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Books > Social sciences > Warfare & defence > General
While typically the victims of war, civilians are not necessarily
passive recipients of violence. What options are available to
civilians in times of war? This book suggests three broad
strategies - flight, support, and voice. It focuses on three
conflicts: Aceh, Indonesia; Patani, southern Thailand; and
Mindanao, southern Philippines.
Italy emerged from the Paris Peace Conference of 1919 with the
feeling that it had been denied its just rewards by ungrateful
allies and that its victory was thus mutilated. Integrating this
vengefulness into his diplomacy in the 1920s, Mussolini undertook a
policy of selected treaty revision aimed at the breakup of the
newly created state of Yugoslavia through covert operations. These
stratagems proved futile. Ignoring the threat posed by Nazi
Germany's obvious determination to annex Austria, whose continued
independence was key to Italy's security in Europe, Mussolini
successfully invaded Ethiopia in October 1935, with only lukewarm
opposition from France and Britain. Subsequently, in July 1936, he
unwisely intervened on the side of the insurgent general Francisco
Franco against the Republican government in Madrid. Instead of the
expected speedy victory, Italy got bogged down in a prolonged civil
war, which rendered Mussolini even more dependent on Nazi Germany.
To preserve his standing in Berlin, he did not lift a finger when
the Third Reich marched into Austria in 1938. Convinced of the
growing decadence of the Western democracies, Mussolini turned to
forge the Rome-Berlin Axis. But given Italy's military weakness,
Mussolini was bound to be Hitler's junior partner. When the Duce
talked of turning the Mediterranean Sea into an Italian lake in
February 1939, he found himself trapped in Hitler's military iron
cage. Parity in the Axis was the Duce's own peculiar myth. When
Germany invaded Poland in September 1939, Mussolini declared
nonbelligerency since he was in no position to wage war. He
intended to bide his time in order to see who would win or, in the
event of a stalemate, to step in as a mediator. But when the Nazi
steamroller crushed France, Mussolini felt he had only one
option—war on the side of Germany. By tying himself to Hitler's
war chariot, Mussolini sacrificed the national interests of his
country and doomed his Fascist regime to ultimate destruction.
Artillery proved to be the greatest killer on the Western front
in World War I, and the use and misuse of artillery was certainly a
determining factor in the war DEGREESD's outcome. While many books
explore the artillery forces and employment of the European powers,
this is the first study to examine artillery employment in the
American Expeditionary Force. Grotelueschen follows one AEF
division through its entire World War I experience, from
preliminary training to each of its battles in France. This
approach allows for great investigative depth and an opportunity to
explore the implementation of doctrinal changes throughout the
war.
While accounts of the AEF written in the immediate aftermath of
the war praised it as a great fighting machine, most scholars have
concluded that the AEF was a flawed combat force. This study
demonstrates that despite significant flaws and weaknesses,
especially in artillery doctrine and employment, at least some AEF
divisions did attain effective fighting ability. American divisions
were most successful when carrying out limited, set-piece attacks,
efforts that ran counter to approved US Army and AEF doctrine at
the time. Historians will find this unique approach to the study of
division level strengths and weaknesses to be useful in making more
accurate and complete comparisons among the great armies of the
Western Front.
Today's News Headlines: Military suicides rise to a record 349,
topping number of troops killed in combat By Washington Post,
January 14, 2013 Suicide Crisis Mounts For US Soldiers And
Veterans, July 16, 2012 Home Headline News Topics in Brief:
Substance Abuse among the Military, Veterans, and their Families
National Institute on Drug Abuse, April 2011 One U.S. veteran
attempts suicide every 80 minutes: Hidden tragedy of Afghanistan
and Iraq wars Daily Mail Reporter 3 Nov. 2011
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The above headlines caught the attention of the media in 2011, 2012
and 2013. Since that time the suicide rate in the military
continues to increase. A-bout-FACE. A TRUE story about Stephen Paul
Campos. At the age of 19 he enlisted in the US Army as a combat
infantry rifleman. From April 1968 to April 1969 he served one year
tour of combat duty with the 199th. Light Infantry Brigade. Within
just two weeks he and his platoon experience a "horrific"
friendly-fire tragedy that shakes him to his core. Along with many
other veterans he returned home with Post-traumatic stress syndrome
unable to integrate fully back into society. Two decades later, on
the verge of suicide, he was able to turn his life around. Mr.
