OPINION Vol.1, No.1 June 2013 - National Defence University

EVOLUTION OF OPERATIONAL ART (1910 TO 1989)
‘Wage war offensively, like Alexander (the Great), Hannibal, Caesar, Prince Eugene and
Frederick (the Great); read and re-read the history of their campaigns and model yourself on them; as it is
the only way to become a Great Captain and to master the secrets of the art’.
Introduction
(Napoleon Bonaparte)
There was a time when Kings used to lead their armies in the field and the connection of the battle
front with the political strategist was most immediate and intimate. In that era of “Single Point
Application,” the relationship between tactics and statecraft was most intimate. However, on emergence of
modern states, their armies also grew with them, which increasingly removed the army actions from the
direct orders of the King and the same connection became unacceptably stretched. It was at this juncture in
the history of warfare that the idea of ‘campaign’ evolved to reduce this widening gap. The campaigns
fought through an independent commander became a necessity for achieving desired war objectives. Thus
the need arose to re-connect the tactical actions to the political purposes of war and a new concept started
to evolve, which we now call the operational art of war.
The term “Operational Art” thus generally refers to the practice of military commanders and their
staff for achieving operational success.
As Sun-Tzu explains, there are no formulas for successful practice of the art of war. Instead, one must
create or seize the favourable situation in circumstances and in relation to the opponent at the time,
allocating objectives to subordinates accordingly. The recognition or creation of this favourable situation is
the expression of operational art 1 .
According to General Sir Rupert Smith:
“The theatre director conducts his command of all forces, agencies and resources in a
scheme of orchestrated actions of his design to produce the strategic goal. The artfulness of his
design and the skill as a conductor are measured: first, by success in the face of the opponent;
second, by achieving the strategic goal; and third, in the economy of resource in achievement”.
As the character of war changes from total wars of the past to non-kinetic display of smart power
in the present, the armies are mostly found fighting opponents amongst the people. The tactical battles are
being won without any significant resistance, but; most ironically, such big armies (of multi-national
composition) are still ending up losing the war at the strategic plane. It is thus quite essential to study the
evolutionary process of operational art. So in this paper, an endeavour has been made, to start from the
Great Wars with focus on German, Soviet, US, UK and Chinese application of operational art and take the
reader through the 20 th century.
Aim
To analyze the evolution of operational art in the period from 1910 to 1989, with a view to draw
pertinent conclusions.
Scope
The paper will encompass following aspects:-
Historical Perspective.
The Two Great Wars (Period from 1910 to 1945).
The Cold War Era (1946 to 1975).
The Beginning of the End (of Cold War) - 1976 to 1989.
Historical Perspective
Relevant Conclusions.
To set the stage for subsequent evolutionary analysis, let’s first observe the origin of operational
warfare and practical manifestation of operational art in the 19 th century.
OPINION Vol.1 No.1 114 June 2013