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UGC NET Defence & Strategic Studies study materials
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UGC NET Defence & Strategic Studies practice questions

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Question 1Conceptual and Theoretical Aspects of Defence and Strategic Studies

In classical strategic theory, which thinker defined strategy as 'the art of distributing and applying military means to fulfil the ends of policy' and distinguished the 'higher' from the 'lower' strategy?

  1. Antoine-Henri Jomini
  2. Niccolò Machiavelli
  3. B. H. Liddell Hart Correct answer.
  4. Carl von Clausewitz

Explanation

Liddell Hart framed strategy as the art of distributing and applying military means to fulfil the ends of policy, and split it into higher strategy (grand strategy, controlling policy) and lower strategy (the conduct of battle). Clausewitz instead described strategy as the use of engagements for the object of the war. Jomini emphasised lines of operation and decisive points rather than this higher/lower distinction.

Question 2Conceptual and Theoretical Aspects of Defence and Strategic Studies

Johan Galtung's 'structural violence' concept refers to which phenomenon?

  1. Physical injury inflicted by state security forces during internal disturbances
  2. The escalation of inter-state crises into armed confrontation through miscalculation
  3. Damage to civilian infrastructure caused by aerial bombardment campaigns
  4. Harm built into social arrangements that shortens lives or denies basic needs, without a direct personal aggressor Correct answer.

Explanation

Galtung distinguished personal or direct violence from structural violence, where unequal social, economic and political structures cause death, deprivation and suffering without an identifiable perpetrator. It is measured by the gap between potential and actual fulfilment of human needs. The other options describe direct, organised or behavioural violence rather than structural harm.

Question 3Conceptual and Theoretical Aspects of Defence and Strategic Studies

Which level of analysis in international relations theory locates the causes of war in the internal attributes of states, such as regime type, ideology and bureaucratic politics?

  1. Systemic level
  2. Transnational level
  3. Individual level
  4. State level Correct answer.

Explanation

In the Waltzian three-image framework, the state or unit level attributes war to domestic characteristics of states, including regime type, economic structure and bureaucratic decision-making. The individual level focuses on leaders and human nature, while the systemic level stresses anarchy and the distribution of power. Transnational or dyadic levels examine interaction between societies rather than internal state attributes.

Question 4Conceptual and Theoretical Aspects of Defence and Strategic Studies

The concept of 'deterrence' in strategic studies most precisely denotes which of the following?

  1. The capacity to defeat an adversary's armed forces after hostilities have begun
  2. Influencing an opponent's behaviour by threatening costs that outweigh the expected gains of an action Correct answer.
  3. The use of defensive fortifications to absorb an attacker's first offensive
  4. The diplomatic process of concluding arms limitation agreements

Explanation

Deterrence works through the adversary's cost-benefit calculation: the threat of unacceptable retaliation or denial persuades the opponent not to act in the first place. It operates before conflict, unlike defence, which seeks to blunt an attack already under way. Arms control and fortification are related but distinct activities.

Question 5Conceptual and Theoretical Aspects of Defence and Strategic Studies

In the context of national security, 'comprehensive national power' (CNP) is best understood as which of the following?

  1. The aggregate of military manpower and defence budget available to a state
  2. The sum of a state's nuclear warheads and delivery systems
  3. The capacity of a state to project naval power across distant maritime theatres
  4. The total of a state's military, economic, technological, diplomatic and social capabilities assessed as an integrated whole Correct answer.

Explanation

Comprehensive national power combines hard and soft components - economic output, technology, military strength, diplomacy, social cohesion and geography - and treats them as interacting rather than additive. It is used to assess relative standing and strategic potential. Narrow measures such as defence budgets or warhead counts capture only one dimension.

Question 6Conceptual and Theoretical Aspects of Defence and Strategic Studies

Which term describes a strategy that seeks to win by disrupting an adversary's cohesion, will and command rather than by destroying its forces in attritional battle?

  1. Fabian strategy
  2. Attrition strategy
  3. Blitzkrieg
  4. Indirect approach Correct answer.

Explanation

Liddell Hart's indirect approach aims at psychological and organisational dislocation - striking where the opponent is least prepared and disrupting command and cohesion - instead of trading casualties in frontal battles. Attrition deliberately wears down the enemy's manpower and materiel. Blitzkrieg is a combined-arms operational method, and Fabian strategy is a specific delaying tactic.

