What stages did the formation and development of military thought go through?

In the 2nd/kloc-0th century BC (22nd century BC), China established the Xia Dynasty of slavery, from which war became the highest form of class struggle. At this time, although people's understanding of war is at a low level, there has been a military thought centered on the concept of destiny to guide war.

Slave owners launched predatory wars against foreigners or suppressed their slaves' resistance by force, all with the call of conquering "disobedient people", "hanging people to punish crimes" and "respecting heaven and protecting the people", and used divination to drive their soldiers to fight under the guise of providence and heavy punishment and reward. The operation mode is group array frontal killing. After the Shang Dynasty, the battle was gradually dominated by chariots.

Military command needs unified action and strict management. This thought guided the military struggle in Xia, Shang and Zhou Dynasties. Through the war practice in this period, people have initially realized that the masses can defeat widows, and the strong can defeat the weak, which embodies the simple materialistic concept.

During the Western Zhou Dynasty, military works such as military records and military affairs appeared. Although it has long been lost, there are still some quotations in later books such as Zuo Zhuan and Sun Tzu's Art of War.

Extended data

The deeper and more correct the military thought reflects the laws in the military field, the greater its guiding role in military practice. Once the military thought that correctly reflects the military essence and its laws is successfully applied to military practice, it can be transformed into a huge material force. When the material conditions of the two warring parties are roughly the same, the party with advanced military ideas often gets the upper hand.

Even if one side is relatively weak, with advanced military thinking, it is often possible to defeat the strong with the weak. The complete victory of China People's Revolutionary War under the guidance of Mao Zedong's military thought is a clear proof. On the contrary, if the military ideology is conservative and backward, even with relatively superior troops and advanced weapons and equipment, it may suffer setbacks or even fail in the war.

The defeat of France in World War II and the defeat of the Soviet Union at the beginning of the war are the important reasons why its operational guiding ideology lags behind the war practice. War practice has proved that the correctness of military thinking determines the success or failure of war within the scope permitted by objective material conditions.

Without correct military ideological guidance, even if there are favorable objective conditions to win the war, it is difficult to turn the possibility of victory into reality; With correct military ideological guidance, we can take the initiative in the war, make fewer mistakes and win more battles.

Baidu Encyclopedia-Military Thought

Baidu Encyclopedia-China's Ancient Military Thought