Open Military Studies最新文献

{"title":"Redundant but fashionable. Hussars in the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth during the Polish-Saxon union","authors":"Tomasz Ciesielski","doi":"10.1515/openms-2020-0113","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1515/openms-2020-0113","url":null,"abstract":"In the XVIII century in many European countries light cavalry troops modelled upon the Hungarian hussars began being formed. Similarities included not only the specific uniforms, but also most of all the weaponry and combat usage. Without defence weaponry and equipped with rifles, pairs of pistols and sabres, they performed exploratory tasks along with actions of diversion and menacing the enemy troops. During battles participated in by the main military forces, they covered the flanks and constituted reserve troops, usually engaged into combat in critical situations or during pursuits. In the wars at the end of the XVII century and in the first half of the XVIII the hussar squadrons and companies appeared in the Austrian, French, Russian, Swedish, Danish, Dutch, Spanish and some of the German states’ armies. As for the latter, the earliest hussar troops were formed in Bavaria, in 1688; however, the hussars gained the greatest significance in the Prussian army, becoming the only light cavalry formation in the time of the Silesian wars1. They never became a part of the Saxon and the Commonwealth armies, although it was the Kingdom of Poland that was the first state, at the turn of the XV and XVI centuries, to begin implementing the Hungarian and Serbian models in creating infantry and cavalry troops. However, in Poland in the second half of the XVI this type of cavalry transformed into heavy – armoured troops named “husaria”2. It may be speculated that this similarity of names of two such different types of cavalry was the reason why the state armies of the Commonwealth did not adopt it when in Europe it came into fashion to form cavalry troops following the Hungarian or Serbian hussar models. However, it does not seem very likely, and the reason for the lack of interest in forming hussar troops in the Polish and Lithuanian armies was the fact that they already had good light cavalry troops, namely the units modelled upon Tatar and Moldovan troops. Armed with 2.4 – 3 m long lances, light firearms and sabres, occasionally with archaic bows, without","PeriodicalId":222716,"journal":{"name":"Open Military Studies","volume":"63 1","pages":"0"},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2020-01-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"124657937","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Battle of Kircholm (Salaspils) in 1605. The current state of research","authors":"Mariusz Balcerek","doi":"10.1515/openms-2020-0116","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1515/openms-2020-0116","url":null,"abstract":"Abstract Background: The article aims to present the state of research on the Battle of Kircholm (Salaspils), which took place in Livonia (now Latvia) on September 27, 1605., between the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth and Sweden. 74% of Swedes were killed, and the winners lost only 3% of their forces. It was an absolute massacre carried out by an army consisting in two-thirds of cavalry against an enemy with an advantage in infantry and artillery, which in theory is more modern. Methodology: The author has analyzed the known and unknown historiography of sources, including archaeological, epistolary, historiographic, iconographic, narrative, and normative materials. He compared the results with previous literature on the subject. Principal Findings/Results: The analysis conducted showed a brilliant tactic by the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth’s army, consisting of combining cavalry with infantry. This, along with many errors in command of the Swedish army, led to the downfall of the Scandinavians. Conclusions/Significances: The success at Kircholm saved the Polish-Lithuanian rule over the Daugava River. Unfortunately, it cemented Polish-Lithuanian nobility in the mistaken belief about the power of the army of the Republic, that without money and reforms, they began to lose advantage over opponents.","PeriodicalId":222716,"journal":{"name":"Open Military Studies","volume":"45 1","pages":"0"},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2020-01-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"115617908","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Hitler’s Downfall and the Collapse of the Thousand Years Reich: Multi Fronts and Incapable Allies","authors":"Muhammad Ali Baig","doi":"10.1515/openms-2020-0101","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1515/openms-2020-0101","url":null,"abstract":"Abstract The downfall of Adolf Hitler was a significant development in the history of the world. His armies conquered almost all of Europe in a dramatic span of time by the employment of Blitzkrieg tactics. Before the outbreak of the Second World War, Hitler assisted General Franco in the Spanish Civil War. Later, while still fighting on the Western front, Hitler ordered the Afrika Korps to assist Italians in Northern Africa and in the Balkans region and finally