Conflicts and disagreements between the nations and the governments lead to warfare. Warfare is one of the methods to solve the ongoing issue while negotiation fails. In this context of nations’ tussle, there are two important terms that we usually come across. One is Battle, and the other is War. Though both seem to sound and mean similar, there are significant differences between the two.
Battle vs War
The main difference between Battle and War is that the battle is operational mobility of warfare while War is the conflict or a disagreement between two countries or two military forces of the countries. In general, a battle is an actual attack, while War is the underlying reason.
An occurrence of a fight between two opposite military units is called a battle. The size and number of the opposing units do not matter in this aspect. Incidentally, a battle is an engagement for the military units with specific duration and time. The battle has decisive results.
War, on the other hand, is a strong conflict between two countries that leads to disagreements between the two. This issue shall be taken to talks for several sittings, and if not resolved, the countries might resort to fighting battles with armed forces. Incidentally, War requires strategies, and one of the best war strategists of all time is Sir. Winston Churchill.
Comparison Table Between Battle and War
| Parameters of Comparison | Battle | War |
| Definition | A battle is an armed forces fight that happens between two or more nations. The resources used for the battle is limited compared to war. | War consists of many battles that arise due to the problems that the countries have with each other. This requires a lot of resources that shall be deployed at several locations to fight the battle if it arises. |
| Duration | The battle is fought for a shorter duration. | War is an ongoing problem and is longer in duration. |
| Strategies | It focuses on strategies made to capture the vantage areas of the enemy, strategies based on the place they fight with each other and so on. | War has different strategies altogether. It is not an on-field strategy while its focus on eliminating the leaders, sometimes lose the battle to win the war. |
| Result – Loss | A loss in a battle does not necessarily mean that the war is lost. The a.rmy can come back again to attack. | A loss in the war is a territory surrender to the opposite nation. |
| Location | The battle is fought in just one location. | War has many locations and may have multiple battles at a time. |
What is Battle?
The battle is an execution procedure to fight or attack the enemy country if the disagreement falls to the warfare category. It is the armed forces aggression towards the enemy nation while they defend themselves and attack the enemy simultaneously.
Battle happens for a relatively shorter duration with minimal resources compared to the War. It has a specific duration and commitment. The military units shall fight against each other at a particular location.
Few examples of Battles are
- Battle of Britain
- Battle of Stalingrad
- Battle of the Mediterranean
The military personnel involved in such battles are relatively smaller in size. Battle has several strategies to be made in terms of resources, manpower, equipment. Many battles are fought to win a war. A loss in the battle does not guarantee any loss in the War. At the same time, the number of casualties lost in a battle shall be relatively less compared to the entire war scenario.
Three types of battles can happen
- Land
- Naval
- Aerial
As it is pretty evident what the mode of battle will be. But the mode of battle is a part of the strategy too. The combination of the types of battle shall ensure the victory too.
What is War?
War is an ongoing problem between two countries that have not reached any agreement may lead to battles. A combination of battles is the War. War is relatively larger in territory and resources. War shall happen in multiple locations. As the military units shall deploy the soldiers with required resources at various locations to defend and attack if a battle arises.
More importantly, the strategies used in War is way too different from battles. The strategies include depleting the company with resources from external sources, eliminating the main leaders of the country and so on. There are many ongoing wars even in the current era. War shall go on for years.
The amount of resources and combatants used in War is more. At the same time, the casualty count shall also be more. War leads to massive deaths of civilians as well. The intense disagreement or the conflict between the nations shall also resort to peace talks during the War.
The efforts taken during the War is meticulous as the countries deploy special teams as a backup for the battle too. The examples of War being World War I and II. As we know, when the world wars happened, battles were happening simultaneously in many locations. A win in the War means occupying a territory. Modern war techniques and strategies allow the countries to dominate the opposing nation and exploiting their resources too.
Main Differences Between Battle and War
- The main difference between Battle and War is that battle is an armed forces literal fight while War is the conflict that is the cause for the battle.
- While the battle is of smaller duration, war duration is relatively longer.
- The strategies used in battle is on the fighting methods and resources, while that of the War is to work on resource depletion, capturing the main leaders, and so on.
- The battle is usually fought in one location, while War has multiple locations to battle it on.
- The resources used in a battle is fairly less compared to the war scenario on the whole.
Conclusion
Though the difference between Battle and War is clear, the confusing factor shall be why the nations do not collaborate and thrive? The disagreements between the nations cause a lot of hitches between the governments. While War is not the solution, the battle is always on. There are untimely fights between the military units even these days. The urge to dominate the enemy nation is still boiling. If the battles have to stop, we must stop the War.
References
- https://books.google.co.in/books?hl=en&lr=&id=zBhG3PLN6IQC&oi=fnd&pg=PT5&dq=what+is+a+battle+and+a+war&ots=GBVS1daOvR&sig=KkoxIjVrZyQBzOqcj4SW7Ln6_Jc&redir_esc=y#v=onepage&q=what%20is%20a%20battle%20and%20a%20war&f=false
- https://books.google.co.in/books?hl=en&lr=&id=N3mEH3ozXL0C&oi=fnd&pg=PT6&dq=what+is+a+battle+and+a+war&ots=pwtehlxbub&sig=I-oj6wenoguyop5V3J3MnNkA02o&redir_esc=y#v=onepage&q=what%20is%20a%20battle%20and%20a%20war&f=false