Harvest of Mars: History and War

"Defense network computers. New... powerful... hooked into everything, trusted to run it all. They say it got smart, a new order of intelligence. Then it saw all people as a threat, not just the ones on the other side. Decided our fate in a microsecond: extermination." -- Kyle Reese, from the movie The Terminator (1984) A recent study by a British team on AI and the use of nuclear weapon...

"Before we’re through with them, the Japanese language will be spoken only in hell."  –  Admiral William F. “Bull” Halsey upon seeing the aftermath of the attack on Pearl Harbor.  In 1958, US Admiral Chester W. Nimitz wrote a controversial article titled “Our Good Luck at Pearl Harbor.”  It was a surprising revelation that prompted Nimitz to explain and defend himself for the rest of his...

"The epithets of drill instructors or fellow soldiers - 'maggot,' 'faggot,' 'snuffy,' 'pussy,' or simply 'woman' - left no doubt that not becoming a soldier meant not being a man."  - Mark Gerzon This episodes question is straightforward: why have human societies across cultures, continents, and eras have met the challenge of war in basic...

"Everyone has a plan until they get punched in the face."  -  American boxer Mike Tyson The viral question of Spring 2025 on Social Media: who would win in a fight, 100 men or 1 gorilla?  Here, we look into history for insights into how humans would behave in the situation.  And remember, these examples are coming from men specifically selected and trained for months to fight in cohesive...

“Of the 403,272 tank soldiers (including a small number of women) who were trained by the Red Army in the war, 310,000 would die. Even the most optimistic troops knew what would happen when a tank was shelled. The white-hot flash of the explosion would almost certainly ignite the tank crew’s fuel and ammunition. At best, the crew—or those at least who had not been decapitated or dismembered by the...

“That is a war that’s dying to be settled. I will get it settled before I even become president.”  - Donald Trump, during a September 2024 presidential debate US President-elect Donald Trump has for two years loudly and boldly proclaimed that the Russia-Ukraine war needs to end, and that he is uniquely qualified to quickly bring that about.  This episode explores the challenges Mr. Trump will face...

“When America had defeated Japan by detonating an atomic bomb, the Führer had sent a V-3 rocket to explode in the skies of New York to prove he could retaliate in kind if struck.  After that, the war had dwindled to ... a nuclear stalemate the diplomats called the cold war.”   - Robert Harris, from the novel Fatherland . In this episode we continue to look at one of the most common “What If?” ques...

“This is how history went after McCoy changed it … Because ALL this lets them develop the A-bomb first.  With the A-bomb & with their V2 rockets to carry them, Germany captured the world.”   - Spock, from the Star Trek Episode, “The City on the Edge of Forever.” In this episode we look at one of the most common “What If?” questions in history: the plausibility of the Axis powers (specifically...

“I had a feeling of the essential rightness of all.  He was dead and I was alive; it could so easily have been the other way round; and that would somehow have been right too.”   - Richard Hillary, Royal Air Force pilot, reflecting on the first German plane he shot down In this episode we look at the controversial claim made by US Army General S.L.A. Marshall in 1947, when he asserted that less th...

"AIR RAID ON PEARL HARBOR.  THIS IS NOT DRILL."      – US Navy dispatch, December 7, 1941. In this episode we look at one of the all-too frequent examples of a successful surprise attack in modern warfare.  Most students of history are familiar with the basics: an (un)fortunate set of circumstances enabled Japanese carrier air forces to achieve complete surprise and inflict heavy damage...

"Moltke is not a general to copy but to study"     -  J.F.C. Fuller   In this episode we look at Helmuth von Moltke (the Elder), the Prussian Chief of the Prussian General Staff most noted for the dramatic Prussian victories over Austria and France which led to the foundation of Germany in 1871.  Most historians will casually acknowledge him as a brilliant military figure and attribute t...

"All the ingredients of a successful counteroffensive have already been unfolding over the past weeks"    -  Vox, June 12, 2023 In this episode we examine Ukraine's 2023 summer offensive, specifically why it has not achieved the lofty expectations that many Ukrainian backers were hoping for.  I suspect future historians will look back at the offensive and cite it as a classic case o...

