Introduction

All the wars and military conflicts in modern and contemporary history fall under several headings. There were those brief skirmishes at the outposts of colonial empires in which metropolitan armies re-established order, rebuffing attacks from savage tribes and substituting civilized rule for them. A grade higher may be reached by copious full-scale campaigns of momentary importance which seemed to lead to minor geopolitical transformations. And the most significant place must be reserved for the wars whose political, economic and cultural issues had been so immense as to be remembered next generations.