Military Effectiveness (Military Effectiveness 3 Volume Set) (Volume 1) 2nd Edition

If you believe, as I do, that history is important and you believe, as I sadly do, that the history of human conflict has ruled the fate of many millions of lives then the importance of this book to understanding what a nation needs to do in war to be effective should be apparent. It is the first part of a three volume study of what constitutes military effectivness commissioned by the DOD Office of Net Assessment in the early 1980s. Two professional military historians, Millet and Murray, put together an explicit framework for analysis. This framework consists of a series of questions like access to industrial and technological resources, integration with national strategy, matching of tactical capabilities to operational goals, integration of all arms and so on. These questions are asked in the strategic, operational and tactical arenas. This framework is rational and reasonable and well explained. Then a set of seven professional historians took this framework as a tool to examine the military effectiveness of Great Britain, Germany, France, Russia, Italy, Japan, and the United States. Austria-Hungary was excluded since it did not survive the war as a country and this study will follow these seven countries into the 20s, 30s and 40s.How did all this work?Very well actually. Each contribution is strong enough in its own right with intense secondary reserach in the language of the country involved. The authors are forthright and well reasoned in their opinions and conclusions but pay attention to alternate points of view.What is the take away?The first conclusion is that waging war effectively is very difficult and in 1914-18 no country really excelled. The second conclusion is that balance in capabilities between the strategic, operational and tactical arenas is the key to relative effectiveness. The third conclusion is that the the deadly game is not fair - some countries have an inherently easier task than others. The fourth conclusion is that learning in shape of diciplined and honest reflection on ongoing experience is a very important virtue. Actually, there are many other conclusions of a general nature to be drawn from this study. If you want to see the judgements of the individual countries go ahead and buy the book as a summary would likely fail to capture the complexity of the judgements involved.

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