Strategy and Command

Issues in Australia's Twentieth-century Wars

David Horner

• Publisher: Cambridge University Press
• Year: 2021
• Print ISBN:
  9781316512371
• eBook ISBN:
  9781009079785
• Topic: History
• Subtopic: Military & Maritime History
• Index: History

In Strategy and Command, David Horner provides an important insight into the strategic decisions and military commanders who shaped Australia's army history from the Boer War to the evolution of the command structure for the Australian Defence Force in the 2000s. He examines strategic decisions such as whether to go to war, the nature of the forces to be committed to the war, where the forces should be deployed and when to reduce the Australian commitment. The book also recounts decisions made by commanders at the highest level, which are passed on to those at the operational level, who are then required to produce their own plans to achieve the government's aims through military operations. Strategy and Command is a compilation of research and writing on military history by one of Australia's pre-eminent military historians. It is a crucial read for anyone interested in Australia's involvement in 20th-century wars.

Table of contents

• Cover
• Half-title
• Series information
• Title page
• Copyright information
• Contents
• Figures, maps and tables
• Preface
• Acknowledgements
• Abbreviations
• Introduction
• Chapter 1 The influence of the Boer War on Australia's First World War commanders
• Chapter 2 Preparing for war, 1901–14
• Chapter 3 The AIF's commanders: Learning on the job
• Chapter 4 Strategic planning between the wars
• Chapter 5 Identifying the threat from Japan in 1941
• Chapter 6 A pivotal year in Australian history: 1942
• Chapter 7 Australia and coalition warfare in the Second World War
• Chapter 8 Deciding Australia's war strategy in 1943: The roles of MacArthur and Curtin
• Chapter 9 Advancing national interests: Australia's war strategy, 1944–45
• Chapter 10 Higher command in the Korean War: The experience of Brigadier John Wilton
• Chapter 11 Higher direction of the army in the Vietnam War
• Chapter 12 The Gulf War, 1991: Its place in Australian military history
• Chapter 13 Deploying and sustaining INTERFET in East Timor in 1999
• Chapter 14 Developing a command structure for joint operations
• Notes
• Bibliography
• Index