Traditionally understood as a linear defence wall, the Great Wall in the Ming Dynasty (1368-1644) is actually part of a larger, complex system: the Ming Great Wall Military Defence System (the ...M-GWMDS).This article presents findings of an ongoing research into the authenticity of the M-GWMDS, based on the Geographic Information System (GIS) platform and fractal theory. Here, the focus is on the analysis of the spatial distribution characteristics of the traffic networks of the M-GWMDS, as this allows elucidating the system relationship of the M-GWMDS based on such characteristics. The study findings reveal that the M-GWMDS is thoroughly integrated with the linear Great Wall via the treelike fractal traffic networks, thus forming a defence system characterized by highly efficient space and resource planning. At the more macroscopic level, the Great Wall military defence settlement system and the civil settlement system are further merged into a mutually complementary double-fractal structure, which effectively copes with the special man-land relationship on the survival and defence in the border areas.
Este artículo analiza el gasto fiscal realizado por la Real Hacienda en el área de Maldonado. A partir del análisis de los datos contenidos en los libros contables de la Caja Real de Maldonado se ...estudian las erogaciones de caudales efectuadas en el periodo comprendido entre 1782 y 1806, que estaban orientadas a solventar la política de poblamiento de la zona y la defensa militar del territorio. El trabajo también muestra que ese gasto fiscal fue sostenido, en su mayor parte, por las transferencias provenientes de las cajas de Buenos Aires y Montevideo, que a su vez recibían esos fondos de otras cajas. De esta manera durante 25 años se produjo una inyección constante de moneda metálica en Maldonado que, en última instancia, procedía de los excedentes de las cajas mineras del Alto Perú y que ayudó a consolidar el crecimiento demográfico y económico de la zona.
This article discusses the process of the integration of the Lithuanian Riflemen’s Union (LRU) into the state’s defence system in the 1920s and 1930s. The key features and boundaries of the process ...are outlined, on the basis of archival materials and research literature. An analysis of relations between the military authorities and the LRU reveals individual characteristics of the relationship between the riflemen and the army. The regional context of the process is evaluated within the limitations of the sources available, by presenting the situations of similar paramilitary organisations in Latvia, Estonia, Finland and Poland during the period in question.
The paper deals with the role of the Kaitseliit (Defence League) voluntary defence organisation in Estonia’s defence in the years of the Estonian War of Independence (also known as the Liberation ...War) and in peacetime until 1940, with attention focused mainly on the 1930s. An overview is provided of the historiography, the formation of Kaitseliit in 1918, its role in the Liberation War, the period of decreasing activity of the organisation after the war, and the restoration and development of Kaitseliit in the 1920s and 1930s. The author reviews the objectives of the organisation, issues of its membership, structure, management and armament, as well as the use of Kaitseliit and its units in Estonian military defence and internal training. The paper also attempts to answer the question how the role of Kaitseliit in Estonian national defence developed.
The beginning of the war in 1939 changed the geopolitical situation in the Baltic region. After Poland had lost its sovereignty and the Soviet Union approached the borders of Lithuania, the country’s ...defence concept also changed. Reforms of the army that had started in Lithuania as early as 1935 fundamentally changed the approach to the defence of the country. The vision was declared that every citizen was a defender of his country. After the reinforcement of border control, mobilisation plans were drawn up, and the Riflemen’s Union was included in Lithuania’s defence plans. In 1939, after the Mutual Assistance Treaty had been signed with the Soviet Union, 20,000 Soviet soldiers entered Lithuania. Given the new geopolitical circumstances, a detailed restructuring of the concept of national defence was undertaken. This paper looks into the directives for mobilisation drawn up in the spring of 1940, the mobilisation plan for the Riflemen’s Union, and the plans for the use of the riflemen for national defence.
The National Library of Brazil has in its cartographic collection a little-known late sixteenth-century ichnographic plan of Lisbon, Portugal, showing the city's western extramural suburb. In this ...article the unfinished draft plan is analysed for what it reveals of the mapmakers' surveying methods. Comparison of the plan with other historical sources suggests that it was produced by Giovanni Vincenzo Casale and Alexandre Massai for military purposes between 1590 and 1597. This makes it the oldest ichnographic plan of Lisbon known to date, replacing the better known ichnographic plan of Lisbon signed by João Nunes Tinoco in 1650.
