Conventional warfare is a form of warfare conducted by using conventional military weapons and battlefield tactics between two or more states in open confrontation. The forces on each side are well-defined, and fight using weapons that primarily target the opposing army. It is normally fought using conventional weapons, not chemical, biological, or nuclear weapons. Many of the authors that served in various real-life wars (and survived) wrote stories that are at least somewhat based on their own experiences. ... This is a partial list of battles that have entries in Wikipedia. ... This is a list of civil wars. ... . ... This is a list of both successful and repelled international invasions ordered by date. ... This is a list of missions, operations, and projects. ... The 1453 Siege of Constantinople (painted 1499) A siege is a prolonged military assault and blockade on a city or fortress with the intent of conquering by force or attrition. ... This page contains a list of military raids, not including air raids, sorted by the date at which they started: 1259 Mongol raid into Lithuania 1565, August 26th Chaseabout Raid 1575, July 7th Raid of the Redeswire 1582, August 27th Raid of Ruthven 1667, June 6th Raid on the Medway... This page contains a list of military tactics: // Identification of objectives Concentration of effort Exploiting prevailing weather Exploiting night Maintenance of reserve forces Economy of force Force protection Force dispersal Military Camouflage Deception Perfidy False flag Electronic countermeasures Electronic counter-counter-measures Radio silence Fortification Fieldworks (entrenchments) Over Head Protection... See also list of military writers. ... This is a list of lists of wars, sorted by country, date, region, and type of conflict. ... This list is incomplete; you can help by expanding it. ... . ... There are a bewildering array of weapons, far more than would be useful in list form. ... This is a list of military writers, alphabetical by last name. ... Look up war in Wiktionary, the free dictionary. ... A conventional weapon is a weapon that does not incorporate chemical, biological or nuclear payloads. ... Chemical warfare is warfare (and associated military operations) using the toxic properties of chemical substances to kill, injure or incapacitate an enemy. ... For the use of biological agents by terrorists, see bioterrorism. ... The mushroom cloud of the atomic bombing of Nagasaki, Japan, 1945, rose some 18 kilometers (11 mi) above the hypocenter. ...

The general purpose of conventional warfare is to weaken or destroy the opponent's military force, thereby negating its ability to engage in conventional warfare. In forcing capitulation, however, one or both sides may eventually resort to unconventional warfare tactics. Unconventional warfare (UW) is the opposite of conventional warfare. ...

History

Formation of the state

The state was first advocated by Plato, then found more acceptance in the consolidation of power under the Roman Catholic Church. European monarchs then gained power as the Catholic Church was stripped of temporal power and was replaced by the divine right of kings. In 1648, the powers of Europe signed the Treaty of Westphalia which ended the religious violence for purely political governance and outlook, signifying the birth of the modern 'state'. A state is a set of institutions that possess the authority to make the rules that govern the people in one or more societies, having internal and external sovereignty over a definite territory. ... For other uses, see Plato (disambiguation). ... The Roman Catholic Church or Catholic Church (see terminology below) is the Christian Church in full communion with the Bishop of Rome, currently Pope Benedict XVI. It traces its origins to the original Christian community founded by Jesus Christ and led by the Twelve Apostles, in particular Saint Peter. ... The Divine Right of Kings is a European political and religious doctrine of political absolutism. ... 1648 (MDCXLVIII) was a leap year starting on Wednesday (see link for calendar) of the Gregorian calendar (or a leap year starting on Saturday of the 10-day slower Julian calendar). ... This article is 150 kilobytes or more in size. ... The Ratification of the Treaty of Münster by Gerard Terborch (1648) The Peace of Westphalia, also known as the treaties of Münster and Osnabrück, is the series of treaties that ended the Thirty Years War and officially recognized the United Provinces and Swiss Confederation. ...