Campos shares his experiences in combat and struggles with PTSD
while trying to transition back into civilian life. This story will
bring to light the effects of post-war stress, drugs and alcohol
abuse. Also, included are his personal Steps to Recovery. "You CAN
Heal from the Demons of War" Gerald M. Korson - award winning
journalist and editor
This account of the 1965 Dominican intervention is a case study in
U.S. crisis management. Herbert Schoonmaker analyzes the role and
management of U.S. military forces in the Dominican crisis. Like
other Cold War interventions, the Dominican intervention
demonstrated the use of rapidly reacting, joint military forces to
achieve limited political objectives. It also represents a good
vehicle for analyzing U.S. civilian-military relationships during
this kind of military operation. At the same time the civil strife
continued in Santo Domingo, U.S. military forces engaged in a
variety of duties, both combat and peacekeeping, and did so while
the Organization of American States, the United Nations, and U.S.
government teams attempted to negotiate a peaceful settlement. Such
a complex environment, Schoonmaker argues, necessitated tight
civilian control of the engaged armed forces and required restraint
in carrying out their combat duties. In addition to the
political-military factors, Schoonmaker also focuses on the joint
army-navy-air aspects of the operation. He concentrates on the
uniqueness of the intervention which makes the lessons learned from
it applicable in some circumstances, but not in others. A study of
the Dominican intervention is important because of its implications
for defense needs and structure in a time of tight military
budgets. The author also outlines the problems associated with
quick-reacting forces and indicates the necessity for efficient
intelligence, communications, logistics, and command and control.
This book is must reading for military theoreticians and
strategists, historians, and political scientists.
In the 19th century, when the Ottoman Empire restored direct rule
over Yemen, the resulting turmoil came to threaten the security of
the entire Arabian Peninsula. This book describes the various
military campaigns to regain control over Yemen, surveying the
increased foreign encroachments by the British in the south and the
Italians through the Red Sea, and the revolts of the Zaidi Imams
and Isma'ili tribes. Using previously unknown archival material,
this history of political rivalries and challenges confronting
Ottoman Yemen in the 19th century should prove useful for scholars
and students.
Julian Corbett wrote this treatise in 1911, but the principles upon
which it is founded, notably that naval strategy should be seen as
a means to an end, & that this end should be the effective use
of sea lines of communication & the denial of same to the
enemy, remain sound today.
Detailing the life and legacy of one of America's highest profile
military commanders, this biography looks at how Ridgway maintained
his corporatist ideals through the critical days of World War II
and the Cold War. The qualities that Ridgway honed on the
battlefields of Europe and Korea were the same that he would draw
upon in more politicized jobs as NATO commander and US Army Chief
of Staff, and in retirement as the leading military critic of
American intervention in Vietnam. The global scope of Ridgway's
involvement, in wartime and peacetime, from Europe to Latin
American to the Far East, provides a unique opportunity to examine
the policy and ideological issues of the day. Early chapters
chronicle Ridgway's younger life and early postings from West Point
to China to Sandino's Nicaragua, and his participation in various
campaigns during World War II, from Sicily to Normandy to the
Battle of the Bulge and on into Germany. Later chapters cover his
work as a military diplomat under President Truman, including his
work on arms control and the Inter-American Cooperation Act. Soffer
then examines Ridgway's key role in the Korean War and his ability
as a theater commander, and then considers his actions under
President Eisenhower and beyond, as well as Ridgway's active
support for Ronald Reagan in the 1980s. This work will prove
valuable to students of military history and the Cold War.
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