War, a seemingly inevitable occurrence in history, has shaped the world around us and is continuing shape it now in the present. War is defined by Merriam-Webster as a state of usually open and declared armed hostile conflict between states or nations. Many times these conflicts last many months and sometimes years. Whether it was/is a long conflict there are several factors that could determine the outcome of wars and some of those factors might not be tangible. Some might say that most conflicts are won by bare bone grit, guts and glory; some might say that it was the overwhelming military might; while others might say that it was a strategic advantage or disadvantage. In this dissertation I will take simple look at some historical wars and battles and address the following questions:
1. What was the cause of the war?
2. What were the effects or aftermath of the war?
3. Did the bigger more wealthy state win the war?
4. What was the key method used to obtain victory?
The American Revolution
The American Revolution was an open conflict between the Colonial Americans and England. England had run up a tremendous bill in the Seven-Years War (1756-1763), where a large amount of the conflict was held in North America. England felt that the colonists did not play a large enough role in the conflict whether it was financially or in physical fighting. This was a problem due to the fact that England’s army in North America was consuming about 4% of British governmental spending. This caused England to take a great interest in the colonies, thus placing taxes on the colonists for imported goods received (Rickard, 2003). After the Battle of Bunker Hill where although England won, their victory was not as decisive as they ...
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Rickard, J. (2003, May 25). American War of Independence (1775-1782),. Retrieved January 2, 2011, from Military History Encyclopedia on the Web/ historyofwar.org: http://www.historyofwar.org/articles/wars_american_independence.html
Rickard, J. (2003, May 21). Bunker Hill, battle of, 17 June 1775. Retrieved January 02, 2011, from Military History Encyclopedia on the Web/ historyofwar.org: http://www.historyofwar.org/articles/battles_bunkerhill.html
Rumsfeld, D. (2003, March 20). Operation Iraqi Freedom. Retrieved January 04, 2011, from DefendAmerica.mil: http://www.defendamerica.mil/iraq/iraqifreedom.html
Singal, J., Lim, C., & Stephey, M. (2010, March 19). Seven Years in Iraq: An Iraq War Timeline. Retrieved January 04, 2011, from time.com: http://www.time.com/time/specials/packages/article/0,28804,1967340_1967342_1967408,00.html
11 June 2005. “Encyclopedia: Saratoga, Battles of.” Funk and Wagnalls New Encyclopedia. 2005. The 'Secondary' of the 'Secondary' of the 'Secondary' of the 'Secondary' of the 'Secon June 12, 2005.
The American Revolution was caused by a series of attempts from the British to tax American colonists. After a war against France, Britain ruled an enormous overseas empire. Britain however faced war debt and was in need of money to administer the overseas empire. The crown decided that since the colonists were the primary beneficiaries of this empire, it was time to have them contribute to the empire’s revenue by paying taxes.
The American Revolution was an important historical event in America and is widely seen as the precursor to the declaration of independence. 1776 is a historical book by McCullough about the events surrounding the American Revolution in the year 1776. The book dwells on military elements of the revolution. The book also details the military command chain of the British Army as well as that of the continental Army. The author digs a little about the politics of the time but the political aspects remain mostly in the background. McCullough writes a flowing story with fair coverage of the events of the Revolution, using detail and objectivity through reliable archival sources from both countries that took part in the war.
War is the means to many ends. The ends of ruthless dictators, of land disputes, and lives – each play its part in the reasoning for war. War is controllable. It can be avoided; however, once it begins, the bat...
Denise Grady’s (2006) article sound a strong wake up call for the American government and for the American public to re-evaluate their guiding principles towards war in Iraq and the continued presence of the American soldiers in the Iraqi soil. Grady delineated the enormous damages the war had costs in not only monetary terms but also the future of thousands of promising young and talented men and women sent in the Iraq War; that had no clear benefits to them or the American people.
The American Revolution was a war filled with many battles for a result of independence for Americans. The war lasted from April 1775- September 1783. However, it wasn't the longest war in history, if the Loyalist were going to lose they weren't giving it up too easy. The Loyalist were willing to do anything to keep the power of Britain over America. Some of the Brits moved away to America for more independence. The war was fought between the British Kingdom and the American colonists (colonial rebels). Many things lead up to this terrific war. Reasons why is because the Americans wanted their own independence from Great Britain. The king of Great Brit spent lots of money on the French-Indian War. In result, the king was in debt, so he taxed the Americans on just about everything they used in their everyday lives, such as: tea, sugar, and printed items. He did this so he could get all of his money back. The Americans were tired of this treatment so they decided to act and war had began.
