Civilians in the Path of War

by Grimsley, Mark; Rogers, Clifford J.

• ISBN13: 9780803221826
• ISBN10: 0803221827
• Format: Hardcover
• Copyright: 2002-04-01
• Publisher: Univ of Nebraska Pr

Summary

"War," wrote Gen. William T. Sherman, "is cruelty, and you cannot refine it." Throughout history, noncombatants have always been among the victims of war's violence. In this book, nine distinguished historians examine twenty-five hundred years of human conflicts and their varied impacts on civilian society. Each case study examines not only what military forces did to noncombatants in the area of their operations, but why they did it and how they justified their actions. The focus, however, remains firmly on the practical realities of war, not on normative theories or the prescriptions of the "laws of war." The patterns that emerge from the nine case studies are not simple ones. Some of the same factors and pressures appear again and again, though the balance among them and the ultimate outcome vary greatly. We see how often devastation has served as a tool of coercive diplomacy, but also how logistic considerations have greatly affected the calculus of pillage versus restraint. The importance of precedent, of culture, of ideology or morality, and of morale become clear. This book addresses crucial issues in an era in which historians have come to appreciate that a full understanding of war must address its victims as well as its victors, and when policymakers are perhaps more concerned than ever with minimizing the impact of war on civilian society.

Author Biography

Mark Grimsley is an associate professor of history at Ohio State University. He is the author of The Hard Hand of War: Union Military Policy toward Southern Civilians, 1861–1865 and coauthor of The Collapse of the Confederacy (Nebraska 2001). Clifford J. Rogers is an associate professor of history at the United States Military Academy. He is the author of War Cruel and Sharp: English Strategy under Edward III, 1327–1360 and editor of The Military Revolution Debate: Reading on the Military Transformation of Early Modern Europe.

Table of Contents

List of Maps	vi
Acknowledgments	vii
Introduction	ix
Mark Grimsley
Clifford J. Rogers
Justice and Necessity: The Conduct of the Spartans and the Athenians in the Peloponnesian War	1	(32)
Paul A. Rahe
By Fire and Sword: Bellum Hostile and ``Civilians'' in the Hundred Years' War	33	(46)
Clifford J. Rogers
A Brutal Necessity? The Devastation of the Palatinate, 1688--1689	79	(32)
John A. Lynn
Liberation or Occupation? Theory and Practice in the French Revolutionaries' Treatment of Civilians outside France	111	(26)
T. C. W. Blanning
``Rebels'' and ``Redskins'': U.S. Military Conduct toward White Southerners and Native Americans in Comparative Perspective	137	(26)
Mark Grimsley
The Immorality of Expediency: The German Military from Ludendorff to Hitler	163	(28)
Holger H. Herwig
Yeline: A Case Study in the Partisan War, 1942	191	(28)
Truman O. Anderson
``Contrary to Our National Ideals'': American Strategic Bombing of Civilians in World War II	219	(32)
Conrad C. Crane
Not Enough Collateral Damage: Moral Ambiguities in the Gulf War	251	(20)
Williamson Murray
List of Contributors	271	(2)
Index	273