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The Ideology of the Offensive: Military Decision Making and the Disasters of 1914
9780801468629

Author / Uploaded
Jack Snyder

Citation preview

The Ideology of the Offensive

A volume in the series

CORNELL STUDIES IN SECURITY AFFAIRS

edited by ROBERT JERVIS, ROBERT J. ART STEPHEN

M. WALT

A full list of titles in the series appears at the end of the book.

The Ideology of the Offensive MILITARY DECISION MAKING AND THE DISASTERS OF 1914 JACK SNYDER

Cornell University Press ITHACA AND LONDON

Copyright © 1984 by Cornell University All rights reserved. Except for brief quotations in a review, this book, or parts thereof, must not be reproduced in any form without permission in writing from the publisher. For information address Cornell University Press, Sage House, 512 East State Street, Ithaca, New York 14850. First published 1984 by Cornell University Press First printing, Cornell Paperbacks, 1989 ISBN: 978-0-8014-8244-1

International Standard Book Number 0-8014-1657-4 (cloth) International Standard Book Number 0-8014-9584-4 (paper) Library of Congress Catalog Card Number 84-7783 Printed in the United States of America LibrariJms: Library of Congress cataloging information appears on the last page of the book. Cornell University Press strives to use environmentally responsible suppliers and materials to the fullest extent possible in the publishing of its books. Such materials include vegetable-based, low-VOC inks and acid-free papers that are recycled, totally chlorine-free, or partly composed of nonwood fibers.

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Contents 9

Preface 1. Military Bias and Offensive Strategy Rationality and Bias in Strategic Analysis 18 Offense and Defense: A Rational Calculus 19 Offensive Bias: Motivations and Interests 24 Offensive Bias: The Need to Simplify 26 The Synthesis: Organizational Ideology 30 Method of Analysis 34 Limitations and Qualifications 39

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France: Offensive Strategy as an Institutional Defense Plan 17 44 Explaining the Intensity of French Bias 54

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3. France: Du Picq, Dreyfus, and the Errors of Plan 17 57 Ardant du Picq as Military Ideologist The Predominance of the Defensive in the 1870S 60 Institutional Threat and Doctrinal Response in the 1880s Realism and Self-interest in the 18