Decisive Battle Research Articles

The Last Campaign and Death of Jebe Noyan

AbstractDespite Jebe Noyan's importance to the expansion of Chinggis Khan's empire, the Mongol general remains a shadowy figure. In part this stems from the absence of any biography of Jebe in the Yuan Shi and much uncertainly surrounds when, and in what circumstances, he died. Here the argument is made that the Novgorod First Chronicle provides a description of Jebe's capture and death at the hands of the Kipchaks during the 1223 campaign which culminated with the decisive Battle of the Kalka River. The silence and ambiguity surrounding Jebe's fate in pro-Mongol sources of the thirteenth century can perhaps be explained by a taboo surrounding the disgraceful circumstances of his capture and execution.The paper explores the implications which this identification holds for how we assess the westward campaign of Jebe and Sübe'etei (1220-1224), often perceived as a reconnaissance mission, and how the Mongol leadership viewed enemies west of the Volga in its aftermath. This, in turn, sheds light on the preparations the Mongols made for their return in force to the region in the 1230s. Finally a theory is offered for why Jebe's identification was not made previously which illustrates the challenges facing researchers of the Mongol Empire.

The Song Remains the Same: What Cyberlaw Might Teach the Next Internet Economy

The next stage of the digital economy will involve trillions of networked devices, across every industry and sphere of human activity: The Internet of the World. Early manifestations of this evolution through on-demand services such as Uber and Airbnb are raising a host of serious legal questions. The stage seems set for a decisive battle between regulation and innovation. Yet this perspective is mistaken. In the end, the emerging businesses will welcome government engagement, and regulatory actors will accept creative solutions to achieve their goals. Why expect such a resolution? The exact same story played out twenty years ago, in the early days of the commercial internet. Contemporary debates recapitulate a familiar error: the artificial division of virtual and real-space activity. Now as in the past, this “digital dichotomy” feeds both excessive skepticism about legal protections, as well as excessive concern about the threats from technology-based innovations. The history of cyberlaw shows the importance of overcoming such perspectives, and recognizing the potential of government as an enabler of innovation.

From Wales to Warsaw and Beyond: NATO’s Strategic Adaptation to the Russian Resurgence on Europe’s Eastern Flank

IntroductionOn March 30, 2016, the Polish minister of defense launched a one-hundred-day countdown that will run until NATO's summit in Warsaw, which will likely have a significant impact on the Alliance's future. At the same time, and in light of Russia's increasingly aggressive resurgent actions targeted at shattering West- ern unity, the US administration has decided to send an armored brigade combat team to Europe in February 2017. This team will offer a rotational forward presence and bolster NATO's deterrence, thereby reassuring its members on the eastern flank. Since its last summit in Wales in 2014, NATO has changed its posture significantly, moving away from reassurance. It has strengthened the NATO Response Forces (NRF) and regionally aligned command structures, stepped up its exercises and training sessions, and even decided to bulk up its military presence through the establishment of a rotational, multinational brigade-sized component.Unfortunately, these security measures have not yet gone far enough to meet the expectations of the Baltic states and Poland. In view of the provocative actions of the Russian Federation, they are calling for a stronger NATO presence, achieved through the creation of permanent military bases on their territories. For these nations, the upcoming NATO summit, due to take place on July 8-9, 2016, will likely only bring dissatisfaction in its wake. This particular Alliance-internal disagreement raises a range of relevant questions in terms of the extent to which NATO has been able to adapt on a strategic level to the new security environment, which was primarily changed by Russia as a result of its illegal annexation of Ukrainian Crimea. Questions will also be posed as to what NATO should do next to reinforce a sense of security among its eastern members, who are faced with both classic military threats and the risk of hybrid attacks.Russia's Hybrid Warfare with Ukraine and the WestWith the annexation of Crimea in March 2014, Russia launched its neo-imperialist mission and attempt to position itself globally as one of the world's unquestioned superpowers. Moscow unleashed its hybrid military beast on Ukraine and the West, perceiving the Western world as its key opponent, the former Soviet bloc as a crucial sphere of influence, and NATO as a strategic national security threat.Russia exploited Ukraine's weaknesses, namely its transatlantic relationship and solidarity as the center of gravity of Western power, and launched an assault on morale, physical might, and freedom of action. Russia pulled out all the stops, seeking a strategic victory via the use of both material and immaterial, military and non-military, legal and illegal, and direct and indirect onslaughts on the West and Kyiv. This objective was reached without the overt application of substantial military force.Exploiting institutional weak spots and legal pressure points, historical and ethnic tensions, as well as financial and business opportunities, Russia's hybrid strategy was not only successful in Ukraine, but also had influence on the international level. This influence was also directed at Russia's own population, with the aim of consolidating the Kremlin's power and providing it with national legitimacy for unrestricted policies and action. While ensuring that the warfare was kept simmering below the boiling point of conventional war, Mos- cow advanced both kinetic and non-kinetic lines of operation, wearing down its enemy not through a decisive battle in the classic, Clausewitzian military sense, but rather through the attrition of morale. Non-kinetic efforts include political indoctrination, siege tactics, conspiracy theories tinged with anti-Semitism, the labeling of individuals as Nazis, the exploitation of the diaspora, and the influence of the Orthodox Church. This uncompromising information struggle saw Moscow exploit the influence of state media, online troll armies, proKremlin extremist narratives from political movements, think tanks, anti-globalist groups, and even various NGOs. …