Within this statist paradigm, only the state and its appointed representatives were allowed to bear arms and enter into war. In fact, war was only understood as a conflict between sovereign states. Kings strengthened this idea and gave it the force of law. Whereas previously any noble could start a war, the monarchs of Europe of necessity consolidated military power in response to the Napoleonic war. The bayonet is used as both knife and spear. ... Look up monarch in Wiktionary, the free dictionary. ... Lady Justice is a personification of the law. ... Nobility is a traditional hereditary status (see hereditary titles) that exists today in many countries (mainly present or former monarchies). ... The Napoleonic Wars lasted from 1804 until 1815. ...

The Clausewitzian paradigm

Prussia was one country attempting to amass military power. Karl von Clausewitz, one of Prussia's officers, wrote On War, a work rooted solely in the world of the state. All other forms of intrastate conflict, such as rebellion, are not accounted for because, in theoretical terms, Clausewitz could not account for warfare before the state. Practices such as raiding or blood feuds were then labeled criminal activities and stripped of legitimacy. This war paradigm reflected the view of most of the modernized world at the beginning of the 21st century, as verified by examination of the conventional armies of the time: large, high maintenance, technologically advanced armies designed to compete against similarly designed forces. Carl Philipp Gottfried von Clausewitz (June 1, 1780 – November 16, 1831) was a Prussian soldier, military historian and influential military theorist. ... Motto: Suum cuique Latin: To each his own Prussia at its peak, as leading state of the German Empire Capital Königsberg, later Berlin Political structure Duchy, Kingdom, Republic Duke1  - 1525–68 Albert I  - 1688–1701 Frederick III King1  - 1701–13 Frederick I  - 1888–1918 William II Prime Minister1,2... This article is about the famous treatise on military strategy by the German military philosopher Carl von Clausewitz; for the controversial manga series, see Neo Gomanism Manifesto Special - On War. ... Look up rebellion in Wiktionary, the free dictionary. ... The 21st century is the present century of the Anno Domini (common) era, in accordance with the Gregorian calendar. ...

Clausewitz also forwarded the issue of casus belli. While previous wars were fought for social, religious, even cultural reasons, Clausewitz taught that war is merely "a continuation of politics by other means." It is a rational calculation where states fight for their interests (whether they are economic, security related, or otherwise) once normal discourse has broken down. Casus belli is a modern Latin language expression meaning the justification for acts of war. ...

Prevalence

The overwhelming majority of modern wars have been conducted using the means of conventional warfare. Biological warfare has not been used since the 19th century (though it is possible that the 2001 anthrax attacks in the United States were bioterrorism), and chemical warfare has been used only a few times. Nuclear warfare has only occurred once with the United States bombing the Japanese cities of Hiroshima and Nagasaki to end World War II. Alternative meaning: Nineteenth Century (periodical) (18th century — 19th century — 20th century — more centuries) As a means of recording the passage of time, the 19th century was that century which lasted from 1801-1900 in the sense of the Gregorian calendar. ... The 2001 anthrax attacks in the United States, also known as Amerithrax from its FBI case name, occurred over the course of several weeks beginning on September 18, 2001 (a week after the September 11, 2001 attacks). ... Bioterrorism is terrorism using germ warfare, an intentional human release of a naturally-occurring or human-modified toxin or biological agent. ... The mushroom cloud of the atomic bombing of Nagasaki, Japan, 1945, rose some 18 kilometers (11 mi) above the hypocenter. ... The Fat Man mushroom cloud resulting from the nuclear explosion over Nagasaki rises 18 km (11 mi, 60,000 ft) into the air from the hypocenter. ... For other uses, see Hiroshima (disambiguation). ... Nagasaki (Japanese: 長崎市, Nagasaki-shi  , long peninsula) is the capital and the largest city of Nagasaki Prefecture in Japan. ... Combatants Allied powers: China France Great Britain Soviet Union United States and others Axis powers: Germany Italy Japan and others Commanders Chiang Kai-shek Charles de Gaulle Winston Churchill Joseph Stalin Franklin Roosevelt Adolf Hitler Benito Mussolini Hideki Tōjō Casualties Military dead: 17,000,000 Civilian dead: 33,000...

