Rewriting the "Detestable" Rules of War: The "Guerrilla System" and Counterinsurgency in Napoleonic Spain and the Mexican-American War, 1808-1848

During the Peninsular War (1808-1814) the Spanish launched an unprecedented guerrilla insurgency that undermined Napoleon’s grip on that state. The advent of this novel and illegal “system” of warfare ushered in an era of military studies on the use of unconventional strategies in military campaigns...

Descripción completa

Detalles Bibliográficos
Autor: Swenson, Benjamin J.
Tipo de recurso: tesis doctoral
Estado:Versión publicada
Fecha de publicación:2021
País:España
Institución:CBUC, CESCA
Repositorio:TDR. Tesis Doctorales en Red
OAI Identifier:oai:www.tdx.cat:10803/673475
Acceso en línea:http://hdl.handle.net/10803/673475
Access Level:acceso abierto
Palabra clave:Adame
Alcabala
Mexico
American
Arab warfare
Aragon
British
Carlist
Catalonia
Catholic church
Civil War
COIN
Constitution
Contra-guerrillas
Cortez
Empecinado
Expansionism
France
Geneva convention
Jack Hays
Henry Halleck
Insurgency
Insurrection
Joseph Bonaparte
Laws of war
Lieber code
Madrid
William Marcy
War
Military
Napoleon
Occupation
Pacification
James Polk
Prescott
Reille
Rocca
Santa Anna
Saragossa
Senate
Sertorius
Spain
Suchet
Zachary Taylor
United States
U.S. Army
Vietnam
Winfield Scott
Wellington
Vattel
Vendée
Veracruz
Zaragoza
1808
1846
1848
9
Descripción
Sumario:During the Peninsular War (1808-1814) the Spanish launched an unprecedented guerrilla insurgency that undermined Napoleon’s grip on that state. The advent of this novel and illegal “system” of warfare ushered in an era of military studies on the use of unconventional strategies in military campaigns – and changed the modern rules of war. A generation later during the Mexican-American War (1846-1848), Henry Halleck and Winfield Scott used the knowledge from the Peninsular War to implement an innovative “conciliatory” counterinsurgency program directed at the Mexican people – which set the U.S. doctrinal standard informing an international consensus on the proper conduct for occupation. The Spanish war against the French influenced both belligerents in Mexico: the Mexicans tried to mount a guerrilla war modeled along Spanish lines, and the Americans adapted their tactics, rules, and laws of war between 1808 to 1848 to avoid the disastrous imperial overreach exemplified by the French in Spain.