war, armed conflict between states or nations (international war) or between factions within a state (civil war), prosecuted by force and having the purpose of compelling the defeated side to do the will of the victor. Among the causes of war are ideological, political, racial, economic, and religious conflicts. Imperialism, nationalism, and militarism have been called the dynamics of modern war. According to Karl von Clausewitz Clausewitz, Karl von (kärl fən klou`zəvĭts), 1780–1831, Prussian general and military strategist.
..... Click the link for more information. , war is a "continuation of political intercourse by other means." As such it often occurs after arbitration arbitration, international, judicial process by which international disputes, usually between states, are settled peacefully, generally through the use of a tribunal acting as a court of law. Such a tribunal may consist of an individual (e.g.
..... Click the link for more information. and mediation mediation, in law, type of intervention in which the disputing parties accept the offer of a third party to recommend a solution for their controversy. Mediation has long been a part of international law, frequently involving the use of an international commission,
..... Click the link for more information. have failed. War has been a feature of history since primitive times. In ancient states warfare was usually a community enterprise, but as society divided on a functional basis a warrior class developed, and the army army, large armed land force, under regular military control, organization, and discipline.

Ancient Armies

Although armies existed in ancient Egypt, China, India, and Assyria, Greece was the first country known for a disciplined military land force.
..... Click the link for more information. and navy navy, originally, all ships of a nation, whether for war or commerce; the term navy now designates only such vessels as are built and maintained specifically for war. There have been three major developments in naval vessels.
..... Click the link for more information. became component parts of the state. In many instances, both recent and historic, the military has ruled the state. The use of fighting forces as instruments of war became a scientific art with the development of strategy and tactics strategy and tactics, in warfare, related terms referring, respectively, to large-scale and small-scale planning to achieve military success. Strategy may be defined as the general scheme of the conduct of a war, tactics as the planning of means to achieve strategic
..... Click the link for more information. . Modern war was been even more greatly influenced by industrial development, scientific progress, and the spread of popular education; a new era of machine warfare, prosecuted by masses of troops raised by conscription conscription, compulsory enrollment of personnel for service in the armed forces. Obligatory service in the armed forces has existed since ancient times in many cultures, including the samurai in Japan, warriors in the Aztec Empire, citizen militiamen in ancient
..... Click the link for more information. , rather than by rulers and the military class alone, developed after the wars of Napoleon I. Modern total war calls for the regimentation and coordination of peoples and resources; the state is compelled to demand a surrender of private rights in order that unity of purpose may enable it to prosecute the war to a victorious conclusion. Wars are waged not only against a nation's government and armed forces but also against a nation's economic means of existence and its civilian population in order to destroy the means and will to continue the struggle. Organized efforts to end war began with the peace congresses peace congresses, multinational meetings to achieve or preserve peace and to prevent wars. Although philosophical and religious pacifism is almost as old as war itself, organized efforts to outlaw war date only from the middle of the 19th cent.
..... Click the link for more information. of the 19th cent. and culminated in the formation of the League of Nations League of Nations, former international organization, established by the peace treaties that ended World War I. Like its successor, the United Nations , its purpose was the promotion of international peace and security.
..... Click the link for more information. after World War I and the United Nations United Nations (UN), international organization established immediately after World War II. It replaced the League of Nations . In 1945, when the UN was founded, there were 51 members; 192 nations are now members of the organization (see table entitled United Nations
..... Click the link for more information. after World War II. The threat of nuclear war has created a movement for nuclear disarmament (see disarmament, nuclear disarmament, nuclear, the reduction and limitation of the various nuclear weapons in the military forces of the world's nations. The atomic bombs dropped (1945) on Japan by the United States in World War II demonstrated the overwhelming destructive potential of
..... Click the link for more information. ). During the cold war cold war, term used to describe the shifting struggle for power and prestige between the Western powers and the Communist bloc from the end of World War II until 1989.
..... Click the link for more information. the threat of nuclear retaliation has restrained the use of nuclear weapons; instead there was an arms race, a succession of regional wars, and a proliferation of guerrilla wars and counterinsurgency campaigns. The end of the cold war has made arms control a more realistic goal.

Bibliography

See studies by Q. Wright (2d ed. 1965), G. Blainey (1973), J. Keegan (1976), and V. D. Hanson (1989, 1999).

war

State of conflict, generally armed, between two or more entities. It is characterized by intentional violence on the part of large bodies of individuals organized and trained for that purpose. On the national level, some wars are fought internally between rival political factions (civil war); others are fought against an external enemy. Wars have been fought in the name of religion, in self-defense, to acquire territory or resources, and to further the political aims of the aggressor state's leadership.

WAR

(Web ARchive) A file that makes up a Java-based Web application including servlets, JSPs and other resources. A WAR file is a JAR file (a ZIPPED archive) that is designed to be decompressed to a specific directory structure for execution. WAR files can be unzipped using a PKUNZIP utility. See JAR and EAR.

War

on Poverty U.S. government program of 1960’s to aid the needy. [Am. Hist.: WB, J:120]

See : Poverty

War (redirected from Polemology)

Ancient Armies

Bibliography

war

WAR

War
(redirected from Polemology)