Limited War: Limited War - Strategies and Implications in Modern Conflicts

By Fouad Sabry

What is Limited War

A limited war is one in which the belligerents do not expend all of the resources at their disposal, whether human, industrial, agricultural, military, natural, technological, or otherwise in a specific conflict. This may be to preserve those resources for other purposes, or because it might be more difficult for the participants to use all of an area's resources rather than part of them. Limited war is the opposite concept to total war.

How you will benefit

(I) Insights, and validations about the following topics:

Chapter 1: Limited war

Chapter 2: Korean War

Chapter 3: Nuclear warfare

Chapter 4: Truman Doctrine

Chapter 5: Brinkmanship

Chapter 6: Containment

Chapter 7: NSC 68

Chapter 8: Air supremacy

Chapter 9: Rollback

Chapter 10: Massive retaliation

(II) Answering the public top questions about limited war.

Who this book is for

Professionals, undergraduate and graduate students, enthusiasts, hobbyists, and those who want to go beyond basic knowledge or information for any kind of Limited War.

• Language: English
• Publisher: One Billion Knowledgeable
• Release date: May 26, 2024

Book preview

Chapter 1: Limited war

A limited war is one in which the parties involved do not use all of their available resources, including human, industrial, agricultural, military, natural, technological, and other resources, in a single battle. This might be done to protect such resources for future usage or because using all of an area's resources rather than only a portion of them might be more challenging for the participants. Total war is the opposite of limited war.

Numerous American Indians engaged in little combat or comparable actions. At the time of contact with the Europeans, eastern groups frequently adopted many of their foes instead of killing them all to repopulate their own numbers. That has to do with lamenting wars. To keep subordinate countries symbolically defeated and capture sacrificial victims who were symbolically adopted, the Aztecs engaged in floral wars. Non-combatants and materials were spared from physical harm as a result of the wars.

Lord Palmerston, the British prime minister, decided against initiating a full-scale conflict with Russia because it would have necessitated significant military reform.

General Douglas MacArthur and US President Harry S. Truman had a contentious relationship at the start of the Korean War. North of the 38th parallel, Truman thought North Korea could be contained. North Korea should be destroyed and routed (rolled back), insisted MacArthur. After MacArthur grew disappointed and angry with Truman's limited war strategy, the argument culminated in the termination of his leadership and career. The following are Truman's justifications for the policy:

The Kremlin [Soviet Union] has been attempting for a long time to put distance between us and other countries. It desires to keep us apart. It wants people to mistrust us. It wants our allies to loathe and fear us. Our allies support the direction we are taking. They disagree that we ought to start the process of escalating the conflict in the Far East. We might have to fight alone if the United States enlarges the conflict. We risk destroying the solidarity of the free nations against aggression if we act alone in Asia. We are farther from Russia than our European partners. They face far more risk. Going it alone led to the global catastrophe of World War II. In the face of Soviet threat, I do not propose to remove this nation's allies. Our only guaranteed defense against the threats to us is the route of accumulated security.

Under Presidents John F. Kennedy and Lyndon B. Johnson, the United States also employed the idea of limited war in the Vietnam War as part of a plan to stop the development of communism without inciting a larger conflict with the Soviet Union. The President had rejected substantial military participation as a conscious policy, but he had put in place the bureaucratic momentum that would make it inevitable, according to Richard Barnet, who left the State Department in 1963 over Kennedy's gradual buildup of the Vietnam War.

Between 1967 and 1970, Israel and Egypt engaged in a war of attrition that was largely characterized by artillery fire, aerial combat, and small-scale attacks.

The Falklands War was fought over the course of 10 weeks and is frequently referred to as a classic example of a limited war - restricted in duration, in place, in objectives and in means. It resulted in just over 1000 dead on both sides.

As part of the Kosovo War, NATO bombed Yugoslavia on a limited scale, mostly using a massive air assault to attack Yugoslav military infrastructure from great heights.

