Journal of Military History
Vol. 84, No. 3
July 2020
Articles
The 2020 George C. Marshall Lecture in Military History
Developing Strategic Empathy: History as the Foundation of Foreign Policy and National Security Strategy, by H. R. McMaster, Journal of Military History 84:3 (July 2020): 689-97
Developing Strategic Empathy: History as the Foundation of Foreign Policy and National Security Strategy, by H. R. McMaster, Journal of Military History 84:3 (July 2020): 689-97
The Military Revolution and the Ancient Origins of the Trace Italienne, by Robert T. Vigus, Journal of Military History 84:3 (July 2020): 698-712
The military revolution thesis posited by Michael Roberts and expanded on by Geoffrey Parker places the trace italienne style of fortification of the early modern period as a novel creation, born out of the minds of Renaissance geniuses. Research shows, however, that the trace italienne’s key component, the angled bastion, has its roots in Greek and Roman writings, and in extant constructions by Roman and Byzantine engineers. The angled bastion of the trace italienne was yet another aspect of the resurgent Greek and Roman culture characteristic of the Renaissance. The writings of the ancients were bolstered by physical examples located in important trading and pilgrimage routes.
Rivers, Rails, and Rebels: Logistics and Struggle to Supply U.S. Army Depot at Nashville, 1862–1865, by Phillip R. Kemmerly, Journal of Military History 84:3 (July 2020): 713-46
The Union war effort west of the Appalachians during the American Civil War depended on the ability to supply and defend the massive Union depot in Nashville, Tennessee. Detailed analysis of the logistical problems in supplying Nashville Depot from late February 1862 through April 1865—via the Louisville and Nashville Railroad and the Cumberland River—reveals how the depot was able to support the thousands of Federal troops occupying the city, and also feed, clothe, and arm nearly 150,000 troops during periods of significant guerrilla insurgency. Logistical necessity required control of the Cumberland River from its mouth on the Ohio River to Nashville, and the U.S. Navy was essential to this strategic imperative.
“To Dig and Burrow like Rabbits”: British Field Fortifications at the Battle of the Aisne, September to October 1914, by Bodie D. Dykstra, Journal of Military History 84:3 (July 2020): 747-73
This article examines the British Expeditionary Force’s (BEF’s) use of field fortifications at the Battle of the Aisne in September and October 1914. It concludes that the BEF implemented a tactically robust and effective field works system that it quickly adapted to suit the unprecedented conditions of the battle. Thus, the army was more prepared for the combat realities of 1914 than much of the scholarship since the 1970s has implied. The BEF, however, struggled to apply the lessons of the Aisne in Flanders in late October 1914, portending the learning curve that characterized tactical development in 1915–18.
Doughboys, the YMCA, and the Moral Economy of Sacrifice in the First World War, by Sebastian H. Lukasik, Journal of Military History 84:3 (July 2020): 774-97
This article examines the socio-cultural dynamics that characterized the interaction between American troops and the representatives of the YMCA in France during the First World War. Soldiers and Marines critiqued the YMCA’s shortcomings as the self-proclaimed guardian of American troops’ material comfort and moral welfare. A closer examination reveals their critique transcended petty complaints about the YMCA’s policies and conduct. Soldiers linked their dissatisfaction with the Association’s misdeeds to what they perceived as disturbing phenomena unfolding on the home front: intrusive and arbitrary forms of social control, profiteering, draft evasion, and a skewed conscription system. This demonstrates the central role perceptions of the home front played in shaping soldiers’ ideas about the value of their sacrifices.
A Technological Fiasco: Scientific Research, Institutional Culture, and Fascism in the Italian Navy (1919–1940), by Fabio De Ninno, Journal of Military History 84:3 (July 2020): 798-824
The article analyzes the causes of the Italian Navy’s delay in developing new technologies during the interwar years. The wider institutional panorama of Fascist Italy, characterized by the polycratic chaos typical of totalitarian regimes and interservice rivalry, combined with naval cultural opposition to technological change, rooted in part in the Italian naval officers corps. Employing new archival sources, the essay explains how the institutional-cultural background hampered scientific cooperation between the Navy, other armed forces, and national scientific institutions. The slowdown in Italian naval technological development and its subsequent failure to develop new technologies such as radar and sonar were a central cause of the Italian fleet’s poor performance in the Second World War.
