Unpacking the History of Urban Warfare and its Challenges in Gaza
Lessons learned from historical examples of urban warfare and how success and victory are not so easily achievable
By Carlo J.V. Caro
In Grand Strategy
October 17, 2023
Throughout history, wars have frequently revolved around city sieges and defenses, with large open-field battles being comparatively less common. Multiple examples of past urban warfare prove that technological military superiority doesn’t necessarily ensure victory. Battles such as Hue in the Vietnam War and Fallujah in the Iraq War demonstrate that achieving victory in an urban conflict does not necessarily translate to success in the larger war.
Urban Warfare
Cities have long been at the heart of military campaigns. As far back as 1274 BC, the Hittites and Egyptians clashed near Kadesh in modern Syria. Ancient Athens resisted three Persian invasions and the Punic War concluded with Rome destroying Carthage. In 1453, the fall of Constantinople marked the end of the Byzantine Empire. 18th-century Prussian general and military strategist Carl von Clausewitz viewed war as a continuation of politics, a concept rooted in the Greek word “polis” meaning city—this same root gave rise to terms like “cosmopolitan” and “police.” Aristotle perceived politics as the affairs of the city.
During the Cold War, urban guerrillas escalated operations in various Latin American nations, meeting resistance from police and military forces. Anti-colonial uprisings compelled conventional forces to craft strategies for urban counterinsurgency. Significant confrontations took place in Hue in 1968 and Suez in 1973. The 1990s gave rise to the myth of conventional military superiority. However, events in Mogadishu, Somalia, and the Chechen capital of Grozny challenged this perspective. These episodes demonstrated that having advanced military technology doesn’t guarantee success against local armed groups in dense, unfamiliar urban environments. In fact, some older technologies may prove more effective. For instance, the older 7.62mm bullets can penetrate walls better than the more modern NATO standard 5.56mm rounds. Somalia also revealed the limitations of relying solely on superior firepower. The October 1993 defeat of Ranger troops at the hands of armed youths in Mogadishu served as a sobering lesson. Notably, civilians accounted for more than half of the casualties suffered by American forces.
https://www.stimson.org/2023/unpacking-the-history-of-urban-warfare-and-its-challenges-in-gaza/
