Blitzkrieg To Desert Storm

Author : Robert Michael Citino
Publisher : Unknown
Page : 440 pages
File Size : 46,5 Mb
Release : 2004
Category : History
ISBN : UOM:39015058131890

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Blitzkrieg to Desert Storm by Robert Michael Citino Pdf

When Germany launched its blitzkrieg invasion of France in 1940, it forever changed the way the world waged war. Although the Wehrmacht ultimately succumbed to superior Allied firepower in a two-front war, its stunning operational achievement left a lasting impression on military commanders throughout the world, even if their own operations were rarely executed as effectively. Robert Citino analyzes military campaigns from the second half of the twentieth century to further demonstrate the difficulty of achieving decisive results at the operational level. Offering detailed operational analyses of actual campaigns, Citino describes how UN forces in Korea enjoyed technological and air superiority but found the enemy unbeatable; provides analyses of Israeli operational victories in successive wars until the Arab states finally grasped the realities of operational-level warfare in 1973; and tells how the Vietnam debacle continued to shape U.S. doctrine in surprising ways. Looking beyond major-power conflicts, he also reveals the lessons of India's blitzkrieg-like drive into Pakistan in 1971 and of the senseless bloodletting of the Iran-Iraq War. Citino especially considers the evolution of U.S. doctrine and assesses the success of Desert Storm in dismantling an entrenched defending force with virtually no friendly casualties. He also provides one of the first scholarly analyses of Operation Iraqi Freedom, showing that its plan was curiously divorced from the realities of military history, grounded instead on nebulous theories about expected enemy behavior. Throughout Citino points to the importance of mobility—especially mobilized armor—in modern operational warfare and assesses the respective roles of firepower, training, doctrine, and command and control mechanisms. Brimming with new insights, Citino's study shows why technical superiority is no guarantee of victory and why a thorough grounding in the history of past campaigns is essential to anyone who wishes to understand modern warfare. Blitzkrieg to Desert Storm provides that grounding as it addresses the future of operational-level warfare in the post-9/11 era.

Author : Robert M. Citino
Publisher : University Press of Kansas
Page : 431 pages
File Size : 45,5 Mb
Release : 2022-05-25
Category : History
ISBN : 9780700634019

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Blitzkrieg to Desert Storm by Robert M. Citino Pdf

When Germany launched its blitzkrieg invasion of France in 1940, it forever changed the way the world waged war. Although the Wehrmacht ultimately succumbed to superior Allied firepower in a two-front war, its stunning operational achievement left a lasting impression on military commanders throughout the world, even if their own operations were rarely executed as effectively. Robert Citino analyzes military campaigns from the second half of the twentieth century to further demonstrate the difficulty of achieving decisive results at the operational level. Offering detailed operational analyses of actual campaigns, Citino describes how UN forces in Korea enjoyed technological and air superiority but found the enemy unbeatable; provides analyses of Israeli operational victories in successive wars until the Arab states finally grasped the realities of operational-level warfare in 1973; and tells how the Vietnam debacle continued to shape U.S. doctrine in surprising ways. Looking beyond major-power conflicts, he also reveals the lessons of India’s blitzkrieg-like drive into Pakistan in 1971 and of the senseless bloodletting of the Iran-Iraq War. Citino especially considers the evolution of U.S. doctrine and assesses the success of Desert Storm in dismantling an entrenched defending force with virtually no friendly casualties. He also provides one of the first scholarly analyses of Operation Iraqi Freedom, showing that its plan was curiously divorced from the realities of military history, grounded instead on nebulous theories about expected enemy behavior. Throughout Citino points to the importance of mobility--especially mobilized armor--in modern operational warfare and assesses the respective roles of firepower, training, doctrine, and command and control mechanisms. Brimming with new insights, Citino’s study shows why technical superiority is no guarantee of victory and why a thorough grounding in the history of past campaigns is essential to anyone who wishes to understand modern warfare. Blitzkrieg to Desert Storm provides that grounding as it addresses the future of operational-level warfare in the post–9/11 era.

