Editing Battle (section)

== Characteristics ==
{{history of war}}

The defining characteristic of the fight as a concept in [[military science]] has changed with the variations in the organisation, employment and technology of military forces. The English [[military historian]] [[John Keegan]] suggested an ideal definition of battle as "something which happens between two [[army|armies]] leading to the moral then physical disintegration of one or the other of them" but the origins and outcomes of battles can rarely be summarized so neatly.<ref>p. 302, Keegan</ref> Battle in the 20th and 21st centuries is defined as the combat between large components of the forces in a [[military campaign]], used to achieve [[military objective]]s.<ref>pp. 65–71, Dupuy</ref> Where the duration of the battle is longer than a week, it is often for reasons of [[Operations (military staff)|planning]] called an operation. Battles can be planned, [[meeting engagement|encountered]] or forced by one side when the other is unable to [[Withdrawal (military)|withdraw]] from combat.

A battle always has as its purpose the reaching of a [[mission goal]] by use of military force.<ref name = "lbcdnv">p. 67, Dupuy</ref> A victory in the battle is achieved when one of the opposing sides forces the other to abandon its mission and [[surrender (military)|surrender]] its forces, [[rout]]s the other (i.e., forces it to retreat or renders it militarily ineffective for further [[combat operation]]s) or [[Battle of annihilation|annihilates]] the latter, resulting in their deaths or capture. A battle may end in a [[Pyrrhic victory]], which ultimately favors the defeated party. If no resolution is reached in a battle, it can result in a [[No-win situation|stalemate]]. A conflict in which one side is unwilling to reach a decision by a direct battle using [[conventional warfare]] often becomes an [[insurgency]].

Until the 19th century the majority of battles were of short duration, many lasting a part of a day. (The [[Battle of Preston (1648)]], the [[Battle of Nations]] (1813) and the [[Battle of Gettysburg]] (1863) were exceptional in lasting three days.) This was mainly due to the difficulty of supplying [[Army|armies]] in the field or conducting [[night combat|night operations]]. The means of prolonging a battle was typically with [[siege warfare]]. Improvements in [[transport]] and the sudden evolving of [[trench warfare]], with its siege-like nature during the [[First World War]] in the 20th century, lengthened the duration of battles to days and weeks.<ref name = "lbcdnv"/> This created the requirement for [[Tour of duty|unit rotation]] to prevent [[combat fatigue]], with troops preferably not remaining in a combat area of operations for more than a month.

[[File:Marching to Raate-road.jpg|thumb|Finnish soldiers on the [[Raate Road]]<ref>{{cite book |last1=Kulju |first1=Mika |title= Raatteen tie : Talvisodan pohjoinen sankaritarina |year=2007 |publisher=Ajatus kirjat |location=Helsinki |language=fi |isbn=978-951-20-7218-7 |ref=Kulju2007}}</ref><ref>{{cite book |last1=Karttimo |first1=Leo |last2=Salminen|first2=K. E.|title=Rannikolta Raatteen tielle : sotaveteraanien haastatteluihin, sotapäiväkirjoihin sekä moniin muihin lähteisiin perustuva teos |year=1992 |publisher=Karttimo-Salminen yhteistyöryhmä |language=fi |isbn=952-90-3809-7|ref=Karttimo1992}}</ref> during the [[Winter War]]]]
The use of the term "battle" in military history has led to its misuse when referring to almost any scale of combat, notably by strategic forces involving hundreds of thousands of troops that may be engaged in either one battle at a time ([[Battle of Leipzig]]) or operations ([[Battle of Wuhan]]). The space a battle occupies depends on the range of the [[weapon]]s of the combatants.  A "battle" in this broader sense may be of long duration and take place over a large area, as in the case of the [[Battle of Britain]] or the [[Battle of the Atlantic]]. Until the advent of [[artillery]] and [[aircraft]], battles were fought with the two sides within sight, if not reach, of each other. The depth of the [[battlefield]] has also increased in [[modern warfare]] with inclusion of the supporting units in the rear areas; supply, artillery, medical personnel etc. often outnumber the front-line combat troops.

Battles are made up of a multitude of individual combats, [[skirmish]]es and small [[engagement (military)|engagements]] and the combatants will usually only experience a small part of the battle. To the [[infantry]]man, there may be little to distinguish between combat as part of a minor raid or a big offensive, nor is it likely that he anticipates the future course of the battle; few of the British infantry who went over the top on the [[first day on the Somme]], 1 July 1916, would have anticipated that the battle would last five months. Some of the Allied infantry who had just dealt a crushing defeat to the French at the [[Battle of Waterloo]] fully expected to have to fight again the next day (at the [[Battle of Wavre]]).