Trinquier

Thesis Question(s):
Will we in modern warfare make use of all necessary resources to win, as we have always done in the traditional wars of the past and as we at present envisage doing when we construct nuclear weapons? (90)
Hypothesis:
Main Points:
The defense of national territory is the reason for being of an army; it should always be capable of accomplishing this objective. (3)
We still persist in studying a type of warfare that no longer exists and that we shall never fight again… The result of this shortcoming is that the army is not prepared to confront an adversary employing arms and methods that the army itself ignores. It has, therefore, no chance of winning. (3)
We know that it is not necessary to have the sympathy of a majority of the people in order to rule them. The right organization can turn the trick. This is what our adversaries are accomplishing in Algeria. Thanks to a specially adapted organization and to appropriate methods of warfare, they have been successful in imposing themselves upon entire populations and in using them, despite their own desires in the matter, against us. (4)
We know that the sine qua non of victory in modern warfare is the unconditional support of a population… If it doesn’t exist, it must be secured by every possible means, the most effective of which is terrorism. (6)
Since the stake in modern warfare is the control of the populace, the first objective is to assure the people their protection by giving them the means of defending themselves, especially against terrorism… Finally, if hostilities break out, if terrorism and guerrilla activity have established themselves over a large portion of our territory, we must combat them with the appropriate methods, which will be fare more effective than those which would have been considered and used in peacetime. (27)
In effect, we are re-establishing the old system of medieval fortified villages, designed to protect the inhabitants against marauding bands… Even the animals will be strictly controlled. (62)
When they leave, the intervention troops must not only have completely destroyed the bands, but must leave behind them an area empty of all resources and absolutely uninhabitable. (69)
If it is indispensible to destroy these bases abroad that are essential to our enemies, it is certainly not methods of traditional [aerial attacks and ground forces] warfare we should employ. Attacked on our own territory with the methods of modern warfare, we must carry the war to the enemy with the same methods. (81)
Will we in modern warfare make use of all necessary resources to win, as we have always done in the traditional wars of the past and as we at present envisage doing when we construct nuclear weapons? (90)