ABSTRACT
The epic of cultural survival, so central to the history of Western civilization, was itself made possible by epic strategic successes. For it was not by mere obdurate resistance that the Byzantine Empire survived, but by a series of creative responses to seemingly overwhelming threats. The East Roman empire by us called Byzantine was least Roman in its strategy. The genius of Byzantine grand strategy was to turn the very multiplicity of enemies to advantage, by employing diplomacy, deception, payoffs and religious conversion to induce them to fight one another instead of fighting the empire. In the Second World War, Adolf Hitler's choice of the wrong allies and the wrong enemies at the level of grand strategy could not be overcome by any number of German tactical-, operational-, or even theater-level victories. Hitler's Blitzkrieg offensives were likewise preceded by fear propaganda (notably by newsreel) and featured "terror bombing" more demoralizing than physically damaging.
