Thesis--Stockholm. / Summary in German. Bibliography: p. 514-517.

Surprise as a method for achieving success in combat has been a key factor since the dawn of warfare. This study has analyzed what key factors are needed to achieve strategic surprise by examining existing theories on the subject by applying them on two strategic surprise operations during the second World War. The study has combined several of the best known military theorists understanding of surprise to an analytical framework that was applied to the two cases. The results show that existing theories on surprise has the ability to explain how strategic surprise is achieved but not all given indicators were met. Deception, secrecy, originality and speed was shown to be the four key factors needed. Planning and implementing these factors during the operation will increase the chance of achieving strategic surprise and prevent the enemy from detecting and successfully deploying its troops to intercept the incoming offensive.

Diploma thesis "Change of the Soviet Union image in the protectorate press based on comparison of the media content from the turn of August/September 1939 and June/July 1941" deals with the manner in which the protectorate newspapers informed about the Ribbentop-Molotov Pact and later about the German invasion of the Soviet Union. The examples of these events and their reflection in the Protectorate press demonstrate how flexibly the protectorate propaganda responded to the current political line. For the purposes of the thesis, there have been selected three newspapers: Polední list, Večerní České Slovo and Venkov. These periodicals were examined in two time-bound periods, from 23rd August till 27th September 1939 and from 16th June till 14th July 1941. The methodology used is a historical comparative analysis, which discusses the transformation of Protectorate propaganda attitudes in the dependence on the historical context, and semiotic analysis, which deals with period media discourse and reveals ideology sustained on the level of sign systems.

No description available.

This thesis is a study of the reasons for the failure of the Third Crusade to achieve its stated objectives, despite the many advantages with which the venture began. It is proposed herein that the Third Crusade—and by extension all of the previous and subsequent Crusades—were destined to fail because of structural disadvantages which plagued the expeditions to the Holy Land. The Christians in the Holy Land were not selfsufficient, and they depended on an extensive amount of aid from Europe for their existence, but the Christians of Europe had their own goals and concerns which did not allow them to focus on building a stable kingdom in the Holy Land. For European Christians, crusading was a religious obligation, and once their vows were fulfilled, they no longer had any desire to remain in the Levant. Although the Crusaders did score some short-term victories over their Muslim adversaries, the Christian presence in the Holy Land was unsustainable, for the Crusades—from the European perspective—were a religious movement without a tangible, long-term political objective, and given those circumstance, any crusade would be unsuccessful.

Thesis (doctoral)--Universität, Münster (Westfalen), 2002. / Includes bibliographical references (p. [538]-575) and indexes.

Studies about logistics operations are rare to find and those that exist lack theoretical depth. The literature does not agree whether planning for a logistics operation or the actual implementation of it is more important, why this study addresses this matter. The aim of this study is to contribute with an explanation of how logistics affected the outcome in Operation Barbarossa and to verify Kress’ theory about Operational logistics. This is done by a case study comparing the Soviet and the German supply and support system during Operation Barbarossa based on principles of logistics that need to be present for the logistic operation to be planned and implemented with success. Even though both nations had a poor supply and support system, the system of the Red army was more applicable to the principles of the theory and the operation ended up being a Soviet victory. This meets the aim of the study to verify the theory. The results indicate that planning and preparing a logistics operation is a prerequisite for a successful implementation that is a prerequisite for success in a military operation. In addition to the existing theory, it is also dependent on the capabilities of the enemy, hence it’s enough to have a logistics system superior to that of the enemy.

On 16 December 1941, Adolf Hitler issued his controversial Haltbefehl (halt order). As Germany’s Army Group Center reeled under the Soviet counterattack during the battle for Moscow, the Haltbefehl forbade the army to retreat. Scholars have argued that this order ended the Prussian-German method of command called Auftragstaktik. Under this concept, German field commanders enjoyed wide command discretion within the intent of their superiors. This thesis argues that Auftragstaktik did survive at and below the German Army’s divisional level during its defensive struggles in the battle for Moscow. The case studies illustrate that field commanders kept their command independence and withdrew their units against Hitler’s halt order. / History

Questo studio ha per oggetto l’attività dei giudici imperiali nella Lombardia comunale tra XII e XIII secolo. La prima parte consiste in una lettura d’insieme dell’operato dei giudici imperiali nel solco più generale delle vicende politiche del regno italico durante l’impero di Federico I barbarossa e del figlio Enrico VI. L’intera ricerca è stata condotta a partire dalla documentazione, edita e non; tali risultati sono stati contestualizzati nell’ampio dibattito storiografico sulla natura statuale dell’impero romano-germanico del pieno medioevo. Alla ricostruzione diacronica seguono le schede biografiche dei giudici imperiali più significativi per la ricostruzione storica proposta nella tesi e un’appendice documentaria. Il lavoro è chiuso dalla bibliografia utilizzata e dall'indice dei nomi di persona. / The object of this study is the activity of the imperial judges in the communal Lombardy between twelfth and thirteenth centuries. The first part consists of an overall reading of the activity of the imperial judges in the political strategy in the Italic Kingdom during the empire of Frederick I Barbarossa and his son Henry VI. The entire research is carried out starting from the documentation, edited and inedited; these results are contextualised in the wide historiographical debate on the institutional nature of the medieval Roman-German Empire. The diachronic reconstruction is followed by the biographies of the most significant imperial judges and a documentary appendix. The work is closed by the bibliography and the index.

Thesis (doctoral)-Universität, Münster (Westfalen), 2002. / Includes bibliographical references (p.[538]-575) and indexes.