Background/Overview
Maneuver warfare is a theory that arose as a reaction to the traditional concept of warfare as a conflict of attrition, in which two armies mass forces in order to take some key objective. Maneuver warfare seeks to bypass the costly and often inconclusive results of attrition-based action by employing strategic maneuvering of troops that attempt to cripple an enemy at key pressure points, in so doing undermining the overall integrity of the enemy’s position. Speed and motion are key elements in maneuver warfare. Historically, examples of mobile war date to the time of Hannibal in the 3rd century B.C. A classic comparison is offered by the Prussian armies of Frederick the Great, whose severely disciplined soldiers famously won battles of attrition in the 18th century, and the innovative approach of Napoleon, who shattered massive armies by outmaneuvering/outflanking them.
Impact of Technology
Superior technology/weaponry and tactics have been a hallmark of maneuver warfare dating to the Battle of Agincourt in 1415, when English deployment and use of the Welsh longbow provided a substantial tactical advantage over a larger French force. Decades later, the organization of Napoleon’s army provided the French with tremendous flexibility in the field, while late-19th-century Prussian armies utilized state-of-the-art
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Krupp artillery to devastating effect, pinning down and destroying key points in the French line, which allowed the rest of the army a high degree of mobility.
Lightning war –
The First World War produced perhaps the most coherent concept of maneuver warfare, with British army officers having published a doctrine that emphasized the massing of tanks and infantry in order to maximize speed and maneuverability in the field. The Wehrmacht would be the first to grasp the potential of this approach, famously calling it “blitzkrieg,” or lightning war. To that point, no other nation had grasped the possibilities inherent in the close coordination of technology, communications and massed infantry, which proved devastating at overwhelming enemies, inhibiting their mobility and using speed to cut off avenues of retreat.
Situational warfare –
In the modern era, the U.S. Marines have formalized the concept of maneuver warfare in its manual of combat. This approach emphasizes speed, surprise and power in order to disorient and destroy an enemy force. This strategy has formed the basis of American post-Cold War military ground action, with highly maneuverable, well-supported infantry forces supported by tank, artillery and air power providing the speed and mobility needed to destroy an enemy before it has the opportunity to consolidate and strengthen its lines. American Special Forces have utilized a variation on maneuver warfare emphasizing
speed and surprise in hit-and-run operations designed to take out key enemy figures while minimizing American casualties. Drone strikes, the latest and most influential
technological advancement, are increasingly important in supporting mobile, quick-strike combat.
- Borowski, Harry, Ed. The Harmon Memorial Lectures in Military History, 1959-1987. U.S. Air Force, 1988.
- Hammond, Grant T. The Mind of War: John Boyd and American Security. Washington, DC: Smithsonian Press, 2001.
- Hayden, H.T., Ed. Warfighting: Maneuver Warfare in the U.S. Marine Corps. London: Greenhill Books, 1995.
- Mearsheimer, John J. Liddell Hart and the Weight of History. Ithaca, NY: Cornell Univ. Press, 1988.
