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Continent made up of Asia and Europe, covers about 36% of the earth’s landmass. It is located just north of the equator which created the necessary climate and environment to facilitate the development of civilization, especially considering the proximity of the African continent (the cradle of civilization)
significance: Often credited for being one of the most affluent areas in terms of agriculture, trade and the spread of communication. These factors facilitated the ease of transport from one side of the continent to another. |
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Chief vehicle of transportation for many ancient people. Origins are traced back to Mesopotamia in 3000 B.C. There is a variety of different styles, though the spoke-wheel chariot was an advancement from about 2000 BC and its popularity peaked in 1300 BC. The spoke-wheeled chariot was lighter and also horse drawn.
significance: Gat explains that the chariot was mostly used by the elite in society, though the chariot underwent advancements that made it much more suitable for battle, eventually even reaching east to China within its peak as a vehicle (1200 BC). |
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A specific eco-region stretching from Mongolia to Hungary. Serves as a connector of European, Asian and Middle Eastern countries. The climate in this region is mild and considerably flat, making for ideal conditions to travel and try to prosper economically, socially and politically.
significance: This was considered the best route for transporting goods and military equipment/personnel. |
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More commonly referred to as Labor Conscription: Conscription is the compulsory enrollment of people to some sort of public service. While the service may be of any sort associated with the public, the term typically refers to enlistment in a country's military.
significance: Under the feudal conditions for holding land in the medieval period, most peasants and freemen were liable to provide one man of suitable age per family for military duty when required by either the king or the local lord. |
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Armies consisting of soldiers who fought on foot.
significance: Initially outnumbered by the cavalry and knightly armies, their tactics and pure numbers allowed them to be the dominant force on the battlefield by the end of the era. During the middle ages the infantry could easily conquer the small elite Knight forces, they were cheaper to maintain, and they were easier to mobilize. |
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Based in the Balkan Peninsula, Macedonia is Europe's earliest political, geopolitical, ethnic, cultural entity otherwise known as a nation-state.
significance: Beginning in the 12th century Macedonia became part of the Serbian Empire. The empire broke up shortly after the death of King Dusan of Serbia, Tsar of the Serbs and Greeks. At the end of the 14th century the Ottoman Empire had control of Macedonia. They remained the dominant force for 500 years. |
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Seven major Chinese states merged their influence to become one dominant Chinese power. The various states competed with each other. The Qin state eventually became the leading force due to its powerful, organized military and in part due to the constant feuding between the other states.
significance: The Warring States of China imposed a military obligation to all peasant citizens with increased the size of their infantry armies making wartime more bloody. |
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A political, militaristic, and economic system in which use of land is granted by a lord in exchange for the land recipient's loyalty, military aide, and a commitment to taking care of the land. The system existed in Europe from the 9th-15th century and in Japan, as well as in China.
significance: Gat discusses the conditions under which feudalism emerges including the writings of Weber, Marx, and Voltaire on the subject. |
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Military force comprised of armed soldiers on horseback. Overall cavalry has proven one of the most effective units in battle from the time of Ancient Greeks, through the age of the Romans, and well into modern times, where it still serves as a functional unit (albeit with vehicles rather than horses) today.
significance: The Cavalry is depicted as the critical factor contributing to the Goths' defeat at the hands of the Frankish Infantry. Before the Iron Age, the role of cavalry on the battlefield was largely performed by light chariots. As early as 490 B.C.E there is evidence of large horses being bred to carry men with increasing amounts of armor. The light chariot was proven obsolete by Alexander the Great's defeat of the Persian Empire |
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A battle tactic commonly employed in the battles during Antiquity. This tactic involves driving an enemy force back with a large force until they are driven into another entrenched force established behind them (usually a flanking cavalry force).
significance: The "Hammer and Anvil" technique was utilized in the battles under Alexander and of Cannae and Zama in the 300's B.C.E. |
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A parapet is a wall-like barrier at the edge of a roof, terrace, balcony or other structure. Where extending above a roof, it may simply be the portion of an exterior wall that continues above the line of the roof surface, or may be a continuation of a vertical feature beneath the roof such as a fire wall or party wall.
significance: Gat talks about parapet as an important feature being used in the early AD era for fortifications against outside enemies. The use of the parapet became increasingly popular during this time, because as the technology increased the reality of region, city, or fortress takeover became more feasible. |
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Phalanx is a rectangular mass military formation, usually composed entirely of heavy infantry armed with spears, pikes or similar weapons.
significance: The term phalanx comes up many times in Gat and was a big reason for many of the victories within history. The soldiers within the phalanx were hard to take down because of their tight formation and armor. They played a big role in making an army successful when facing mounted soldiers. Mounted units were unable to charge rendering them almost useless. |
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A Polis is a city, a city-state and also citizenship and body of citizens.
significance: Gat refers to the Polis numerous times within the text, mainly referring to the Greeks, where the word is from. The city-state played a large role in the early era when small cities started expanding and the cities came together to build and share defenses. |
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A halberd (also called halbert or Swiss voulge) is a two-handed pole weapon that came to prominent use during the 14th and 15th centuries. The halberd consists of an axe blade topped with a spike mounted on a long shaft. It always has a hook or thorn on the back side of the axe blade for grappling mounted units
significance: The Halberd can go hand and hand with the success of the Phalanx. Once the pike had been reformed and the halberd had been born, the success of the mounted unit had declined even more. As the armor for the horses had been developed, the hook on the halberd helped counter a charge and allowed phalanx soldiers to pull down the mounted unit and fight on foot. |
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A siege engine is a device that is designed to break or circumvent city walls and other fortifications in siege warfare. Some have been operated close to the fortifications, while others have been used to attack from a distance
significance: Siege engines in became a primary method of entry into fortified structures all throughout history. When counties began using circuit walls and creating gates or reinforcing their points of entry, stronger and more advanced siege engines came about. They could range from something as simple as a ram all the way to a trebuchet. |
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Armed combatants who serve a nation or army for monetary compensation, as opposed to patriotic or nationalistic sentiment. often of 3rd party nationality, they are differentiated from soldiers, who, while usually receiving pay, presumably fight out of patriotic obligation. Often called "soldiers of fortune."
significance: Gat discusses the advantages and drawbacks of using mercenaries in warfare. Their high expense and lack of any loyalty to the nation they are fighting for were problematic, but these professional soldiers were more tactically sophisticated and better fighters than the civic militias of the time. They also provided Generals with a way to quickly augment their forces should the need arise. |
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Plague which spread throughout Europe in the middle of the 14th Century. Thought to have killed 30-60 percent of the European population, reducing the world population by perhaps 450,000,000.
significance: Italian cities of Florence, Milan, and Venice grew to immense size, crossing the 100,000 population mark around 1330AD, before being devastated by the Black Death. |
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General term encompassing the entire Roman Army apparatus, as well as a more specific term for the basic Roman heavy infantry unit of around 5000 men, known as Legionaries. Service in the Legions was reserved for Roman Citizens (as opposed to the Auxilia, which was usually for non-citizens).
significance: Gat references the strength of numbers of the Roman Legions during the 2nd Punic war, and how they were able to take advantage of their massive manpower base to feed their need for troops to defeat the Carthaginians. |
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Citizenship laws varied throughout the different periods of the Roman State, but was a privileged social class which carried specific rights, such as the right to vote and to hold public office, as well as the right to own property. Citizenship was granted through a variety of ways, including through birth to Roman citizens, service in the military as an auxiliary (only full citizens could serve as Legionaries), or could even be purchased in some circumstances.
significance: Gat notes that half of the soldiers fighting in the 2nd Punic War held full roman citizenship. Rome’s use of her massive manpower base enabled her to win the 2nd Punic war through bloody attrition. |
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2nd Century BC Carthaginian Commander, Famous for marching his army, including war elephants, over the Pyrenees Mountains, and the Alps, and attacking the Romans from Northern Italy during the 2nd Punic war. Hannibal is considered one of the greatest military tacticians in ancient history.