Question 7Conceptual and Theoretical Aspects of Defence and Strategic Studies

Clausewitz's 'remarkable trinity' comprises which three elements?

  1. Primordial violence and passion, the play of chance and probability, and the element of subordination to rational policy Correct answer.
  2. Tactics, strategy and policy
  3. Offence, defence and the culminating point of victory
  4. Government, army and people

Explanation

The trinity describes war as a paradoxical combination of the people's primordial hostility, the commander's creative play of chance and probability, and the government's subordination of war to rational policy. It is a conceptual triad about the nature of war, not an institutional division among government, army and people. The other options mix Clausewitzian concepts with unrelated categories.

Question 8Conceptual and Theoretical Aspects of Defence and Strategic Studies

In Mahan's theory of sea power, which condition is treated as the most important single element of a nation's maritime greatness?

  1. The extent and character of its coastline and its position for access to the sea
  2. The number of its colonial possessions in temperate zones
  3. The size of its standing army relative to its navy
  4. The strength of its merchant marine and its capacity to develop it Correct answer.

Explanation

Mahan listed six principal conditions of sea power and regarded the development of the merchant marine, together with the national character that sustains it, as the most influential. Commerce carried in own-flag shipping generates the wealth and trained seamen on which naval strength rests. Geography and coastline matter but are enabling conditions rather than the decisive element.

Question 9Conceptual and Theoretical Aspects of Defence and Strategic Studies

In nuclear strategy, 'mutual assured destruction' (MAD) is stabilising principally because it relies on which mechanism?

  1. A credible doctrine of limited nuclear war fighting at theatre level
  2. A second-strike capability that survives a first strike and can retaliate with unacceptable damage Correct answer.
  3. A declared policy of no-first-use that reassures the adversary
  4. Ballistic missile defence sufficient to blunt an adversary's first strike

Explanation

MAD rests on survivable second-strike forces, such as submarine-launched missiles, that guarantee retaliation even after absorbing a first strike. This makes a disarming first strike appear futile and thereby deters it. Limited-war doctrines and defences can undermine rather than reinforce the certainty of retaliation.

Question 10Conceptual and Theoretical Aspects of Defence and Strategic Studies

Which statement best captures the difference between 'arms control' and 'disarmament'?

  1. Arms control is a unilateral act, while disarmament is always multilateral
  2. Arms control applies only to nuclear weapons, while disarmament applies to conventional forces
  3. Arms control abolishes entire categories of weapons, while disarmament merely limits their numbers
  4. Arms control regulates weapons through constraints, transparency and confidence-building, while disarmament seeks reductions or elimination of armaments Correct answer.

Explanation

Arms control accepts that states will retain forces and instead constrains their numbers, deployment, testing and use through agreements, verification and confidence-building measures. Disarmament aims at reducing or eliminating weapons, often as a normative goal. The two overlap in practice but differ in their organising purpose.

Question 11Conceptual and Theoretical Aspects of Defence and Strategic Studies

The 'security dilemma' in international politics arises when which situation occurs?

  1. Two states are bound by an alliance that obliges each to defend the other
  2. A great power declines economically and its allies begin to hedge
  3. A state's defensive measures appear threatening to others, prompting them to respond, which leaves the first state less secure Correct answer.
  4. International institutions fail to enforce a collective security resolution

Explanation

The security dilemma describes the spiral in which actions taken for self-defence are perceived as offensive by others, who then arm in response, leaving everyone worse off despite no aggressive intent. It is a structural problem of anarchy and uncertainty about intentions. Alliances, power transitions and institutional failure are distinct phenomena.

Question 12Conceptual and Theoretical Aspects of Defence and Strategic Studies

In Kautilya's Arthashastra, the 'mandala' theory of international relations describes which arrangement?

