The Logic Off Topic list

Well ... if people are going to speculate about who fought what war and 
why, then it's as well to do so with some background. And ... what the 
study of war has shown is that if it has one constant then it is that those 
who fight give one set of reasons why they fight ... that those they fight 
against give another set of reasons why they fight ... and that those who 
study warfare give yet another set again.

Gets a bit hard to tell whose right, really!!! If anybody actually wants to 
be right about such a thing.


The first military campaigner we have any information about was Aha, more 
fully known as King Menes of Memphis (Ancient Egypt). He was the founding 
king of the 1st Dynasty. Originally born in Thinis, Menes successfully 
unified the Upper and Lower Egypts into one kingdom. Ancient Egypt proper 
dates from the day he was crowned. He really started something. Menes 
called the city he proceeded to found in order to oversee his empire "White 
Walls" or Memphis. He created it by diverting the mighty Nile to create an 
island -- no mean feat. He chose its location specifically because it would 
be easy to defend. From his city of Memphis Menes oversaw numerous raids by 
his fine Egyptian army. His principal enemies seem to have been the 
Nubians, Africans, to the south.

Menes might be the first military campaigner we have any substantial 
knowledge of, but in fact the first actual BATTLE we know anything about 
was fought by one of his descendants: the Battle of Megiddo, 1469 BCE.

For the first 20 years of his reign Pharoah Thutmosis III had been little 
more than a figurehead alongside his more famous co-ruler, and his aunt, 
Hatshepshut. When Hatshepshut died, the tribes of Palestine and Syria, who 
had long wanted to secede, started a revolt. They had decided that 
Thutmosis, who had shown little interest in affairs of state, was weak and 
uninterested and that this would therefore be a good moment to get their 
independence.  Starting in 1472 BCE the Hyskos King of Kadesh (northern 
Palestine) led a series of highly organized uprisings. After three years or 
so of this Thutmosis had had enough of his enemies thumbing his nose at 
them and, as is common with the rulers of great nations, he decided that 
the time was long overdue for him to stamp his authority on the known 
world. Thutmosis duly gathered 20,000 of his well-trained soldiers together 
and embarked on a very sudden and very rapid march into northern Palestine. 
The King of Kadesh, along with the varied rebellious chieftains, gathered 
at Megiddo, just north of Mount Carmel. Three passes led there from the 
south. Since the rebels did not know exactly which pass Thutmosis would 
take they were obliged to attempt to secure all three. Since this was 
impossible, they left skeleton forces at each one and gathered in the main 
valley beyond.

Undaunted, by the forces facing him at the Megiddo Pass he chose, Thutmosis 
III decided on a frontal assault. The records state that this was a 
skirmish that he personally led at the head of his troops. He successfully 
scattered the defenders. The way was now clear to the main valley 
containing the rebel army which still commanded by the King of Kadesh. 
Those forces, gathered near Megiddo itself, had had the good military sense 
to take command of the higher ground just outside the city. The 
disadvantage, though, was that it put them some distance away from the main 
city itself and its fortress. Observing their dispositions Thutmosis 
decided on a plan. He instructed his army to adopt a concave formation. He 
then ordered his southern wing to engage with the enemy in a holding 
attack. He then personally led the northern wing. His plan was simple. He 
wanted to force his way between the rebel army and their main stronghold 
which was the fortress located in the city. Thutmosis was able to complete 
his envelopement ... and the Egyptians secured an overwhelming victory.

There was another historical constant about Thutmosis. He did not stop with 
Megiddo. He felt obliged to go on to many more campaigns ... 17 in all. And 
with that string of victories Menes not only achieved his initial objective 
of subduing the rebels of Palestine and Syria, he carried the Egyptian 
sphere of influence as far as the edge of the Hittite Empire in Asia Minor. 
Thutmosis, therefore, successfully expanded into northwestern Mesopotamia. 
Not only that, but the ships throughout his fleet could sail wherever and 
whenever they wanted for he also managed to wrest complete control of the 
eastern Mediterranean. The Ancient Egyptian civilization that he and Menes 
put together was as glorious as any other and lasted for many millennia 
.... but eventually fell to the sword of one Augustus Caesar.

Menes, Thutmosis III, Augustus Caesar ... they all lived long ago. 
Historians, military and otherwise, are therefore able to study them 
reasonably objectively and wonder about why they did what they did. They 
are in pretty unanimous agreement that those wars were for very simple 
reasons: to extend spheres of influence and to gain control over people and 
their resources. That's the common consensus amongst the students and 
teachers of warfare.

Funnily enough, a very similar consensus exists even about wars fought as 
recently as 200 years ago. It is hard to believe that much has changed 
since then ... although one can only speculate what historians of the 
future will make of the wars being fought today.

But ... if people are going to speculate about such matters then it's 
surely wisest to keep an eye on all the wars that human beings have fought 
and not just one or two of them -- most especially when those one or two 
are still very fresh in people's memories.

Kool Musick
Keep Musick Kool


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