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An Exhibit on Warfare

The Science of Conflict

The Chemical Warfare Service : Chemicals... (by Kleber, Brooks E)
Modern Warfare (by Williams, Henry Smith)
The Tale of the Great Persian War, From ... (by Herodotus)
Use of Mines in Trench Warfare : From th... (by Army War College, U. S.)
Thucydides (by Thucydides)
Elements of Trench Warfare : Bayonet Tra... (by William Henry Waldron)
The Psychoneuroses of War (by Turner, William Aldren,1864-1945)
The Victory Disease
The Art of War (by Tzu, Sun)
The Histories of Herodotus (by Herodotus)

The Science of Conflict: An Exhibit on Warfare

This exhibition demonstrates the frailty and vulnerabilities of humankind. Violence, social disruption and economic and physical destruction of lives are the abhor-able consequences of warfare. However, without war...there could be no peace. In life, there is always a struggle with achieving balance. In our many Collections, there are opportunities to read about what the most significant minds (from military generals to philosophers to the writings of religious orders to the greatest literary novelists, about war and peace.

Chinese Philosophy

Warfare is the application of military power to win a conflict between two nations or groups of nations through armed violence, social disruption, and economic destruction. Warfare techniques are not just an exercise of brute physical force and chaos. Warfare is also an intellectual act of documenting and studying organization and tactics.

Modern Warfare, written by Henry Smith Wiliams, states that the mariner’s compass, the printing press and the gunpowder were instrumental in the growth and spread of war across the world. The compass allowed people to explore different lands to conquer and facilitated the exchange of war techniques. China first invented gunpowder, which diffused to India and then to Europe (Modern Warfare, Henry Smith Williams). The philosophy of Chinese military general Sun-Tzu was gained from his experience as a military general and strategist during the Spring and Autumn Period, a volatile period of ancient China ("Sun-Tzu," World Heritage Encyclopedia). Sun-Tzu is credited as the author of The Art of War, an influential book on military strategy. The quote “The art of war is of vital importance to the state...” opens this important work, highlighting the perspective of generals and world leaders (The Art of War, Sun-Tzu). This work has influenced politics, business, sports, and is considered to be the foundation of modern warfare for hundreds of years. Another book: The Victory Disease, quotes Sun-Tzu as having written, “To secure ourselves against defeat lies in our own hands, but the opportunity of defeating the enemy is provided by the enemy himself...." This article challenges the U.S. Army to not fall prey to the Victory Disease which is when a general disdains and underestimates the enemy due to relying on previous winning strategies and failing to employ new strategies. In addition, the "victory disease" afflicts a general when he does not recognize the enemy's’ capacity to learn their opponents strategies, and revise plans accordingly (The Victory Disease, Military Review).

Greek Philosophy

In the book, Modern Warfare, Williams also discusses how the printing press was instrumental in the spread of ideas to support efforts to conquer other lands. Warfare techniques also includes an intellectual component in order to preserve memory of why and how warfare occurs. Herodotus was a Greek historian known as "The Father of History" who collected research materials systematically and then arranged them into a histio-graphic narrative (Modern Warfare, Henry Smith Williams and "Herodotus," World Heritage Encyclopedia). His seminal work The Histories of Herodotus reveals that Herodotus was interested in understanding the “why” of war, rather than the “how” ("Herodotus," World Heritage Encyclopedia). For example, The Tale of the Great Persian War, From the Histories of Herodotus, by G.W. Cox, describes Herodotus creating “word pictures” of landscapes or military campaigns based on more poetic descriptions than on accurate depictions (The Tale of the Great Persian War, From the Histories of Herodotus). On the other hand, Thucydides, an Athenian historian, political philosopher and general is known as "The Father of Scientific History" ("Thucydides," World Heritage Encyclopedia). He studied the same wars that Herodotus studied, but used different methods. In the work Thucydides, the historian carefully examined documents and interviewed eyewitnesses, to empirically reveal the tactics and stratagems employed during each war (Thucydides, Thucydides).

Modern Warfare

Mechanized warfare transformed warfare into a science that can be applied through innovation of technology, organization of soldiers, and manipulation of the environment, to be dangerous to the enemy. The so-called “War to End All Wars,” also known as World War I, revealed the devastation that came with new technological advances ("The War to End War," World Heritage Encyclopedia). Elements of Trench Warfare: Bayonet Training is a training manual for troops to learn how to prepare the battle ground before with trenches and landmines, and how to use a bayonet against an opponent during a battle (Elements of Trench Warfare: Bayonet Training, Henry Smith Waldron).

E. Kleber Brooks, author of The Chemical Warfare Service: Chemicals in Combat, defines chemical warfare as the employment of smoke, flame and incendiary munitions and gas offensive and defensive munitions. This book traces each Chemical Warfare Service (CWS) activity, such as preparedness, administration and logistics, and each of the combat functions, and discusses how chemical warfare was deployed in Europe, North Africa and the Pacific (The Chemical Warfare Service: Chemicals in Combat, E. Kleber Brooks). Chemical Warfare was deployed differently in regions because individuals in command did not hold the same conception of the operating culture. For instance, in the book titled, Use of Mines in Trench Warfare: From the French School of St. Cyr (published by Army War College), discusses how mines were used as “listening posts” and as defensive systems. The carnage of mechanized warfare also influenced military health sciences (Use of Mines in Trench Warfare: From the French School of St. Cyr, Army War College). William A.Turner, editor of the The Psychoneuroses of War, discusses how the stresses and strain of war affected soldiers’ nervous system, a condition called “Shell Shock.” Military Surgeons found that when the soldiers found themselves in a place of safety, they would react to the stress via paralysis, tremor or other hysterical symptoms.

Works Cited

Army War College. Use of Mines in Trench Warfare: From the French School St. Cyr. Washington: United States GPO, 1917.

Brooks, E. Kleber. (n.d.) The Chemical Warfare Service: Chemicals in Combat. Washington: Center of Military History.

Psychoneuroses of War, The. Ed. Turner, William Aldren. London: University of London Press, 1918.

Sun-Tzu. The Art of War. Trans. & Ed. Lionel Giles, M.A. (n.p.) 1910.

"Sun Tzu ." World Heritage Encyclopedia. WorldLibrary.org. Web. 2014.

Thucydides. Thucydides. Trans. and Ed. John William Donaldson. Volume 1. Harper & Brothers, 1861.

"Thucydides." World Heritage Encyclopedia. WorldLibrary.org. Web. 2014.

"Victory Disease The." Military Review, July-August 2003.

Waldron, William Henry. Elements of Trench Warfare: Bayonet Training. Appleton, 1917.

"The War to End War." World Heritage Encyclopedia. WorldLibrary.org. Web. 2014.

Williams, Henry Smith. Modern Warfare. New York: Hearst's International Library Company, 1915.

Warfare Collections

Warfare has been a philosophical subject to assist in the memory and planning of war; its mechanization has increased the scientific application of weapons to maximize chances for victory. The human impact of war has also been documented over the years and across cultures, revealing how warfare is not just about planning and execution, but also includes attending to its after effects.

Explore more on the history of human knowledge on warfare through these collections: