Darbe nagrinėjami įvairūs karo tematikos aspektai Lietuvos Didžiosios Kunigaikštystės laikų literatūroje ir XIX a. pradžios istoriografo Simono Daukanto veikaluose. Medžiaga surinkta iš Lietuvos metraščių (XV a. – XVI a. I p.), iš penkių XVI a. – XVII a. pradžios herojinių poemų, vieno poleminio publicistinio teksto, taip pat iš žymaus baroko epochos poeto Motiejaus Kazimiero Sarbievijaus (Matthias Casimirus Sarbievius) poezijos. Darbe tiriama, kaip skirtingų laikotarpių, skirtingų pažiūrų autoriai vertina patį karo reiškinį, analizuojami mūšių aprašymai, karo atnešamos nelaimės ir baisumai, aptariamas idealaus karvedžio portretas. Renesanso poetai karą stengėsi pavaizduoti kuo tikroviškiau, meniškiau. Jie karą vaizduoja kaip stichinę nelaimę, kaip katastrofą, atnešančią vargus ir bėdas. Išskiriamas vienintelis atvejis, kai karas yra pateisinamas – valstybės gynyba. Herojinių poemų autoriai kūrė karvedžio idealą: pasakodami apie realaus valstybės veikėjo darbus, išryškindavo tik tuos asmens bruožus, kurie buvo labiausiai vertinami Renesanso epochoje. M. K. Sarbievijus karą dažnai vaizduoja tarytum spektaklį. Jo vertinimu, karas - tai išmėginimas, parodantis tikrąją asmens vertę, taip pat galimybė pelnyti nemirtingą šlovę. Poetas išryškina pozityvų karo poveikį visuomenei, - ilgalaikės taikos metu stipriausioji visuomenės dalis aptingsta, ištyžta (degradacijos motyvas). S. Daukantas apie karą kalba pasitelkdamas kuo įvairesnę medžiagą – istorinių šaltinių duomenis, žodinę... [toliau žr. visą tekstą] / The thesis analyzes various aspects of the theme of war in the literature of the Grand Duchy of Lithuania and the works of Simonas Daukantas, the historiographer at the beginning of the 19 century. The material used was taken from the Lithuanian Chronicles (the first half of the 15-16 centuries), five heroic poems of the beginning of 16-17 centuries, one polemic-publicistic text as well as poetry by famous Baroque poet Matthias Casimirus Sarbievius. The thesis investigates how authors from different periods and with different attitudes evaluate the same war event. Battle descriptions, distress and atrocities caused by war are analyzed, and the portrait of an ideal military leader is discussed. The Renaissance poets sought to depict war as realistically and artistically as possible. They described war as a natural disaster that brings trouble and misery. There is only one case when war is justified: defence of the State. The authors of the heroic poems were putting together an ideal of a military leader: when describing works of a real state official they highlighted only his characteristics that were valued during the Renaissance. M. C. Sarbievius often depicted war as a stage performance. He maintained that war was a challenge that revealed what a person was really worth; it was also a chance to gain immortal glory. The poet stressed the positive effects of war to society: during prolonged peace the strongest part of society slackened and became weaker (a motive of... [to full text]

The military leadership is a specific type of activity, presenting motivational, emotional and intellectual chellenges to the character of a military leader. The United States Army defines leadership as 'the process of influencing people by providing purpose, direction, and motivation while operating to accomplish the mission and inproving the organization' (Department of the Army 2006, pp. 1-2).The United States Air Force (USAF) has the similar definition of leadership: 'the art and science of influencing and directing people to accomplish the assigned mission' (Department of the Air Force 2006, p.1). In these two definitions we can quite clearly highlight two important elements, which are inherent to the leadership process, it is the mission to lead people and followers who should perform delivered tasks. In our opinion, the army has achieved a big success in the development of leadership unlike other organizations, because the issue of leadeship was arising in the military sphere much earlier than in civil organizations. In proof of this position, we can recall scientific works, which were written by such great people as Sun Tzu (The Art of War, about 500-600 B.C.), Maurice (The Strategikon, 6th or 7th century A.D.) and Carl von Clausewitz (On War, published in 1832).