Decline

The state and Clausewitzian principles peaked in the World Wars of the 20th century, but also laid the groundwork for their dilapidation due to nuclear proliferation and the manifestation of culturally aligned conflict. The nuclear bomb was the result of the state perfecting its quest to overthrow its competitive duplicates. Ironically, this development seems to have pushed conventional conflict waged by the state to the sidelines. Were two conventional armies to fight, the loser would have redress in its nuclear arsenal. Thus, no two nuclear powers have yet fought a conventional war, albeit in 1999 India and Pakistan came close to one in the Kargil War. Though bording on an allout war and an extended battlezone, it almost saw Pakistan deploying its nuclear arsenal in case of loss. A world war is a war affecting the majority of the worlds major nations. ... World map with nuclear weapons development status represented by color. ... There are currently five nations considered to be nuclear weapons nations, an internationally recognized status conferred by the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty (NPT). ... 1999 (MCMXCIX) was a common year starting on Friday, and was designated the International Year of Older Persons by the United Nations. ... Combatants India Pakistan, Kashmiri secessionists Strength 30,000 5,000 Casualties Indian Official Figures: 527 killed,[1][2][3] 1,363 wounded[4] 1 POW Pakistani Estimates: 357–4,000+ killed[5][6] (Pakistan troops) 665+ soldiers wounded[5] 8 POWs. ...

Replacement

Conventional warfare, waged by the state, has become something not worthy of a declaration of war. Instead, those capable of fighting underneath the nuclear umbrella (supranational terrorists, corporate mercenaries, ethnic militias, etc.) have now come to dominate the majority of conflict in the post-modern era. These conflicts cannot be explained under the statist system. Terrorist redirects here. ... Mercenary (disambiguation). ... Lexington Minuteman representing militia minuteman John Parker Militia is the activity of one or more citizens organized to provide defense or paramilitary service, or those engaged in such activity. ... Postmodernism (sometimes abbreviated pomo) is a term applied to a wide-ranging set of developments in critical theory, philosophy, architecture, art, literature, and culture, which are generally characterized as either emerging from, in reaction to, or superseding, modernism. ...

Samuel Huntington has posited that the world in the early 21st century exists as a system of nine distinct "civilizations," instead of many sovereign states. These civilizations are delineated along cultural lines, e.g. Western, Islamic, Sinic, Hindu etc. In this way, cultures that have long been dominated by the West are reasserting themselves and looking to challenge the status quo. Thus, culture has replaced the state as the locus of war. This kind of civilizational war, in our time as in times long past, occurs where these cultures buffet up against one another. Some high-profile examples are the Pakistan/India conflict or the battles in the Sudan. This sort of war has defined the field since World War II. Samuel Phillips Huntington (born April 18, 1927) is a controversial conservative US political scientist known for his analysis of the relationship between the military and the civil government, his investigation of coups detat, his thesis that the central political actors of the 21st century will be civilizations rather than... Islam (Arabic:  ) is a monotheistic religion based upon the teachings of Muhammad, a 7th century Arab religious and political figure. ... This article discusses the adherents of Hinduism. ... Culture (from the [[Latin)) cultura stemming from colere, meaning to cultivate), generally refers to patterns of human activity and the symbolic structures that give such activity significance. ...

These cultural forces will not contend with state-based armies in the traditional way. When faced with battalions of tanks, jets, and missiles, the cultural opponent dissolves away into the population. They benefit from the territorially constrained states, being able to move freely from one country to the next, while states must negotiate with other sovereign states. The state's spy networks are also severely limited by cultural factors.

External links

• Changing Nature of Warfare. National Intelligence Council (2004). Retrieved on January 30, 2006.
• Stathis Kalyvas (2003). The Sociology of Civil Wars: Warfare and Armed Groups. Armed Groups Project. Retrieved on January 30, 2006.