Harvest of Mars: History and War

“The guerrilla wins if he does not lose.”
  – Henry Kissinger

In this episode we update a classic article written by Andrew Mack back in 1975.  As I feel strongly enough that a 50-year-old article is worth re-investigating and much of this analysis is based on Mack’s original conclusions, I highly recommend you read the original which is easily available in digital format.  Its full title is “Why Big Nations Lose Small...

“There is a story, no doubt apocryphal, that gamers at the Naval War College in Newport, Rhode Island, have many times replayed the 1942 Battle of Midway - but have never been able to produce an American victory.”
     – Taken from historian Robert Cowley’s book What If?

 “Find better gamers.”
    – My response.

In this episode, we look at the celebrated Battle of Midway, in which US naval forces decisively defeated the Impe...

This is the last of a three-part series on the Emperor of the French inspired by historian Andrew Robert’s biography, Napoleon: A Life.  The book is quite good at revealing the human being behind the controversial historical figure.  Focusing primarily on the military sphere, this episode examines the significa...

“Ukraine has achieved irreversible momentum.”
  -- US General Ben Hodges, Retired, November 3,  2022

 “From a military standpoint, I still maintain that for this year it would be very, very difficult to militarily eject the Russian forces from every inch of Russian-occupied Ukraine.”
 -- US General Mark Milley, January 20, 2023

In the episode, we look at the nature of wartime reporting and investigate how the c...

“You must not fight too often with one enemy, or you will teach him all your art of war.”
    – Napoleon Bonaparte

 This is the second of a three-part series on the Emperor of the French inspired by historian Andrew Robert’s biography, Napoleon: A Life.  The book is quite good at revealing the human being behind the controversial historical figure.  Focusing primarily on the military sphere, this episode examines the significanc...

“He who fears being conquered is certain of defeat.”
      – Napoleon Bonaparte

In the first of this two-part episode, we take a look at the Emperor of the French inspired by historian Andrew Robert’s biography, Napoleon: A Life.  The book is quite good at revealing the human being behind the controversial historical figure.  Focusing primarily on the military sphere, this episode examines the significance of military genius, th...

“People Sleep Peacefully in Their Beds at Night Only Because Rough Men Stand Ready to Do Violence on Their Behalf”
 – Attributed to George Orwell 

In the episode, we examine whether or not Orwell’s quote has historical evidence to support it.  Are people civilized only because less civilized men guard them while they sleep?  Building on the scholarship of Georges Dumézil who compared the mythologies are various Indo European peo...

"Russia's advantages in capacity, capability, and geography combine to pose insurmountable challenges for Ukrainian forces tasked with defending their country." -- The RAND Corporation, January 21, 2022

In the episode, we investigate how events in the Russia-Ukraine war have unfolded.  It was widely predicted by Western strategists the Russia was so much more powerful than Ukraine that any assistance Washing...

“My centre is giving way, my right is retreating, excellent situation, I am attacking.”
– General Ferdinand Foch, 1914 

In the episode, we take a look at the difference in offensives during the two world wars.  It is commonly asserted that the defensive was superior in WWI, and thus the generals who ordered the attacks are often portrayed as unthinking donkeys who ordered futile attacks.  Have memories of the horrors of Verdun a...

“My generals know nothing about the economic aspects of war.”
   – Adolf Hitler

 In the episode, we take a look at the German generals of World War II.  With the imagery of Blitzkrieg occupying a prominent place in WWII histories, the reputation of the German generals as exceptional military commanders has persisted despite defeat.  Growing up in the United States during the 1980s, I always thought it was fascinating that I knew...

"They shall have wars and pay for their presumption.”
 – William Shakespeare, Henry VI Part 3

In the episode, we take a look at British historian Michael Roberts' thesis of a military revolution that occurred in Europe form 1560-1660.    Roberts theorized that changing military developments bore a main share of responsibility of changing the old medieval world to the coming of the modern world.  An ambitious ...

"I asked Tom if countries always apologized when they had done wrong, and he says: 'Yes; the littles ones does.'"
- Mark Twain, Tom Sawyer Abroad , 1894

In the episode, we take a look at a classic, “The Melian Dialogue” from Thucydides’ History of the Peloponnesian War.  It is a famous exchange between powerful Athens, which is engaged in an epic struggle for dominance with its great rival Sparta, a...

“The offensive is the only way of insuring victory.”
- General August von Keim, 1912

In the episode, we take a look at the prevailing belief that the military offensive was far more effective than the defensive on the eve of the First World War.   As World War I is infamous for the horrific slaughter of trench warfare in which troops  had to "go over the top" and attack headlong against powerful fortification...

“The generation to which I belong has a bad conscience.”
- Marc Bloch, 1940

In the episode, we take a look at the fall of France to Nazi Germany during WWII.  Although the German Blitzkrieg has a reputation for being a military powerhouse, the reality is that the Allied forces were stronger on paper.  Not only did the Allies lose, but they also did so in spectacular fashion as France surrendered after just six weeks of...

“I cannot forecast to you the action of Russia. It is a riddle, wrapped in a mystery, inside an enigma; but perhaps there is a key. That key is Russian national interest.”
- Winston Churchill

An examination in the rise of Russia from Mongol tributary vassal to global superpower reveals underlying weaknesses that gives insight into its decision to invade Ukraine and why its military has performed far below the expectati...