Topic: Military History / 20th Century

 
A History of Modern Wars of Attrition
Carter Malkasian
978-1-57356-885-2

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A History of Modern Wars of Attrition

Carter Malkasian Carter Malkasian

January 2002

Praeger

Series: Studies in Military History and International Affairs

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Pages
Volumes
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Hardcover
256
1
6 1/8x9 1/4
 
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eISBN
978-0-275-97379-7
978-1-57356-885-2
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$98.95

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Details the utility and the drawbacks of attrition as a strategy.

A war of attrition is usually conceptualized as a bloody slogging match, epitomized by imagery of futile frontal assaults on the Western Front of the First World War. As such, many academics, politicians, and military officers currently consider attrition to be a wholly undesirable method of warfare. This first book-length study of wars of attrition challenges this viewpoint. A historical analysis of the strategic thought behind attrition demonstrates that it was often implemented to conserve casualties, not to engage in a bloody senseless assault. Moreover, attrition frequently proved an effective means of attaining a state's political aims in warfare, particularly in serving as a preliminary to decisive warfare, reducing risk of escalation, and coercing an opponent in negotiations.

Malkasian analyzes the thought of commanders who implemented policies of attrition from 1789 to the present. His study includes figures central to the study of war, such as the Duke of Wellington, Carl von Clausewitz, B. H. Liddell Hart, General William Slim, General Douglas MacArthur, General Matthew Ridgeway, and General William Westmoreland. While special attention is devoted to the Second World War in the Pacific and the Korean War, this study notes the utility of attrition during the Cold War, as the risk of a Third World War rendered more aggressive strategies unattractive. Increasingly, the United States finds itself facing conflicts that are not amenable to a decisive military solution in which opponents seek prolonged war that will inflict as many casualties as possible on American forces.
The Straw Man of Attrition
Attrition and the Advent of Total War
Seasons in the Abyss
The Kokoda Trail
Undertow
The Burma Campaign
New Roots, Korea 1950-1951
Coercing Communist Concessions
Losing Momentum
Attrition after Korea
Attrition as an Operational Strategy
Bibliography
Index
Reviews
^I A History of Modern Wars of Attririon is an excellent boo, largely because it gives attrition its due time in the sun. Attrition is usually thought of as evil twin of maneuver warfare;most references to attrition operations paint them as the first choice of the incmpetent and the last refuge of the brilliant. As such, Malkasian's wellresearched book brings welcome balance to the debate....[t]his is a thought-provoking book and worth a read.—The International History Review

Carter Malkasian has produced an important contribution to military theory in this study of attrition warfare.—The Journal of Military History





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