Portal:War

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The War Portal


 

Introduction

Austerlitz-baron-Pascal.jpg
The Battle of Austerlitz by François Gerard.
War is a state of conflict between relatively large groups of people (such as nations, states, organizations, social groups), which is characterized by the use of armed lethal violence between combatants or upon civilians. Other terms for war, which often serve as euphemisms, include armed conflict, hostilities, and police action.

A common perception of war is a series of military campaigns between at least two or more opposing sides involving a dispute over sovereignty, territory, resources, ideology or a host of other issues. A war to liberate an occupied country is sometimes characterised as a "war of liberation", while a war between internal elements of the same state may constitute a civil war.

Ant-war.JPG
Two ant colonies in pitched battle.

Aside from humans and their primate brethren, ants are the only other species known to exhibit such behavior on a large scale.[1]

A battle is an instance of combat in warfare between two or more parties wherein each group will seek to defeat the others. Battles are most often fought during wars or military campaigns and can usually be well defined in time, space and action. Wars and campaigns are guided by strategy whereas battles are the stage on which tactics are employed. German strategist Carl von Clausewitz stated that "The employment of battles to gain victory" is the essence of strategy.

Military history is the recording, in writing or otherwise, of the events in the history of humanity that fall within the category of conflict. This may range from a melee between two tribes to conflicts between proper militaries to a world war affecting the majority of the human population.


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Featured article

Bagramyan in 1938

Hovhannes Bagramyan was a Soviet Armenian military commander and Marshal of the Soviet Union. During World War II, Bagramyan became the first non-Slavic military officer to become a commander of a Front. Bagramyan's previous experience in military planning as a chief of staff officer allowed him to distinguish himself as a capable commander during the war in the early stages of the Soviet counter-offensives against Nazi Germany. He was given his first command of a unit in 1942 and in November 1943, received his most prestigious command as the head of the First Baltic Front. As head of the Baltic Front, he participated in the offensives which moved westwards to push German forces out of the occupied Soviet Union and the recapturing of the Baltic republics. After the war, he served as a deputy member of the Supreme Soviets of the Latvian Soviet Socialist Republic and Armenian Soviet Socialist Republic and was a regular attendant of the Party Congresses. In 1952, he became a candidate for entry into the Central Committee and, in 1961, was inducted as a full member. For his contributions during the war, he was widely regarded as a national hero in the Soviet Union, and continues to hold such esteemed status among many Armenians today.

 

Did you know...

Fight for the Bagration flèches

 

Featured picture

USS Pennsylvania leading USS Colorado, USS Louisville, USS Portland, and USS Columbia into Lingayen Gulf before the landing on Luzon, Philippines in January 1945.

The battleship USS Pennsylvania leads USS Colorado, USS Louisville, USS Portland, and USS Columbia into Lingayen Gulf before the landing on Luzon, Philippines in January 1945. Battleships and other big gun naval vessels that served in the Pacific Theatre during World War II were used primarily for offshore bombardment of enemy positions and as anti-aircraft screens for aircraft carriers.

Photo credit: United States Navy

 

Selected anniversaries

March 12
 

Major topics and categories

Eras of warfare

Overview • Prehistoric • Ancient • Medieval • Gunpowder • Industrial • Modern

Types of warfare

Aerial • Amphibious • Arctic • Armoured • Artillery • Asymmetric • Attrition • Biological • Cavalry • Chemical • Conventional • Desert • Electronic • Ground • Guerrilla • Fortification • Herbicidal • Infantry • Information • Jungle • Maneuver • Mechanized • Mercenary • Mountain • Naval • Network-centric • Nuclear • Psychological • Radiological • Siege • Ski • Space • Sub-aquatic • Submarine • Surface • Total • Trench • Unconventional • Urban

Lists

Armies • Battles • Civil wars • Commanders • Corps • Divisions • Fleets • Invasions • Operations • Orders of battle • Sieges • Tactics • Wars

Other related topics

Genocide • Peace • United Nations

 

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Things you can do

announcements and open tasks
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  • Nominations for the March 2010 Coordinator elections are now open, interested editors may sign up on . Nomination will close on Monday, March 15, at 23:59 UTC.
  • March is Women's History Month in the United States, so why not start or improve an article concerning female participation in the military?
  • A has started to determine the name for the as-yet-to-be merged Australian and New Zealand task forces, all editors are encourage to participate.
  • A has been initiated at General of the Armies concerning recent edits made to the article in relation to the legal rank of both John Pershing and George Washington, all editors are encouraged to comment on the issue.
  • A to the military history project's concerning preemptive disambiguation is currently taking place, all editors are encouraged to comment on the issue.
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