Author Geoffrey Parker is a professor of history at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign. Parker specializes in military history concerning the early modern period in Europe, along with interest in the military revolution of that period. Some of the other publicated works of Parker are; Military Revolution, 1560-1660 - A Myth?, The Army of Flanders and the Spanish Road, 1567-1659 and Global Crisis: War, Climate Change and Catastrophe in the Seventeenth Century. However, Parker is widely recognized for his work on the military revolution during the early modern period. His work entitled The Military Revolution; Military innovation and the rise of the West. 1500-1800 is a historical narrative that sought to illuminate the principles …show more content…
Moreover, he concurs with Roberts principles that attain to a replacement of weapons, army sizes, tactics and the implication of warfare on society. However in Parker’s book, The Military Revolution he contributes three revised principles towards Roberts conclusion. First, Parker argues that the innovations of gunpowder weapons forced European states to innovate their fortifications, thereby changing warfare from being fought on land to sieges and being fought for decisive purposes. Second, he asserts that warfare in the early modern period prompted European states to monopolize on the supply effort to recruit soldiers and feed their new armies. Parker’s third principle indicated that naval power; size of fleets, design of ship's, gun weapons and tactics played a pivotal role in the military revolution that allowed Europeans to conquer “35” percent of the world during the early modern …show more content…
Rather he focuses on the logistics of warfare through the innovations in gunfire, cannon manufacturing and operation, and defensive warfare. Moreover, Parker does not attempt to use his position and research to criticise other scholars position on the military revolution. He simply agrees with Michael Roberts definition and attempts to contribute his principles of innovation as a means to strengthen Roberts
Stewart R. W. (2005). American Military History (Vol. 1). The United States Army and the
Guy Sajer’s The Forgotten Soldier is a work notable not only for its vivid and uncompromising account of his experience as a member of the Wehrmacht in World War II, but also for its subtle and incisive commentary about the very nature of war itself. What is perhaps most intriguing about Sajer’s novel is his treatment of the supposedly “universal” virtues present within war such as professionalism, patriotism, camaraderie, and self-sacrifice. Sajer introduces a break between how war is thought about in the abstract and how it has actually been conducted historically.
In The Return of Martin Guerre, one man's impersonation of an heir from an influential peasant family in the French village of Artigat ultimately leads to his public execution. The tale of Arnaud du Tilh alias Pansette (meaning "the belly") is full of ironies, not the least of which is his death at the hands of a man who by some accounts harbored some admiration for the quick-witted peasant. Set in a time and place where a hardly discernible line separated proper behavior from that which was grounds for death, du Tilh was guilty of more than one serious charge. Yet he was well-known as a strong farmer, loving husband, shrewd rural-merchant, and eloquent speaker. Arnaud's actions are not the result of his own audacity, rather of something more universal, so universal its results can be seen in other historical figures from the text. Du Tilh assumed Martin Guerre's identity because doing so represented a unique opportunity to test the extent of his abilities and leave behind his presently troubled life.
Ever since The Revolutionary War, The American Colonies against the The United Kingdom, people have changed the way they've fought. Using strategic plans of fighting and going against many rules of war. In the book The Rifle John Byam ,a character in book, fights in The Revolutionary War and uses his rifle that he had bought. John used and different way of fighting then the British, traditional way. This essay will cover why and what are the rules of war, old styles of fight wars (primarily the British way) and how new styles of fighting fighting in war started in the American Revolution to today and how John Byam, from The Rifle, used new ways of fighting and how his gun was perfect for him.
Portland: Frank Cass & Company Limited, 1996. Middle Kauff, Robert. A.S.A. The Glorious Cause. The American Revolution, 1763-1789. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 1982.
Stokesbury, James L. A short History of the American Revolution. New York. William Morrow and Company, Inc. 1991.
In our life one day or another we will have to face the situation where we have to choose between pursuing a personal desire or choosing to be ‘normal’ by conforming. If pursuing a personal desire makes us happy then one shouldn’t conform just to get accepted to be like others when you have an opportunity to be happy and to achieve your lifetime goals. In “The Wars” by Timothy Findley, Robert Ross a protagonist who refuses to conform in the situation where his personal desire was close to being destroyed.
Stokesbury, James L. A Short History of the American Revolution. New York: William Morrow and Company, 2001.
Many people say that the metal of a man is found in his ability to keep his ideals in spite of anything that life can through at you. If a man is found to have done these things he can be called a hero. Through a lifelong need to accept responsibility for all living things, Robert Ross defines his heroism by keeping faith with his ideals despite the betrayal, despair and tragedy he suffers throughout the course of The Wars by Timothy Findley.
