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Liddell Hart, Basil H.
Liddell Hart, Basil H. (1895–1970), English military writer and theorist.Liddell Hart, Cambridge‐educated, served as an infantry officer on the western front in World War I (twice wounded) and retired from the army as a captain (1924) for health reasons. He was a lifelong student and critic of war and generalship, though never a pacifist. He became military correspondent for the Daily Telegraph (1925–35) and The Times (1935–39), reaching the peak of his influence as an innovative thinker on army reform. His tactical ideas (the “expanding torrent” of attack, based on the German World War I offensive of spring 1918), spread to the strategic sphere, and ultimately to grand strategy and national policy (the “British Way in Warfare,” based on naval power and economic blockade, and “limited liability” with regard to a British army commitment on the Continent). In the United States he was probably best known for his biography, Sherman (1929). Above all, with Maj. Gen. J. F. C. Fuller, Liddell Hart became internationally famous as the proponent of mechanization and armored warfare by highly trained professional forces. He fostered a remarkable number of influential contacts in the British army, and also in Weimar and Nazi Germany, though he was probably not as influential there as he and others were to claim after 1945. Emphasizing the importance of air support to tanks, as well as the need for mechanized infantry, he argued that such forces would restore mobility and decisiveness to warfare.
Liddell Hart opposed sending the British army to Europe in 1939, and then argued against Winston S. Churchill's policy of Total War, including conscription, strategic bombing, and a goal of “Unconditional Sur render.” After the war, his reputation as a military the ‐orist revived, Liddell Hart published his interviews with German generals and edited Erwin Rommel's papers. Among the first to argue that nuclear weapons could deter all‐out conflict between nations but not prevent conventional warfare, his advocacy of restraint and avoidance of showdowns seemed more accept‐able by the nuclear age than in the dark days of Nazi ascendancy. His final book about contemporary strategic issues, Deterrent or Defence (1961), was well received; he was knighted in 1966. His reputation is now being reassessed, but Liddell Hart will figure prominently in any account of twentieth‐century military history and strategic thought. [See also Deterrence; Strategy; Tactics.] Bibliography Basil H. Liddell Hart , Memoirs, 2 vols., 1965. Brian Bond |
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John Whiteclay Chambers II. "Liddell Hart, Basil H." The Oxford Companion to American Military History. 2000. Encyclopedia.com. 27 May. 2012 <http://www.encyclopedia.com>. John Whiteclay Chambers II. "Liddell Hart, Basil H." The Oxford Companion to American Military History. 2000. Encyclopedia.com. (May 27, 2012). http://www.encyclopedia.com/doc/1O126-LiddellHartBasilH.html John Whiteclay Chambers II. "Liddell Hart, Basil H." The Oxford Companion to American Military History. 2000. Retrieved May 27, 2012 from Encyclopedia.com: http://www.encyclopedia.com/doc/1O126-LiddellHartBasilH.html |
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Liddell Hart, Basil H.
Liddell Hart, Basil H. (1895–1970) English military writer and theorist, born in Paris. Liddell Hart was known for his advocacy of mechanized tank warfare. He emphasized the importance of air support to tanks and the need for a mechanized infantry. His innovative ideas were resisted by professional officers of the time, and his influence was greater in Germany than in Britain or the United States. (The German Blitzkrieg was based on theories he had propounded.) During World War II he opposed sending British troops to Europe, as well as the war policies of Winston Churchill. After the war he was among the first to argue that nuclear weapons could deter all-out conflict but not prevent conventional warfare; he advocated restraint and avoidance of showdowns. He had served as an infantry officer during World War I but had retired from the army in 1924 for health reasons.
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Cite this article
"Liddell Hart, Basil H." The Oxford Essential Dictionary of the U.S. Military. 2001. Encyclopedia.com. 27 May. 2012 <http://www.encyclopedia.com>. "Liddell Hart, Basil H." The Oxford Essential Dictionary of the U.S. Military. 2001. Encyclopedia.com. (May 27, 2012). http://www.encyclopedia.com/doc/1O63-LiddellHartBasilH.html "Liddell Hart, Basil H." The Oxford Essential Dictionary of the U.S. Military. 2001. Retrieved May 27, 2012 from Encyclopedia.com: http://www.encyclopedia.com/doc/1O63-LiddellHartBasilH.html |
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John Hart
John Hart 1711?–1779, political leader in the American Revolution, signer of the Declaration of Independence, b. Hopewell Township, N.J. A prosperous farm and mill owner, he was a member of the provincial assembly (1761–71), of several provincial congresses, and of the Continental Congress of 1776. See biography by C. E. Hammond (1977). |
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"John Hart." The Columbia Encyclopedia, 6th ed.. 2011. Encyclopedia.com. 27 May. 2012 <http://www.encyclopedia.com>. "John Hart." The Columbia Encyclopedia, 6th ed.. 2011. Encyclopedia.com. (May 27, 2012). http://www.encyclopedia.com/doc/1E1-Hart-Joh.html "John Hart." The Columbia Encyclopedia, 6th ed.. 2011. Retrieved May 27, 2012 from Encyclopedia.com: http://www.encyclopedia.com/doc/1E1-Hart-Joh.html |
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Hart, John S(eely)
Hart, John S[eely] (1810–77), professor at Princeton who taught what is thought to be the first college course on American literature (1872) and wrote A Manual of American Literature for Schools and Colleges (1872).
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James D. Hart and and Phillip W. Leininger. "Hart, John S(eely)." The Oxford Companion to American Literature. 1995. Encyclopedia.com. 27 May. 2012 <http://www.encyclopedia.com>. James D. Hart and and Phillip W. Leininger. "Hart, John S(eely)." The Oxford Companion to American Literature. 1995. Encyclopedia.com. (May 27, 2012). http://www.encyclopedia.com/doc/1O123-HartJohnSeely.html James D. Hart and and Phillip W. Leininger. "Hart, John S(eely)." The Oxford Companion to American Literature. 1995. Retrieved May 27, 2012 from Encyclopedia.com: http://www.encyclopedia.com/doc/1O123-HartJohnSeely.html |
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