War And Its Principles

The man has been gifted by a natural instinct of fighting to acquire more and more resources and political power which has been instrumental in devising new techniques of fighting, thereby effecting its conceptual framework as also the outcome, from the time of the fight between the two individuals to a war fought between the organised mass armies. Not many people know what actually, War is and what are its ‘Theoretical’ and ‘Practical’ aspects?
The present study seeks to define War from the Legal, Political, Sociological and Military angles along with the assessment of the factors which have influenced its practical aspect. This is followed by a systematic evaluation regarding the growth of the War on the basis of the Drives, Functions and Techniques which have been helpful in evolving the Theory of War since the ancient times in the form of Animal Warfare, Primitive Warfare, Civilized Warfare and the Modern Warfare, including a separate dealing with the last of them along-with its Salient Features.
Having realized the inter-dependence of the State’s Policy and the War, the Author attempts to critically analyse their mutual relationship in the form of the ‘War as an Instrument of Policy’.
In order to substantiate the conceptual aspect of the conduct of War, the study aims at evaluating various internationally accepted Principles of War as practised by prominent Military Commanders from time to time, and concludes that their application may not transform the War into a ‘Mathematical Calculation’ but, when applied properly, they can favourably influence its outcome.