Author : Robert M. Citino
Publisher : University Press of Kansas
Page : 392 pages
File Size : 41,8 Mb
Release : 2002-06-17
Category : History
ISBN : 9780700616558

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Quest for Decisive Victory by Robert M. Citino Pdf

Since the earliest days of warfare, military operations have followed a predictable formula: after a decisive battle, an army must pursue the enemy and destroy its organization in order to achieve a victorious campaign. But by the mid-nineteenth century, the emergence of massive armies and advanced weaponry--and the concomitant decline in the effectiveness of cavalry--had diminished the practicality of pursuit, producing campaigns that bogged down short of decisive victory. Great battles had become curiously indecisive, decisive campaigns virtually impossible. At the beginning of the twentieth century, the inability to achieve decisive victories in warfare had become the single greatest military problem facing modern armies. Robert Citino now tells how European military leaders analyzed and eventually overcame this problem by restoring pursuit to its rightful place in combat and resurrecting the possibility of decisive warfare on the operational level. Quest for Decisive Victory chronicles the evolution of European warfare during the first half of the twentieth century. A study of war at the operational level, it demonstrates the interplay and tension between technology and doctrine in warfare and reveals how problems surrounding mobility--including such factors as supply lines, command and control, and prewar campaign planning--forced armies to find new ways of fighting. Citino focuses on key campaigns of both major and minor conflicts. Minor wars before 1914 (Boer, Russo-Japanese, and the Balkan Wars of 1912-13) featured instructive examples of operational maneuver; the First World War witnessed the collapse of operations and the rise of attrition warfare; the Italo-Ethiopian and Spanish Civil Wars held some promise for breaking out of stalemate by incorporating such innovations as air and tank warfare. Ultimately, it was Germany's opening blitzkrieg of World War II that resurrected the decisive campaign as an operational possibility. By grafting new technologies-tanks, aircraft, and radio-onto a long tradition of maneuver warfare, the Wehrmacht won decisive victories in the first year of the war and in the process transformed modern military doctrine. Citino's study is important for shifting the focus from military theory and doctrine to detailed operational analyses of actual campaigns that formed the basis for the revival of military doctrine. Quest for Decisive Victory gives scholars of military history a better grasp of that elusive concept and a more complete understanding of modern warfare.

Author : Robert M. Citino
Publisher : Stackpole Books
Page : 292 pages
File Size : 53,5 Mb
Release : 2007-12-26
Category : History
ISBN : 9781461751939

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The Path to Blitzkrieg by Robert M. Citino Pdf

Essential background to the German blitzkrieg of World War II Complements the stories of panzer aces like Otto Carius and Michael Wittmann In the wake of World War I, the German army lay in ruins--defeated in the war, sundered by domestic upheaval, and punished by the Treaty of Versailles. A mere twenty years later, Germany possessed one of the finest military machines in the world, capable of launching a stunning blitzkrieg attack against Poland in 1939. Well-known military historian Robert M. Citino shows how Germany accomplished this astonishing reversal and developed the doctrine, tactics, and technologies that its military would use to devastating effect in World War II.

Author : George Forty
Publisher : Motorbooks International
Page : 212 pages
File Size : 55,8 Mb
Release : 1997
Category : History
ISBN : 0750914475

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Tank Aces by George Forty Pdf

Forty, an ex-British Army tank officer and former director of the Bovington Tank Museum recounts the stories of more than twenty-five tank driving aces of various nationalities. Covers conflicts from the Second World War to the Gulf War.

Author : Eliot Brenner
Publisher : First Glance Books
Page : 96 pages
File Size : 50,7 Mb
Release : 1991-01
Category : Iraq-Kuwait Crisis, 1990-1991
ISBN : 0006377300

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Desert Storm by Eliot Brenner Pdf

Author : Winslow Wheeler
Publisher : Ross & Perry
Page : 0 pages
File Size : 43,7 Mb
Release : 2003-10
Category : History
ISBN : 1931641293

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Operation Desert Storm by Winslow Wheeler Pdf

Author : Bryan Perrett
Publisher : Pen and Sword
Page : 285 pages
File Size : 51,6 Mb
Release : 2015-11-30
Category : History
ISBN : 9781473847460

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Desert Warfare by Bryan Perrett Pdf

Approximately one-fifth of the earth's surface consists of desert, and throughout history these arid regions have witnessed some of the world's most decisive battles. Here, Bryan Perrett gives an absorbing account of desert conflicts from the first century BC to more contemporary conflicts such as those in Iran and Iraq. As he demonstrates, acclimatization and familiarization with the day-to-day problems of desert life are vital not only to teach troops how to protect themselves and their equipment, but also to bring them to terms with the harsh environment. The desert does not compromise, and battles fought there result in total victory or total defeat, often at horrific cost. Initially released in 1988 by Patrick Stephens Limited, this re-issue marks a determination on the author's and the publisher's part to keep an esteemed publication in print.

