Warfare, past and present.
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A basic element of combined arms is their simultaneous offensive and defensive function. Hitting an objective in several ways increases the odds of success, while making it harder for the enemy to hit vulnerable troops at the point of attack—an overwhelming pulse of combat power. 
Saltpeter provides the oxygen for rapid combustion, giving gunpowder its bang. Early formulas were more fast-burning incendiaries than explosives, with pitch or oil mixed in, until the optimal ratio was discovered: 75% saltpeter, 15% charcoal, 10% sulfur
The first two years of the War of 1812 overturned expectations: on land, the American invasion of Canada made no headway, but at sea her privateers & frigates had great success—the Napoleonic Wars were raging, and the Royal Navy could not spare the effort.
Sweden's disadvantages were partly offset by some critical natural resources. Much of the crown’s revenues came from raw material exports: iron, timber, naval stores, and above all copper.
Andrade takes seriously the hypothesis that endemic warfare among semi-stable states is what drove European military advances, and applies that model to China.
Both sides used mounted units extensively for scouting, a complement to aerial reconnaissance—it was Turkish cavalry that spotted the Greek flanking maneuver at the Sakarya, allowing them to reposition forces in time for the battle. 
In the months after Hattin, Saladin exploited his victory by sweeping up the towns and castles of the Kingdom, including Jerusalem itself.
The WSS was fought by two blocs:
1. The Franco-Dutch War (1672-78) & War of the Polish Succession (1733-35)
In the American market, the two most popular topics by far are WWII and the Civil War. The reasons are obvious: the scale, personal connection, US involvement, etc. But there's another reason they continue to draw more scholarly and professional military attention...
Every Venetian army was accompanied by two officers called provveditori. This is sometimes translated as “commissioner” or “commissary”, as they oversaw army administration of the army. But they also had a political and strategic role.
Francesco Maria della Rovere, Duke of Urbino and an experienced condottiere, had just been contracted as captain-general of the Republic’s armies. While he was in Venice that spring to celebrate his confirmation, he was asked about the military situation in Europe. 
A funny confusion you sometimes see around the phrase “war as an extension of politics” is when people think “politics” refers to domestic elections, not statecraft.
Leggiere’s argument is that Napoleon became fixated on an initial “master plan” for the campaign, and continued to pursue it long after the situation changed, detracting from his usual strategy of directly targeting the main enemy army.
On 25 June 1950, ten infantry divisions and an armored division of the Korean People’s Army crossed the 38th Parallel. They quickly overwhelmed the unprepared South Koreans and drove south. The US 21st Division, sent over from Japan, was overrun in the first weeks of July. 
The Rappahannock runs 300 km through northern Virginia, flowing past Fredericksburg midway between Washington and Richmond. Although not especially wide, it has a few features that made it a natural military frontier between North and South. 
If grand strategy is the use of a country’s resources to protect & further its interests, who defines its interests? Even *formulating* grand strategy involves political wrangling—much easier in a small state where everyone’s livelihood depends on the sea.
In the Napoleonic era, a divisional or corps staff was never more than a dozen soldiers, whereas today it’s pushing toward a thousand for formations of about the same size. Part of a general trend in tooth-to-tail ratios. 
The North Africa campaign of WWII is the much more famous of these. It saw the exploits of three of the most famous commanders of the war—Rommel, Montgomery, and Patton—as well as some of the most dramatic back-and-forths. But what were Axis objectives there? 