An Evaluation of Allied Intelligence in the Tactical Bombing of German Supply Depots during the Normandy Campaign, 1944, by David Capps-Tunwell, David Passmore, and Stephan Harrison, Journal of Military History 84:3 (July 2020): 825-42
- Click here for data tables and figures associated with this article.
- Click here for data tables and figures associated with this article.
To date evaluations of tactical air supremacy during the Normandy campaign of 1944 have tended to analyse the erosion of German fighting ability due to the destruction to the transportation system, especially bridges and railways, by Allied air and the Resistance. Attacks on depots have been considered but not in the context of assessing the effectiveness of Allied intelligence gathering on depots. This study presents that analysis. Using archival sources in combination with geoarchaeological records, we hypothesise how a crisis in German logistics could have produced an earlier collapse of German capability, had Allied intelligence been more accurate in reporting German supply activities.
Aircraft Carriers versus Battleships in War and Myth: Demythologizing Carrier Air Dominance at Sea, by James R. FitzSimonds, Journal of Military History 84:3 (July 2020): 843-65
Since the end of World War II, the aircraft carrier has been commonly portrayed as the ultimate element of sea power. This notion of carrier supremacy is based largely on the prevalent belief that carrier-based aircraft were so lethal during the Second World War that they rendered surface combatants, most notably battleships, powerless against air strikes. Yet a close reading of the history of combat at sea during World War II fails to support this contention. The battleship proved the most resilient surface ship and remained the ultimate determinant of sea control. The idea that the aircraft carrier supplanted the battleship as the dominant naval platform is a myth.
Document of Note:
From the Discovery of a Clausewitz Manuscript to Its Interpretation, by Peter Paret, Journal of Military History 84:3 (July 2020): 867-71
From the Discovery of a Clausewitz Manuscript to Its Interpretation, by Peter Paret, Journal of Military History 84:3 (July 2020): 867-71
Book Reviews:
The Classical Art of Command: Eight Greek Generals who Shaped the History of Warfare, by Joseph Roisman, reviewed by Anthony Smart, 873-74
Sparta's First Attic War: The Grand Strategy of Classical Sparta, 478–446 B.C., by Paul A. Rahe, reviewed by Seth Kendall, 875-76
The Eye of War: Military Perception from the Telescope to the Drone, by Antoine Bousquet, reviewed by Paul J. Springer, 876-77
Warring Societies of Pre-Colonial Southeast Asia: Local Cultures of Conflict within a Regional Context, edited by Michael W. Charney and Kathryn Wellen, reviewed by Margaret B. Bodemer, 878-79
The Old English in Early Modern Ireland: The Palesmen and the Nine Years’ War, 1594–1603, by Ruth A. Canning, reviewed by Andrew Walsh, 879-80
Crisis, Collapse, Militarism and Civil War: The History and Historiography of 18th Century Iran, edited by Michael Axworthy, reviewed by Elena Andreeva, 881-82
Lakota America: A New History of Indigenous Power, by Pekka Hämäläinen, reviewed by Linda M. Clemmons, 883-84
Prussian Army Soldiers and the Seven Years War: The Psychology of Honor, by Katrin and Sascha Möbius, reviewed by Alexander Burns, 884-85
Military Equitation, or A Method of Breaking Horses and Teaching Soldiers to Ride, by Henry Herbert; and A Treatise on Military Equitation, by William Tyndale, edited by Charles Caramello, reviewed by John J. Yurechko, 885-87
Endeavour: The Ship that Changed the World, by Peter Moore, reviewed by Mark Vaughn, 887-89