Gorski vijenac kao podtekst Mojkovačke bitke Ćamila Sijarića

Ćamil Sijarić's novel is ending with Mojkovac battle, as the decisive battle of the Sandzak army in the First World War, since everything, previously narrated is leading towards it. Facts about the results of the battle, after soldiers' going to the battlefield and a picture of their return are displayed to a reader, instead of strategy, tactics and microanalysis of the battle. Thus, the author is focused on the meaning of Mojkovac battle and its contextualization, not only within the First World War, but also in the context of the prior Serbian history. On the one hand, novel's lyrical moments permanently strive to shape a legend, and, on the other, description of Lim, the watch-tower, a hero's cap and the flag are getting historical perspective. Enlightening the tragedy of such a choice (battle instead of capitulation) and motivation of the choice, as well as prehistory of his heroes, Sijaric made an exquisite picture of Sandzak's collective in which we recognize an ethical dimension of Kosovo's archetype and The Mountain Wreath. Njegos depicted the killing of converts to Islam in the context of Kosovo's oath, as Sijaric presented Mojkovac battle considering Kosovo, killing of converts to Islam, Ottoman's time and migration of Serbs. Scholars did not elaborate the thesis that Njegos's epic and Kosovo's archetype are the subtext of Mojkovac battle, although the meaning of battle which Sijaric's novel enquired should be read just in that key, which is, at the same time, testimony about Sijaric's humanistic reading of The Mountain Wreath and about spontaneously realized influences in the system of values existing within the same culture. Implicit dialogue between Mojkovac battle and The Mountain Wreath is seen in the concrete motives, in the manner of presentation of the historical event and, above everything, through the values which novel affirms. These facts, as we shall present, contribute to perceiving the battle in the First World War in the tradition of permanent fights for the freedom which were led on the Serbian territory until that moment.

A study on the political particularity of colonial Joseon’ Filmdom in 1944 : Through changes of system after ‘Emergency measure for decisive battle’

A study on the political particularity of colonial Joseon’ Filmdom in 1944 : Through changes of system after ‘Emergency measure for decisive battle’

미래전에서 헬기전력 주도의 기동전 연구

The United States Army has a vicrory which is has a Gulf War and Iraq War. What is the a victory reason about Gulf War and Iraq War? I thought about that a case study solve to a victory of Gulf War and Iraq War. That is a with a armored unit, a mechanized unit and rotary wing unit maneuver warfare. So I can begin a study on Future Maneuver Warfare and a Application to Rotary Wing Maneuver Warfare. A maneuver warfare is the maneuver has a decisive war to the victory or`` fail. That is not fight with the enemy``s equipment and personnel. But has a advantage of maneuver to decisive battle situation about the enemy direction. The maneuver has a decisive strike which is has a advantage area than the enemy has a advantage area. Also the maneuver could has a deep battle area. The reason has a about ``psychological or mental paralysis achievement``. Therefore maneuver warfare is very important. Also the scientific technique and weapon system is developed to the precision guided missle. And rotary wing weapon system``s speed and ability is better than any weapon system before. So rotary wing have been to the rotary wing revolution in 1980``s. The rotary wing can over front line to the enemy rear area than armored and mechanized unit. In the Middle East War, Gulf War and Iraq War the rotary wing weapons have to victory which is the maneuver go to rear in Iraq. Now the precision guided missle``s development and the urbanization is limited armored unit and mechanized unit to the maneuver. Therefore in the future war the rotary wing weapon which is will cary out important role and function than armored unit and mechanized unit. Also Helicopter maneuver could will be the multidimensional high speed maneuver warfare with armored and mechanized unit in the future war.

