2004年英语学习资料-阅读精解.docVIP

2004年英语学习资料-阅读精解23 Passage 23 战术在世界第一次大战中的作用Although much has been written about World War I , the strategic lessons of that conflict forwarfare have not been fully comprehended. Never was the dependence of strategy on statecraft moreclearly demonstrated. As political circumstances of the war changed, strategy changed. The CentralPowers, led by Germany and Austria-Hungary, never had a common plan of campaign or effective uni-ty of command. The Allied side achieved unity only under necessity. Along with the military factors,economic and psychological considerations proved important in conducting the war and gaining victory.Although the aim of annihilating the enemy was paramount with both sides-especially in the openingcampaigns-the desire to exhaust him also influenced strategy.Military leaders in World War I had to master three basic factors in strategic calculations: massesof men, technological advances, and wide areas. The movement of huge masses became an art in it-self, for armies had taken on unprecedented dimensions. Millions of men were in action. Railroads andmotor transport became important not only for concentrations but also for establishing new strategicpoints on the fronts themselves. The arena of war embraced whole continents. Battles lasted for daysand weeks, and the fighting continued even after the great battles were over.New weapons came into play. New means of communication--telephone, radio telegraphy, theautomobile, and the airplane--promoted faster execution of orders and unified command over widely scattered forces. The overwhelming firepower of modem weapons checked the effectiveness of the at- tack, long considered the ideal path to victory. The tank, however, offered fresh possibilities in re-dressing the balance between the defensive and the offensive. Tactics became more than ever a prelude and conditioning factor of strategy, since without freedom of movement, strategy was only an academ- ic exercise. Tactics came to mark the begin