On the military psychology

I am now reading an interesting book: a practical guide on the military psychology written by a Cossack general. Published in 1918, it includes some interesting perspectives on human psychology, specifically in its application to warfare¹.

Please keep in mind that it describes mostly the 19th and early 20th century war experiences, and almost exclusively from the Russian perspective. Still, the observations are interesting enough to be read and shared even today.

Basically, its main point is that the psychological factor in warfare is vastly underrated. Although great generals of the past tended to be masterful in harnessing emotions, feelings and vibes for their own ends, they had zero incentive to share any realistic picture of this psychological side of the war (or of the war in general) with general public. What they told, wrote and preached in that regard is simply untrue.

Most of the file and rank, on the other hand, clearly felt and vibed in the course war. And yet, they tended to have little capacity to even remember what they felt with any degree of accuracy, let alone analyse, and communicate it all to the laymen, who did not go through the same experiences. And so, their internal knowledge did not translate to the general public.

As a result, the picture of human behaviour on a war available to the laymen has only a limited overlap with reality. This makes the audience remains completely oblivious to how the war looks and feels like and, therefore, to the internal mechanics driving it and determining its trajectory.

First. Soldier is a human. Even in a war, and on a battlefield he still remains human. As a human he is subject to feelings, and to emotions.

Now the most dominant, the most constant of these emotions is fear.