Book contents
- War’s Logic
- Cambridge Military Histories
- War’s Logic
- Copyright page
- Dedication
- Contents
- Acknowledgments
- Introduction
- Part I First Principles and Modern War
- 1 Alfred Thayer Mahan and Sea Power
- 2 Billy Mitchell and Air Power
- Part II The Revolt of the Strategy Intellectuals
- Part III The Counterrevolution of the Military Intellectuals
- Part IV The Insurrection of the Operational Artists
- Conclusion
- Notes
- Select Bibliography
- Index
1 - Alfred Thayer Mahan and Sea Power
from Part I - First Principles and Modern War
Published online by Cambridge University Press: 05 February 2021
Book contents
- War’s Logic
- Cambridge Military Histories
- War’s Logic
- Copyright page
- Dedication
- Contents
- Acknowledgments
- Introduction
- Part I First Principles and Modern War
- 1 Alfred Thayer Mahan and Sea Power
- 2 Billy Mitchell and Air Power
- Part II The Revolt of the Strategy Intellectuals
- Part III The Counterrevolution of the Military Intellectuals
- Part IV The Insurrection of the Operational Artists
- Conclusion
- Notes
- Select Bibliography
- Index
Summary
Chapter 1 analyzes the ideas of the naval strategist Alfred Thayer Mahan. It describes his life and his "America," which was socially and politically at war with itself. This chapter also discusses how the core principles Mahan borrowed from the Swiss military theorist Jomini – concentration, offensive action, and decision by battle – were brought from the nineteenth century into the twentieth. It ends with an explication of the traditional model of wars nature, which saw armed conflict as an extension of the competitive side of human nature.
Keywords
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- Chapter
- Information
- War's LogicStrategic Thought and the American Way of War, pp. 13 - 31Publisher: Cambridge University PressPrint publication year: 2021