How Armies Grow: The Expansion of Military Forces in the Age of Total War 1789-1945 (Strohn Matthias)(Pevná vazba)

The first two decades after the end of the Cold War were characterized by governments' desires to reduce the sizes of their armed forces, not least in order to save money. Hand in hand with this general reduction went an intellectual and doctrinal re-orientation of the armies from conventional warfare to counterinsurgency operations. These trends combined had a deep impact on all armies, in particular in Europe. The geopolitical landscape and the real and perceived threats from terrorist groups allowed for such developments to take place. As a result, capabilities were lost and the current generation of army leaders has lost the ability to think in terms of large-scale, conventional military operations.

Recent changes to the geopolitical situation and current developments in Eastern Europe have resulted in a new shift of thinking. The pendulum has now swung back to large-scale,
více informací