat and culture. Boulder, CO:
land’s Winston Churchill, and U.S. President Franklin
Westview Press.
Roosevelt created or oversaw the creation of military- Neiberg, M. S. (2001). Warfare in world history. London: Routledge.
industrial states with land warfare production taking
precedence above all else, in order to achieve victory.
Such wartime activity has led to some of the greatest
peacetime economic explosions and debts in world his- Warfare, Naval
tory. The Soviet Union devoted much of its labor and
economy to land warfare, but differences with Commu- ome form of naval power has existed since humans
nist partner China and Cold War competition with the Sbuilt their first cities along the great natural highways
Western world left it bankrupt. Peace treaties and occu- of the world, its rivers and seas.Though those highways
pations after such great conflicts have been abysmal fail- served to move goods to and from distant markets, they
ures, such as the Treaty of Versailles after World War I, or also brought marauders seeking to despoil newborn