| Fear and anxiety have been crucial elements in any | | | | Soviet conscripts troops, forcibly taken for their |
| general's strategy since the dawn of time. The | | | | homes and barely even armed properly for combat, |
| Assyrian empire was reputedly formed through the | | | | were informed that to retreat would mean death. |
| use of generous amounts of terror and brutality. The | | | | Faced with a choice of either German bullets or |
| Spartans struck such terror in their enemies that their | | | | Russian bullets, the Red Army was reported to have |
| forces often won their wars with other Greek city | | | | charged repeatedly into German lines, seemingly |
| states simply by arriving on the battlefield. Gaius | | | | showing little regard for their own safety. |
| Marius, a Senator of the ancient Roman Republic, | | | | History also has several examples of fear and |
| once quelled the threat of rebellion in a client kingdom | | | | anxiety having effects on the maneuvering of troops. |
| by imposing upon his rival the might of a single | | | | One example occurred again during World War II. |
| Roman legion. The Mongol hordes claimed entire | | | | German troops of the time were notoriously |
| kingdoms as they swept through Europe through the | | | | effective, such that the Allied commanders felt it |
| use of scare tactics. The fact is, even before | | | | was a tactical mistake to send their troops to face |
| scorched earth strategies, fear and anxiety have long | | | | Hitler's blitzkrieg army. The front lines also |
| been in the arsenal of military commanders. | | | | experienced fear and anxiety, particularly when faced |
| Fear and anxiety are immensely helpful in keeping | | | | with sizable German infantry and panzer divisions. As |
| enemy forces from not only fighting effectively, but | | | | a remedy, American and British commanders took a |
| in some cases, it might inspire them to leave your | | | | cue from the Soviet Red Army on the Eastern front |
| territory entirely. This was the case when Vlad III | | | | and ordered their forces to engage the less |
| Dracula (yes, the name is in that format), more | | | | well-trained Romanian and Italian armies, which lacked |
| commonly referred to in history as Vlad the Impaler, | | | | the discipline and equipment of their German |
| faced against an overwhelming Turkish and Ottoman | | | | counterparts. |
| force. According to historical accounts, when the | | | | The tank was initially developed as a weapon of |
| Shah-in Shah's forces encountered the massive field | | | | intimidation, designed to scare infantry into breaking |
| of impaled soldiers captured from previous | | | | rank as the approaching mass of steel and gunfire |
| encounters with Vlad's army, he turned back. He was | | | | came closer to them. The tanks were maneuvered |
| greeted with an image that inspired fear and anxiety | | | | straight into enemy infantry lines, regardless of how |
| even in his supposedly invincible army: the sight of | | | | much damage the machines would have taken, simply |
| thousands of impaled Turkish and Ottoman troops. | | | | to use the tank's intimidating effect to the fullest. |
| Most military historians acknowledge Vlad's tactic as | | | | The fact is, scare tactics were, are, and will always |
| one of the most effective uses of psychological | | | | be part of warfare for as long as there are human |
| warfare and terror in history. | | | | beings fighting on the front lines. Terrorizing your |
| The use of fear and anxiety, however, is not merely | | | | own troops as a substitute for morale and horrifying |
| limited to enemy forces. During the Second World | | | | your opponents as a means of demoralizing them will |
| War, in the infamous Battle of Stalingrad, the Soviets | | | | inevitably be considered part and parcel of any |
| employed fear and anxiety on their own forces. | | | | comprehensive guide to warfare. |