In the Sikkim region of the Line of Actual Control, China and India engaged in combat in the Second Sino-Indian War in 1967. The 1967 Nathu La and Cho La clashes are another name for it.

{End Chapter 1}

Chapter 2: Korean War

Between North Korea and South Korea, the Korean War, often known by other names, lasted from 1950 to 1953. Following border conflicts and rebellions in South Korea, North Korea invaded South Korea on June 25, 1950, sparking the start of the Korean War. China and the Soviet Union supported North Korea, while the United States and its allies supported South Korea. On July 27, 1953, the conflict came to a conclusion with an armistice.

Imperial Japan occupied Korea from 1910 until its capitulation at the end of World War II on August 15, 1945, a 35-year domination. Along the 38th parallel, Korea was divided into two zones of occupation by the US and the USSR. The northern zone was governed by the Soviet Union, while the southern zone was governed by the United States. Due to Cold War hostilities, the occupying zones split into two independent states in 1948. The Democratic People's Republic of Korea, a communist state, was founded in the north under the totalitarian dictatorship of Kim Il Sung, while the Republic of Korea, a capitalist state, was founded in the south under the autocratic authority of Syngman Rhee. Both governments insisted that they were the only ones authorized to rule all of Korea, and neither acknowledged that the border was ever-lasting.

On June 25, 1950, North Korean military forces (Korean People's Army, KPA) drove across the border and invaded South Korea following failed attempts at unification discussions. After the First Phase Offensive and the Second Phase Offensive, the UN withdrew from North Korea. By the end of December, Chinese forces had entered South Korea.

Seoul was four times taken during these engagements and others that followed, and communist forces were driven back to locations along the 38th parallel, not far from where the war had begun. Following this, the front stabilized, and the following two years saw an attrition-driven conflict. But the battle in the air never came to a standstill. The US launched a significant bombing campaign against North Korea. For the first time in history, jet-powered aircraft engaged in air-to-air combat, and Soviet pilots secretly flew in support of their communist friends.

On July 27, 1953, the Korean Armistice Agreement was signed, putting an end to the hostilities. The agreement permitted the release of detainees and established the Korean Demilitarized Zone (DMZ) to divide North and South Korea. The two Koreas are, however, technically still at war and still engaged in a frozen conflict because no peace treaty was ever signed.

Korea, South, the war is usually referred to as the 625 War (6·25 전쟁; 六二五戰爭), the 625 Upheaval (6·25 동란; 六二五動亂; yugio dongnan), or just 625, indicating that its start date was June 25.

(Chinese: 抗美援朝战争; pinyin: Kàngměi Yuáncháo Zhànzhēng), although the term Chosŏn War (Chinese: 朝鮮戰爭; pinyin: Cháoxiǎn Zhànzhēng) is sometimes used unofficially.

The term Hán (Korean) War (Chinese: 韓戰; pinyin: Hán Zhàn) is most commonly used in Taiwan (Republic of China), Macau and Hong Kong.

Since the United States never technically declared war on its adversaries and the operation was carried out under the supervision of the United Nations, President Harry S. Truman initially referred to the conflict in the United States as a police action..

During the First Sino-Japanese War (1894–1895), Imperial Japan significantly reduced China's control over Korea, resulting in the brief Korean Empire.

The Soviet Union pledged to join its allies in the Pacific War within three months of the victory in Europe at the Tehran Conference in November 1943 and the Yalta Conference in February 1945. Germany gave up formally on May 8, 1945, and three months later, on August 8, 1945, the USSR declared war on Japan and invaded Manchuria. Three days had passed since Hiroshima had been struck by an atomic bomb. Martial law was proclaimed by USAMGIK.

The United States government chose to hold elections under UN supervision in order to establish an independent Korea, citing the Joint Commission's failure to make progress. Because they believed it would not be fair, the Soviet authorities and the Korean Communists