page_title: Generations of warfare
section_title: First generation
hierarchical_section_title: Generations of warfare / First generation
caption_attribution_description: Deutsch: Angriff der preussischen Infanterie, Hohenfriedeberg 4. Juni 1748 - abgebildet: Grenadiergardebataillon (1806: No. 6). English: Hohenfriedeberg, Battle of Hohenfriedeberg, Attack of Prussian Infantry, June 4th, 1745 - shown "Potsdam Giants" Grenadier Guards Batallion (1806: No. 6)
context_page_description: The concept of four "generations" in the history of modern warfare was created by a team of United States analysts, including William S. Lind, for the purpose of an argument for "the changing face of war" entering into a "fourth generation".
  First-generation warfare refers to Ancient and Post-classical battles fought with massed manpower, using phalanx, line and column tactics with uniformed soldiers governed by the state.
  Second-generation warfare is the Early modern tactics used after the invention of the rifled musket and breech-loading weapons and continuing through the development of the machine gun and indirect fire. The term second generation warfare was created by the U.S. military in 1989.
  Third-generation warfare focuses on using Late modern technology-derived tactics of leveraging speed, stealth and surprise to bypass the enemy's lines and collapse their forces from the rear. Essentially, this was the end of linear warfare on a tactical level, with units seeking not simply to meet each other face to face but to outmaneuver each other to gain the greatest advantage.
context_section_description: In 1648, at the end of the Thirty Years' War, the Treaty of Westphalia gave a practical sovereignty to the German states, which until then were semi-independent components of the Holy Roman Empire. This more firmly established the sovereignty of the nation-state, which meant, among other things, that governments would have exclusive rights to organize and maintain their own militaries. Before this time, many armies and nations were controlled by religious orders and many wars were fought in mêlée combat, or subversively through bribery and assassination. The first generation of modern warfare was intended to create a straightforward and orderly means of waging war. 
  Alternatively, it has been argued that the Peace of Westphalia did not solidify the power of the nation-state, but that the Thirty Years' War itself ushered in an era of large-scale combat that was simply too costly for smaller mercenary groups to carry out on their own. According to this theory, smaller groups chose to leave mass combat—and the expenses associated with it—in the domain of the nation-state. 
  The increased accuracy and speed of the rifled musket and the breech-loader marks the end of first generation warfare; the concept of vast lines of soldiers meeting face to face became impractical due to the heavy casualties that could be sustained. Because these technologies were adopted gradually throughout the Americas and Europe, the exact end of the first generation of modern warfare depends on the region, but all world powers had moved on by the latter half of the 19th century.
  In order to create a more controlled environment for warfare a military culture was developed that, in many ways, is still visible in the armed forces of today. Specially crafted uniforms set soldiers apart from the general populace. 
  An elaborate structure of rank was developed to better organize men into units. Rules for military drill were perfected, allowing line and column maneuvers to be executed with more precision, and to increase the rate of fire in battle.
  Control of media information release during the war and production of counterfeit money in order to devaluate enemy's economy were used for the first time during Napoleonic wars.
  Examples:
  English Civil War
  Anglo-Spanish War
  Seven Years' War
  American Revolutionary War
  Napoleonic Wars
  War of 1812
  Mexican War of Independence
caption: Prussian infantry advancing in line and column formation at the Battle of Hohenfriedberg in 1745
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