“The guerrilla wins if he does not lose.”   – Henry Kissinger In this episode we update a classic article written by Andrew Mack back in 1975.  As I feel strongly enough that a 50-year-old article is worth re-investigating and much of this analysis is based on Mack’s original conclusions, I highly recommend you read the original which is easily available in digital format.  Its full title is “Why...

“There is a story, no doubt apocryphal, that gamers at the Naval War College in Newport, Rhode Island, have many times replayed the 1942 Battle of Midway - but have never been able to produce an American victory.”      – Taken from historian Robert Cowley’s book What If?  “Find better gamers.”     – My response.   In this episode, we look at the celebrated Battle of Midway, in which US naval force...

“I never was truly my own master but was always ruled by circumstances.”      – Napoleon Bonaparte This is the last of a three-part series on the Emperor of the French inspired by historian Andrew Robert’s biography, Napoleon: A Life .  The book is quite good at revealing the human being behind the controversial historical figure.  Focusing primarily on the military sphere, this episode examines t...

“Ukraine has achieved irreversible momentum.”   -- US General Ben Hodges, Retired, November 3,  2022  “From a military standpoint, I still maintain that for this year it would be very, very difficult to militarily eject the Russian forces from every inch of Russian-occupied Ukraine.”  -- US General Mark Milley, January 20, 2023 In the episode, we look at the nature of wartime reporting and investi...

“You must not fight too often with one enemy, or you will teach him all your art of war.”     – Napoleon Bonaparte  This is the second of a three-part series on the Emperor of the French inspired by historian Andrew Robert’s biography, Napoleon: A Life.  The book is quite good at revealing the human being behind the controversial historical figure.  Focusing primarily on the military sphere, this...

“He who fears being conquered is certain of defeat.”       – Napoleon Bonaparte In the first of this two-part episode, we take a look at the Emperor of the French inspired by historian Andrew Robert’s biography, Napoleon: A Life .  The book is quite good at revealing the human being behind the controversial historical figure.  Focusing primarily on the military sphere, this episode examines the si...

“People Sleep Peacefully in Their Beds at Night Only Because Rough Men Stand Ready to Do Violence on Their Behalf”  – Attributed to George Orwell  In the episode, we examine whether or not Orwell’s quote has historical evidence to support it.  Are people civilized only because less civilized men guard them while they sleep?  Building on the scholarship of Georges Dumézil who compared the mythologi...

"Russia's advantages in capacity, capability, and geography combine to pose insurmountable challenges for Ukrainian forces tasked with defending their country." -- The RAND Corporation, January 21, 2022 In the episode, we investigate how events in the Russia-Ukraine war have unfolded.  It was widely predicted by Western strategists the Russia was so much more powerful than Ukraine t...

“My centre is giving way, my right is retreating, excellent situation, I am attacking.” – General Ferdinand Foch, 1914  In the episode, we take a look at the difference in offensives during the two world wars.  It is commonly asserted that the defensive was superior in WWI, and thus the generals who ordered the attacks are often portrayed as unthinking donkeys who ordered futile attacks.  Have mem...

“My generals know nothing about the economic aspects of war.”    – Adolf Hitler  In the episode, we take a look at the German generals of World War II.  With the imagery of Blitzkrieg occupying a prominent place in WWII histories, the reputation of the German generals as exceptional military commanders has persisted despite defeat.  Growing up in the United States during the 1980s, I always though...

"They shall have wars and pay for their presumption.”  – William Shakespeare, Henry VI Part 3 In the episode, we take a look at British historian Michael Roberts' thesis of a military revolution that occurred in Europe form 1560-1660.    Roberts theorized that changing military developments bore a main share of responsibility of changing the old medieval world to the coming of the modern...

"I asked Tom if countries always apologized when they had done wrong, and he says: 'Yes; the littles ones does.'" - Mark Twain, Tom Sawyer Abroad , 1894 In the episode, we take a look at a classic, “The Melian Dialogue” from Thucydides’ History of the Peloponnesian War .  It is a famous exchange between powerful Athens, which is engaged in an epic struggle for dominance with it...

“The offensive is the only way of insuring victory.” - General August von Keim, 1912 In the episode, we take a look at the prevailing belief that the military offensive was far more effective than the defensive on the eve of the First World War.   As World War I is infamous for the horrific slaughter of trench warfare in which troops  had to "go over the top" and attack headlong against...