Read The Father of Us All: War and History, Ancient and Modern Online
Authors: Victor Davis Hanson
Tags: #Military History, #General, #Civilization, #Military, #War, #History
Pelosi, Nancy, 17
Pericles: death of, 84, 89; funeral oration of, 57, 215
–
16; Kagan’s views about, 90, 92; and lack of knowledge about classical world, 5; and military errors, 186; and Peloponnesian War, 86, 88, 89, 90, 92; Plutarch’s description of, 28; and reasons for war, 234; and Thucydides’ account of Peloponnesian War, 58
Pershing, John J., 12, 141, 146, 148
Persian Wars, 4, 27, 34, 50
–
51, 63
–
70, 216. See also
300
(film)
Persians/Persian Empire, 34, 36, 41, 45, 46, 63
–
70, 87
–
88, 138.
See also
Persian Wars;
specific person
Petraeus, David, 10, 24, 175
–
76, 178
Philip of Macedonia, 112, 134
Philippines, 13, 168, 192
Pinochet, Augusto, 197
piracy, 39
Pius V (pope), 97
Plato, 33, 35, 38, 55, 222
Plutarch, 28, 50, 52, 85, 92
Pol Pot, 15, 232
police actions, 109
political correctness, 225, 232
politics/politicians: and alternatives to punitive war, 213, 214; and antithetical cultures, 191; and civilian-military leadership, 190; and constraints on military, 212; and decisive battles, 111
–
12; and military errors, 162, 176; and racial and gender integration in military, 195; and spread of democracy, 197; war as continuation of, 28
–
29; and way of war in America, 147, 154; and where to start studying about war, 28
–
29
Polybius, 6, 33
Powell, Colin, 189
preparedness, military, 17, 43, 48, 217, 222, 246
Prescott, William H., 27, 31
“presentism,” 161
presidents, U.S., 232, 233.
See also specific person
proportionality concept, 241
public: and alternatives to punitive war, 214; and asymmetrical wars, 230, 232; and freedom of expression, 219
–
20; and immunity from need for military innovation, 136; and interest in military history, 11
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12; and Iraq War, 23
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24, 230, 243; and military error, 179
–
82, 184; and nation-building, 210; postmodern characteristics of, 235; and present wars as reflective of origins of war, 241, 243; reaction to war by, 15, 22
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24; and reasons for war, 234; and redefinition of war, 235; role in conduct of war of, 226; and security versus freedom, 219
–
20; and spread of democracy, 199; and war as “human thing,” 157; and war in the future, 246; and way of war in America, 147, 157; and Western advantages, 234, 235
Punic Wars, 112, 216, 238
punitive war, 212
–
15
Putin, Vladimir, 118
Pyle, Ernie, 176
quality of life, 229
–
30, 238
Range, Gabriel, 218
Reagan, Ronald, 57, 209
realism, 208, 233
Reid, Harry, 162
religion, 219, 241.
See also
Christianity; Islam/Muslims
Remarque, Erich Maria, 27
Renaissance, 47
“revolt of the generals,” 189
–
90
“revolution in military affairs” (RMA), 126
–
33
Ricks, Thomas, 198
Ridgway, Matthew, 14
robots, 152, 155
Romans: Civil War of, 110; and classical lessons about modern wars, 43, 45
–
46, 47; and decisive battles, 112; and democracy, 194; and end of Roman Republic, 191; establishment of “Roman peace” by, 112; fall of, 43; lack of modern understanding about wars of, 6; and pacifism, 222; and present as reflective of origins of war, 239
–
43; and reasons for war, 18; and technology, 136; wealth of, 225
–
26; and Western exceptionalism, 47.
See also specific person, war or battle
Rommel, Erwin, 241
Roosevelt, Franklin D., 14, 76
–
77, 234
Roth, Philip, 45
Roy, James, 68
–
69
Rumsfeld, Donald, 127, 174, 189
–
90
Runciman, Steven, 27
Rushdie, Salman, 219
Russia: and classical lessons about modern wars, 85; and contradictions and paradoxes about war, 244; and future of battles, 119
–
20; invasion of Georgia by, 37, 224, 237; and Napoleonic Wars, 65; and return of battles, 121; and roots of war, 37; spending in, 144; and technology, 136; and Tsushima (1905), 130; and World War I, 14.
See also
Chechnyans; Grozny; Soviet Union
Rwanda, 15, 25, 33, 93, 109, 114, 211, 238
Ryan, Cornelius, 11
Said, Edward, 220, 222
Salamis, battle of, 22, 34, 46, 47, 88, 95, 107, 139, 246
Sanchez, Ricardo, 174
satellites, 116, 117, 119, 127, 133
Saudi Arabia, 163, 183
Saving Private Ryan
(film), 11
Seabury, Paul, 30
security, 215
–
20, 226, 242
–
43, 245
September 11, 2001: and asymmetrical wars, 229; as Christian-Muslim clash, 95; and classical lessons about modern wars, 38, 42, 47
–
48, 85; and future of battles, 115; and nation-building, 208, 209; and paradoxes of the present, 237; and present wars as reflective of origins of war, 240; prevention of another, 234; and renewal of interest in Xenophon, 67; and roots of war, 18
–
19, 38, 42; and Sledge’s account of World War II, 81; and war in the future, 245; and Western exceptionalism, 47
–
48; Wright’s comments about, 219
Serbians, 15, 17, 93, 109, 112, 150, 191, 192, 193, 197, 205, 214, 228
“The Seville Statement on Violence” (Spain, 1986), 44
Sheehan, Cindy, 23, 204
Sherman, William Tecumseh: in Atlanta, 23, 171; memoirs of, 27; and military errors, 166, 171, 174
–
75, 176, 178; public lack of knowledge about, 17; and public sentiment, 23; and way of war in America, 141, 146; and where to start studying about war, 27, 29; and winning of Civil War, 21
Shiloh, battle of, 12, 87, 166, 174
–
75
Shirer, William L., 17
–
18
Sicily: Athenian invasion of, 15, 45, 57
–
58, 84, 85, 86, 92, 196; in World War II, 23, 175
Six-Day War (1967), 28, 109, 165, 227
slavery, 54, 55, 97, 183, 194
Sledge, Eugene Bondurant “E.B.,” 26, 71
–
82, 83
Snyder, Zack, 51, 53
social sciences, 44
Socrates, 41, 45, 86, 89
Solana, Javier, 231
Solzhenitsyn, Aleksandr, 27
Somalia, 19, 39, 109, 114, 156, 185, 193, 204, 237
Somme, battle of the, 8, 17, 28, 44, 105
–
6, 108, 111, 115, 120, 169, 245
Somoza, Anastasio, 168, 197
Sophocles, 41, 45, 55, 86, 174
South Korea, 37, 113, 114, 147, 154, 165, 180, 185, 193, 210.
