Polish banker & railway financier (1836-1902)
War ... has become impossible, except at the price of suicide.
IVAN STANISLAVOVICH BLOCH
The Future of War
The increase in the artillery of all armies, the improvement of ammunition, the adoption of smokeless powder and of new explosives, the improvement in tactics, all these must lead to such great losses in the artillery service that their action will be paralyzed, or the losses in the armies will become so tremendous that war itself will be impossible.
IVAN STANISLAVOVICH BLOCH
The Future of War
And as in the opinion of many authorities the last word concerning explosives has not yet been said, in the war of the future, especially if it should take place some years from now, explosives of such strength will be employed that the concentration of armies in the open field, or even under the cover of fortifications, will be almost impossible, so that the apparatus of war prepared at the present time may prove itself useless.
IVAN STANISLAVOVICH BLOCH
The Future of War
In the opinion of competent military writers the war of the future will consist primarily of a series of battles for the possession of fortified positions. In addition to field fortifications of different kinds, the attacking army will have to deal with auxiliary obstacles which will be met with in the neighborhood of fortifications, that is, in the very position where they will be subjected to the greatest danger from the enemy's fire--obstructions formed of beams, networks of wire, and pit-falls. To overcome these obstacles great sacrifices must be made.
IVAN STANISLAVOVICH BLOCH
The Future of War