Operational Warfare and the Revolutionary Nature of Interwar Period - Essay Example

It is evidently clear from the discussion that operational warfare is the term derived from Russia during 18th and 19th centuries. Operational warfare is a concept based on the military theory, which suggests a norm towards the behavior and trends in the military affairs. It was developed during the period of mechanization of armed forces. It signifies coordination of different level of command from the small level of action to a higher level. The operational level has gradually changed in case of size and objectives of armies.

The operational level formation was not powerful in the post-cold war era, but during the cold war and the Second World War, the operational-level formation was highly powerful. In his seminal book, The Framework of Operational Warfare Clayton R. Newell elaborates on the three perspectives of wars- tactical, operational and strategic perspectives. The activities of war change according to how it is viewed. One can understand the war by analyzing these three perspectives. Among these three, operational perspective is the newest which is associated with land warfare.

As Newell rightly observes, “even though the origins of the operational perspective can be traced back to the eighteenth century, it remains a new idea in warfare when compared to the hundreds of years of warfare which have been studied from only the two perspectives of strategy and tactics”. It can thus be concluded that the operational warfare was an innovative mode of waging wars and it has immensely contributed to the strategic and operational formation of future wars.