For three decades my generation, born in the 1940's, lived under the constant threat of nuclear holocaust -- the destruction of mankind, or at least civilization as-we-knew-it, in a single blinding flash of atomic fire. Over a hundred thousand Americans died in Korea and Viet Nam to convince the "evil empire" that America would fight and that the threat of "Mutual Assured Destruction" was valid. Then, one morning we woke up and the "evil empire" was gone and the threat receded. What was the ultimate weapon that destroyed an enemy that 10,000 one hundred megaton bombs could only hold at bay? The weapon was an understanding and judicious application of the forces of history. History shows us that for the past ten thousand years a people with a more efficient economy were able to displace, dominate or eliminate a people with a less efficient economy. Someone among then President Ronald Reagan's advisors understood this and realized that the form of feedback capitalism which drives the American economy was much more efficient than the state directed capitalism of the former Soviet Union. Using the above historical principal, the Reagan administration began to stress the Soviet economy by engaging in another round of the arms race. The Soviet planners stressed their economy to the limit to match this military build-up. Then came the ultimate bluff. President Reagan called together the best of the science fiction writers in America and had them create the "Star Wars" scenario. America's past technological achievement, combined with public debate and the expenditure of an impressive amount of funding convinced the Soviets that "Star Wars" was a real program and was achievable. Their economy, already at the breaking point, could not compete. In an effort to revitalize the Soviet economy with the free flow of information required for modern economic efficiency, President Gorbachev instituted "Glastnost" and held free elections. He was probably as amazed to discover that communism was really unpopular in the Soviet Union as he was at the collapse of the "evil empire". We hear continual complaints that we do not learn the lessons of history, but learning is a cumulative process with human beings. Perhaps we have now accumulated enough understanding that we can learn the lessons of history - and use them to our advantage. Understanding the parallels between the marginalization of hunter/gatherer societies within recorded history and the destruction of the Comanches on the plains of Texas led to the destruction of the Soviet Union without bloodshed. What other benefits will accrue with greater understanding of history? Back to Cry Havoc #32 Table of Contents Back to Cry Havoc List of Issues Back to MagWeb Master Magazine List © Copyright 2000 by David W. Tschanz. This article appears in MagWeb (Magazine Web) on the Internet World Wide Web. Other military history articles and gaming articles are available at http://www.magweb.com