  1. A council of ministers advising the king on war and diplomacy
  2. A concentric circle of friendly, neutral and hostile states around one's own kingdom Correct answer.
  3. The four stages of a state's life cycle from growth to decline
  4. The four methods of statecraft: conciliation, gifts, dissension and force

Explanation

Kautilya's mandala theory portrays the world as a circle of states arranged by proximity and interest, with the vijigishu (aspirant) at the centre, allies in the outer ring and potential enemies in between. It generated guidance on alliances, neutrality and the balance of power. The four upayas are a separate instrument of policy.

Question 13Conceptual and Theoretical Aspects of Defence and Strategic Studies

Which of the following best describes the strategic logic of 'denial' as opposed to 'punishment' in deterrence?

  1. Signalling resolve through public declarations and alliance commitments
  2. Reducing one's own vulnerability by dispersing and hardening forces
  3. Threatening massive retaliation against an adversary's cities and industry
  4. Persuading the adversary that its military objectives cannot be achieved on the battlefield Correct answer.

Explanation

Deterrence by denial convinces the opponent that an attack will fail to achieve its objectives, so the expected gain disappears. Deterrence by punishment instead threatens costs after the fact, typically against valued assets. Declarations and force hardening may support deterrence but do not define the denial logic.

Question 14Conceptual and Theoretical Aspects of Defence and Strategic Studies

The 'democratic peace' proposition in international relations most commonly asserts which claim?

  1. Democracies spend a smaller share of national income on defence than autocracies
  2. Democracies are more likely than autocracies to win the wars they fight
  3. Democracies rarely or never fight wars against one another Correct answer.
  4. Democracies form more durable alliances with one another than autocracies do

Explanation

The democratic peace thesis holds that established liberal democracies almost never go to war with each other, though they do fight non-democracies. Explanations include institutional constraints, public accountability and shared norms of peaceful dispute resolution. The other claims are empirically contested and are not the core proposition.

Question 15Conceptual and Theoretical Aspects of Defence and Strategic Studies

In the study of insurgency, Mao Zedong's three-phase model of protracted people's war proceeds in which sequence?

  1. Mobile warfare, positional warfare, guerrilla warfare
  2. Strategic offensive, strategic stalemate, strategic defensive
  3. Agitation, organisation, armed uprising
  4. Strategic defensive, strategic stalemate, strategic offensive Correct answer.

Explanation

Mao's model begins with the insurgent on the strategic defensive, harassing a stronger enemy through guerrilla warfare; passes through a stalemate in which base areas expand; and culminates in a strategic offensive with conventional mobile warfare. The sequence reflects the gradual shift in the balance of forces. The other orders invert or mislabel the phases.

Question 16Conceptual and Theoretical Aspects of Defence and Strategic Studies

Which concept from systems theory describes the situation in which the number of poles and the distribution of capabilities in the international system shapes state behaviour?

  1. Sovereignty
  2. Polarity Correct answer.
  3. Hegemony
  4. Anarchy

Explanation

Polarity refers to the number of major power centres - unipolar, bipolar or multipolar - and the distribution of capabilities among them, which structural realists argue constrains state behaviour. Anarchy is the absence of central authority, sovereignty is the legal independence of states, and hegemony is a form of dominance. Polarity is the specifically structural variable.

Question 17Conceptual and Theoretical Aspects of Defence and Strategic Studies

In the context of maritime strategy, what does 'sea denial' mean?

  1. The mining of one's own harbours to prevent an enemy amphibious landing
  2. The legal regime of innocent passage through territorial waters
  3. The ability to use the sea for one's own military and commercial purposes while excluding others
  4. The ability to prevent an adversary from using the sea without necessarily controlling it oneself Correct answer.

Explanation

Sea denial seeks to deny an opponent the use of maritime space through submarines, mines, coastal missiles and surface raiders, without the sea control that would allow one's own free use of the sea. Sea control is the complementary concept, involving the ability to use the sea and deny its use to others. Harbour mining and passage rules are narrower or legal notions.

Question 18Conceptual and Theoretical Aspects of Defence and Strategic Studies

A state that has no aggressive intentions nevertheless builds a missile defence system; its neighbour interprets this as preparation for a first strike and accelerates its own offensive missile programme. This outcome is best explained by which concept?

  1. Balance of threat theory
  2. Collective security
  3. Hegemonic stability theory
  4. Security dilemma Correct answer.

