Random Questions for a Sunday Afternoon

[gothwalk]

These are some questions tied into my current research for game world development. If anyone can answer them, fantastic. If not, some speculation is welcome. It doesn't have to be logical, or even meaningful.

1) What governed the conduct of warfare in the Enlightment era (18th century)? There were plenty of them, and there seem to have been accepted ways to fight them, but obviously they weren't governed by, say, the Geneva Convention, and chivalry, if it ever existed in that context, was if not dead then well forgotten.

2) What is the major (historical, pre-trains) barrier to overland trade from Europe to China? Is it down to the terrain between here and there, the people along the way, or just the fact that it's a bloody long way?

3) Are there credible, or even semi-credible alternatives to the Westphalian nation-state system in the modern era?

I'm going to do the dishes, and I expect some entertaining answers by the time I get back. Sunny weather is no excuse.

EDIT: Woah, answers! Thank you all. Individual replies to follow...

Comments

18th cen Rules of War

[ragnvaeig.livejournal.com]

1. I'm assuming you mean landed warfare. There were attempts at limited warfare in the 18th century, among them Hugo Grotius' "Rights of War and Peace," the first comprehensive international warfare treatise. "Natural law" was popular during the Enlightenment, and Grotius was heavily influenced by it.

Basically, the idea was not to topple the opposition's government, but to limit military actions to areas away from civilians and more urbanised areas. The goal of most troop maneuvers was to secure surrender, without regard to controlling the enemy's position. Frederick II of Prussia had some innovative ideas, including the oblique order of battle.

Total war didn't come about until the citizen-armies of the French Revolution and the Napoleonic Wars.

As far as naval warfare, it was governed by the British Articles of War.

Re: 18th cen Rules of War

[gothwalk.livejournal.com]

Fantastic, thank you! I'll look into the Natural Law concept a bit more. The notion of not striking at the opposing government in war is a very odd one to me, and therefore one to poke at in great detail.

Re: 18th cen Rules of War

[sares2000.livejournal.com]

A nice and extreme example of this from an earlier era is that during the Hundred Years War there were situations in which the English and French kings could have had a final, decisive battle to remove the opposing king... and they chose not to.

All-out war is just so much more risky. You have a little to gain, and everything to lose.