Curated category
Warfare by type
- Special forcesNATO defines special operations as military activities conducted by specially designated, organized, selected, trained and equipped forces using…
- Biological warfareHittite texts from 1500 to 1200 BC record the earliest documented intent to use biological weapons. Victims of an unknown plague, possibly tularemia, were…
- Attrition warfareThe Latin word attritio means to wear down or rub against. This etymology captures the grinding nature of a strategy that seeks to collapse an opponent…
- Land warfareIn 1944, a Churchill tank rolled across the muddy fields of Normandy during Operation Epsom. British Army soldiers moved alongside it as they fought to break…
- Chemical warfareChemical warfare involves using the toxic properties of chemical substances as weapons. This type of warfare is distinct from nuclear warfare, biological…
- CounterinsurgencyCounterinsurgency is the totality of actions aimed at defeating irregular forces. This definition comes from NATO Standardization Agency documents published…
- Trench warfareThe year 1846 saw the construction of Ruapekapeka Pā, an elaborate fortified position built by the Ngāpuhi people in New Zealand.
- Anti-aircraft warfareOn the 25th of August 1912, Lieutenant Piero Manzini crashed his aircraft after being shot down by rifle fire during the Italo-Turkish War.
- Anti-tank warfareThe first tanks appeared on the Western Front in September 1916, catching German troops by surprise. This new machine was designed to break through trench…
- Cold war (term)The expression cold war rarely appeared before 1945. Some writers credit the fourteenth century Spaniard Don Juan Manuel for first using a similar term…
- BlitzkriegThe word blitzkrieg first appeared in a German military periodical called Deutsche Wehr in 1935. It described quick or lightning warfare but had no…
- Submarine warfareOn the 8th of September 1776, a small wooden vessel named the Turtle attempted to attach an explosive charge to the hull of HMS Eagle.