significance: Gat references Hannibal as causing the greatest crisis in Roman History, necessitating full mobilization of the Roman war machine to fight, and eventually be victorious in, grueling attrition warfare. |
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undoubtedly the most urban of all African peoples' in the pre-colonial period,
their large cities were based upon farming rather than industrialization
significance: Historical records tell of heavy raids by the mounted Fulani herdsmen from the north as well as of endemic intercity warfare. Archeological evidence of extensive city fortifications stretches back further centuries, illustrating a society well versed in offensive, as well as defensive, warfare capabilities. |
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In terms of fortification, a parapet is a wall of stone, wood or earth on the outer edge of a defensive wall or trench, which shelters the defenders from attacks, usually sloping towards the attackers to allow defenders to fire down upon them.
significance: The function of parapets on fortified defensive structures were for added defense against attackers. This, in turn, would bring defensive strategy and technology to the forefront of militarily-engaged societies. |
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11th-14th centuries, a city in what is now Illinois with tens of thousands comprised of huge earth mounds. It was surrounded by a log palisade with parapets for defense. It is the rumored site of the Mississippian culture whose beginnings stem to more than five centuries before European arrival on the continent.
significance: Arrowheads found outside it's walls indicate Cahokia's seat of power was a defensive enclosure that was experiencing attack, therefore building upon previous defensive strategies with structures like parapets. |
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An independent entity whose territory consists of a city which is not administered as part of another local government. City-states are most recognized from the societies of ancient Greece, but stretch further back into history. City-states developed their own, personal, forms of government, economics, and military that would tailor to each city-state's needs.
significance: The development of the city state was a crucial transitional phase between tribal political to the development of nation states. |
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(c. 466--511) was the first King of the Franks to unite all the Frankish tribes under one ruler. Uniting nearly all of Gaul (modern day France), Clovis is commonly considered the founder of the Merovingian dynasty which ruled the Franks for the next two centuries.
significance: Gat uses Clovis to demonstrate the early formation of kingship and sate power through the conquering of neighboring petty-kings and petty states. This helped to begin the unification of the Anglo-Saxon kingdoms. |
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A range of beliefs and practices regarding communication with the spiritual world. Shamanism encompasses the belief that shamans are intermediaries or messengers between the human world and the spirit worlds.
significance: the practice of shamanistic authority contributed to the expansion of high shaman’s rule over in Yamatai Japan in AD 240 |
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A military rank and historical title for hereditary military dictators of Japan, also known as military governors that originated in the Heian period of Japan (794-1185).
significance: Bakufu could also mean "tent government" and was the way the government was run under a shogun. The shogun's officials were as a collective the bakufu, and were those who carried out the actual duties of administration while the Imperial court retained only nominal authority. Actual political-military-economic rule and everything were held by. |
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A cultural period of Bronze Age Greece taking its name from the archaeological site of Mycenae in northeastern Argolis, in the Peloponnese of southern Greece. Athens, Pylos, Thebes, and Tiryns are also important Mycenaean sites.
significance: The evolution of fortifications during Mycenaean period is a complex subject to appear for the first time. |
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The mercenary soldier leaders (or warlords) of the professional, military free companies contracted by the Italian city-states and the Papacy, from the late Middle Ages and throughout the Renaissance.
significance: the Condottieri emerged with the rise of warrior hosts and first appeared to protect the trade between Italian city-states and Levant in the thirteenth and fourteenth centuries. |
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The battle of the Teutoburg Forest in 9 CE, when an alliance of Germanic tribes led by Arminius ambushed and destroyed three Roman legions and their auxiliaries. Despite numerous successful campaigns and raids by the Roman army over the Rhine in the years after the battle, the Romans were to make no more concerted attempts to conquer and permanently hold Germania beyond the river.
significance: Gat uses this battle as a focal point as the end of Roman power and influence over Germanic tribes. The more significant point that Gat makes concerns Arminius's rise to power as a petty-king. |
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The Bronze Age of a culture is the period when the most advanced metalworking (at least in systematic and widespread use) in that culture used bronze. This could either have been based on the local smelting of copper and tin from ores, or trading for bronze from production areas elsewhere. Many, though not all, Bronze Age cultures flourished in pre-history.
significance: Pastoralist or amorite invasions during this era are rumored to be the cause of the urban decline that is commonly associated with this age. Infiltrating around the turn of the third to the second millenia BC, such an invasion was apparently instrumental in bringing about the collapse of the Old Kingdom and the chaos of the First Intermediate period. |
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The Greek Dark Age or Ages (ca. 1200 BC--800 BC) are terms which have regularly been used to refer to the period of Greek history from the presumed Dorian invasion and end of the Mycenaean Palatial civilization around 1200 BC, to the first signs of the Greek city-states in the 9th century BC. These terms are gradually going out of use, since the former lack of archaeological evidence in a period that was mute in its lack of inscriptions (thus "dark") has been shown to be an accident of discovery rather than a fact of history.
significance: The collapse of long-distance trade and the economy of scale due to growing insecurities, and because pastoral subsistence is far more extensive than agriculture, contributed to depopulation during the Dark Ages. The shift to pastoral living would help to contribute to the decline in "culture," such as inscriptions and writings. |
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The chariot is the earliest and simplest type of horse carriage, used in both peace and war as the chief vehicle of many ancient peoples. Ox carts, proto-chariots, were built in Mesopotamia as early as 3000 BC. The original horse chariot was a fast, light, open, two or four-wheeled conveyance drawn by two or more horses hitched side by side. The car was little else than a floor with a waist-high semicircular guard in front. The chariot, driven by a charioteer, was used for ancient warfare during the Bronze and Iron Ages, armor being provided by shields
significance: Dominated warfare throughout Eurasia in the second millennium. |
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The Proto-Indo-Europeans in this sense likely lived during the Copper Age, or roughly the 5th to 4th millennia BC. Mainstream scholarship places them in the general region of the Pontic-Caspian Steppe in Eastern Europe and Central Asia. Some scholars would extend the time depth of PIE or pre-PIE to the Neolithic or even the last glacial maximum, and suggest alternative location hypotheses
significance: Proto-Indo-European ranged Eurasia in pastoral hordes. Their language (from which the whole language family branched out) was originally the language of the south-east European-west Asian steppe pastoralists, and would spread through pastoral military, as well as migratory expansions. |
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Selective breeding is the process of breeding plants and animals for particular genetic traits. Typically, strains which are selectively bred are domesticated, and the breeding is sometimes done by a professional breeder who would "husband" said animal or plant through its developmental phase.
significance: Selective breeding was required gradually to increase the species biological susceptibility to human needs. Allowed humans to ride them for war. |
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Pastoralism or pastoral farming is the branch of agriculture concerned with the raising of livestock. It is animal husbandry: the care, tending and use of animals such as camels, goats, cattle, yaks, llamas, sheep, and so forth. It may have a mobile aspect, moving the herds in search of fresh pastures and water.
significance: More like nomads, pastoral tribes had the ability to move around with their animals, therefore they were the opposite of Urban people, and were ideologically at war with them, as well as rival pastoral tribes, creating a warlike atmosphere. |
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The Fertile Crescent is a region in Western Asia . It includes the comparatively fertile regions of Mesopotamia and the Levant, delimited by the dry climate of the Syrian Desert to the south and the Anatolian highlands to the north. The region is often considered the "Cradle of Civilization ," saw the development of many of the earliest human civilizations, and is the birthplace of writing and the wheel.
significance: The Indo-Iranian branch of the pastorialists moved into the northern Fertile Crescent, with probable aide from the newly-developed chariot, displacing local tribes (causing military conflict) as they traversed the landscape. |
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War Booty or “loot” refers to goods, valuables and property obtained after a war from any form of occupied territories. The winning army traditionally reserves the "right" to rob and plunder the defeated country and its population, often combined with war rape. Looting during war has been common practice since recorded times. For foot soldiers, it was viewed as a way to supplement their often meager income and vent aggression. On higher levels, leaders of the winning armies, countries and nations did the very same, just in grander style.
