Military science facts for kids
Military science (also called military studies) is a special field of study. It looks at how wars are fought and how armies work. It also explores how military operations happen.
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What is Military Science About?
The main goal of military science is to understand how to win a war. It also helps us learn how to use military power wisely. A famous thinker named Carl von Clausewitz from the 1800s wrote a very important book about war. He said that war isn't just about fighting. It's a tool for countries to achieve their political goals. This means that leaders use military actions to get what they want for their country.
Military scientists study how to plan and carry out military actions. This field has several important parts:
- Security study: This looks at how countries make rules for their own safety and for safety around the world. It also studies how military power is controlled.
- Strategic study: This is about how to use military power in big, overall plans.
- Tactics: This focuses on how to win battles using military power in specific situations.
- Logistics: This is about how to create and supply military power, like getting food, fuel, and equipment to soldiers.
- Military history: This studies past wars and military actions to learn from them.
- Military geography: This looks at how the land and environment affect war.
Today, military science also has special parts for each type of military force. These include the army (for land fights), the navy (for sea fights), and the air force (for air fights).
Military science often comes down to five main ideas: defense, attack, military means, military aim, and political end.
- Defense means waiting in your own positions to stop an enemy attack.
- Attack means moving forward to destroy the enemy.
- Military means refers to the strength of a military force. This includes the number of soldiers and the quality of their equipment.
- Military aim is the specific target or goal for using military power, whether attacking or defending.
- Political end is the main reason a country fights a war against an enemy.
In short, military science studies why and how military actions happen between attackers and defenders. It looks at their military strength and goals, all starting from the country's political reasons for fighting.
A Brief History of Military Thinking
In ancient times, military science began with writings about the art of war, not just the science.
- Herodotus and Thucydides wrote about famous wars like the Persian War and the Peloponnesian Wars.
- Around the same time, Sun Tzu, a smart leader in ancient China, wrote The Art of War. This book taught that war is very serious for a country's survival. It also said that surprising the enemy is very important.
- After the Roman Empire, Flavius Vegetius Renatus wrote about Roman military ideas in his book On Military Affairs. Vegetius noted that Roman military power came from strong discipline. This helped their armies stay organized. The Roman way of war influenced military thinkers in Europe for a long time.
Modern Changes in Warfare
The invention of guns and artillery brought big changes to warfare. This led to a "military revolution" at the start of the modern age. Countries also gained more political power after religious reforms. This helped them create strong, modern armies.
The Napoleonic Wars were a result of these changes. Napoleon Bonaparte was one of the most famous generals in history. He came up with new ways to win wars. Napoleon focused on using his forces, space, and time wisely. He tried to attack the enemy's sides and rear by moving his troops cleverly and surprising them. Napoleon's strategy was to spread out his forces when waiting for a fight. Then, he would quickly bring them all together at the most important moment. This allowed him to win wars even if his army was smaller than the enemy's.
New Military Theories
During this time, military ideas grew a lot.
- Antoine Henri Jomini, who worked with Napoleon, wrote about Napoleon's art of war. He said there were a few simple rules in the science of war. Jomini's ideas helped explain how Napoleon won by following these universal rules.
- Carl von Clausewitz, who fought against Napoleon, also studied the Napoleonic Wars. In his book On War, Clausewitz said that war has rules. He believed that a country's political goals control its military actions. He also wrote about how math could help understand the results of a fight. Clausewitz thought that defending was often stronger than attacking because defenders could use their positions better.
Napoleon's military ideas changed how people in the Western world thought about war in the late 1800s.
- Dennis Hart Mahan of the United States army taught Napoleon's military art in military schools.
- His son, Alfred Thayer Mahan, became a naval strategist. He wrote The Influence of Sea Power Upon History, 1660–1783. His ideas were based on the theories of Jomini and Clausewitz.
- In the Prussian army, Helmunth von Moltke led studies of military theory. He developed "Auftragstaktik" (mission tactics). This meant giving commanders a goal but letting them figure out the best way to achieve it. Moltke's studies helped Prussia move its forces faster. They proved these ideas worked by winning the Franco-Prussian War.
- Alfred von Schlieffen, another Prussian general, created a plan for a two-front war against France and Russia. This plan relied on fast troop movements.
- In France, Charles J. J. J. Ardant du Picq wrote Battle Studies. He focused on the mental side of war. Ardant du Picq believed that military actions are strongly linked to the mental state of the soldiers.
World Wars and Beyond
During World War I and World War II, military scientists thought about "total war."
- In World War I, Germany's general Hindenburg Ludendorff said that all parts of a country needed to work together for the war effort.
- France's general Ferdinand Foch also said that winning depended on a country's will to fight.
- In this war, J. F. C. Fuller, a British soldier, realized that armored warfare (using tanks) was very important for land operations. Old tactics didn't work well against modern weapons.
- In World War II, the air force became a major military branch, like the army and navy. An Italian soldier named Giulio Douhet suggested using strategic bombing. This meant bombing enemy cities and factories, not just the front lines.
- From the navy's side, aircraft could be used in sea battles with aircraft carriers. Ozawa Jisaburo, a Japanese navy officer, had the idea to put aircraft carriers at the center of naval power.
The end of World War II in 1945 started the Cold War between the United States and the Soviet Union. Military scientists had to figure out how to control nuclear weapons. These powerful weapons changed how wars could be fought. Theorists had to think about how to avoid nuclear war and how to use nuclear strategy.
- Bernard Brodie, a military scientist in the United States, suggested that the purpose of military forces should change from winning to "deterrence." Deterrence means stopping an enemy nuclear attack by making them know that if they attack, they will be attacked back.
- This meant military science was no longer just about fighting. It became about a country's whole safety plan.
- Basil Henry Liddell-Hart, a British military strategist, also said that the old idea of strategy was too narrow for the nuclear age. He developed the idea of "grand strategy" or "national security strategy." This kind of strategy looks at all parts of a country's safety. These ideas are still important for military thinkers today.
See also
In Spanish: Ciencia militar para niños