Entscheidung in Dien Bien Phu. Niederlage einer Kolonialmacht im Kontext des Kalten Krieges

Dien Bien Phu is an inconspicuous place among the undulating jungle of Vietnam next to the Laotian border. On March 13th the Viet Minh started the decisive battle against the French fortress after monumental preparations and fought the former colonial power sacrificially. On May 7th the combat and the First Indochina War were settled. France experienced its Stalingrad in this lossy battle and Vietnam gained its independence, if only briefly. It is the end of a colonial empire, but the First Indochina War also marks a hot period in consideration of the Cold War.

Lee: In Search of the Decisive Battle at Gettysburg

Lee: In Search of the Decisive Battle at Gettysburg

Enclosing resources on the islands of Kinmen and Xiamen: From war blockade to financializing natural heritage

The cultures of the islands of Kinmen and Xiamen, also respectively Quemoy and Amoy, are tightly interwoven with the South China coastal region of Fujian. Both archipelagos played important historical roles in coastal defense and have been home to many Overseas Chinese since the 19th Century. A decisive battle in the Chinese Civil War was fought on Kinmen in 1949, cutting off Kinmen’s connection with Xiamen and Fujian. Positioned on a critical frontier between the ‘free world’ and the ‘communist world’, self-sufficiency became militarily important in the event of a blockade. After 1979, Xiamen was designated as a special economic zone attracting large flows of foreign investment and experiencing rapid urban development. Since 2002 the scheduled ferries between Kinmen and Xiamen reopened connections between Kinmen and its neighbor cities in the People’s Republic of China. Renewed exchange highlighted the remarkable differences between the two archipelagos’ developmental paths that had developed over the course of the 53-year suspension of contact. This paper analyzes these divergent developmental paths through comparative case studies involving forms of enclosure. The wetland conservation at Tzi Lake in Kinmen as well as gentrified residential developments around Yuan-dan Lake in Xiamen are compared; changing relationships, the impact of the sudden re-opening of borders, new forms of enclosure under globalization; and regional flows of capitals are discussed.

»Indian Country«. Der Raum als Feind in der Gewaltgeschichte der europäischen Expansion

Abstract More than many other armed conflicts of the modern era, the colonial wars/wars of empire fought by Western powers at the periphery of the world system over the past five centuries were defined by spatial categories. The problems of transoceanic or transcontinental power projection and the economic logic of the imperial system limited the military means employed on the periphery, making them often insufficient for the effective control of extended, inaccessible, and inhospitable spaces. Faced with an adversary capable of using these wide spaces to avoid decisive battle, the imperial military resorted to warfare against entire societies. Cognitively and mentally, Western armed forces experienced the periphery as an alien space, a space in which physical geography and human enemy seemed to be organically connected in opposing the invader. This perception of the peripheral space was not only partially responsible for atrocities, but could also result in warfare against nature itself.

Death from 1918 pandemic influenza during the First World War: a perspective from personal and anecdotal evidence.

The Meuse-Argonne offensive, a decisive battle during the First World War, is the largest frontline commitment in American military history involving 1·2 million U.S. troops. With over 26 000 deaths among American soldiers, the offensive is considered “America's deadliest battle”. The Meuse-Argonne offensive coincided with the highly fatal second wave of the influenza pandemic in 1918. In Europe and in U.S. Army training camps, 1918 pandemic influenza killed around 45 000 American soldiers making it questionable which battle should be regarded “America's deadliest”. The origin of the influenza pandemic has been inextricably linked with the men who occupied the military camps and trenches during the First World War. The disease had a profound impact, both for the military apparatus and for the individual soldier. It struck all the armies and might have claimed toward 100 000 fatalities among soldiers overall during the conflict while rendering millions ineffective. Yet, it remains unclear whether 1918 pandemic influenza had an impact on the course of the First World War. Still, even until this day, virological and bacteriological analysis of preserved archived remains of soldiers that succumbed to 1918 pandemic influenza has important implications for preparedness for future pandemics. These aspects are reviewed here in a context of citations, images, and documents illustrating the tragic events of 1918.

