Deck 1: The History of the Practice of Strategy From Antiquity to Napoleon, Beatrice Heuser

Question 1

The Ancient Greek word 'strategia' or 'strategike', from which our modern word 'strategy' is derived, has what meaning?

A) The art of the soldier
B) The art of war
C) The art of employing force
D) The art of generalship; ruse

Answer 1

D

Question 2

During the Peloponnesian War, both Spartans and Athenians resorted to strategies of attrition because their favoured forms of power were asymmetrical, therefore preventing them from directly confronting each other.

Answer 2

True

Question 3

How did the Byzantines handle their enemies?

A) They employed their limited and overstretched forces effectively.
B) They relied upon the soft power of their culture.
C) They spread Christianity to their neighbours.
D) All of the above

Answer 3

D

Question 4

According to chapter 2 in Strategy in the Contemporary World, each of the following was a key aspect of the 'grand strategy' of Philip II of Spain, except

A) he focused on ideological objectives, and did not attempt to use technological inventions like sea power to advance his goals.
B) he sought to preserve his inheritance, which was threatened by the insurgence of the Protestant Dutch in search of independence.
C) he tried to keep what he had acquired during his lifetime, namely the English crown through his marriage with Mary Tudor (lost when she died before having children) and the crown of Portugal.
D) he championed Catholicism globally with the ultimate goal of re-establishing a universal monarchy.

Question 5

How did medieval strategies generally differ from those of later times?

A) They sought out decisive battles.
B) Refuge was sought behind fortifications.
C) Raids were preferred.
D) All of the options given are correct.

Question 6

Which of these developments preceded the increasing complexity of strategic thinking in the late sixteenth century?

A) A growing state apparatus
B) Technological innovation
C) Advances in navigation and shipping
D) All of the options given are correct.

Question 7

Why did Louis XIV and Frederick II not fail even when facing most of Europe in war, although Napoleon later did?

A) Their strategies were superior in both conception and execution.
B) They did not seek regime change but rather territorial enlargement.
C) Important great powers stayed out of the wars of Louis XIV and Frederick II.
D) Louis XIV and Frederick II always had superior manpower, unlike Napoleon.

Question 8

How was the American Revolutionary War a crucial precedent for the French Revolutionary Wars?

A) It pitted France against Britain for the first time.
B) It indicated that waging wars in a theatre an ocean away was foolhardy.
C) German mercenaries were an important source of manpower.
D) Militia and other irregulars were extensively used.

Question 9

Napoleon's favoured strategy was to deal with other states one at a time, signing bilateral treaties to be broken when the time was right, and attacking the next victim during the lull with the previous foe.

Question 10

The Napoleonic Paradigm has been the norm for most of Europe's history.