America’s First Ally: France in the Revolutionary War, by Norman Desmarais, reviewed by Jordan R. Hayworth, 889-90
Washington’s Revolutionary War Generals, by Stephen R. Taaffe, reviewed by Bradley F. Podliska, 890-92
De Kalb: One of the Revolutionary War’s Bravest Generals, by John Beakes, reviewed by Jason Moore, 892-93
The Politics of War Powers: The Theory and History of Presidential Unilateralism, by Sarah Burns, reviewed by Thomas C. Mackey, 894-95
Defending the Old Dominion: Virginia and its Militia in the War of 1812, by Stuart L. Butler, reviewed by George W. Geib, 895-96
Mapping the Great Game: Explorers, Spies and Maps in 19th Century Asia, by Riaz Dean, reviewed by Roberto J. Carmack, 896-97
Music & the British Military in the Long Nineteenth Century, by Trevor Herbert and Helen Barlow, reviewed by Kirsten M. Schulz, 897-98
A Fine Body of Men: The Orleans Light Horse, Louisiana Cavalry, 1861–1865, by Donald Peter Moriarty II, reviewed by Brian M. McGowan, 899-900
The Seventh West Virginia Infantry: An Embattled Union Regiment from the Civil War’s Most Divided State, by David W. Mellott and Mark A. Snell, reviewed by Fred L. Johnson III, 900-1
Grafting Memory: Essays on War and Commemoration, by Bill Lipke and Bill Mares, reviewed by A. Wilson Greene, 901-3
Remembering the Modoc War: Redemptive Violence and the Making of American Innocence, by Boyd Cothran, reviewed by David Wrobel, 903-4
Harnessing the Airplane: American and British Cavalry Responses to a New Technology, 1903–1939, by Lori A. Henning, reviewed by M. Houston Johnson V, 904-6
Violence as Usual: Policing and the Colonial State in German Southwest Africa, by Marie Muschalek, reviewed by Timothy K. Welliver, 906-7
Skis in the Art of War, by K. B. E. E. Eimeleus, translated by William D. Frank, reviewed by Edward Smalley, 908-9
The Path to War: How the First World War Created Modern America, by Michael S. Neiberg, reviewed by Ralph M. Hitchens, 909-11
Charles Oberthür. Lettres de guerre (1914–1918), edited by Bernard Corbé and Yann Lagadec, reviewed by Robert A. Doughty, 911-12
War and Childhood in the Era of the Two World Wars, edited by Mischa Honeck and James Marten, reviewed by Nancy E. Rupprecht, 912-14
Franco and the Condor Legion: The Spanish Civil War in the Air, by Michael Alpert, reviewed by Jayson A. Altieri, 914-15
Spain at War: Society, Culture, and Mobilization, 1936–44, edited by James Matthews, reviewed by Nicholas Sambaluk, 915-16
War Tourism: Second World War France from Defeat and Occupation to the Creation of Heritage, by Bertram Gordon, reviewed by W. Brian Newsome, 917-18
Imperial Military Transportation in British Asia: Burma 1941–1942, by Michael Charney, reviewed by Karl Rubis, 918-20
At War’s Summit: The Red Army and the Struggle for the Caucasus Mountains in World War II, by Alexander Statiev, reviewed by William S. Nance, 920-21
Bold Venture: The American Bombing of Japanese-Occupied Hong Kong, 1942–1945, by Steven K. Bailey, reviewed by Jennifer Yip Yuk Lum, 921-23
Imperiale Propaganda: Die Ostafrikanische Militärpresse im Zweiten Weltkrieg, by Katrin Bromber, reviewed by Ulrich van der Heyden, 923-24
George Marshall: Defender of the Republic, by David L. Roll, reviewed by Robert M. Utley, 924-26
The Kremlin Letters: Stalin’s Wartime Correspondence with Churchill and Roosevelt, edited by David Reynolds and Vladimir Pechatnov, reviewed by Douglas Bell, 926-28
The Third Reich’s Intelligence Services: The Career of Walter Schellenberg, by Katrin Paehler, reviewed by Michael Marino, 928-29
Churchill on the Far East in the Second World War: Hiding the History of the ‘Special Relationship, by Cat Wilson, reviewed by Brian P. Farrell, 929-30