John Keegan, the author of “The Face of Battle” is allowing the reader to view different perspective of history, from the eyes of the soldier. Although by his own account, Keegan acknowledges, “I have never been in a battle. And I grow increasingly convinced that I have very little idea of what a battle can be like.” Keegan scorns historians for pointing the finger of failure after an evolution occurs and not examining the soldier’s point of view while the battle is transpiring.
“One of the most durable buttresses of militarism is found in the world of sport” (Martin and Steuter p. 131). Popular culture normalizes militarism in various ways, such as even a normal part of American culture as sports. Sports have done a lot of things for me in my life including changing my perspective of how I look at militarism. The military uses sports to advertise to a large group of people across America that will create a positive feeling towards war. Sports make the war seem normal to Americans when they associate it to militarism because many Americans play sports and can relate, but there are also consequences when normalizing the war. Popular culture normalizes militarism in so many ways, but the one aspect of it that normalizes war would be sports, through advertising and professional athletes, not only in a positive way, but it also recognizes the negative side of war.
Warfare was in a state of transition. Older commanders and generals in the French and British militaries were very cavalry and infantry focused. These commanders believed that cavalry, infantry, and artillery would assure victory in any circumstance, against any foe. They clung to the static tactics of the bygone World War I era. World War I had been fought primarily on French soil, and the military as well as the government never wanted that to happen again, therefore they wanted to reinforce their main border against any future German. Little did they know that only twenty two years later they would be bested by German forces in a way that would shock the world. This research will be analyzing many important assumptions, oversights,...
If you took a sensitive caring person and set them in the midst of a chaotic area, what do you think would, happen? Would these person adapt to this area, and live like everyone else, or would they become a mental mess unable to cope with what is going on around them? This was the theme of the novel The Wars by Timothy Findley, that is exactly what happened. Findley took a sensitive caring individual, Robert Ross and sent him to war. Ross became unable to cope with all of the events that were taking place around him, and eventually went insane. The life that Robert Ross had lived before was nothing compared to what he was experiencing during war. When Robert Ross was a child he was the captain of everything, a popular and academic student. Friends and family loved him, and he was the ideal of any boy in the community. One would think that Robert would have no problem handling the world he lived in, but that would be an inaccurate statement. The first sign of trouble, was Rowena death. Robert and Rowena were very close as brother and sister, losing one another was unbearable for Robert, which started a spiral down to the end result, insanity. Little things like killing Rowena rabbits could not be done, communicating with others was difficult, Robert decided he had to get away. But for someone as sensitive as Robert Ross, war wasnt where he should have gone. The chaos and destruction of war, and everything he experienced, like murders and rape, was unbearable for Robert, and drove him to the end result of insanity, and his death. In The Wars Timothy Findley uses an unusual time sequence to present his story. It is told from the perspective of an author trying to reconstruct the life of Robert Ross. The very first scene is of Robert Ross riding the horses down the tracks around 1918. The story then picks up in 1915 but jumps back to when his sister dies. Throughout the story there is also an element of confusion as the people telling the story, and therefore the perspective also, are constantly changing. The time sequence in this novel varies because it tends to jump from one person's opinion of Robert's situation to another. If this did not occur the novel would be much too depressing to read because of the constant view of war.
Gunpowder’s effect on the world can be exemplified through the grand changes in weapons. This can be shown through the defeat of the Spanish Armada in 1588 by the English navy. In this sea battle, the Spanish Armada outnumbered the English navy immensely turning the odds against the English. However, the Spanish Armada still used old boarding tactics while the English used advanced weaponry. In the end, “the English used their superior firepower to whittle away the Spanish forces” (Schlager). The English navy's victory over the Spanish Armada illustrates the effects of the invention of gunpowder. With the successful usage of advanced gunpowder based weapons, the English navy crushed the opposition even when the Spanish Armada clearly had the upper hand. The defeat of the Spanish Armada shows that weapons based on gunpowder allowed countries with smaller armies to have a higher chance in winning their fights. The gunpowder weapons proved to be a tactical advant...
The Struggles in life is something everyone is faced with whether it is physical, emotional mental or personal struggles. These struggles are capable of shaping an individual’s personality and outlook on life. Timothy Findley’s novel The Wars, shows that struggles lead to the character’s ultimate inner struggles, outer struggles and self-discovery. War exists in a person’s physical and psychological aspects. In The Wars, Robert Ross goes to war and fights a personal and physical battle.