studying how to fight the last war

[ADSGarson O'Toole]

I should have mentioned that Barry Popik examined this general phrase,
and his entry has now been updated with the 1929 citation:

 “Generals always fight the last war” ("Economists fight the last depression")
Entry from December 26, 2010 (updated)
http://www.barrypopik.com/index.php/new_york_city/entry/generals_always_fight_the_last_war/

On Mon, Oct 22, 2012 at 1:21 PM, Jonathan Lighter
<wuxxmupp2000 at gmail.com> wrote:
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> Sender:       American Dialect Society <ADS-L at LISTSERV.UGA.EDU>
> Poster:       Jonathan Lighter <wuxxmupp2000 at GMAIL.COM>
> Subject:      Re: studying how to fight the last war
> -------------------------------------------------------------------------------
>
> Offhand I can't show anything before 1929, but the charge was often
> leveled, _post facto_, at British and French strategy in France and Belgium
> in 1914 -18.
>
>
> JL
>
>
>
>
>
>
> On Mon, Oct 22, 2012 at 12:18 PM, ADSGarson O'Toole <
> adsgarsonotoole at gmail.com> wrote:
>
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>> Sender:       American Dialect Society <ADS-L at LISTSERV.UGA.EDU>
>> Poster:       ADSGarson O'Toole <adsgarsonotoole at GMAIL.COM>
>> Subject:      studying how to fight the last war
>>
>> -------------------------------------------------------------------------------
>>
>> Charlie's post about the quote: "army, like a serpent, goes upon its
>> belly" was fascinating. Here is comment about another saying with a
>> military theme. On the Wombats mailing list the following question was
>> posed:
>>
>> [Begin excerpt]
>> I'm wondering whether there is a single originator for the line:
>> "Generals are always preparing to fight the last war."
>> [End excerpt]
>>
>> Charlie et al have a relevant entry in the magnificent Dictionary of
>> Modern Proverbs:
>>
>> Cite: 2012, The Dictionary of Modern Proverbs, Compiled by Charles
>> Clay Doyle, Wolfgang Mieder, and Fred R. Shapiro Page 94, Yale
>> University Press, New Haven. (Verified on paper)
>>
>> [Begin excerpt]
>> Generals (Soldiers, etc.) always fight (prepare to fight, are
>> condemned to fight) the last war.
>> 1934 Edward P. Warner, "Present Conditions under the N.R.A. [National
>> Recovery Act]," American Marketing Journal 1: 12: "There is a saying
>> that is rather common among the critics of the military profession
>> that 'soldiers are always preparing to fight the last war.' Business
>> must not incur the rebuke that it is devoting itself to preparing to
>> sell goods under the conditions of the last economic cycle."
>> [End excerpt]
>>
>> Here is a precursor in 1929:
>>
>> Cite: 1929 January-February, The Military Engineer, Volume 21, Number
>> 115, Some Notes on the World War by J. L. Schley [Lieutenant Colonel,
>> Corps of Engineers], Start Page 55, Quote Page 55, Column 1, Society
>> of American Military Engineers, Alexandria, Virginia. (Verified on
>> paper)
>>
>> http://books.google.com/books?id=kPdKAQAAIAAJ&q=critically#search_anchor
>> Short link   http://bit.ly/QWb8as
>>
>> [Begin excerpt]
>> It has been said critically that there is a tendency in many armies to
>> spend the peace time studying how to fight the last war.
>> [End excerpt]
>>
>> Garson
>>
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