The Battle of Leyte Gulf at 75: A Retrospective, by Thomas J. Cutler, reviewed by Hal Friedman, 930-32
Indigenous Peoples and the Second World War: The Politics, Experiences and Legacies of War in the US, Canada, Australia, and New Zealand, by R. Scott Sheffield and Noah Riseman, reviewed by Brian Drohan, 932-33
Grease Paint & Cordite: How ENSA Entertained the Troops during World War II, by Andy Merriman, reviewed by Murdock Moore, 934
The Veterans’ Tale: British Military Memoirs of the Second World War, by Frances Houghton, reviewed by Alan Allport, 935-36
The Agony of Heroes: Medical Care for America’s Besieged Legions from Bataan to Khe Sanh, by Thomas S. Helling, reviewed by Marion Dorsey, 936-37
Peace and Power in Cold War Britain: Media, Movements, and Democracy, c1945–68, by Christopher Hill, reviewed by Dan Gorman, 938-39
Beirut, 1958: How America’s Wars in the Middle East Began, by Bruce Riedel, reviewed by David M. Witty, 939-41
Kennan and the Cold War: An Unauthorized Biography, by David Felix, reviewed by Ralph M. Hitchens, 941-43
The Kennan Diaries: George F. Kennan, edited by Frank Costigliola, reviewed by Andrew Rotter, 943-44
Decolonization and the Cold War: Negotiating Independence, edited by Leslie James and Elisabeth Leake, reviewed by Geraint Hughes, 944-46
Cinema and Unconventional Warfare in the Twentieth Century: Insurgency, Terrorism and Special Operations, by Paul B. Rich, reviewed by James D. Kiras, 946-47
Uncommon Valor: The Recon Company That Earned Five Medals of Honor and Included the Most Decorated Green Beret, by Stephen L. Moore, reviewed by Marc R. Henderson, 947-49
Bait: The Battle of Kham Duc Special Forces Camp, by James D. McLeroy and Gregory W. Sanders, reviewed by James H. Willbanks, 949-51
An Army in Crisis: Social Conflict and the U.S. Army in Germany, 1968–1975, by Alexander Vazansky, reviewed by Richard S. Faulkner, 951-52
Apartheid, Guns, and Money: A Tale of Profit, by Hennie van Vouren, reviewed by Charles G. Thomas, 952-54
Relentless Strike: The Secret History of Joint Special Operations Command, by Sean Naylor, reviewed by Mark R. Jacobson, 954-55
Rough Draft: Cold War Military Manpower Policy and the Origins of the Vietnam-Era Draft Resistance, by Amy J. Rutenberg, reviewed by Tomas I. Moore, 956-57
Pussycats: Why the Rest Keeps Beating the West and What Can Be Done About It, by Martin Van Creveld, reviewed by Daniel Moran, 957-58
War and Health: The Medical Consequences of the Wars in Iraq and Afghanistan, edited by Catherine Lutz and Andrea Mazzarino, reviewed by Paul Clemans, 958-60
Signature Wounds: The Untold Story of the Military’s Mental Health Crisis, by David Kieran, reviewed by John M. Hinck, 960-61
Rebooting Clausewitz: On War in the 21st Century, by Christopher Coker, reviewed by Peter F. Coogan, 961-62
RECENT JOURNAL ARTICLES: 963-72
DOCTORAL DISSERTATIONS IN MILITARY HISTORY: 973-80
LETTERS TO THE EDITOR: 981-84
The Classical Art of Command: Eight Greek Generals who Shaped the History of Warfare, by Joseph Roisman, reviewed by Anthony Smart, 873-74
Sparta's First Attic War: The Grand Strategy of Classical Sparta, 478–446 B.C., by Paul A. Rahe, reviewed by Seth Kendall, 875-76
The Eye of War: Military Perception from the Telescope to the Drone, by Antoine Bousquet, reviewed by Paul J. Springer, 876-77
Warring Societies of Pre-Colonial Southeast Asia: Local Cultures of Conflict within a Regional Context, edited by Michael W. Charney and Kathryn Wellen, reviewed by Margaret B. Bodemer, 878-79
The Old English in Early Modern Ireland: The Palesmen and the Nine Years’ War, 1594–1603, by Ruth A. Canning, reviewed by Andrew Walsh, 879-80