significance: Booty from raiding became a major avenue for resource accumulation and social differentiation. Booty represents the evolution of a successful war leader who could now attract warriors based on a system of rewards. War had to pay for war and the more booty accumulated the higher ones social position could be advanced. |
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Rex is the Latin word for "king " (or monarch). Most importantly, Rex refers to chief magistrates of the Rome, the first of which was Romulus who founded Rome in 753 BC. This king would posses absolute control and power over their people. At this point in time, the Senate served a minor role as administrators of the king's wishes.
significance: The Latin designation for king, appointed on the account of high birth. The King could only hold on to position by leading the populace via reputation and example, lending towards a confrontational attitude to inspire respect (as well as fear) in the populace. |
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Dux is Latin for leader and later for Duke. Until the 3rd century AD, dux was not a formal expression of rank within the Roman military or administrative hierarchy. During the Roman Republic, dux could refer to anyone who commanded troops, including foreign leaders, but was not a formal military rank.
significance: Dux, like Rex, is the Latin designation for war leader. This title was only appointed for a display of valor. While not an official title, it was the forerunner to the concept of European Duke. |
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Latin meaning, "the soldiers on the frontlines"
significance: As the limitanei were intended for a more or less stationary role in their respective zones along the frontier, a principle long used by other empires was introduced for their upkeep. they were granted pots of land to cultivate, effectively turning them into part-time soldiers/part-time farmers. |
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A term used for professional slave soldiers in the Abbasid and Seljuq era. Arabic word, means "owned".
significance: Throughout the lands of Islam, the so-called slave soldiers, or mamluk, were a unique form of foreign recruitment. These elite troops were slave s only in the sense that their members had been bought as children by the state from the marches of Islam and were legally property of the state. The slave troops combined the advantages of foreign recruitment with the peak of professionalism. Raised in the barracks, trained for soldiery from childhood, and infused with Islamic zeal, they became a fierce fighting force. |
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Political system governed by a single individual
significance: Autocrats were normally secluded from their surroundings because of their elevated quasi-divine status. Having little or direct contact with the outside world, they were exposed to selective information and susceptible to flattery. All these tended to weaken dynastic government, as well as making it vulnerable to usurpation. |
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The act of appeasing someone or causing someone favorably inclined; peace
significance: Pacification was a tool that kept groups of people from physically warring with each other and focused on solving issues through diplomacy instead of using combat as a force of containment. Pacification never completely stabilizes people because they still see war as a necessary tool to contain and defend the area that the state resided in. |
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In total or as a whole
significance: Gaining warriors from foreign lands occurred quite often and if a government acquired the leaders of the foreign warriors served the government then the warriors would serve the same government as a whole. The question of loyalty was always in play because these men could eventually gain power and attempt an Coup on the government. |
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A state of disorder involving group violence
significance: Rioting occurred in urban areas where the proletariat began an uprising in response to poor class relations and poor standards of living. The riots became a tool in which the proletariat could invoke change in the current politics through violence through crimes and murder. |
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a castrated man, usually one castrated early enough to have major hormonal consequences
significance: Eunuchs were used in functions such as bathing, assisting in dressing, bureaucratic functions, and in essence a buffer between the emperor and his administrators from physical touch. By removing the testicles, the lack of testosterone was believed to calm the demeanor of the servant. |
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savage; peasant; an uncivilized person
significance: Barbarian refers to the ability of invaders to conquer and sustain rule over a realm, with respect to the political stability and the ambitiousness of the leaders to keep the power. It also refers to the lack of unity and the strength of a group as a whole, in that a barbarian group lacks these traits and their power over an area tends to disintegrate over time. |
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Suppress, put down by force or authority
significance: Kings through out history conquered territory to expand their kingdoms, to gain power/control and resources of the land. Usually taken by military force during early wars. |
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Long period of peace and minimal expansion by military force experienced by the Roman Empire in the 1st and 2nd centuries AD under the Roman emperor Augustus. It lasted for roughly 200 years
significance: Time in Roman history were they which experienced little expansion. The empire was at peace but also vulnerable to attacks from enemies such as the Muslims from Arabia. |
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Chinggis Khan was born around 1162 and died in 1227. He founded and ruled the Mongol Empire, which spanned Northeast and Central Asia, China, and eventually enveloped parts of the Middle East and Eastern Europe after his death.
Significance: Gat argues that the motivation for gaining power is the increased opportunities for reproduction. Because Chinggis Khan was highly successful at conquest, he dispersed his genes over a wide geographical area. Today, 0.5% of the world's population has Chinggis Khan's genes. |
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To take by force or without right, usually in regards to power. Monarchs with multiple male relatives (sons, brothers, nephews) and rivals faced usurpation in the struggle for power.
Significance: Gat argues that the threat of usurpation by male rivals made rulers surround themselves with heavy security and fostered anxiety and suspicion. Usurpation could destroy entire families. In some cases, usurpation lead to civil war. |
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The Arquebus is also known as a "hook tube" and is an early muzzle-loaded firearm used from the 15th to 17th centuries. It is distinguished from the previous hand cannon by having a matchlock, which was the first mechanism to allow firing without having to remove the hand and light with a match. The Arquebus is similar to its successor the Musket, however it is more cumbersome than the Musket.
Significance:Both the Arquebusiers and the Musketeers required the protection of spearmen because of the lethargic rate at which they could get shots off, which was about one shot per minute. This combination however hindered the tactical flexibility of the infantry's movement and effectiveness. |
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This is a rectangular mass military formation, usually composed entirely of heavy infantry armed with spears, pikes, sarissas or similar weapons. Typically when you think of the older style of fighting, for instance the red jackets style or similar to what may have been seen in "Braveheart" is the style of formation that we are talking about. Sometimes the Swiss Phalanx formations included crossbowmen in order to give the formation missile stand-off capabilities.
Significance: Gat states that the Swiss Phalanx was more effective than the new combination of either Arquebusier or Musketeer and the assistant spearman. |
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The act or attempted action of killing a monarch. Usually, but not always, it is in an attempt to gain power. Often regicide is the result of an usurpation.
Significance: Gat argues that the threat of regicide prompted rulers to surround themselves with heavy security and take severe safety precautions. Paranoia and anxiety were central aspects of monarchs' lives. |
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Passing down royal authority to the oldest eligible son or male relative. In the event of the disqualification of the oldest eligible male relative, the next oldest becomes the first in line for power, and so on. Disqualification can range from mutilation, such as blinding, to death.
Significance: Gat argues that seniority succession was established in response to the fights over succession. The Ottoman empire attempted to reduce the number of mutilations and murders in this way. |
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218-201 BCE. Between Rome and Carthage, the Carthaginians and their allies were led by Hannibal across the Alps in a move that caught the Romans completely by surprise. The conflict was highlighted by three decisive Carthaginian victories: The Battle of the Trebia (218 BCE), Lake Trasimene (217 BCE) and Cannae (215 BCE). Later, the Romans adopted a strategy not to confront Hannibal on the Italian peninsula. Instead, they attacked Carthaginian strongholds in Spain and, eventually, on the African mainland at the Battle of Zama in 202 BCE, the Romans were able to defeat the Carthaginians and become the dominant power in the Western Mediterranean, paving the way for Rome's continued dominance for the next few centuries.
Significance: Gat believes this conflict does not go against the claim that two democracies would never have conflict with one another because neither side were truly democratic. |
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Theban general and statesman responsible for the defeat of Sparta at the battle of Leuctra in 371 BC. He is credited with the tactic of refusing one’s flank when he aligned his best troops on his extreme left flank (opposite the custom in Greek warfare), had them aligned in much deeper ranks than was custom, sent his weakest troops to his right opposite the Spartan's best hoplites, and ordered them to slowly retreat as to encircle the Spartans and thus leading to a Theban victory at Leuctra.
