ABSTRACT
In August 1914, over a million French soldiers marched determinedly into Germany as part of the now infamous Plan XVII. In 1940, the French again attempted to use the strategies of the past, this time relying upon the defensive strategies that had come to dominate the First World War. In both cases, the French suffered heavily for their unwillingness to plan based upon what war might be like in the future rather than upon how it had been fought in the past. These and many other examples help to underscore the importance of considering and making informed predictions regarding the future of warfare. Modern wars are increasingly interconnected and involve extensive planning and coordination at levels that dwarf those of earlier eras. Technology has always affected the ways that wars are prepared for and fought, and this trend has heightened during the end of the twentieth and start of the twenty-first centuries.
