Imagining Future War: The West's Technological Revolution and Visions of Wars to Come, 1880-1914

by Echevarria, Antulio J., II

• ISBN13: 9780275987251
• ISBN10: 0275987256
• Format: Hardcover
• Copyright: 2007-04-30
• Publisher: Greenwood Pub Group

Summary

Rapid and momentous technological changes at the turn of the 20th century forced military professionals and educated civilians to envision the future of war and warfare, especially during an age where nations found themselves aggressively competing for dominance on the world stage. Antulio J. Echevarria II offers a comparative study of these predictions to assess who "got it right" and why. He concludes that professionals were particularly adept at predicting the warfare of the immediate future by framing their discussions in terms of solving tactical problems, but they were much less successful at thinking of the long-term. Unburdened by the necessity of strategic problem-solving, educated amateurs were allowed more flexibility to imagine the long-term future of warfare, and, at times, proved to be remarkably accurate.

Author Biography

Antulio J. Echevarria is Director of Research at the Army War College and the former director of National Security Affairs at the Strategic Studies Institute.

Table of Contents

Series Foreword	p. ix
Introduction	p. xiii
The Times	p. 1
The Future Then	p. 13
War Before the Great War	p. 27
War and the Future	p. 41
Wars on Land	p. 57
Wars at Sea	p. 69
Wars in the Air	p. 81
Conclusion	p. 95
Notes	p. 101
Index	p. 115
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