Obvious changes in a very broad field of the information and communication technologies are the key driver of the accelerated development of every sphere of human activity, including private life. In ...the military organization, this technological progress is present through the “post 2000” concept of the networked implementation of operations, which is implemented to varying degrees in armies around the world. New confrontations on the modern front include demands for an ever-increasing volume of the electronic traffic, complexity of the systems that generate, share and consume information content, and above all, the fastest possible availability of the relevant information. The race for information superiority is accompanied, on the other hand, by an ever more destructive highly sophisticated threats, from classic degradations and physical destruction, action of the hybrid (intelligence-combat) platforms of the unmanned systems, to cyber-electromagnetic activities of an offensivedefensive nature. The new paradigms of the multi-domain warfare and expected scenarios that such forms of engagement put forward, demand from the modern military organization further normative arrangements within the functional area related to communication information systems. At the operational-strategic level, they imply the introduction of adequate organizational concepts and doctrines, while in the implementation part they require correction of the established tactics, techniques and procedures. In such an operational environment, integrative efforts within today’s militarydefence communication systems transformed into unique complete solutions have brought a special challenge. Key networking of the mission components is provided by network access points. For this reason, they are the subject of special attention of the network designers, both conceptually and in terms of implementation. The effectiveness of their functioning is also an assessment of the maturity of military thinking, inventiveness and engineering practice – which will bring along defeats or victories to any combat system in future challenges.
Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people have been protecting country since time immemorial. One way they have continued these traditions in recent times is through service in the Australian ...military, both overseas and within Australia. In Defence of Country presents a selection of life stories of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander ex-servicemen and women who served in the Australian Army, Navy and Air Force after World War Two. In their own words, participants discuss a range of issues including why they joined up; racial discrimination; the Stolen Generations; leadership; discipline; family; war and peace; education and skills development; community advocacy; and their hopes for the future of Indigenous Australia. Individually and collectively, the life stories in this book highlight the many contributions that Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander servicemen and women have made, and continue to make, in defence of country.
Očigledne promjene na vrlo širokom području informacijsko-komunikacijskih tehnologija
ključni su pokretač ubrzanog razvoja svake sfere ljudskog djelovanja – uključujući i
privatni život. U vojnoj ...organizaciji ovaj tehnološki napredak prisutan je kroz tzv.
post 2000 koncept umrežene provedbe operacija – koji se u različitim stupnjevima
implementira u vojskama širom svijeta. Nova sučeljavanja na suvremenoj bojišnici
uključuju zahtjeve za sve većim volumenom elektroničkih prometnica, usložnjavanja
sustava koji generiraju, dijele i konzumiraju informacijske sadržaje te prije svega što
bržu dostupnost relevantnih informacija. Utrku za informacijskom superiornošću s
druge strane prate nikad destruktivnije visokosofisticirane prijetnje – od klasičnih
degradacija i fizičkih uništenja, djelovanja hibridnih (obavještajno-borbenih) platformi
besposadnih sustava, do kiberelektromagnetskih aktivnosti napadajno-obrambene
prirode. Nove paradigme višedomenskog ratovanja i očekujući scenariji koje takvi
oblici angažmana donose, od suvremene vojne organizacije traže daljnja normativna
uređenja unutar funkcionalnog područja vezanog uz komunikacijsko-informacijske
sustave. Ona na operativno-strategijskoj razini podrazumijevaju uvođenje adekvatnih
organizacijskih koncepata i doktrina, dok u provedbenom dijelu traže korigiranje
ustaljenih taktika, tehnika i procedura. U takvom operativnom okružju, poseban
izazov donose integrativni napori unutar vojno-obrambenih komunikacijskih sustava
današnjice, pretočeni u jedinstvena cjelovita rješenja. Ključnu umreženost misijskih
sastavnica osiguravaju mrežne pristupne točke. Zbog tog su razloga predmetom od
posebne pozornosti mrežnih dizajnera, i u konceptualnom i u izvedbenom smislu.
Učinkovitost njihova funkcioniranja, ujedno je i ocjena zrelosti vojnog promišljanja,
inventivnosti i inženjerske prakse – koja će u budućim izazovima svakom borbenom
sustavu donositi poraze ili pobjede.
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