Significance: It is during the time of this leader that Gat argues city-states can form peacefully and democratically in order to gain independance for another city-state. In this case Thebes, paving the way for her rise to power. |
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The conflict began with trade disputes and diplomatic difficulties between China under the Qing Dynasty and the British Empire after China sought to restrict British opium traffickers. It consisted of the First Opium War from 1839 to 1842 and the Second Opium War from 1856 to 1860. Under a rationale of “gunboat diplomacy”, the British were able to force the Chinese to keep their ports open to trade with the British Empire.
Significance: Gat states this war marked one of the first times that a conflict saw its genesis in a solely commercial and economic light, fighting for trade instead of traditional reasons such as insurrection or empire maintenance. |
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Also known as Caesarism, Bonapartism first began with Napoleon I and was further expanded by Napoleon III in the mid-19th century. It refers to a center-right or center political movement that advocates the idea of a strong and centralized state, based on the support of a central figure-head. It is a popular plebisctean autocracy on a country-wide scale in which the government seeks to assume control over both private and public sectors of the peoples living within their boundaries. (Examples include the regimes of the Napoleons, Joseph Stalin, and Mao Zedong)
Significance: It is Gat's belief that, coupled with increases in communication technology, governments could more easily harness the mass media within their country and drown out opposition, in contrast to traditional despotism, forming a new type of government. |
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| The Meiji Restoration was a chain of events that returned Japan to imperial rule in 1868. The Restoration lead to many political and social changes in Japanese culture, as its leaders acted with the goal to combine "western advancements" with the traditional, "eastern" values. The Meiji Restoration accelerated industrialization in Japan, which led to its rise as a military authority by the year 1905. With a strong military in place, Japan then aimed to create for itself an empire in East Asia. |
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(1571) - Battle between the Ottoman Empire and a Christian coalition consisting of the combined fleets of Venice, Spain, and the Pope. Won by the Christian coalition, the battle was the last of the great oared ship engagements and involved more than 200 galleys on each side.
Significance: Gat argues that pay and provisions rather than the cost of ships constituted the main cost of navies in the sixteenth century. This explains how the Ottomans, after the loss of some 200 galleys in the Battle of Lepanto, recovered the lost material within less than a year. Battle also signifies the galley being replaced by the combination of gun and sail. |
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During the Renaissance, condottieri provided states with ready-made troops in return for an agreed sum of money. Popular in Italian city-states, these mercenaries could become more powerful than the states that hired them and take over as rulers.
Significance: Gat uses the condottieri as an example of the 'tax state' gradually replacing the feudal 'domain state' of the High Middle Ages, whereas paid soldiers replaced feudal troop levies. |
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(1432-1481) - As leader of the Ottoman Empire, Mehmet II brought an end to the Byzantine Empire by conquering Constantinople in 1453. Also known as "The Conqueror", Mehmet II expanded the Ottoman empire with conquests in Asia and advanced as far as Belgrade in Europe.
Significance: Gat uses the huge bombards of Ottoman Sultan Mehmet II and their devastating effect on the great walls of Constantinope, the mightiest in western Eurasia, as an example of the enormous effect the introduction of gunpowder had in the fifteenth century. |
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Definition
Major western European and North American democracies have stopped preparing for even the possibility of war between them. The possibility of war has become inconceivable; they do not allow for the possibility. No one nation is allowed to become powerful enough to attack another nation. This plan became important in the Cold War but remains in place.
Significance: Balance of Power is an important aspect of the democratic peace theory. The balance of power between democracies, according to proponents of the theory, is relative to the level of democracy and liberalism. |
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Term
| Monopolistic imperial blocs |
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Definition
Empires had monopolies on products and trade from the metropole among the colonies. Exports/imports from outside the empire were not allowed and economies among the empire became dependent on each other.
Significance: The fear that the global system was moving from individual economies and trade toward monopolistic imperial blocs lead to tensions among powers before World War I and eventually to the war. |
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Term
| General Agreement on Tariffs & Trades |
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Definition
GATT was formed in 1947 and lasted to 1993. Post-war leaders negotiated this treaty to decrease trade barriers. It expanded to include most of the world's countries. Through the expansion of the treaty tariffs on manufacturers was greatly decreased. It was replaced by the World Trade Organization.
Significance: Learning from the economic issues that lead to the world wars (monopolies within empires and autarkic economies) the leaders of the major powers after World War II worked to improve international trade. |
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Term
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Definition
A 1910 book by Norman Angell that stated that no side could gain from a modern major great power war. At the time the book was published, the thought was that a country could increase its economic power by going to war. Angell argued that no side could gain from war.
Significance: In the industrial age liberal democracies began to depend on each other and the global systems of industry, trade, and finance expanded. No one would win from a large scale, major power war. The Great Illusion restated the traditional liberal rationale against war. |
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Term
| The Economic Consequences of Peace |
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Definition
A 1920 book by John Maynard Keynes in which the author argued that the reparations imposed on Germany after World War I prevented her economy from recovering. Since Germany's economy could not recover, the global economy couldn't recover and prosperity for the winners of World War I was prevented.
Significance: In pre-industrial times, growth through sharing of resources and ideas was slow. With the growth of global trade, however, countries and their economies became interdependent. One country's economy could only improve if everyone's economy improved. |
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Term
| mutual assured destruction (MAD) |
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Definition
Doctrine of military strategy and national security policy in which a full-scale use of nuclear weapons by two opposing sides would effectively result in the destruction of both the attacker and the defender.
Significance: MAD revolutionized the logic of war, it eliminated the uncertainty about the outcome of war. Crucial factor that has prevented a great-power war since 1945, where war between nuclear states became mutually suicidal. Restraint based on arms race, deterrence, and balance of terror and leaves room for low-intensity forms of armed conflict. |
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Term
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Definition
Peace treaty at the end of WWI, ended state of war between Germany and the Allied Powers.
- Signed 28 June 1919
- Many provisions made to treaty, most prominent change was that Germany to accept sole responsibility of war in return give territory and pay reparations.
Significance: Versailles Treaty was violated in 1930s by Germany as they began to rebuild military and reoccupying military zoning. As Allied Powers were still greatly against war even with the military advantage, Germany's invasion of Poland initiated the start of WWII. |
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Term
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Definition
Directly against Communist International, in particular the Soviet Union, between Nazi Germany and Empire of Japan. Pact stated if attacked by Soviet Union against Germany or Japan, those countries would consult on actions to take "to safeguard their common interests."
Significance: When Japan invaded China the pact was signed, President Roosevelt increasingly discussed the notion on coordinated policy of sanction and containment against aggressors. Pact made Germany less susceptible to economic pressure because of domination on south-eastern Europe. |
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Term
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Definition
The term jingoism describes an attitude of aggressive nationalism that is manifested in belligerence and saber rattling as instruments of foreign policy, by guarding what the country views as important national interests.
Significance: Jingoism among the people of a democracy is a noted reason that affluent liberal democracies can come to blows with one another. |
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Term
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Definition
The 1898 Fashoda crisis was a conflict between France and Britain that could have entered into open war. Both Britain and France had ambitions to control Sudan in order to link their other African possessions by land. While both claimants dispatched military expeditions to secure the crucial Fashoda fort, the British gunboat flotilla that reached the fort was a far greater force than the 150 man french land expedition that reached Fashoda. Once both forces arrived, a standoff ensued. While widespread popular outrage called for war on both sides, cooler heads in the two nation's respective governments reached a peaceful settlement.
Significance: Gat uses the Fashoda incident to demonstrate that popular public opinion is not inherently anti-war, indeed that it is often more belligerent than that of the ruling government. |
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Term
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Definition
Aggression or expansionism by large nations in an effort to achieve world domination; leadership or predominant influence exercised by one nation over others.