Les dames de l’estuaire par Alain Gagnon

tries to understand what happened to the young boy, Frappat’s terse prose allows the reader to enter into Laura’s frantic thoughts: “Aucune fenêtre n’est ouverte. Dans la dernière chambre, la cabine de phare où j’entre seule, je suis assaillie par une sensation étrange. Peut-être un inconnu, derrière les murs courbes d’une illusion d’optique, m’observe-t-il” (20). It is at this precise moment that the reader must begin to be attentive to the role that children’s nursery rhymes will play in the unraveling of the disturbing mystery as Laura thinks to herself: “[L]es paroles de la comptine flottent dans l’air et je m’y cogne” (20). In the decisive battle against irrational fears, Laura resists valiantly, armed with Tennyson’s poem, “The Lady of Shalott” (which later proves to be the key to the plot’s intrigue), a black stone, a song, and memories. It is exactly this deft combination of literary elements and play on childhood fears by Frappat that engrosses the reader into the plot of Lady Hunt. As a result, the reader cannot help but feeling trapped in a cinematic spine-chilling world of such directors as Alfred Hitchcock or Stanley Kubrick. Furthermore, one questions the purpose of a nursery rhyme: is it to help a child to fall asleep more easily and have beautiful dreams or to cause the child to toss and turn in bed while having nightmares? From beginning to end, Lady Hunt is a thrilling read and will not disappoint the reader who would like to approximate the sensations of true fear. Canisius College (NY) Eileen M. Angelini Gagnon, Alain. Les dames de l’estuaire. Montréal: Triptyque, 2013. ISBN 978-289031 -892-2. Pp. 153. $20 Can. In“La toupie”, the first of Gagnon’s three“novellas,”a half-poetic, half-prose tale, Andrei Bertov sails to Haut-fond Prince, in French Canada. He is a man torn between his Ukrainian heritage and the life of “pigiste” he has made for himself in Montréal. However, he is haunted by a recurring nightmare, involving his two best friends, an avalanche, and an unending walk to Kiev. He has made this voyage to Haut-fond Prince to live alone for a month inside the lighthouse, La Toupie. He will atone for a sin he thinks he has committed, and be part of this estuary from Orléans to the mouth of the Saguenay,“pays de brouillards et de vents iodé”(10). He will write of the storms that pass, in the hopes of working through the maelstrom in his head. The writer’s use of italics for his flashbacks works very well here. Gagnon is a prolific author who has won multiple literary prizes, particularly for his poetry. The first lady of the estuary was “La toupie.” The second is “La dame aux glaïeuls.” In this novella, Jared is a man who, wishing to finish his novel, takes on the role of off-season caretaker in a hotel lost between the Saint-Laurent and the Appalachians. His friends warn him of the isolation, the cold, and the shadows of the residence. Gagnon interrupts his story with various definitions and descriptions of the gladiola for which the hotel is named. Jared becomes concerned when, while putting together several paranormal experiences, he 262 FRENCH REVIEW 88.1 Reviews 263 meets his sole neighbor whose girlfriend is named and looks like his ex-wife Gladia. Gagnon uses“pathetic fallacy”to convey mood:“Fuir loin de ce chalet,de cette auberge, de ce village aux maisons placardées, de ces rivages maudits qu’il aimait pourtant si fort en été, jadis”(73). Jared’s descent into madness is well documented by the author; the reader sits at the edge of his seat.“Le gambit de la dame” is the final novella. Sam, our protagonist, is a gun for hire. He, just like Andrei and Jared, is a writer living alone. Sam’s career and love for chess began while he was living and working at his uncle’s farm. One of his relatives was a captive of a “zugzwang” move in chess...

Новые французские документы о бородинском сражении

The author reviews documents published by French historians in volume 12 of Napoléon Bonaparte, Correspondance générale and relates these to the Battle of Borodino. In the process the author seeks to determine the degree of importance of these documents and analyze their influence upon existing ideas of the decisive battle of the Patriotic War of 1812. The author concludes that the letters of Napoleon published in the aforementioned book do not substantively change historians’ general understanding, formed over the past decade, of the French Grande Armée’s preparations for the battle of the Moscow River or its consequences. The documents mainly demonstrate or specify some general or particular information in relation to the French Army and its leader’s actions in the beginning of September 1812.

Graham Williamson. The Turko-Persian War 1821-1823

Besides referring to the critical remarks formulated in my review of this book in St. Ir. 39/2, p. 295-299), I would like to insist on a few points. The article is drawn from British archives and published travel accounts (for instance, the Travels of Sir Robert Ker Porter who is cited as “Ker Porter”). Articles from Encyclopaedia Iranica are cited without the author’s name. The text abounds in spelling and historical errors. Place names for decisive battles are misspelled or not given: Toprah...