launched Operation Barbarossa by invading the Soviet Union. The Anti-Comintern Pact, Pact of Steel and Tripartite Pact brought the Third Reich, the Empire of Japan and the Kingdom of Italy onto one page. This paper attempts to probe the multiple fronts and the efficacy of Hitler’s allies including Japan, Italy, Romania, Hungary, Slovakia, Bulgaria, Yugoslavia and Croatia and to try and find the causes behind the downfall of one of the strongest men the world has ever seen from a theoretical perspective. This research did not intend to glorify Hitler or Nazism, but focuses on how the maximization of power and the states’ actions with hegemonic aspirations triggered a balancing coalition and ultimately resulted in punishment from the system itself.","PeriodicalId":222716,"journal":{"name":"Open Military Studies","volume":"6 1","pages":"0"},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2020-01-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"116958662","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"The success of the pike over the bow discussed through the battle of Guinegate, during which the Swiss type infantry clashed with the armies of Louis XI . Twilight of the English military system","authors":"M. Krasoń","doi":"10.1515/openms-2020-0100","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1515/openms-2020-0100","url":null,"abstract":"The success of the pike over the bow, which has had a far-reaching impact on the French art of war and the creation of landsknechts infantry, de facto resulted in the collapse of the English military system on continental Europe. The battle that had finally brought upon those changes, was a clash near a village named Guinegate (Enguinegate today), that took place in 1479. The growth of the economy related to the strong monetary position of western Europe that began at the end of the 13th century led to a significant enrichment of cities and their inhabitants. The town militias had more competent and better-equipped recruits, who could afford expensive arms and armour. European leaders, thanks to the power of multiplier money, began to invest in professional military forces like mercenaries in ever larger quantities.1 We could say that the incentive behind serving in an army changed to a financial one, which is contrary to the traditional understanding of duty. The power of the armed forces became based on their training level and discipline, which resulted in a significant portion of the knighthood elite and their traditions stepping on ever thinner ice. In the time of the well-armed, trained and tactically used infantry, the place for romantic courage was starting to shrink dramatically. While the English knights had experienced relatively gently the power of the dense troops of the Scottish highlanders that were heroically resisting attacks of heavy cavalry, like for example during the Battle of Falkirk (1298), the French chivalry had, in turn, suffered the most severe consequences of their own reckless and chaotic decisions. It became obvious very quickly that a reckless use of heavy cavalry masses, who due to their elitism would overcome every obstacle to defeat their enemy, was an approach doomed to failure. Even the best warhorses and armaments could not ensure the knighthood a victory over appropriately equipped, well-arrayed and well-commanded plebeians. The main purpose of this article is to present a synthetic outline of the battle of Guinegate, and to prove the value of this battle in the further progress of western European art of war, underestimated in current publications. In the author’s opinion, the fields of Guinegate verified the medieval, western European art of war and became the basis for the later changes. They were also a decisive clash in the history of warfare between the two conceptions of infantry armament, during which the Swiss pike emerged as a more effective weapon than the English longbow. The Swiss infantry, who fought lightly armed while holding powerful polearms appeared in the 14th century as an unstoppable force. They were usually poor peasants, working in forests or fields with very difficult lives, and war for them was a risky but lucrative way to improve their living conditions. Then they","PeriodicalId":222716,"journal":{"name":"Open Military Studies","volume":"9 1","pages":"0"},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2020-01-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"129406772","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"“How can we free ourselves from this despotic Moscow oppression?” The attitude of Poznan and Kalisz voivodeships noblemen towards the Russian army actions in the years 1758-1759. Contribution to the history of the Seven Years’ War","authors":"Grzegorz Glabisz","doi":"10.1515/openms-2020-0111","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1515/openms-2020-0111","url":null,"abstract":"Abstract The aim of the text is to show the attitude of the nobility from the Poznan and Kalisz provinces in the years 1758-1759 during the Seven Years’ War. This area, despite the neutrality of the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth, became a place of Prussian-Russian fighting. The article is a contribution to reflection on the