Crisis, Collapse, Militarism and Civil War: The History and Historiography of 18th Century Iran, edited by Michael Axworthy, reviewed by Elena Andreeva, 881-82
Lakota America: A New History of Indigenous Power, by Pekka Hämäläinen, reviewed by Linda M. Clemmons, 883-84
Prussian Army Soldiers and the Seven Years War: The Psychology of Honor, by Katrin and Sascha Möbius, reviewed by Alexander Burns, 884-85
Military Equitation, or A Method of Breaking Horses and Teaching Soldiers to Ride, by Henry Herbert; and A Treatise on Military Equitation, by William Tyndale, edited by Charles Caramello, reviewed by John J. Yurechko, 885-87
Endeavour: The Ship that Changed the World, by Peter Moore, reviewed by Mark Vaughn, 887-89
America’s First Ally: France in the Revolutionary War, by Norman Desmarais, reviewed by Jordan R. Hayworth, 889-90
Washington’s Revolutionary War Generals, by Stephen R. Taaffe, reviewed by Bradley F. Podliska, 890-92
De Kalb: One of the Revolutionary War’s Bravest Generals, by John Beakes, reviewed by Jason Moore, 892-93
The Politics of War Powers: The Theory and History of Presidential Unilateralism, by Sarah Burns, reviewed by Thomas C. Mackey, 894-95
Defending the Old Dominion: Virginia and its Militia in the War of 1812, by Stuart L. Butler, reviewed by George W. Geib, 895-96
Mapping the Great Game: Explorers, Spies and Maps in 19th Century Asia, by Riaz Dean, reviewed by Roberto J. Carmack, 896-97
Music & the British Military in the Long Nineteenth Century, by Trevor Herbert and Helen Barlow, reviewed by Kirsten M. Schulz, 897-98
A Fine Body of Men: The Orleans Light Horse, Louisiana Cavalry, 1861–1865, by Donald Peter Moriarty II, reviewed by Brian M. McGowan, 899-900
The Seventh West Virginia Infantry: An Embattled Union Regiment from the Civil War’s Most Divided State, by David W. Mellott and Mark A. Snell, reviewed by Fred L. Johnson III, 900-1
Grafting Memory: Essays on War and Commemoration, by Bill Lipke and Bill Mares, reviewed by A. Wilson Greene, 901-3
Remembering the Modoc War: Redemptive Violence and the Making of American Innocence, by Boyd Cothran, reviewed by David Wrobel, 903-4
Harnessing the Airplane: American and British Cavalry Responses to a New Technology, 1903–1939, by Lori A. Henning, reviewed by M. Houston Johnson V, 904-6
Violence as Usual: Policing and the Colonial State in German Southwest Africa, by Marie Muschalek, reviewed by Timothy K. Welliver, 906-7
Skis in the Art of War, by K. B. E. E. Eimeleus, translated by William D. Frank, reviewed by Edward Smalley, 908-9
The Path to War: How the First World War Created Modern America, by Michael S. Neiberg, reviewed by Ralph M. Hitchens, 909-11
Charles Oberthür. Lettres de guerre (1914–1918), edited by Bernard Corbé and Yann Lagadec, reviewed by Robert A. Doughty, 911-12
War and Childhood in the Era of the Two World Wars, edited by Mischa Honeck and James Marten, reviewed by Nancy E. Rupprecht, 912-14
Franco and the Condor Legion: The Spanish Civil War in the Air, by Michael Alpert, reviewed by Jayson A. Altieri, 914-15
Spain at War: Society, Culture, and Mobilization, 1936–44, edited by James Matthews, reviewed by Nicholas Sambaluk, 915-16
War Tourism: Second World War France from Defeat and Occupation to the Creation of Heritage, by Bertram Gordon, reviewed by W. Brian Newsome, 917-18
Imperial Military Transportation in British Asia: Burma 1941–1942, by Michael Charney, reviewed by Karl Rubis, 918-20
At War’s Summit: The Red Army and the Struggle for the Caucasus Mountains in World War II, by Alexander Statiev, reviewed by William S. Nance, 920-21
