Operational Art: from Napoleon Bonaparte to John Warden

Abstract

War forged the world, as a blacksmith working iron. Throughout human history, and still today, men have been waging battles in ways that have changed over time, but skill and power have always been, and still are, essential elements. Early in time, theorists have tried to rationalize war. Some failed in doing so and were obliterated by time, but others succeeded and became known and revered still today. Besides their theories, it is also in the study of campaigns and wars from the past that lays the possibility to learn for the future. Whether by influence of the epoch, context, or leader, armies have always had a tendency to operate according to certain principles and showed evident personality or characteristics.