functioning of the political elites and state structures of the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth.","PeriodicalId":222716,"journal":{"name":"Open Military Studies","volume":"22 1","pages":"0"},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2020-01-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"116582570","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Stanislaviv in the face of the Polish-Soviet War 1939 Polish Garrison – Soviet Garrison","authors":"Maciej Franz","doi":"10.1515/openms-2020-0107","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1515/openms-2020-0107","url":null,"abstract":"Abstract In 1921-1939 Stanyslaviv was one the bigger polish garrisons. The approach of the war the reason for leaving the town by polish troops. In September of 1939 the garrison in Stanyslaviv was rather small, consisting of small logistic units. Until now the historians have been interested in the face of this particular garrison in those few September days of 1939th. This is an attempt to showcase the most important events that happened while the polish troops were stationed in town and were still trying to provide peace and safety it and its people.","PeriodicalId":222716,"journal":{"name":"Open Military Studies","volume":"59 1","pages":"0"},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2020-01-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"123814406","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Kildare rebellion (1534-1535) in the Annals of the Four Masters","authors":"Marcin Böhm","doi":"10.1515/openms-2020-0103","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1515/openms-2020-0103","url":null,"abstract":"Abstract One of the most important Irish historical sources, which are the Annals of the Four Masters, written in the modern period, provide us with unusually valuable information about the history of the Emerald Island. In addition to data from the ancient or medieval periods, it also contains material from the difficult 16th and 17th centuries for Ireland, when it came under the yoke of English Protestants, who were initially represented by the Tudors and then by the Stuart dynasty. The Annals of the Four Masters also witnesses the resistance of the Irish, both those from Hiberno Normans and Gaelic Irish, to the demands of new authorities, including the rejection of Catholicism and total submission to the power of the kings of England. One such attempt, although unsuccessful, was the Kildare rebellion undertaken by Silken Thomas Earl of Kildare in the late 1630s. The laconic nature of Annales’ accounts, as well as the omission by this source of many important data, makes it an auxiliary material related to military history in the case of the Kildare rebellion. This is interesting because, in the context of later revolts that broke out in Ireland against the authority of the Tudors or Stuarts, in the era of further conquest of the island, this source is very valuable research material in this field.","PeriodicalId":222716,"journal":{"name":"Open Military Studies","volume":"21 1","pages":"0"},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2020-01-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"132792142","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Melian dialogue syndrome in the Indian Ocean: A critical appraisal of Sri Lanka’s “small state dilemma” in the context of Indo-Sino rivalry","authors":"P. Amarasinghe","doi":"10.1515/openms-2020-0109","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1515/openms-2020-0109","url":null,"abstract":"Abstract Sri Lanka’s foreign secretary’s statement indicating that Colombo would adopt “ India First” foreign policy appears to be a much-consoling phrase for the Indian diplomats. It is a fact beyond any dispute that New Delhi felt anxious about Sri Lanka’s extensive hobnobbing with China for years that has finally seen massive Chinese presence in the island nation. Given Sri Lanka’s strategic location in the Indian ocean as a crucial hub in the Indian ocean governance, Colombo’s relations with Beijing have always created a tense situation in India. However, the newly elected president of Sri Lanka Gotabaya Rajapaksa and his government’s novel approach to profess their foreign policy as India cantered doctrine raises some perplexity with the realpolitik caught by Sri Lanka. This paper seeks to examine the asymmetrical relationship that existed between Indian and Sri Lanka after the independence of both nations, wherein New Delhi used different means to carve Sri Lanka’s external relations for the best interests of India. Furthermore, this paper analyses the unequal position Sri Lanka has been facing as a small nation located near a ricing global power and how Sri Lanka struggles to balance both India and China in their rivalry in the Indian Ocean. The results emerge from this paper will reveal the impossibility of upholding neutrality for a small state before complex geopolitical power struggles.","PeriodicalId":222716,"journal":{"name":"Open Military Studies","volume":"26 1","pages":"0"},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2020-01-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"127770143","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}