This document outlines the four generations of modern warfare from 1648 to the present according to the 4GW theory. It discusses the key elements of each generation including the actors, methods, aims, and relationship to the population. The first generation from 1648-WWI was defined by mass armies and manpower. The second from WWI-WWII saw the rise of firepower weapons. The third from WWII saw maneuver warfare develop. The current fourth generation since 1945 is characterized by asymmetric warfare without a state monopoly on violence. It involves unconventional tactics like information operations and blending with civilians.

1. From Ancient
To
Modern
War:
An Overview
of Fourth
Generation
Warfare
Martin Scott Catino, Ph.D.
Henley Putnam Univ.

2. OBJECTIVES OF THIS
PRESENTATION
1. Historical: Understand the general trends in the
application of warfare from the ancient to the
modern period.
2. Analytic: Understand the key elements and
sub-components of warfare in each era or
generation.
3. Situational Awareness. Understand the
current asymmetrical nature of warfare.
4. Framework: Use the 4GW theory as a basic
conceptual framework.

3. 4GW Explained
1. 4GW is the notion that four distinct
generations of warfare existed in the modern
era (AD 1648-present).
2. Each period had a unique application or use
of force, configuration of combatants, and
relationship to the population.
3. The current period or 4GW is similar to the
pre-modern (ancient) era in that the nation
state no longer has a monopoly on making
war.

4. THE ANCIENTS:
Diverse Actors
1. Family,
clan, and
tribe
2. Religion
3. Area: city,
kingdom
4. Businesses

5. THE ANCIENTS: Diverse
Methods
1. Assassination
2. The Bout
i.e., David vs. Goliath
3. Punitive Raids
4. Armies
5. Guerrilla war

6. THE ANCIENTS: Diverse
Aims and Effects
1. Psychological: cow, deter,
and influence
2. Material: gain resources, land,
trade routes, and populations
(including enslavement)
3. Judicial: punish, depopulate,
desolate (striking populations and
infrastructure)
4. Political: rule over areas and
populations

7. THE ANCIENTS: Direct Linkage of
Populations and Armies
1. Armies protected
populations from annihilation,
enslavement, and other
sufferings.
2. Armies were the total
protection of the population,
and not a deployable force
separate from domestic
security.
3. Military class assumed often
the highest level/class of rule.
Defeating an
army was thus
equivalent to
destroying a
people.

8. The Four Generations of
Warfare
1. Mass/manpower: AD. 1648-World
War I (circa 1915)
2. Firepower: World War I to World War
II (1939)
3. Maneuver: World War II (1939 to
1945)
4. Asymmetrical: (1945 to present)

9. Major Variables in 4GW
1. Technology
2. Leadership and the
state
3. Military doctrine and
thought
4. Role of the
population and the
nature/dimensions of
the battlefield/battle
space

10. First Generation Warfare:
1648 to World War I (circa 1915)
1. Mass/manpower
2. Military Discipline and
massing force
3. Limits of technology:
smooth bore rifles
4. States and rules of warfare
5. State has near monopoly
on making war
6. Linear battlefield

11. Second Generation Warfare:
Firepower. World War I to World War II (1939)
1. Technology leads the
development of warfare
as artillery, machine
guns, and rifled bore
weapons create
massive firepower.
2. Battlefield is linear
3. State retains near
monopoly on the use of
force.

12. Third Generation Warfare:
Maneuver (World War II)
Armor and Mechanized
warfare
1. Doctrine: Military thought drives
force deployment to overcome
firepower and static armies.
2. Battlefield: striking to depth and
opponent’s communications and
support causing collapse of
armies.
3. Technology increases command
and control as radio used
effectively.

13. German Blitzkrieg
Massed armor,
communications
(radio),
mechanization of
infantry, and
doctrine creates
maneuverability to
strike in depth.

14. Fourth Generation Warfare,
1945 to Present
Major Dimensions:
1. Mind: Psychological Operations (Psyops) become primary
and seek to degrade and collapse national will of opponent.
2. Time becomes a chief weapon to exploit by prolonging
conflict and thus expense in blood and treasure.
3. Space is traded for time, becomes critical for hiding and
sanctuary, and for expanding the battlefield to civilian areas.
4. Cover becomes more critical for operations as combatants
appear and blend with civilian population, cover their
aggression in Information Operation campaigns, and rely in
military deception (MILDEC) for movements.

15. Iraq: Insurgents Using
Mosques

16. Major Changes in Context
1. Nation states: loss of monopoly of force,
technology, and diplomacy, and area control.
2. Technology and weaponry. Accessibility,
diffusion, and affordability.
3. Volatility of society: globalization as
integrating and disintegrating societies.
4. Media: decentralized, accessible, and more
exploitable.

17. Asymmetrical Dimensions
1. Range of unconventional
and conventional.
2. Space and cyberspace
3. Economic warfare
4. Political warfare
5. Information/media wars
6. Hybrid: crime, terrorism,
natural disaster, economic
and political warfare.
Leadership
Agility

18. SUMMARY
1. Understand the major variables affecting the
conduct of war: leadership, nation states, technology,
and military doctrine/thought.
2. Understand the fundamentals of ancient
warfare and the modern 4GW model.
3. Understand the basics of modern warfare/
asymmetrical warfare.
4. Understand the dimensions of modern
warfare.

19. QUESTIONS?
EMAIL:
scatino@henleyputnam.edu
Henley Putnam
University