Passage 23 戰(zhàn)術(shù)在世界第一次大戰(zhàn)中的作用
Although much has been written about World War I , the strategic lessons of that conflict forwarfare have not been fully comprehended. Never was the dependence of strategy on statecraft moreclearly demonstrated. As political circumstances of the war changed, strategy changed. The CentralPowers, led by Germany and Austria-Hungary, never had a common plan of campaign or effective uni-ty of command. The Allied side achieved unity only under necessity. Along with the military factors,economic and psychological considerations proved important in conducting the war and gaining victory.Although the aim of annihilating the enemy was paramount with both sides-especially in the openingcampaigns-the desire to exhaust him also influenced strategy.

Military leaders in World War I had to master three basic factors in strategic calculations: massesof men, technological advances, and wide areas. The movement of huge masses became an art in it-self, for armies had taken on unprecedented dimensions. Millions of men were in action. Railroads andmotor transport became important not only for concentrations but also for establishing new strategicpoints on the fronts themselves. The arena of war embraced whole continents. Battles lasted for daysand weeks, and the fighting continued even after the great battles were over.

New weapons came into play. New means of communication--telephone, radio telegraphy, theautomobile, and the airplane--promoted faster execution of orders and unified command over widely scattered forces. The overwhelming firepower of modem weapons checked the effectiveness of the at- tack, long considered the ideal path to victory. The tank, however, offered fresh possibilities in re-dressing the balance between the defensive and the offensive. Tactics became more than ever a prelude and conditioning factor of strategy, since without freedom of movement, strategy was only an academ- ic exercise. Tactics came to mark the beginning rather than the conclusion of an operation.

There were also larger strategic influences at work. War was becoming increasingly total and cut deeper into the life of the nation. Some of the foremost leaders and students of World War I --notably Winston Churchill--recognized that military strategy had become but a part of a greater national strat- egy. It was widely quoted that war was too-important a business to be left to soldiers. More than ever strategy and politics would have to be co

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