Significance: German hegemony was extremely apparent in World War II. Hitler had ambitions for Germany to rule all of Europe and eventually to take over the entire world. However, Gat uses the term hegemony in a different context other than an attempt at world domination. Throughout the chapter, Gat speaks of affluent-liberal-democracies that try to spread their influence of democracy over non-democratic countries which is also a form of hegemony. |
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Term
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Definition
A group that rises in revolt against an established government or authority but whose conduct does not amount to belligerency
Significance: Insurgency is significant in Gat due to its correlation with war. There are many instances noted in Gat where an insurgency develops. A world power decides to colonize a land of indigenous people; this is a reoccurring situation throughout history that often results in insurgency. These people become agitated with those occupying their country for a number of possible reasons such as inhumane treatment, religious differences, having land taken away, or being taken advantage of. The group of civilians who rebel or the insurgency, will attack their enemy using non-conventional warfare such as undermining the occupying force and guerilla warfare tactics |
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Term
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Definition
Refering to economics; the theory, practice, or system of fostering or developing domestic industries by protecting them from foreign competition through duties or quotas imposed on importations
Significance: Disputes between countries regarding economic and trade policies can be a source of tension. These conflicts about economic policy are often coincided with political differences (e.g. communism vs. democracy) that can ultimately lead to war. Many countries have used protectionism to aid their economy and protect them from foreign competition including the United States. However, the U.S. has changed their approach since the Great Depression and now enforces a policy of free trade. |
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Term
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Definition
An altered, more subtle way to spread a nation's policy or authority of an empire or nation over foreign countries
Significance: After World War II, the U.S. wanted free trade internationally. Therefore, the U.S. was determined to break up imperialism and imperial protectionism that obstructed free trade (e.g. tariffs). By enforcing these policies among other nations, this is a subtle form of imperialism in itself which Gat refers to as 'informal imperialism'. |
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Term
| WMD (Weapons of Mass Destruction) |
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Definition
A weapon that can kill and bring significant harm to a large numbers of humans (and other life forms) and/or cause great damage to man-made structures, natural structures, or the biosphere in general.
Significance: WMD are typically chemical, biological or nuclear in nature. The term WMD has become prominent since the 9/11 attacks and the Iraq War however; they have been around since the First World War in the forms of poisonous gas. Technology has advanced exponentially since; consequently, there are infinite possibilities of new, highly lethal weapons, more available than ever. |
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Term
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Definition
The seven year's war lasted from 1754 until 1763. It was a war among most of the european superpowers of the time. This war resulted in a large geopolitical shift resulting in new resources and a new economy.
Significance: European states drastically changed as the technology evolved on the continent. The formation of countries leads to new struggles for the states and new conflicts and war. |
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Term
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Definition
Navigational tool that utilizes the magnetic fields on earth. Can be used to orient to the cardinal directions.
Significance: Navigational technology affected the naval warfare and fighting style. More navigational tools led to the ability to be further from known landmarks and maintain the bearings to wage a war. |
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Term
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Definition
Historic battle that utilized a castle as a defensive structure and was the turning point of Japanese warfare as it was revolutionary in its combination of firearms and stockades. The battle took place on June 17, 1575. The firearms led to victory over cavalry attack.
Significance: Certainly one of the greatest revolutions in warfare, the introduction of firearms led to a new fighting style and also led to new technology in defense technology. |
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Term
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Definition
Three wars between Rome and Carthage between 264-146 BC. Gave a strong foothold for roman prominence that would last for centuries.
Significance: One of the most pinnacle wars that led to the formation of borders of nations that would last for centuries. This was one of the first long distance battles. |
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Term
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Definition
A political and military system between a feudal aristocrat and his vassals. The system was composed of legal and military obligations that was intended to bind together the warrior aristocracy of Western Europe
Significance: When Gat mentions Feudalism he he is in the middle of describing Nations and the make up of their armies. He uses Germany as an example of a group of people who were used as hired soldiers. He also uses Sweden as an example of a Nation that has set boundaries, and because of its national identity Feudalism never really took hold. |
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Term
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Definition
Henry VIII's warship in 1545. A multi-mast ship with mounted canons at gun ports. This ship represents a turning point in watercraft architecture that dominated naval warcraft for centuries.
Significance: This ship represents how technology evolving in warfare in turn evolves the way the war is fought, including who, how, and where. |
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Term
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Definition
Spanish explorers that were set on finding gold for their king. They traveled across the Atlantic ocean to the americas in search of riches. They devastated the native americans with their technological advances in warfare and by spreading foreign diseases that the locals were not immune to.
Significance: One of the most influential explorers on the the americas. They brought technology that was completely foreign to the native americans. This is evidence that technological advancement lends to military superiority. |
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Term
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Definition
Describes the increased ability of states with representative government to tax their taxpayers based on the suposition that the greater incorporation of social groups within the governing body increases the investment of the general public in the welfare of the state. The Netherlands and Great Britain are examples of such states with representative government that were able to levy heavy taxes to fuel their growing trade and provide for their national defense in the late-1600's to mid 1800's.
Significance: Gat talks about how a more inclusive political system allows for commercial prosperity and makes both average citizens and bourgeoisie more willing to support the state through taxes. Autocratic 18th Century France had very low taxes in comparison to Great Britain but was also more politically exclusive in its estates, forcing the nation to take out many loans that were eventually defaulted on and destroyed France's financial credibility. |
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Term
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Definition
Mercantilism is an economic theory that holds that the prosperity of a nation is dependent upon its supply of capital and that the global volume of international trade is unchangeable. Capital is represented by the amount of physical wealth (gold or silver) held by the state, which is best increased through a positive balance of trade with other nations. The theory dominated Western European economic policies from the 16th to the late-18th century.
Significance: Mercantilism created greater pressure for war by denying nations access to markets and forcing them to make economic concession. Any nation thus pressured was forced to resort to arms in order to combat the economic stranglehold. |
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Term
| Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty |
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Definition
The Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty is an agreement between 187 countries to limit the spread of nuclear weapons. The treaty was adapted on March 5, 1970 and was first signed by Ireland and Finland. As part of the treaty, member countries accept an inspection regime carried out by the International Atomic Energy Agency.
Significance: The Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty was designed to stop the spread of nuclear weapons throughout the world. As Gat argues, the only feasible against unconventional terror is a co-ordinated global crackdown. The Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty is intended to be a co-ordinated global crackdown against nuclear weapons. However, as is seen with the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty, such a co-ordinated global crackdown is only successful if all countries are willing to participate. While 187 countries are currenty signed on to the treaty, Iraq, Libya and Iran are not member states. Additionally, India, Pakistan, Israel and possibly North Korea and Iran have developed nuclear capibilites since the creation of the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty. |
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Term
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Definition
The Malthusian theory suggests that for most of human history, income remained the same because technological advances and discoveries only resulted in more people, rather than improvements in the standard of living. With the onset of the Industrial Revolution in about 1800 the income per person dramatically increased in some countries, and they broke out of the Trap.
Significance: After states broke out of the Malthusian Trap, the benefits of peace increased dramatically according to Gat. The balance between war and peace tilted in peace's favor because of the economically ever-growing, market-oriented, increasingly interdependent, industrializing and industrial societes. Because of this, Gat suggests that industrial/technological countries, despite of the government or regime in charge, engage in war far less than prior to the industrial revolution. |
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Term
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Definition
Zero Sum Game describes a situation in which a participant's gain or loss is exactly balanced by the losses or gains of the other participants.
Significance: Prior to the Industrial Revolution, the world operated more or less as a zero sum game. That is to say if a state was to gain wealth that would mean it would have to take wealth from another state. With the onset of the Industrial Revolution, as production increased, this was no longer the case. As states became more industrialized wealth acquistion ceased to be a zero sum game. This increase in wealth led to industrial nations going to war amongst each other less often due to the economic effects war has. |
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Term
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Definition
The Enlightenment was an era in Western thinking where reason was thought to be the primary source for legitimacy and authority. It occured across much of Europe during the latter part of the 17th century and late into the 18th century. The Enlightenment inspired many of the intellectual thinkers involved in philosophy, science and cultural life, including those involved in the American and French Revolutions.