See also
Korean War
Soviet Union: in Afghanistan, 108, 167, 224; and antithetical cultures, 192; collapse of, 196, 197; demise of, 153; and democracy, 194; formation of, 112; and military errors, 165, 167, 168, 178; as nuclear power, 197; and paradoxes of the present, 238; and return of battles, 121; and roots of war, 37; and technology, 131; way of war in, 144; and World War II, 22, 165, 167; and Yom Kippur War, 117.
See also
Russia; Stalin, Joseph
Spain.
See
Lepanto, Battle of; Spanish-American War
Spanish-American War, 111, 165
Sparta, 15, 36, 40
–
41, 191.
See also
Peloponnesian War; Thermopylae, Battle of;
300
(film)
Stalin, Joseph, 15, 37, 119, 143, 167, 232
Stalingrad, siege of, 32, 111
Stanford University, 4, 56
–
57
State Department, U.S., 165
Submission
(film), 218
Sudan, 130, 237
suicide bombers, 13, 42, 47, 77, 81, 125, 221, 224, 231, 244
–
45
Syracuse, Athenian attack on, 15, 89, 110, 113, 196
Syria, 17, 118, 183, 227, 229
Tacitus, 70, 225
Taiwan, 37, 110, 113, 120, 131, 238
Taliban: and alternatives to punitive war, 214; and classical lessons about modern wars, 46, 47; and military errors, 178, 180; and nation-building, 208, 209, 210; and renewal of interest in Xenophon, 67; and technology, 128; and utility of military history, 14; and war in the future, 245; and Western exceptionalism, 46, 47
Tarkanian, Jerry, 56
technology: and asymmetrical wars, 229; civilian leadership’s reliance on, 127; and cycles of military innovation, 123
–
26; and eternal challenges and responses, 132
–
36; and future of American warfare, 149
–
50, 151
–
52; and future of battles, 115
–
20; and globalization, 126
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32; impact on wars of, 19
–
20; and military errors, 161, 162, 172, 179; and paradoxes of the present, 238; and popular culture interest in war, 12; and return of battles, 121; and “revolution in military affairs” (RMA), 126
–
32; and utility of military history, 15; and war as “human thing,” 154, 155, 156; and war in the future, 245; and way of war in America, 142, 143, 147, 151
–
52, 153
–
54; West as source of new, 134
–
35, 139; and Western advantages, 233, 235
television, 118, 119, 202, 204, 205, 206, 213, 214, 230, 233
Ten Thousand, 27, 63
–
70, 139
Tennyson, Alfred, Lord, 119
terrorism: and alternatives to punitive war, 213, 214, 215; and asymmetrical wars, 227, 228
–
29, 230, 231; and classical lessons about modern wars, 40, 48; and contradictions and paradoxes about war, 244; and future of American warfare, 150; and future of battles, 115, 117; and Israeli-Arab conflicts, 109; and military errors, 163, 168, 179; and nation-building, 209; and new-isms, 221, 225; and roots of war, 40; and security versus freedom, 217, 220; and spread of democracy, 207; and technology, 124, 131; and war as “human thing,” 155
–
56; and war in the future, 245
–
46; and Western advantages, 233,
terrorism
234; and Western exceptionalism, 48; where to start studying about, 28.
See also specific person, organization, or attack
thalatta, thalatta
(“The Sea, The Sea!”), 69
Thebes, 35
–
36, 52, 53, 92, 134, 195
Thermopylae, Battle of, 16, 41, 51
–
55. See also
threezz300
(film)
Thespians, 52, 53
Thomas, George, 174
Thornton affair, 165
300
(film), 3
–
4, 11, 51
–
55
Thucydides: and Athens as democracy, 46; and classical foundation for studying past wars, 31; and classical lessons about modern wars, 33, 34, 35, 36, 38, 46; and enemies as different, 46; history of Peloponnesian War by, 21, 27, 34, 36, 55
–
56, 57, 58, 63, 84, 85, 86
–
87, 88
–
90, 92, 93, 186, 196; and “human thing” of war, 91, 155; influence on Sledge of, 73; Kagan’s study of, 90, 92; and Pericles funeral oration, 215
–
16; popularity of, 55
–
59; and reasons for neglect of military history, 6; resurgence of modern interest in, 66; as revisionist, 90; and roots of war, 35; and security versus freedom, 215
–
16; and utility of military history, 15; views about democracies of, 86; as warrior, 90; Xenophon compared with, 63, 70
torture, 41, 95
Trainor, Bernard, 198