Two-front war: Difference between revisions
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{{Refimprove|date=November 2007}}In [[military]] terminology, a '''two-front war''' is one in which fighting takes place on two geographically separate fronts. It is usually executed by two or more separate forces simultaneously or nearly simultaneously, in the hope that their opponent will be forced to split their fighting force to deal with both threats, therefore reducing their odds of success. |
{{Refimprove|date=November 2007}}In [[military]] terminology, a '''two-front war''' is one in which fighting takes place on two geographically separate fronts. It is usually executed by two or more separate forces simultaneously or nearly simultaneously, in the hope that their opponent will be forced to split their fighting force to deal with both threats, therefore reducing their odds of success. |
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==Examples== |
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===Ancient Times=== |
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One of the earliest examples of a two-front war occurred in the third century B.C. when the [[Roman Republic]] fought the [[First Macedonian War]] contemporaneously with the [[Second Punic War]] against [[Carthage]]. |
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===Napoleonic Wars=== |
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During the [[Napoleonic Wars]], France repeatedly fought on multiple fronts. For example, France fought the [[Spain|Spanish]] and [[United Kingdom|British]] in the [[Peninsular War]] while fighting the [[Russian Empire]] at the same time during the [[French invasion of Russia]]. |
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The British were simultaneously at war with [[France]] and the [[United States]] during the [[War of 1812]]. |
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===World War I=== |
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During [[World War I]], [[Germany]] under [[Kaiser]] [[Wilhelm II]] fought a two-front war against French, British, Belgian, and (later) American forces on the [[Western Front]] while simultaneously fighting the Russians on the [[Eastern Front (World War I)|Eastern Front]], until the [[Bolshevik Revolution]] of 1917 took Russia out of the war. Germany had foreseen such a scenario, and developed the [[Schlieffen Plan]] in order to counteract being surrounded by its enemies.{{Fact|date=November 2007}} Under the Schlieffen Plan, German forces would invade France via [[Belgium]], [[Luxembourg]], and the Netherlands (the idea to go through the Netherlands was abandoned because of the country's neutrality), quickly capturing [[Paris]] and forcing France to sue for peace. The Germans would then turn their attention to [[Russia]] in the east before the [[Tsar]] could mobilize his massive forces. Due to [[Schlieffen_Plan#Activation.2C_and_subsequent_failure|several factors]] however, the Germans failed to achieve the plan's aims. |
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===World War II=== |
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Perhaps the most famous example of a two-front war was the [[European Theatre of World War II|European theatre]] during [[World War II]], when [[Adolf Hitler|Hitler's]] [[Nazi Germany]] had to deal with the Western Allies on the west and the [[Soviet Union]] to the east. The Nazis were unable to repel either of the two front's advances and eventually lost the war. While there were other contributing factors, such as the insufficiency of the [[Wehrmacht]] for a long war, and the abandonment of [[Blitzkrieg|blitzkrieg tactics]] due to fuel shortages and a rising need to defend territory, the two-front war was an important factor in deciding when the German military would be forced to surrender. |
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The Allies, especially the [[United States]], also fought a two-front war, splitting their forces between the European theatre against [[Nazi Germany]] and the [[Pacific War]] against [[Empire of Japan|Japan]]. It should be noted that the [[Axis Powers]] had the opportunity to force the Soviet Union into a two-front war by means of a Japanese attack on the Pacific Coast of the Soviet Union, but the Japanese declined to do so, having signed the [[Soviet-Japanese Neutrality Pact]]. [[Soviet Union|Soviet]] military operations against Japan began on August 9, 1945 with the [[Soviet invasion of Manchuria]], 3 months after the surrender of Germany. |
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===Israeli-Arab Wars=== |
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In the [[1948 Israeli-Arab War]], the Israelis fought the [[Egypt]]ians to the south and the [[Hordan|Jordanians]] and [[Syrians|Syria]] in the east and north. Israel again fought two-front wars in the [[Six-Day War]] of 1967 and the [[Yom Kippur War]] of 1973. |
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===Cold War=== |
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A major rationale for the American [[600-ship Navy]] plan in the 1980s was to threaten the Soviet Union with a two-front war (in Europe and the Pacific Ocean) in the event of hostilities.{{Fact|date=November 2007}} |
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===Metaphorically=== |
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Additionally, the term is often used metaphorically. An example is when a [[centrism|moderate]] politician faces political "attacks" from those to his [[left-wing politics|left]] and those to his [[right-wing politics|right]]. |
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[[Category:Military strategy]] |
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[[de:Zweifrontenkrieg]] |
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Revision as of 00:50, 28 October 2009
 | This article needs additional citations for verification. (November 2007) |
In military terminology, a two-front war is one in which fighting takes place on two geographically separate fronts. It is usually executed by two or more separate forces simultaneously or nearly simultaneously, in the hope that their opponent will be forced to split their fighting force to deal with both threats, therefore reducing their odds of success.
suak a dick