The origin of England's dependence on the colonies began during the French and Indian war, in the 1750s-1760s. In this war, the British were quite inexperienced; their European style of fighting did not work against the guerilla-warfare fighting style of the French. The British wore bright red coats, marched in long lines, often lugging cannons around with them, while the French hid behind trees and picked them off one by one. General Braddock relied on his force of ill-disciplined American militiamen, who used behind-the-tree methods of fighting in order to fight the Indians. After many years of fighting, the British finally came out victorious. Although England emerged from this war as one of the biggest empires in the world, it also possessed the biggest debt. They had poured much money and resources into these colonies in order to keep them as their own, and it was time for the colonies to give something back to the British for protecting them from the Indians. They finally realized what a precious gift the colonies were, and how useful they would be. In this war, the British realized that the colonies were their pawns in a global game of chess. At any time, the British felt that they had the right to impose taxes on the colonies, in order to make up for money that was lost in the French and Indian War to defend them. They had the view that because they had done so much to help the colonies, that the colonies had to repay them.
Leahy, Stephen M. "The Historical Battle over Dispatching American Troops." USA Today (Farmingdale). July 1999: 10-12. SIRS Issues Researcher. Web. 07 May. 2014.
One night, on March 5, 1770, a street fight occurred between a group of American patriots and some British soldiers stationed in Boston. The Americans harassed the troops by yelling and shouting names at them and throwing snowballs and sticks. A crowd formed and in the noise and confusion, weapons were fired. In the end, ...
Christopher D. O’Sullivan, Colin Powell: American Power and Intervention from Vietnam to Iraq (Lanham: Rowman & Littlefield Publishers, 2009), 62.
The American Revolution was a struggle for the American military from the beginning. The British Army was a better trained and equipped force. The Battles of Lexington and Concord following the battle of Bunker Hill were significant to the victory of the American forces over the British. The Battle of Bunker Hill on the Charlestown peninsula north of Boston on June 17th 1775 was arguably one of the key events that set in motion American victory. The battle was a loss for America, but the audacity and strength the American militiamen showed in the face of adversity inspired later actions by other forces in America to fight against a far superior enemy. This paper will analyze the tenets of mission command as exercised by Colonel William Prescott, to include: understanding the battlefield, visualizing weaknesses, and directing reinforcements throughout his leading and assessment processes. COL Prescott also used his presence on the hill to motivate his men to hold their positions in the face of overwhelming odds.
The French and Indian War set the stage for future events that no one could ever have imagined. The economic practice of mercantilism, which insured profit only to the mother country was the accepted practice between England and her colonies. As long as these economic policies were met, England left much of the day to day governing of the colonies up to the colonies. It was this "salutory neglect" that ultimately led to the ideological differences between England and the colonies. England won the war, but it paid a great price for that victory. England was bankrupted, and as a result had no choice but to look to her colonies to regain financial stability. The pressures of taxation and naval restrictions imposed by the crown and Parliament, were viewed by the colonists as tyrannical acts. Although the colonies were on a path to becoming "Americanized" they held the lessons of Magna Carta, the Glorious Revolution of 1688-89 close to their heart. In their eyes, "Englishmen had rights" under the laws of the mother country. It was only when these laws were usurpted by the crown that the colonies had no choice but to protest their discontent. The political authority that England executed over the colonies after so many years of neglect led to the ideological differences that would ultimately result in the American Revolution.
The relations between England and the British North American colonies could always be considered precarious. Prior to 1750 British essentially followed a policy of benign neglect and political autonomy in the American colonies. (Davidson p.97) The colonies were for the most part content with benign neglect policy, relishing in a “greater equality and representative government”(Davidson p.95) within the colonies. Competition among European Imperial nations began to effect British policy toward North America colonies causing rapid shifts from 1750 to 1776. During this period, the British Empire made a series of policy decision that sealed the fate of the British North American colonies and lead to the American Revolution.
There were many factors that led up to the American Revolutionary War, one of these factors were the laws and acts being passed at the time. The British Parliament attempted to limit the power the American Colonist had at the time by taking away from their income. How they did this one may ask? The simple answer is taxes. One of the many taxes imposed was the stamp act. During this time the American colonies were being oppressed by the British one of the first signs of this was the Stamp Act. The act stated that almost anything written had to be stamped and tax...
War has been around for centuries. From the time modern civilizations began, war has played an integral part in human history. It shaped the world into the modern world we live in. War has been said to be a great motivator, for example, the Great Wall of China was built to fend off the attackers from the north. However, the negative aspects of war far outweighs any positive effects it might have. The destruction of civilizations, cities and countries, mass killings of men, woman and children alike, the disastrous effect it has on economy and the after effects of war can last for centuries.