We talk a lot about war here. Tangentially, we've mentioned what this or that war was supposed to accomplish (see the WWI thread). It made me stop and think a bit (curious phrase; why don't we *go* and think?).
Have wars always had specific aims? I immediately go to pre-modern wars, in part because I'm a medievalist, but also because I know that war, like almost everything else, changed profoundly after the Dual Revolution (Industrial and French). I look to the pre-modern age for exceptions.
But the first war that sprang to mind was the First Crusade, which had fairly specific aims: the liberation of the Holy Sepulchre and the protection of sacred places in the Holy Land. We can argue endlessly about "real" motives, but those war aims were stated explicitly.
So, too, with the Hundred Years War. The King of England claimed he was also the King of France. Pretty straightforward.
But go digging around and things get murkier. What were the goals of the War of the Eight Saints? How about the Sicilian Vespers? Charlemagne's second expedition against the Saxons? How about the endless fighting along the Welsh border or between the Danes and Frisians?
I'll let others chime in here, but I *think* there may be a sea change I can spot. Speaking very generally, pre-modern war aims were mainly aggressive. I want that bit of land over there, I want to exert my authority there, or lay claim to a title. Modern wars are almost always couched in defensive terms. It's to save something, preserve something, prevent something.
OK, have at it.
Have wars always had specific aims? I immediately go to pre-modern wars, in part because I'm a medievalist, but also because I know that war, like almost everything else, changed profoundly after the Dual Revolution (Industrial and French). I look to the pre-modern age for exceptions.
But the first war that sprang to mind was the First Crusade, which had fairly specific aims: the liberation of the Holy Sepulchre and the protection of sacred places in the Holy Land. We can argue endlessly about "real" motives, but those war aims were stated explicitly.
So, too, with the Hundred Years War. The King of England claimed he was also the King of France. Pretty straightforward.
But go digging around and things get murkier. What were the goals of the War of the Eight Saints? How about the Sicilian Vespers? Charlemagne's second expedition against the Saxons? How about the endless fighting along the Welsh border or between the Danes and Frisians?
I'll let others chime in here, but I *think* there may be a sea change I can spot. Speaking very generally, pre-modern war aims were mainly aggressive. I want that bit of land over there, I want to exert my authority there, or lay claim to a title. Modern wars are almost always couched in defensive terms. It's to save something, preserve something, prevent something.
OK, have at it.