The Differences between China and Western Europe - Essay Example

The cultural differences account for the different modes of fighting where the Chinese used massed infantry technique, while the Western European applied the armed chariot technique (Paret, Craig& Gilbert, 1986). Therefore, it is possible that China would not have fought the way Europe fought between the 16th and 18th centuries, but would have rather organized the warfare into a major conflict that would have resolved the series of problems that Western Europe was addressing all this time.

Question 2

The most important principles among the nine principles of war were the objective principle, which requires the military to focus the warfare on a direct, well-defined, and attainable objective as well as the mass principle, requiring the combat power to be concentrated in one decisive place and time of war (Sawyer, 1993). On the other hand, the European most important principle was the offensive principle; providing for the military to seize and exploit any loophole or chance created by the enemy, and the maneuver principle, requiring the military to place the enemy in a disadvantaged position through manipulative combat power (Paret, Craig& Gilbert, 1986).  Nevertheless, after the Military Revolution, these emphases changed in Europe, and the principle of war as a continuation of politics was adopted, thus making the European wars henceforth political, for example, the first and the second world wars were purely political wars (Paret, Craig& Gilbert, 1986).

Question 3

Warfare is both an art and a science. It is an art that entails the actual method of fighting, for example, the Maoist mass infantry armed fighting art (Sawyer, 1993). It is also a science since it entails the science of war strategy formulation, for example, the Clausewitz war strategy (Paret, Craig& Gilbert, 1986).  

Question 4

The argument that the West has demonstrated consistent military superiority since the Golden Age of Greece is partly true and partly not. This is because; the fact that the west has had the most complex wars in the history of the world characterized by both world wars is no doubt an indication that the west has been superior in wars. For example, the Roman and the Ottoman Empire's conquest are just some examples of the military superiority legacy of the West in wars (Paret, Craig& Gilbert, 1986). Nevertheless, the west has not been consistent in demonstrating this war superiority, for example considering that it has also fallen in the hands of Muslim invasion from the East occasionally.  

Question 5

Civilization and technological advancement account for the development of military professionalism (Sawyer, 1993). Nevertheless, the political motivation to expand territories and guard borders against invasion, the social need for military superiority and pride, the economic needs for dominating and benefiting from globally scarce resources, and the cultural need to continue the legacy of the dominant culture, are some of the factors that have seen Europe constantly engage in wars.