World War I
In this terrible war leaders did not recognize the power of new weapons and new techniques and killed or maimed most of a generation of European youth in hopeless battles.
Lawrence of Arabia’s Strategy
Excerpt from The Future of Warfare, by Bevin Alexander, pages 119-21
Lawrence applied his mind to the essential strategic problem the Turks faced in Arabia [in World War I] and how the disparate, competitive tribes best could exploit this problem. He saw what the British military leadership in Cairo did not see: that the Hejaz Railway [from Damascus to Medina, Arabia] was the Achilles' Heel of the Turks and could be used against them. Read more >>
Trade Rivalry Was the Cause of World War I
Excerpt from How America Got It Right, by Bevin Alexander, pages 79-80
Until [World War I] occurred, the imperial powers of Europe—notably Britain, France, and Russia—controlled much of the world’s underdeveloped territory and most of the world’s seaborne trade. Britain was incomparably the leader. Read more >>
The Zimmermann Telegram
Excerpt from How America Got It Right, by Bevin Alexander, pages 85
On February 23, 1917, after carefully concealing the fact that Britain had broken the German diplomatic code, Foreign Secretary Arthur Balfour presented the telegram to the American ambassador in London. Read more >>
The German Schlieffen Plan of 1914
Excerpt from How Wars Are Won: The 13 Rules of War—From Ancient Greece to the War on Terror, by Bevin Alexander, pages 276 and 278-79
By the last decades of the nineteenth century, the lesson of Cannae [won by Hannibal in Italy in 216 B.C.] was directed most often not at attaining victory in one local tactical decision, but rather was used in planning strategic campaigns to achieve total victory. Read more >>
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