The Influences of Sun Tzu in the Second World War

Over the course of history, the strategic environment has changed rapidly and is now more complex than ever before – it is currently characterized by unpredictability and disorder, and may yet manifest itself in the collapse of nuclear armed nations, destabilizing conflict in geo-politically vital regions, and humanitarian crises. A world of disparate actors – not all nation states – now exists. Unpredictable events will continue to cause strategic surprise. The widespread effects of past conflicts such as World War II, Vietnam and the Iraq war are still being felt and have created significant strategic repercussions. The failures of these conflicts are the result of our military and political leaders’ failure to quickly adapt to wartime conditions. This occurs because of a general refusal to commit to a military culture of learning that encourages serious debate, critical assessments of our military operations, and challenges to our doctrine in the face of emerging change. Additionally, leaders have struggled with the critical responsibility of forecasting and providing for a ready force, one that is well-resourced and prepared to conduct future operations. It is the responsibility of our military and political leaders to send our military to war with a ready force, and a strategy that will ultimately result in victory. But understanding war and warriors is critical if societies and governments are to make sound judgments concerning military policy.

“The art of war is of vital importance to the State. It is a matter of life and death, a road either to safety or to ruin. Hence it is a subject of inquiry which can on no account be neglected.” War is an art that reveals the true strength of a leader. Sun Tzu; the author of the indispensable handbook that has occupied kings and generals for millennia has employed psychology, deceit, strategic power, and diplomacy as the fundamental arts of combat. Thought to have lived in the fifth century B.C., His family was part of a clan of experts on arms and fighting; his teachings are most likely a combination of his clan’s ideas and his own, as well as concepts associated with early Taoism. Throughout ancient times, the political and social climate of China was characterized by violent upheaval, the rise and fall of great dynasties, and almost continuous military conflict.Sun Tzu followed the profession of his clan and, on the basis of how growing reputation, entered the service of Ho Lu, king of the state of Tu, as a traveling service for hire. His military stratagems intrigued the king, and Sun Tzu eventually became general of the king’s army. Sun Tzu defeated numerous opponents and created a systematic treatise on war. Sun Tzu contemplated the madness of his times as deeply as he could; he advocated waging

Nicolo Machiavelli’s The Prince and Sun Tzu’s The Art of War both both provide directions for leadership with similar goals. The Prince is primarily geared towards providing valuable information about how a ruler of many principalities may govern different populations and acquire new lands. The Art of War provides us with a schematic of the optimal path to victory. This book is instead directed towards generals of powerful militaries with only the goal of winning. Concepts such as Machiavelli’s view of destruction will be contrasted with Sun Tzu’s victory-oriented argument for taking whole and several of their other ideas will be compared. Although Machiavelli and Sun Tzu have different intended audiences, many of their ancient tactics can

7.) To what extent is Lao-tzu in favor of military action? What seems to be his views about the military?

Sutton argues that the high reputation of the German advisors in China is overstated by historians, but the advisors did provide high quality service to the modernization of the Chinese military. The author attempts to dispel the myths surrounding the German advisory group, and demonstrate how the Nazi’s implementation of their military tactics altered the political landscape leading to the eventual break from the Nationalists, and alignment with the Japanese. While Sutton limits his article on the implications of the German’s training style, he does well to provide an alternative to the traditional conception of this group by reasonably making the point that not only has their reputation been somewhat exaggerated, but their impact may have prepared the Nationalists for the wrong style of war and not taken into account Chinese

I’m no military genius but to win a war, you need to know: first, that you are at war, second, who your enemy is, and finally, what strategies you are going to engage to win.

It is a matter of life and death, a road to safety or to ruin. Therefore, it is a subject that must be thoroughly studied.” He established a strategic approach to military operations. He considered the moral, intellectual and circumstantial elements f war to be more important than the physical. This ideal strategy of restraint, of winning without fighting and accomplishing the most by doing the least, is characteristic of Taoism.

The American theories of war and warfare trace their roots to 19th century European military thought, but are constantly evolving due to the influence of political, technological and social dynamics specific to the American experience. Because of this constant change, the definition of operational art does not infer a specific theory of war or warfare. Rather it provides a cognitive approach for translating ever-changing theories into practice in a complex and dynamic operational environment. By understanding the evolution of the American theories of war and warfare, the value of the current flexible approach to operational art becomes apparent.

To look at how Lao Tzu’s philosophy influenced Sun Tzu’s, The Art of War, one must understand the point of view in context with the writers. Eastern philosophy is much different from those of its Western counterparts. The Western world has more of an inner focus on “determinism and moral responsibility.” Ones reasoning, logic, and ethics play a role with the decisions they make. While the Eastern world has more of a focus on the foundational beliefs of “fundamental connectedness”, and “personal liberation”. The

The most impressive idea in this book is what master sun mentioned in chapter six, he said, “Military formation is like water” and then illustrates that “a military force has no constant formation, water has no constant shape: the ability to gain victory by changing and adapting according to the opponent is called genius” (94). From my understanding about this sentence, he is trying to say that the strategy of the war is a bit like water, there is no fixed form for it, and the way to win is that always change strategy according to enemy's behavior. At the same time, this thought could also be explained this way, confuse your opponents, once they cannot find your weakness and trace, then you are invincible. In short, avoiding conflict with opponents

Sun Tzu He lived and studied throughout China and Asia. 544 BC - 496 BC Sun Tzu was a general and strategist during the warfare China faced against its states who desired power and control of the vacant land. This inspired him to write about tactics, advice, and the principles of warfare, leading to the book called, "The Art of War" and becoming a very well known philosopher today. During Sun Tzu's early years he was under the King of Wu, King Helü, and it can be assumed that he influenced Tzu.

Sun Tzu understood the nature of war as “the province of life or death,” and a “matter of vital importance to the state.”1 I agree. In my own experience, war awakens your primordial instincts and strips you of your self-rationalizations. Sun Tzu defined the character of war when he wrote, “water has no constant form, there are in war no constant conditions.”2 Accordingly, Sun Tzu’s principals of war offer a framework adequate to explain the nature and character of 21st century warfare, which I rationalize as a near-continuous battle of ideologies fought through asymmetric means to advance the values and interests of state and non-state actors.

The Second Sino-Japanese war began on July 7th, 1937 and ended on September 9th, 1945. It was a military conflict which was fought between the Republic of China and the Empire of Japan. As part of the struggle against fascism, Japan invaded China. It is clear that, due to the restriction of its natural resources, Japan tried to increase by robbing resources from other countries. Japan used the conquered Manchuria as a launching base for their troops. Manchuria was an enormous region that consisted of three provinces- Liaoning in the south, Jilin in the middle and Heilongjiang in the north. In 1905, when Japan defeated Russia in the Russo-Japanese war, Russia, which used Manchuria for business and

The Sun Zi Art of War is the definitive work on military strategies and tactics of its time, and still one of the basic strategies used in business today. Sun Tzu suggested the importance

Sun Tzu Wu, also known as Sunzi, was a military strategist and general who served the state of Wu near the end of the Spring and Autumn Period between 770 and 476 bc. His art of war earned him the attention of the Ho Lu, the King of Wu, and after a demonstration of his skills he was appointed general over the Wu forces. Sun Tu defeated the Ch’u state in the west and the Ch’I and chin states in the north which spread his fame abroad amongst the feudal princes.