Bold Venture: The American Bombing of Japanese-Occupied Hong Kong, 1942–1945, by Steven K. Bailey, reviewed by Jennifer Yip Yuk Lum, 921-23
Imperiale Propaganda: Die Ostafrikanische Militärpresse im Zweiten Weltkrieg, by Katrin Bromber, reviewed by Ulrich van der Heyden, 923-24
George Marshall: Defender of the Republic, by David L. Roll, reviewed by Robert M. Utley, 924-26
The Kremlin Letters: Stalin’s Wartime Correspondence with Churchill and Roosevelt, edited by David Reynolds and Vladimir Pechatnov, reviewed by Douglas Bell, 926-28
The Third Reich’s Intelligence Services: The Career of Walter Schellenberg, by Katrin Paehler, reviewed by Michael Marino, 928-29
Churchill on the Far East in the Second World War: Hiding the History of the ‘Special Relationship, by Cat Wilson, reviewed by Brian P. Farrell, 929-30
The Battle of Leyte Gulf at 75: A Retrospective, by Thomas J. Cutler, reviewed by Hal Friedman, 930-32
Indigenous Peoples and the Second World War: The Politics, Experiences and Legacies of War in the US, Canada, Australia, and New Zealand, by R. Scott Sheffield and Noah Riseman, reviewed by Brian Drohan, 932-33
Grease Paint & Cordite: How ENSA Entertained the Troops during World War II, by Andy Merriman, reviewed by Murdock Moore, 934
The Veterans’ Tale: British Military Memoirs of the Second World War, by Frances Houghton, reviewed by Alan Allport, 935-36
The Agony of Heroes: Medical Care for America’s Besieged Legions from Bataan to Khe Sanh, by Thomas S. Helling, reviewed by Marion Dorsey, 936-37
Peace and Power in Cold War Britain: Media, Movements, and Democracy, c1945–68, by Christopher Hill, reviewed by Dan Gorman, 938-39
Beirut, 1958: How America’s Wars in the Middle East Began, by Bruce Riedel, reviewed by David M. Witty, 939-41
Kennan and the Cold War: An Unauthorized Biography, by David Felix, reviewed by Ralph M. Hitchens, 941-43
The Kennan Diaries: George F. Kennan, edited by Frank Costigliola, reviewed by Andrew Rotter, 943-44
Decolonization and the Cold War: Negotiating Independence, edited by Leslie James and Elisabeth Leake, reviewed by Geraint Hughes, 944-46
Cinema and Unconventional Warfare in the Twentieth Century: Insurgency, Terrorism and Special Operations, by Paul B. Rich, reviewed by James D. Kiras, 946-47
Uncommon Valor: The Recon Company That Earned Five Medals of Honor and Included the Most Decorated Green Beret, by Stephen L. Moore, reviewed by Marc R. Henderson, 947-49
Bait: The Battle of Kham Duc Special Forces Camp, by James D. McLeroy and Gregory W. Sanders, reviewed by James H. Willbanks, 949-51
An Army in Crisis: Social Conflict and the U.S. Army in Germany, 1968–1975, by Alexander Vazansky, reviewed by Richard S. Faulkner, 951-52
Apartheid, Guns, and Money: A Tale of Profit, by Hennie van Vouren, reviewed by Charles G. Thomas, 952-54
Relentless Strike: The Secret History of Joint Special Operations Command, by Sean Naylor, reviewed by Mark R. Jacobson, 954-55
Rough Draft: Cold War Military Manpower Policy and the Origins of the Vietnam-Era Draft Resistance, by Amy J. Rutenberg, reviewed by Tomas I. Moore, 956-57
Pussycats: Why the Rest Keeps Beating the West and What Can Be Done About It, by Martin Van Creveld, reviewed by Daniel Moran, 957-58
War and Health: The Medical Consequences of the Wars in Iraq and Afghanistan, edited by Catherine Lutz and Andrea Mazzarino, reviewed by Paul Clemans, 958-60
Signature Wounds: The Untold Story of the Military’s Mental Health Crisis, by David Kieran, reviewed by John M. Hinck, 960-61
Rebooting Clausewitz: On War in the 21st Century, by Christopher Coker, reviewed by Peter F. Coogan, 961-62
RECENT JOURNAL ARTICLES: 963-72
DOCTORAL DISSERTATIONS IN MILITARY HISTORY: 973-80
LETTERS TO THE EDITOR: 981-84