Significance: One of the ideas that sprung from the Enlightenment was the belief that the occurrence of war was made possible only because of the inequality in the distribution of the benefits and costs of war. It was believed that during and after wars an elite minority harvested the benefits of war while the rest of the population was left to bear the cost of war, both financially and physically. |
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Term
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Definition
Sovereignty refers to a states or leaders ability to control activities within its territory. In order to be considered a sovereign power a state or leader must have absolute power. No other person or nation can overrule the orders of the sovereign. Furthermore, the sovereign power must be legitimate. The sovereign power of the state or leader must be recognized by outside powers.
Significance: The concept of sovereignty that was developed in Europe during the 17th century became part of the emerging international law. The strengthening states shared an interest in exercising unlimited control over their own people and territories, while finding the the internal affairs of others less important and harder to influence. At the same time, however, sovereignty stands in the way of the enforcement of liberal rights in foreign territories. |
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Term
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Definition
A raid is a military tactic which requires the execution of a plan where surprise and speed are used against an enemy before a counter-attack can be formulated.
Significance: In this tactic the aggressors would set the tone by attacking first. This concept is important to know because this is contrary to the way that most would think tribes conquered other tribes. Instead of battles, wars and sieges, tribes throughout history used raids most of all. |
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Term
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Definition
An ambush is a military tactic, in which the aggressors use concealment to attack a passing enemy. Ambushers strike from concealed positions, such as among dense underbrush or behind hilltops.
Significance: This is military tactic that early human civilization conducted that employs the surprise effect on the enemy. Within this particular tactic, the aggressors would use cover and concealment to attack the enemy from a important avenue of approach. Gat used this term to explain another early military tactic. |
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Term
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Definition
First strike is a preemptive surprise attack employing overwhelming force. First strike capability is a country's ability to defeat another by destroying its arsenal to the point where the attacking country can survive the weakened retaliation while the opposing side is left unable to continue war. First strike has been employed by humans since the development of long range weapons in an effort to deter enemies.
Significance: 1st Strike Capability became very important and clear to most forces. It became significant because if one force had the upper hand before the battle started, then most likely the weaker one would not attack. This idea allowed enemies to keep space between themselves, which ensured safety for both sides. |
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Term
| Small Fights/Nothing Fights |
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Definition
"Small fights" or "nothing fights" were formal, prearranged battles in ancient warfare between villages, tribes, etc. These prearranged battles often involved spear throwing, arrow shooting and other weapons that could be thrown from a distance. Those who were taking fire would take cover behind large shields.
Significance: These so-called small/nothing fights were usually nosiy and could last for days, weeks and quite possibly months. The trival battles were compared to that of tournements between tribes/communities; in which deaths were extremely rare. These battles were often a way to vent for grievances and opened the way to an armistice. |
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Term
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Definition
Aboriginal pertains to an indigenous societies or plant species in a certain area, or otherwise known as the first inhabitants of a territory. These societies therefore consider themselves distinct from societies of the majority culture.
Significance: Being the first inhabitant of a territory/country can prove to be very beneficial. First off, you have all knowledge of valuable assets. Whether it be resources, terrain advantages or other nearby cultures in which you can become allies with. Furthermore, becoming the first inhabitant allows them inhabitants to set the rules, govern how they want and become hegemonic. |
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Term
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Definition
Warfare is a phenomenon of organized violent conflict between two or more groups or nations, typified by extreme aggression, societal disruption and adaptation, and high mortality.
Significance: This term is widely used throughout chapter 6 to explain how warfare has changed over the past 500 years. It is important to note that in this chapter (6), Gat explains that warfare then wasn’t as violent as it is today; in which the primary reason for warfare was to gain resources or bragging rights. |
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Term
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Definition
Ethnocentrism is the belief in the intrinsic superiority of the nation, culture, or group to which one belongs, and is often accompanied by feelings of dislike for other groups.
Significance: Ethnocentrism was and still is a main reason that countries, nations, or tribes still go to war. Whether the reason being the belief that their religion is better, or culture, or lifestyle. People still go war because of this feeling of greatness. |
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Term
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Definition
Primitive describes an object relating to, or produced by a people or culture that is nonindustrial and often non-literate. Tribal people have cultural or physical similarities with their early ancestors.
Significance: Primitive is used to describe the many things people or cultures did before any industrial technologies were developed. It may refer to primitive agriculture, primitive hunting, or even primitive beings, the latter describing the people of the primitive age. |
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Term
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Definition
A tribe is a unit of sociopolitical organization consisting of a number of families, clans, or other groups who share a common ancestry and culture and among whom leadership is typically neither formalized nor permanent.
Significance: Tribes were and still may be the pawns of warfare in their geographic locations. They provided protection to families against attacks from other tribes. They share a strong ancestral tie which creates a strong bond between members, and allows them to fight as a true family. |
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Term
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Definition
Kinship is the relationship between two or more persons that is based on common ancestry (descent) or marriage (affinity).
Significance: Kinship is the bond that ties a family to each other. People create strong ties to their family members and will protect one another if a threat arises. Being related by marriage or blood creates a bond between kin.Predicts the direction of human aggression. |
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Term
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Definition
(1588 - 1679)
English philosopher who believed war was intrinsic to humans. Hobbes thought that the invention of states prevented more war by forcing peace, negating the need to fight for "...gain, safety, and reputation..." (Gat, 5).
Significance: One of two philosophical views on whether humans fundamentally warred. Between Hobbes and Rousseau, Hobbes was more right than Rousseau, but somewhat overdrawn. Hobbes believed the state had saved humanity from eternal conflict, which Gat considers to be over exaggerating. |
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Term
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Definition
(1712 - 1788)
Philosopher from Geneva who believed hunter-gatherers naturally live peacefully with nature. Rousseau thought that war arose from "the coming of agriculture, demographic growth, private property, division of class, and state coercion,..." (Gat, 5). His ideas influenced the French and American Revolution.
Significance: Second of two philosophical views on whether humans fundamentally warred. Gat determined Rousseau's views were completely wrong, concluding that hunter-gathers naturally fought. One principle argument for not needing to fight were the apparent minor loss low-yield terrain. But Gat argues that low-yield terrain would just become more important to hold onto. |
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Term
| Aboriginal Hunter-Gatherers |
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Definition
Simple hunter-gatherer society of Australia that is a great 'conservation' of hunter-gatherer society with minimum observational influence. With an estimated population of 300,000, the aboriginal hunter-gathers commonly fought each other, both intergroup and intragroup, typically for "women, murder ..., trespass." (Gat, 21)
Significance: Main proof that humans naturally fought each other. Gat describes how shields were/are used by aboriginal hunter-gatherers, which, unlike other tools, can only really be used for fighting other people. Group used to represent all hunter-gatherer societies in terms of fighting. |
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Term
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Definition
Principal argument for Rousseauite view; low-yield terrain would not be worth fighting for and protecting. This ties hand in hand with another argument, that hunter-gatherers roamed across large areas of land.
Significance: Contributing factor for Rousseauite view. If a lot of terrain is low-yield terrain, than the loss of land to others would have a large impact on food supplies. Gat concludes the Rousseauite view is wrong, not just because there never really were large roams of land, but that low-yield terrain would be heavily fought for to maintain |
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Term
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Definition
All humans living today belong to this type of species. 'Current day human', preceded by 'homo erectus', which was the first human species that lead a hunter-gatherer lifestyle.
Significance: Provides a background of the different types of species to determine which species were hunter-gatherers, violent lifestyles, when and how these different lifestyles developed. |
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Term
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Definition
Fighting within the same species.
i.e humans fighting humans, monkeys fighting monkeys
Significance: Supports the idea that humans didn't get their lethal violent behavior from monkeys because when monkeys fought each other they did not fight to the death. Also supports the theory that humans are the most ruthless creatures. Humans also displayed the evolution of weapons to support their lethal behavior. |
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Term
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Definition
(1908 - 1980)
American anthropologist. One of his most noted works, 'African Genises', talks about killer ape theory, which states that human ancestors' adoption of hunting and eating meat turned them into "killer apes". He thought these killer apes started to turn their new skills and tools against their own kind.He developed this idea after working with Raymond Dart, who studied an Australopithican skull.