The therapeutic imaginary in memory work: Mediating the Finnish Civil War in Tampere

The article analyses reconciliatory practices on war remembrance that draw from the imaginary of therapy. The decisive battles of the Finnish Civil War took place on the streets of Tampere in 1918. Only 90 years later, in 2008, was the city of Tampere able to organise a remembrance process, which mediated the war memory through exhibition, street drama, online discussion forums and mainstream media. The remembrance encouraged the disclosure of hidden memories, broke down predatory stereotypes and addressed the transgenerational victimhood and the guilt. I suggest that the case exemplifies a shift in how societies remember: The contemporary, more individualised and plural societies saturated with therapeutic practices are prone to adopt bottom-up and participatory memory practices. At the same time, however, the article points to the limits of memory work. It is not a magic wand for doing away with past injustices. In Tampere, it was possible only for the grandchildren of the war generation.

PAST AS FUTURE: THE SOUTH AFRICAN WAR, DUTCH OBSERVERS AND MILITARY MEMORY

In 1900, the Dutch Ministry of War sent four military observers to South Africa, in an attempt to come to terms with the latest developments in the military field. Once in South Africa, the promising young Dutch officers selected for the mission remained focused strongly on decisive battles Jominian style, which they considered relevant for future warfare in Europe. They almost completely ignored guerrilla warfighting. However, inspired by the Boer commandos, their analysis of the Anglo-Boer War also ended in pleas for a fundamentally new relationship between army and society in Holland, and a new Dutch militia army organisation (a volksleger ), comparable to the Boers’ commandos. Fascinatingly, this ideal of a militia army had probably much more to do with the observers’ interpretation of the Dutch national past and the values they regarded characteristic of it, than with contemporary South Africa, since the earliest forms of the Dutch army were also believed to have been a volksleger . In this way, the military observers from the Netherlands converted the South African present into Dutch history to serve their country’s national future.

Turning Points of World War I: An Interview with Ian F.W. Beckett

Turning Points of World War I: An Interview with Ian F.W. Beckett Donald A. Yerxa AS WE APPROACH THE CENTENARY OF THE OUTBREAK OF World War I, there will be no dearth of books dealing with the conflict. And in these pages we will be highlighting some of the best of these, especially those that look at the war in a new light. In The Making of the First World War (Yale University Press, 2013) Ian F.W. Beckett discusses twelve pivotal moments that not only changed the outcome of the war, but also the global history of the 20th century. Senior editor Donald A. Yerxa interviewed Beckett in January 2013. Donald A. Yerxa: Would you provide our readers with a summary of what you are doing inThe Making of the First World War? Ian F.W. Beckett: I was asked to comment on a manuscript suggesting various turning points in the Second World War. While they were clearly significant, the chosen events were all either political or military, and of immediate impact. I suggested that one should look beyond purely political and military episodes. I was then invited, or rather challenged, to show what I meant in terms of the Great War. Accordingly, I am trying to illustrate a broad range of events between 1914 and 1919 that might be considered important turning points or pivotal moments, not just at the precise moment they occurred but also for the future unfolding of historical events. I also wanted to illustrate social and cultural themes, and to be consciously global rather than purely Eurocentric in my choices. Yerxa: How did you go about selecting the episodes you discuss in the book? Beckett: I began with a fairly long list and whittled it down in the end to twelve illustrative episodes. Some events of lasting global significance had to be included, such as the fall of the Romanovs, the division of the Ottoman Empire in the Middle East—I deal with Turkish entry to the war in 1914 as well as the Balfour Declaration in 1917—and Woodrow Wilson’s impact on peacemaking. I felt that what might be termed “decisive battles”—and even more so the opening days of prolonged campaigns— were a cul-de-sac to avoid. Consider the continuing popular British obsession with July 1, 1916, the opening day of the battle of the Somme. This has had a cultural impact in Britain, but only since the 1960s; the Anzac landing on Gallipoli in April 1915 had a cultural impact at the time, and it continues to this day in terms of Australian perceptions. I also wanted to illustrate aspects of the “totality” of the war such as economic mobilization and the ways in which civilians became legitimate targets for attack. I wanted to choose some less obvious events, such as the Belgians opening the floodgates to close off the last open sector of what was to become the Western Front in 1914. The symbolism of the death of Emperor Franz Joseph also seemed an interesting case to examine. Above all, I wanted to provoke a debate on what constitutes historical turning points that might be useful for students as well as interesting to general readers. Click for larger view View full resolution A scene from the Somme in The Devil is Coming, episode 13 of the BBC's Great War series (1964). Yerxa: What prompted you to write this particular book on World War I? Beckett: I had more or less decided that I had written enough on the First World War after completing the second edition of my general text, The Great War, 1914–18, in 2007. But it is such a fascinating and complex conflict that I though it worth revisiting one more time, and it seemed a way perhaps of reaching an audience that would not have been necessarily exposed to some of the academic revisionism that has revolutionized historians’ views of the war in the last decade or so. In Britain in particular there is still this popular image of futility that needs to be challenged. Yerxa: What was the impact of the first true war documentary,The Battle of the Somme...