Author : Keith L. Shimko
Publisher : Cambridge University Press
Page : 263 pages
File Size : 49,5 Mb
Release : 2010-04-30
Category : History
ISBN : 9780521111515

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The Iraq Wars and America's Military Revolution by Keith L. Shimko Pdf

This book is a comprehensive study of the Iraq Wars in the context of the revolution in military affairs debate.

Author : Dilip Hiro
Publisher : Unknown
Page : 640 pages
File Size : 52,6 Mb
Release : 1992
Category : Iraq-Kuwait Crisis, 1990-1991
ISBN : UOM:39015022285160

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Desert Shield to Desert Storm by Dilip Hiro Pdf

During the first two weeks of the air campaign in January 1991, the allied forces dropped more conventional explosives on Iraq and Kuwait than during the 310 weeks of the Second World War. How did Saddam Hussein fail to draw the right lesson from the Iran-Iraq War--the United States would never allow an unfriendly nation to dominate the region containing two-thirds of the world's oil reserves? And how was President George Bush able to assemble and hold together such a formidable coalition of 28 European and Arab countries? In this perceptive and detailed account of the second Gulf War, Dilip Hiro, author of the much-acclaimed book The Longest War, reveals the complex political-economic motivation and diplomatic maneuvering that preceded the 42-day conflict as well as the historical causes and consequences of the war. He shows how Saddam Hussein, encouraged by internal discontent in Kuwait and angered by Kuwait's attempts to undermine Iraq's economy by depressing the price of oil by flooding the international market, made a grievous miscalculation in his invasion of Kuwait. Intent on halting the rise of the United States as the sole superpower in the region, Hussein instead enhanced Washington's power and prestige and curtailed Iraq's independence. Assisted by the ending of the Cold War, the United States--in a diplomatic blitzkrieg before hostilities began--was able to fashion a complex, fragile coalition and to muster 750,000 troops and an unparalleled military machine in the region. Dilip Hiro examines the strains within the alliance; the unprecedented cooperation between Washington and Moscow; the new and enhanced role of the United Nations; the financial trade-offs and material inducements between the allies; the repeated attempts at linkage with the Palestinian problem; the delicate roles of Israel, Iran, Turkey and the various Arab regimes; the use of television as an instant diplomatic tool; the causes, course and consequences of the war itself; and the prospects of stability in a region where the gulf between oil-producing and non-oil-producing countries remains as perilously wide as ever. Containing maps, a chronology of events, extensive source-notes and all relevant Security Council resolutions, the book is a comprehensive and objective chronicle of the war as well as an invaluable aid to the understanding of contemporary history and Middle Eastern affairs.

Author : Richard G. Davis
Publisher : DIANE Publishing
Page : 90 pages
File Size : 53,9 Mb
Release : 1998
Category : Electronic
ISBN : 9780788138140

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Decisive Force by Richard G. Davis Pdf

Examines the U.S.Air Force strategic bombing campaign of Iraq & Iraqi armed forces occupying Kuwait from January 17th through February 28th, 1991 . Describes the aircraft & weapons, changes in technology & the reexamination & reapplication of traditional strategic bombing theory by USAF planning officers. Provides a chronological review of the campaign with an analysis of the results. Photos, maps, graphs & tables. Includes suggested readings.

