Lecture 1: Lecture 1: What Makes a Battle Decisive?

What Makes a Battle Decisive? ..........................................................

Lecture 1

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economic trends, demographic shifts—but one of the most

frequent and dramatic is warfare. One obvious explanation for

the widespread existence of war throughout human history is its potential

for causing rapid change, and within warfare, the most concentrated form

of change is individual battles. It is this potential to rapidly alter the status

quo and initiate dramatic shifts in fortune or dominance that causes battles to

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to examine some of the key battles that, for one reason or another, have

signaled fundamental shifts in the direction of events.

When Is a “Decisive Battle” Not?

x On July 20, 1866, just off the coast of modern Croatia, Admiral

Wilhelm von Tegetthoff led an Austrian naval squadron against an

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Undeterred, Tegetthoff arranged his ships into an arrowhead

formation and boldly drove them straight at the long, menacing

line of Italian warships. This confrontation, which would be known

as the Battle of Lissa, had all the makings of one of the decisive

battles in history:

o Its immediate outcome would determine the fate of the city

of Venice.

o It would decide who would control the Mediterranean Sea.

o It was part of a larger confrontation between two grand

coalitions of nations.

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between large numbers of ironclads, a potent new form of

naval vessel that promised to instantly render all previous

wooden warships obsolete.