Bitwa pod Kumanovem (23- 24 października 1912 roku). Siły zbrojne stron, działania operacyjne, konsekwencje militarne i polityczne

The battle of Kumanovo traditionally passes as the most important clash of the Serbian and the Ottoman armies in the First Balkan War. The analysis of the military potential of both parties to the conflict, the weapons used by both armies, the positioning of forces, the battle plans and their realizations made possible a new interpretation of the course of the battle and its real meaning. In the light of recent studies, as it turned out, the command of the first Serbian Army not only did not predict the fight to take place near Kumanovo, but it was also unaware of the military operations happening near Kumanovo until the end of the first day of the battle. The ultimate success of the Serbian Army in the battle came more as a result of a lucky coincidence and the actions of the commanding line officers, rather than conscious military operations of the Serbian command, which did not join in the battle until its final stage. As a result of the battle of Kumanovo, the Ottoman Vardar army commanded by Zeki Pasha, which was the strongest one at the site, indeed suffered large losses and was forced to retreat, however, it was not the ultimate defeat. The later battles of Kratovo and Kočani and especially of Prilep and Monastir proved to be decisive. The myth of Kumanovo as a decisive battle of the war served as dynastic propaganda for the Karađorđević and namely, for the current heir to the throne, Aleksander, who formally, assumed command of the fighting troops. The myth was established, though, and also nowadays, the battle of Kumanovo is treated as a symbol of Serbian victory, as, among other things the ceremonies held in 2012 at the 100th anniversary of the battle prove.

Troy and the Arauco in the Alpujarras: global visions and local destinies in Guerra de los moriscos (Part 2 of Guerras Civiles de Granada)

This essay examines the transformation of the landscape into a maritime space in Ginés Pérez de Hita's narration of the episode of Galera in his Guerra de los moriscos. By identifying the Alpujarras with Augustan landscapes, the author places the text in a dialectical relationship with the most famous epic account of the indigenous rebellion in Chile: Alonso de Ercilla's La Araucana. The suggestive panoramas that emerge from this refiguration of the topography yield unexpected connections between contested places within the Spanish world (Alpujarras–Mediterranean–Chile–North Africa). Moreover, this network of places situates the rebellion vis-à-vis a decisive battle in the struggle for the Mediterranean: Lepanto. Through his highly original geography, Pérez de Hita advances novel notions of global expansion that call into question the political and moral consequences of the imperial enterprise and reveal the fragmentary nature of ostensibly powerful, monolithic global structures.

The Battle for Jaffa, 1948

Modern armies conduct military operations in urban areas, but rarely do so willingly. Military commanders prefer fighting in open terrain in which forces freely maneuver and use firepower, rather than in urban areas in which obstacles such as tall buildings, narrow streets, and non-combatants hinder control of the battlefield. Most professional military literature recommends refraining from fighting in urban areas and considering urban battles an unfortunate aberration to be avoided in the future. Deliberate choice of an urban battlefield is quite exceptional, deriving mostly from strategic needs or due to the symbolic value ascribed to a particular city or town. Most decisive battles of the first Arab-Israeli war in 1948 were fought in open areas. However, strategic and political considerations, as well as cultural and sentimental, caused both sides to fight in cities and towns, such as in the case of Jaffa and Tel Aviv metropolitan area, Palestine's major economic center and a main road junction. Both cities also held sentimental value: the dynamically developing modern Jaffa was a symbol of an emerging Palestinian nation while Tel Aviv, the “first Hebrew city,” was the Zionist ideal of urban development.