The Aftermath of defeat : societies, armed forces, and the challenge of recovery

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Title:

Author:

Andreopoulos, George J.

ISBN:

9780300058536

Publication Information:

New Haven : Yale University Press, c1994.

Physical Description:

vii, 195 p. ; 22 cm.

Contents:

Introduction: Assessing Recovery / George J. Andreopoulos and Harold E. Selesky -- 1. The Royal Navy's Recovery after the Early Phase of the American Revolutionary War / R. J. B. Knight -- 2. The Recovery of Prussia after Jena / Peter Paret -- 3. Britain and the Boer War / John Gooch -- 4. Caporetto: Causes, Recovery, and Consequences / Brian R. Sullivan -- 5. From Politiques en Kepi to Military Technocrats: De Gaulle and the Recovery of the French Army after Indochina and Algeria / Martin S. Alexander and Philip C. F. Bankwitz -- 6. Defeats and Recoveries in the Arab-Israeli Wars of 1967 and 1973 / Amos Perlmutter -- 7. Recovery from Defeat: The U.S Army and Vietnam / Andrew F. Krepinevich, Jr. -- 8. China's Recovery from Defeat in 1979 / Gerald Segal.

Subject Term:

Combat.

War and society.

Military policy.

Added Author:

Andreopoulos, George J.

Selesky, Harold E.

Copies:

Available:*

Library	Material Type	Item Barcode	Shelf Number	Copy	Status
Searching... 1:IIEMSA	1:GEN-BOOK	33168025464690	355.028 A559A 1994	1	Searching... Unknown

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Summary

When a country is defeated in war, not only are the policies, strategies, and goals of the military affected, but those of society as well. In this book experts in military history examine conflicts ranging from the American Revolution to the Arab-Israeli wars of 1967 and 1973 and to China's invasion of Vietnam in 1979 to show how the trauma of defeat also affects the evolution of society.

The authors argue that recovery from defeat must be assessed on the level of grand strategy, that ultimate responsibility for recovery rests on the capacity of a nation's top political and military leaders to use their society's resources in order to master the challenges confronting them. Sometimes a nation can rebound from defeat simply by re-forming or reorganizing the military services and the branches of government involved in military decisions. At other times military defeat can have a greater impact on society, leading to the consolidation of the status quo, the disruption of the traditional social order, or increased civilian control over the military. In any case, the leadership's viability often hinges on its ability to detect the inevitable pressures for reform that follow military defeat and to harness them accordingly.