Of Arms and Men: A History of War, Weapons, and Aggression PDF
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Of Arms and Men This page intentionally left blank OF ARMS AND MEN A History of War, Weapons, and Aggression ROBERT L. O'CONNELL OXFORD UNIVERSITY PRESS New York Oxford Oxford University Press Oxford New York Toronto Delhi Bombay Calcutta Madras Karachi Petaling Jaya Singapore Hong Kong Tokyo Nairobi Dar es Salaam Cape Town Melbourne Auckland and associated companies in Berlin Ibadan Copyright © 1989 by Oxford University Press, Inc. First published in 1989 by Oxford University Press, Inc., 198 Madison Avenue. New York. New York 10016-4314 First issued as an Oxford University Press paperback, 1990 Oxford is a registered trademark of Oxford University Press All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted, in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording, or otherwise, without the prior permission of Oxford University Press, Inc. Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data O'Connell, Robert L. Of arms and men : a history of war, weapons, and aggression Robert L. O'Connell. p. cm. Bibliography: p. Includes index. 1. Military art and science—History. 2. War. I. Title. U27.026 1989 355'.009—dc!9 88-19526 CIP ISBN 0-19-505359-1 ISBN 0-19-505360-5 (PBK.) 10 9 8 7 6 5 4 Printed in the United States of America To Benjie, Jessica, and Lucy whose love gave this life This page intentionally left blank PREFACE Every book has a moment of conception. This one's came during an extended luncheon with Mike MccGwire of the Brookings Institution, as I complained for what must have been hours over my dissatisfaction at the way weapons have traditionally been studied. "How can we ever deal with these things effectively, until we look at them more openly and with fewer preconceptions?" Perhaps as much in self-defense as anything else, he replied: "Well then, why don't you do it?" Mike MccGwire is a thoughtful and enthusiastic man; but he is also an ex- Royal Navy officer, and his voice had the ring of authority. It occurred to me for the first time maybe I really could do such a thing. So began an eight-year intel- lectual odyssey. As part of the Ph.D. glut of the mid-1970s, I was a historian by training, but found myself working in military intelligence. My job was interesting, and my background provided me with some useful perspectives on the present course of arms. Nevertheless, the two never really came together in a way which took full advantage of the insights I believed lay fallow in the field of military history. Yet now, armed with Mike's suggestion, I thought I saw a means to this end. It was clear that weapons were very old and that the military profession was a highly traditional one. It also stood to reason that the accumulated rituals of military life would have been deeply conditioned by the succession of arms, and that contem- porary weapons choice should logically be an extension of this condition. Tech- nology might appear dominant. Yet culture was subtle and pervasive. Therefore it made sense to go to the very origins of these phenomena, and begin reconstructing the matrix of thought and action from which weapons have sprung. Much of what I found surprised me. And the conclusions I have reached are far from what I might have anticipated. Yet at my journey's end, I do have the sense that I have been on the right track, and that my work will serve as a useful guidepost to those who venture onward. Meanwhile along the way I have accumulated numerous debts of gratitude. Although I can never repay most of those who helped me, I can at least thank them. First 1 want to acknowledge a few scholars whose work had a particular viii * PREFACE influence on this book. Among them are Edward O. Wilson, John U. Nef, Wil- liam H. McNeill, Elting Morison, John Keegan, John Dower, I. F. Clarke, and Eric J. Leed. I also want to thank several of my colleagues at the U.S. Arms Control and Disarmament Agency for their advice and guidance. Archelaus Tur- rentine, Robert Guth, John Tierney, Col. Charles Hertel, Steven Lawrence, and particularly Col. Garnett C. Brown were kind enough to read the manuscript and make numerous valuable comments. At the U.S. Army Foreign Science and Tech- nology Center, Herbert Ely has been a constant source of encouragement, Gerald Halbert was extremely generous with his private library, and Stephen Eitelman provided computer support for my index. The research for the book was done primarily at the Alderman Library of the University of Virginia, the Library of the U.S. Department of State, and the Pentagon Library. The staffs of all three could not have been more helpful or cooperative. Nancy Lane, senior editor at Oxford University Press, and Peter Kracht, assistant editor, rescued my manu- script from obscurity and have been primarily responsible for bringing it to print. No amount of thanks can express my gratitude to them both. At the University of Virginia I want to thank Joseph Kett and John Casey for their continued interest in my work, and in particular Norrnan A. Graebner, who introduced a generation of students to the world of power, and demonstrated by his personal example that decency and an effective approach to this world were not incompatible ends. Finally, I want to thank my friends Gordon Bowen and Charles Shaffer, my wife Benjie, and my mother Dorothea O'Connell for listening to my endless talk on the subject, staying awake during my impromptu readings, and putting up with me during what must have seemed an endless project. Charlottesville, Virginia R.L.O. Fall 1988 Of Arms and Men
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