LIBERTY UNIVERSITY
MANY ARGUE THAT AMERICA GENERALLY ENTERS A WAR UNPREPARED. DO YOU AGREE WITH THIS THESIS OR NOT?
MODERN AMERICAN MILITARY HISTORY
AUGUST 21, 2015
Throughout history civilizations have declared war on one another to gain sovereignty over others regions. “The first war in recorded history took place in Mesopotamia in 2700 BCE between Sumer and Elam. The Sumerians, under command of the King of Kish, Enembaragesi, defeated the Elamites in this war and, it is recorded, carried away as spoils the weapons of Elam.” War has always seemed the inevitable. America is no different. As Americans, we have fought for our independence, fought to expand the boundaries of our nation, defend our global interest, and fought as a means to define our very freedoms. Strategic planning and tactics are a vital part of conducting warfare. The great military theorist Carl von Clausewitz put it another way: "Tactics is the art of using troops in battle; strategy is the art of using battles to win the war” . It is with the use of this knowledge that battles have been won but many Americans today can agree that we may not have been as prepared for the conflicts we have entered since our existence as a nation. Some of these examples can be seen in America’s history such as in the Spanish-American War, World War I, World War II, the Korean War, and the Vietnam War. The Spanish American war dates from 1898 thru 1902. During 1895, the island of Cuba was struggling for
America’s support for the ongoing struggle by Cubans and Filipinos against Spanish rule and the explosion of the battleship U.S.S. Maine in Havana Harbor are the major influences that led to the Spanish-American War. The Spanish-American War was a conflict between Spain and the United States in 1898. As Cuba was controlled by territorial expansion by the Spanish, Cubans fight for independence from Spain will arise. Cubans fight for Independence from Spain is what brought the U.S to intervene.
The Spanish American war started in 1898 and was a fight for Cuba’s independence which resulted in 379 American casualties in combat. The Spanish American War was justified because of the Monroe Doctrine, Correspondence between the United States and Spain, and the Platt Amendment, which were all created to protect American morals and freedom.
There were a plethora of important events that took place that prompted the beginning of The Spanish American war. The war was officially started in 1898, bringing joy to the citizens of America and dismay to then president William Mckinley. Before the war, Cuba had been fighting for independence from Spain. The Cuban’s had already lost in the ten year war earlier, which had been fought to gain their independence from Spain. In the state's, newspapers and other media sources were greatly exaggerating the horrors and atrocities being
The Spanish American War started in 1898 and lasted about four months. Although the war might have seemed focused on freeing Cuba from Spain and gaining independence for Cuba and the Philippines, it was actually stimulated by nationalism and commercialism. Commercialism was a major factor when declaring war because the United States depended on Cuba and the Philippines for trade and business with other countries, especially in Asia and Latin America. Another major factor for the war was that the United States wanted to spread its Anglo-Saxon culture around the world and emerge as a world-wide power. Other minor motives for the war include the United States coming to the aid of the Cubans in their revolt against Spain and the feeling that
The Spanish-American war was with Spain and America, this war occurred in 1896, it lasted only 4 months and it was focused on the independence of Cuba. There were and still are several different viewpoints as to why America ever got involved in the war with Spain. Some believe that it was a financial reason, others a race struggle, and some a political reason, but I believe it was because America wanted to stop the Spanish oppression of the natives.
Spanish American War: It was a war that happened in 1898 between Spain and the United States.
One hundred years ago, in 1898, the United States was fighting the Spanish-American War. The victory over Spain made the United States a colonial power. The Spanish colonies of Cuba, Puerto Rico, Guam, and the Philippines, as well as the formerly independent nation of Hawaii, became American possessions.
Carl Von Clausewitz and Helmuth Moltke the Elder were both practitioners and theorists of the war art in the 19th century. Their military thoughts on war’s character and its dynamics have influenced the later militaries in the conduct of war. Particularly, the Clausewitzian concept of the “culminating point of victory” and the Moltke’s principle of “Auftragstaktik”, or mission type tactics by a decentralized command were implemented and culminated in the battlefield of World War II. Moreover, today, the US Army has adopted both concepts in its latest refined “AirLand Battle” doctrine recognizing their importance in the operational art of modern warfare.
The Spanish-American War emerged out of Cuban resistance to Spanish rule, which had been a conflict for a long time coming. In 1895, the Cubans rose up again, and the rebellion had a violent effect on both sides. The Cubans destroyed the island, causing the Spaniards to leave. The revolt of 1895 was reported more fully than ever before, which helped create the impression that the Spaniards were the only ones committing all of the violent acts.
Although many Cubans refused to accept any offers, the wars for independence still broke out in 1895. The U.S. declared war on Spain on April 25,1898. The U.S. defeated Spain and Cuba was officially granted independence and lived as an independent republic on January 1st, 1898. Although the taste of freedom might be sweet to many native Cubans, there is no doubt that all Cuban government in
The notion of an American way of war informs how scholars, policymakers, and strategists understand how Americans fight. A way of war—defined as a society’s cultural preferences for waging war—is not static. Change can occur as a result of important cultural events, often in the form of traumatic experiences or major social transformations. A way of war is therefore the malleable product of culturally significant past experiences. Reflecting several underlying cultural ideals, the current American way of war consists of three primary tenets—the desire for moral clarity, the primacy of technology, and the centrality of scientific management systems—which combine to create a preference for decisive, large-scale conventional wars with clear objectives and an aversion to morally ambiguous low-intensity conflicts that is relevant to planners because it helps them address American strategic vulnerabilities.
The war started with Cuba trying to liberate from Spain, Cuba had a rebellion that the Spanish had very drastic ways to deal with the rebellion that where graphically publish by American news paper’s. therefore, America felt and got involved in support
On April 25, 1898 the United States declared war on Spain following the sinking of the Battleship Maine in Havana harbor on February 15, 1898. The war ended with the signing of
In the two hundred years since 1775, there has been thirty-five years of fighting in what we consider major conflicts or wars. This averages out to about one year of war to every almost 6 years of our existence as a nation and during that time, we have not been without formal military organizations. Over the course of history, the United States has engaged in many battles that were a crucial phase in developing who and what we have become. Throughout this assessment, we will analyze what were some of the true tipping points that shaped (1) America’s paradoxical love-hate relationship with war and, (2) How this relationship influences American warfare.
Carl Von Clausewitz is one of the most well known, as well as important, war theorists in our history. Although he has been dead for almost two decades, he still plays a major role in shaping military thinkers around the world. The reason his theory is somehow still relevant is because of its flexibility. He did not prepare for nuclear warfare or cyber warfare, but you can apply his theory to the 21st century. Clausewitz believed in two levels of war and that war was continuous. Clausewitz believed that when one goes to war, they should have an achievable political objective; "war is the continuation of politics by other means” (Clausewitz, 1832).