Significance: Linked Australopithecian species to human species. Survived million year drought by adapting to different hunting and gathering styles. Describes the process in which ape evolved into man. |
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Term
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Definition
Genus of hominids. Species of ape that are now extinct. One of the australopith species may have evolved into the Homo genus.Developed about 4 million years ago and lived as late as 1 million years ago.
Significance: Played a significant part in human evolution in which one of these species evolved into the human species |
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Term
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Definition
Regional group or a number of related regional groups who had their own name and a distinct sense of self-identity as a people. Could live in close proximity or more spread out. Averaged about 500 people.
Significance: This helped anthropologist's organize people into groups and help determine the evoloutionary process in regards to hunter-gatherer lifestyles and where the different tribes were located within the same species. |
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Term
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Definition
An American Anthropologist and a retired professor at the University of California. He contributed to the evolutionary theory in cultural anthropology and the study of warfare through his pioneering study of the primitive Yanomamo people of South America from the mid 1960s to the 1990s.
Significance: Chagnon was the first and best-known student of the Yanomamo. Chagnon has acknowledged both the somatic and the reproductive elements of evolutionary theory; he has continued to claim that with primitive people, in general, it was the reproductive rather than the somatic reasons that were chiefly responsible for warfare. |
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Term
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Definition
The naturally-occurring phenomenon where a person (or animal) will act to the advantage of another member of its species/ethnic group, while placing themselves at some disadvantage, under the assumption that the act will at some point be reciprocated to them.
Significance: Reciprocal altruism is an important component of human culture, in that it supports and promotes cultural identity through generating a sense of community in the participants. However, it can be easily upset by those who cheat the altruistic system, creating disharmony that eventually leads to conflict. |
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Term
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Definition
A relatively rare phenomenon where a person/animal acts to the advantage of another while disadvantaging themselves and without the prospect of receiving any reward for doing so.
Significance: Genuine altruism does not occur regularly in the human world; it is usually reserved for blood relatives and/or figures that are important to the person's cultural worldview. |
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Term
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Definition
A concept based upon the innate natural instinct to preserve one's own genetic future, i.e. to favor one's own blood family over others and to remove threats to the survival of one's own genes through altruistic acts and/or violent elimination of genetic competitors.
Significance: Kin selection is an overarching concept governing human behavior on a cultural level: it involves both ethnocentrism and altruism and explains the tendencies of humans to favor blood kin and ethnic kin over outsiders. |
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Term
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Definition
The Yanomamo are a large population of indigenous Amerindian people in South America. They reside in the Amazon rain forest, among the hills that line the boarder between Brazil and Venezuela. They have not been largely uninfluenced by outside cultures, which makes them a perfect for studies of how primitive tribes existed.
Significance: The Yanomamo were in the center of the debate of the causes of primitive warfare. Chagnon was the best known student of the Yanomamo and argued that the Yanomamo had both internal conflicts and were predominately about reproductive opportunities. Yanomamo warfare involved competition over hunting territories. Gat also wants to illustrate that the Yanomamo gave the impression that the evolutionary theory was about reproduction more in a sexual state than a broad state, for instance feeding the offspring. |
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Term
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Definition
A contest between groups for a location of resources. Resource competition is a prime cause of aggression, violence, and deadly violence in nature.
Significance: Resource competition may have been one of the strongest reasons for violence in the time of Homo sapiens sapiens. The reason for this is that food, water, and shelter were tremendous selection forces. Violent clashes brought about by hunting forays and population movements undoubtedly becoming more intense when hunger and starvation loomed. |
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Term
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Definition
The Palaeolithic Age, Era or Period, is a prehistoric era distinguished by the development of the first stone tools, and covers roughly 99% of human technological history. It extends from the introduction of stone tools by hominids such as Homo habilis 2 million years ago, to the introduction of agriculture and the end of the Pleistocene around 12,000 BP.
Significance: The Paleolithic Age contained 99% of human development. While it is hard to get primary sources for this Age Gat was able to reference studies of Australian Aborigines, African Bushmen and other hunter gather tribes that still exist. These studies explore why early man fought "wars" and the development of early man. |
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Term
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Definition
A fundamental asymmetry between males and females that leads to the determining of their sexual activity. Males have the potential to have more offspring than females. This causes females to be more selective in choosing their mates, and males to compete for females.
Significance: Males reproductive capacity increases in direct relation to the number of his sex partners, whereas the female's does not. Some were highly polygamous, meaning they had multiple sex partners. On the other hand, monogamous restricted the male to one partner. |
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Term
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Definition
A feud with a cycle of retaliatory violence, with the relatives of someone who has been killed or otherwise wronged or dishonored seeking vengeance by killing or otherwise physically punishing the culprits or their relatives.
Significance: Gat explores the blood feud as a early reason for fighting with in tribes and between tribes. Blood feuds tended to be fought over women. An example in Gat is "wife stealing was widespread, and probably the main cause of homicide and 'blood feuds' among the Eskimos". From our modern point of view blood feuds can also be seen as warfare, homicide and war killing. |
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Term
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Definition
The practice of intentionally killing an infant.
Significance: Infanticide was practiced for several reasons during by early human's. It was used to regulate the total population. The regulation of the population could be applied to both male and female births, but female infantcide was more common. Males were prized higher due to the need for hunters, field workers and to help protect the family. |
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Term
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Definition
The Celts were a major tribe that controlled large territories in Europe during the fourth and third centuries BC. According to Julius Ceasar, they were one of the first tribes to undergo the transition from tribalism to urbanization.
Significance: They are one of the most studied tribes and are important to Gat’s study of tribes and the way they functioned. |
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Term
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Definition
The “Big Man” is the title used to describe the most powerful member of a tribe. He was separate from the chief and held no official office. His status was derived from his social astuteness and ‘entrepreneurial’ spirit, charisma, prowess, and skillful use of his property.Offered patronage and protection in return for subordination and support.
Significance: This concept is important because it explains who the true leaders of tribes actually were. Gat uses this term to differentiate between the office of chief and the real leader. While the office of chief was official, the big man was the unofficial leader of a tribe |
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Term
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Definition
Stealing goods from others. Using physical force and large numbers of people.
Significance: This concept is important to know because this is how tribes would survive when they could not provide for themselves. Instead of putting more effort into producing crops and livestock, many tribes would simply just steal from another. This was also one of the critical factors that led to tribes fortifying their living space. |
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Military constructions and buildings designed for defense in warfare and military bases. The earliest fortifications found at Jericho date back to the eighth millennium BC. These structures are considered the first unequivocal sign of warfare that can be detected by the tools at the disposal of archaeology.
Significance: Gat notes the rise of fortifications are predominantly a function of sedentism rather than of violent conflict alone. |
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Likely the last tribal society in Europe that persisted into the 19th century. There were around 30 tribes numbering about 2000 people apiece who engaged in inter-tribal violence as well as fighting off invasion from the Turks during the Middle Ages.
Significance: Noted by Gat as probably being the last tribal society in Europe, persisting into the age of the gun. Also evidence of small factions existing into the nineteenth century. |
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Native American group consisting of of five tribes that inhabited today's upstate New York. The exact date of the foundation of the League is unknown, but it is thought to have been created around 1500. It was founded as a League of Peace among its member tribes, which had earlier existed separately and in a state of endemic and vicious intra-warfare.
Significance: Noted by Gat that the League did not incorporate all Iroquois dialect speakers, including the Huron Confederacy which the Iroquois League nearly exterminated. Also noted by Gat as being a "paradigm of tribal society in general". |
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Located in today’s Mesa Verde National Park in southwestern Colorado, this cliff dwelling was home to Ancestral Puebloans. It is believed to be continually built from 1190 – 1260. The structure’s location in the side of a cliff, along with its continuous walled front, provided for protection from hunter-gatherer groups and neighboring agriculturalists.