Author : Stephen Robinson
Publisher : Exisle Publishing
Page : 360 pages
File Size : 45,6 Mb
Release : 2021-04-07
Category : History
ISBN : 9781991001016

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The Blind Strategist by Stephen Robinson Pdf

Did Nazi war criminals deceive the United States military during the Cold War? A new book by a Canberra-based historian tells the story of how America’s most famous and influential military theorist was seduced by the lies of Hitler’s defeated generals. From the author of Panzer Commander Hermann Balck and False Flags comes The Blind Strategist: John Boyd and the American Art of War. Colonel John Boyd, a maverick fighter pilot, revolutionized the American art of war through his ideas on conflict and the human mind. Boyd claimed that victory is won by the side which transitions through 'decision cycles' faster than the enemy and his ideas gained influential converts in the Pentagon who were seeking a new way of waging war after defeat in Vietnam. Although Boyd’s theories became the basis of American military doctrine, he relied upon the fraudulent testimony of former Nazi generals who fabricated historical evidence to disassociate their reputations from their defeat and cover up their willing participation in war crimes. Boyd certainly changed the American art of war, but did he corrupt it in the process? The Blind Strategist separates fact from fantasy and exposes the myths of maneuver warfare through a detailed evidence-based investigation. Discover how maneuver warfare has resulted in catastrophic decisions in this must-read for anybody interested in American military history.

Author : Lon Nordeen
Publisher : Bloomsbury Publishing
Page : 212 pages
File Size : 42,7 Mb
Release : 2012-12-20
Category : History
ISBN : 9781782008385

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AV-8B Harrier II Units of Operations Desert Shield and Desert Storm by Lon Nordeen Pdf

The AV-8B is the only tactical aircraft that can deploy with Marine forces on amphibious assault ships and provide air cover and close air support separate from large deck aircraft carriers. When Iraq invaded Kuwait in August 1990, a coalition of nations launched Operation Desert Shield in order to defend Saudi Arabia, and the Harrier II was among the first tactical air assets to be deployed to the region. During Operation Desert Storm, the five units flying the AV-8B in-theatre became some of the top tactical squadrons of choice by air mission planners because of the pilots' skill as well as the plane's vertical take-off ability. The previously untold story of the AV-8B in this conflict is vividly brought to life by the author through first-hand accounts and period photography sourced from those that were there and official archives. This will be the first of three volumes on USMC Harrier IIs in combat, with follow-on titles covering the jet's operations in Iraq in 2003–08 and Afghanistan in 2001–2009.

Author : Robert M. Citino
Publisher : University Press of Kansas
Page : 448 pages
File Size : 45,5 Mb
Release : 2007-10-22
Category : History
ISBN : 9780700617913

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Death of the Wehrmacht by Robert M. Citino Pdf

For Hitler and the German military, 1942 was a key turning point of World War II, as an overstretched but still lethal Wehrmacht replaced brilliant victories and huge territorial gains with stalemates and strategic retreats. In this major reevaluation of that crucial year, Robert Citino shows that the German army's emerging woes were rooted as much in its addiction to the "war of movement"-attempts to smash the enemy in "short and lively" campaigns-as they were in Hitler's deeply flawed management of the war. From the overwhelming operational victories at Kerch and Kharkov in May to the catastrophic defeats at El Alamein and Stalingrad, Death of the Wehrmacht offers an eye-opening new view of that decisive year. Building upon his widely respected critique in The German Way of War, Citino shows how the campaigns of 1942 fit within the centuries-old patterns of Prussian/German warmaking and ultimately doomed Hitler's expansionist ambitions. He examines every major campaign and battle in the Russian and North African theaters throughout the year to assess how a military geared to quick and decisive victories coped when the tide turned against it. Citino also reconstructs the German generals' view of the war and illuminates the multiple contingencies that might have produced more favorable results. In addition, he cites the fatal extreme aggressiveness of German commanders like Erwin Rommel and assesses how the German system of command and its commitment to the "independence of subordinate commanders" suffered under the thumb of Hitler and chief of staff General Franz Halder. More than the turning point of a war, 1942 marked the death of a very old and traditional pattern of warmaking, with the classic "German way of war" unable to meet the challenges of the twentieth century. Blending masterly research with a gripping narrative, Citino's remarkable work provides a fresh and revealing look at how one of history's most powerful armies began to founder in its quest for world domination.

Author : John Lewis Gaddis
Publisher : Harvard University Press
Page : 164 pages
File Size : 55,6 Mb
Release : 2005-10-31
Category : History
ISBN : 0674018362

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Surprise, Security, and the American Experience by John Lewis Gaddis Pdf

In this provocative book, a distinguished Cold War historian argues that September 11, 2001, was not the first time a surprise attack shattered American assumptions about national security and reshaped American grand strategy.