Significance: This structure is noted by Gat as a great example of the defensive measures taken by early agriculturists to protect their livestock/crops from raiding hunter-gatherers. |
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Located in the valley of the Jordan River, this walled construction is believed to be one of the first known agricultural settlements, dating back to the late ninth millennium BC. It is thought to have been the home to 2,000-3,000 inhabitants.
Significance: It is believed to have been built by early agriculturalists who sought protection for their stored crops and their own lives from raiding hunter-gatherers. However, Gat notes that this is an erroneous interpretation, as fortifications like Jericho are a function of sedentism. Thus, in the big picture, the rise of agriculture cannot be equated with a rise in violence; violence has been around much longer. |
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An archipelago scattered over the central and southern Pacific Ocean.
Significance: Noted by Gat that when Europeans first explored these islands in the late eighteenth century, they had visions of pristine, innocent, happy, non-corrupt, pre-civilization, peaceful inhabitants (the epitome of the Rousseauite view). However, it has been concluded that Polynesia was in fact notoriously rife with violence, casting doubt on the Rousseauite view, and supporting Thomas Hobbes' argument that the human state of nature was one of endemic war. |
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A branch of anthropology dealing with the scientific description of individual cultures. It is often employed for gathering empirical data on human societies/cultures. Data collection is often done through participant observation, interviews, questionnaires, etc.
Significance: Gat utilized ethnographic evidence documented by literate cultures that came in contact with prehistoric farming peoples in his book in order to draw inferences of prehistory times. Interestingly, this is a very controversial technique, as many argue that drawing conclusions of previous cultures based on more modern cultures is erroneous, as well as the influence that the literature cultures can have on the group they study when they come in contact. |
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The term was created by John Herz in 1951 in his book, Political Realism and Political Idealism. It refers to the fundamental state of insecurity in which a group exists that leads to increased defensive measures. These measures can include concealing one's dwelling by natural or artificial means,keeping at a safe distance and surveilling the enemy, building up military strength, and making alliances.
Significance: Gat includes this in his chapter on human motivation for fighting. Humans are in a constant interconnected competition over resources and reproduction, and the fear that access to necessary resources will be taken away itself prompts them to build up their defenses and their potential offensive strength. |
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The term describes a competition that occurs throughout nature between two or more parties for real or apparent superiority. Better competitors are produced through natural selection, but these "upgrades" often come at a heavy costs for the organism or group. These costs often would not have been necessary if it were not for the competition. In an arms race, there is not necessarily a specific goal beyond that of out-running the other competitors.
Significance: Gat includes this as the next step beyond the security dilemma. A natural result of the security dilemma is that the two (or more) sides must not only match but exceed the power of those they are in competition with. This is important to the study of war in human civilization as it reveals both motivation to fight and the growing means to wage war. |
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The hypothesis can be used to explain the constant evolutionary arms race between competing species. In an arms race the Red Queen effect occurs when both sides evolve faster and faster only to find themselves staying in pace with each other. The competitors will remain at a stalemate unless suspicion, faulty communication, and the inability to verify what exactly the other side is doing can be overcome.
Significance: Gat's use of this term builds on the string of fighting motivations. The Red Queen effect is one natural result of arms races, and arms races are a natural result of the security dilemma. This effect can cause warfare in and of itself, where access to resources may not have been an immediate issue. |
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A technique used by humans when they encounter gaps in their understanding of the world around them that they cannot fill with their own experiences. Humans crave this understanding in order to gain a sense of security and control. This practice typically occurs in every culture around the world.
Significance: In showing how important a basic understanding of the world is to humans, Gat also shows how these interpretations (naturally differing between groups) can in turn affect the world through a group's actions taken based on their worldview. |
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A symbol is something such as an object, picture, word or sound that represents something else by association, resemblance, or convention. With the development of worldviews that could include supernatural elements, groups could project symbolism onto objects, places, or people. These symbols were often protected by the "clans" or groups.
Significance: Gat shows this as another form of "second-level" conflict, where conflict between groups can be created by "sacred" trespasses, where there would not have been conflict for original competitive reasons. |
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Thesis that people are born without built-in mental content but rather their knowledge comes from experience and perception. People that follow this thesis are usually supportive of the "nurture" side of the nature vs. nurture debate. It is a thesis related to a "blank slate" type of thinking where people's personalities, intelligence, and overall behaviour in society are developed over time.
Significance: The idea of men and women serving aside each other in the military is a heated debate throughout this chapter. Gat lists many physical reasons why men are considered to be warrior/soldiers and also why women are not capable. The tabula rasa theory is based upon the idea that no one is born with a certain amount of mental ability but they learn from experiences encountered in life. Feminists are in direct support of this because it goes against the argument that men are generally more aggressive and have that built-in mental capacity to be a fighter. |
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One persons natural ability to maintain their body orientation and/or posture in relation to the surrounding environment at rest and during motion. In other words, when you're surrounded in a hectic or constantly changing environment, this is one's ability to remain composed and keep from getting disoriented. Good spatial orientation, will allow someone to be more effective in the field of battle and more efficient.
Significance: Gat's inclusion of this term contributes to the argument of men being more superior fighters than women, because he mentions that cognitive studies have shown men to be better at dealing and maintaining their spacial orientation better than women. In war there are many external distractions in your surrounding environment, and it has been shown men can handle these distractions better than women. This is another point in Gat's argument that women and men are not on the same level of ability when it comes to participating in today's military. |
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All-female military regiment of the Kingdom of Dahomey which lasted until the 19th century. These women were used as the King's royal army. They were elite body guards whose sole purpose was to protect the King. The numbers of this group went from the hundreds to the thousands, in a relatively short amount of time. The effectiveness of these women warriors was correlated to their ferocity with the weapons they were provided. They were rigorously trained and comprised of roughly one-third of the entire Dahomey army.
Significance: This all-female military regiment was the exception to the cultural norms of people participating in active fighting of the military. Though they were almost the only showing of their kind, they were still very important and effective at what they did. These women could have possibly set the stage for more positions becoming available in the military for their fellow kind. Because today, women's role in the military are very limited it is important to understand that these women were the only fighters of their kind, and they were very threatening in their own regard. They were armed with, guns, clubs, machetes, bows and arrows, and were recognized for being especially ruthless fighters. |
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A prehistoric era distinguished by the development of the first stone tools, and covers roughly 99% of human technological history. Although it is responsible for development of basic tools that we still used today, the value held by paleolithic people soon became outdated and obsolete.
Significance: Because Paleolithic men were so common and obsolete they were of no use to the enemy. However, the women in a paleolithic time were extremely valuable. Because the men were more expendable they were used as the main line of defense for their families and people. The mothers however, were expected to cover the children to the best of their abilities. The women in essence were the keys to continuing civilization and the men were the tools to help preserve it. Whether it be through gathering food or defending their homes, unless attacking enemies wished to enslave the Paleolithic men, they were of almost no use to them. |
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East slavic name for a tumulus, or type of burial mound placed directly over a fallen soldiers burial chamber. They were constructed in different ages of time ranging from the Bronze age to the Middle Ages. The idea of constructing a Kurgan is an old tradition still celebrated to this day in areas such as Central Asia and Southern Siberia.
Significance: Gat mentions these traditional burial mounds being found in areas near the Ukranian Steppe. The overall point he's trying to reach is that a good amount of the graves that were discovered contained women buried in full military gear. Much like the myth of the Dahomey Amazons, The Scythian and Sarmation people had used woman as pastoralist horse archers to help make up for their lack of ability in close combat situations. These horse archers were even described as the "neighbors" of the famous Amazons due to their use of women in warfare. One Scythian Kurgan contained 4 graves out of the total 50 that belonged to women. The Sarmation region Kurgans contained 20 percent of graves belonging to women. |
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