Explanation

The spiral of defensive measures being read as offensive, prompting counter-measures that reduce the first state's security, is the security dilemma. The neighbour cannot be certain of intentions, so capability is judged on worst-case assumptions. Balance of threat concerns alliance formation against perceived threats, not the inadvertent spiral itself.

Question 19Conceptual and Theoretical Aspects of Defence and Strategic Studies

Which statement most accurately captures the relationship between 'strategy' and 'tactics' in classical military theory?

  1. Strategy concerns the movement and engagement of forces in battle, while tactics concern the political ends of war
  2. Strategy is confined to peacetime planning, while tactics govern wartime operations
  3. Strategy connects military means to political objectives, while tactics concerns the conduct of forces in battle Correct answer.
  4. Strategy and tactics are interchangeable terms for the art of command at different ranks

Explanation

Strategy links military means to the political ends of war and sets the framework within which engagements are fought; tactics is the conduct of forces in contact with the enemy. Clausewitz treated tactics as the theory of the use of armed forces in combat and strategy as the use of engagements for the war's purpose. The two are hierarchically related but not interchangeable.

Question 20Conceptual and Theoretical Aspects of Defence and Strategic Studies

In deterrence theory, the 'credibility' of a threat depends most directly on which combination of factors?

  1. The number of alliance partners formally committed and the legal status of the commitment
  2. The capability to carry out the threat, the demonstrated resolve to do so, and the adversary's perception of both Correct answer.
  3. The proportion of national income devoted to defence and the size of the standing army
  4. The size of the adversary's population and the length of the conflict

Explanation

A deterrent threat must be militarily capable of execution, backed by visible resolve, and perceived as such by the adversary; capability without resolve, or resolve without capability, fails to deter. Perception is central because deterrence operates in the opponent's decision calculus. Aggregate resources or alliance numbers are at most indirect indicators.

Question 21Evolution of Strategic Thought and Military Thinkers

Clausewitz's paradoxical trinity describes the interplay of which three tendencies in war?

  1. Tactics, logistics, and strategy
  2. Passion and violence, chance and probability, and reason serving political purpose Correct answer.
  3. Land power, sea power, and air power
  4. Offence, defence, and manoeuvre

Explanation

Clausewitz framed war as a trinity of primordial violence rooted in the people, the free play of chance and creativity embodied in the commander and army, and the subordination of war to political reason represented by the government. These three tendencies anchor his analysis of the nature of war rather than of military branches or operations.

Question 22Evolution of Strategic Thought and Military Thinkers

In Kautilya's Arthashastra, the fourfold classification of state policy (upayas) comprises which set of instruments?

  1. Sama, dana, bheda, and danda Correct answer.
  2. Danda, dharma, artha, and kama
  3. Mantra, parishad, desha, and kala
  4. Yuddha, sandhi, asana, and vigraha

Explanation

The Arthashastra classifies the means of dealing with rivals into conciliation (sama), gifts or inducement (dana), sowing dissension (bheda), and force (danda). These four upayas form the practical toolkit of Kautilyan statecraft and diplomacy.

Question 23Evolution of Strategic Thought and Military Thinkers

Sun Tzu's dictum that the supreme excellence in war is to subdue the enemy without fighting most directly reflects which strategic principle?

  1. Attrition of the enemy's field army through decisive battle
  2. Mobilising the largest possible army before engaging
  3. Reliance on fortified defence and prolonged siege
  4. Achieving political objectives through deception, intelligence, and shaping the adversary's choices Correct answer.

Explanation

Sun Tzu prioritises the acme of skill: breaking the enemy's resistance without battle by manipulating perceptions, using intelligence, and preserving one's own and the enemy's resources. This aligns with an indirect, deception-centred approach to strategy rather than battle-seeking attrition.

Question 24Evolution of Strategic Thought and Military Thinkers

The concept of 'absolute war' in Clausewitz's On War refers to which idea?

  1. A war fought by an alliance of all major powers simultaneously
  2. War waged strictly according to codified international law
  3. War conducted without any political restraint, as an ideal logical construct of escalation to extremes Correct answer.
  4. The doctrine of total mobilisation of a state's economy for war

Explanation

Absolute war is an abstract, logical construct in which war escalates to extremes because each side seeks to impose its will and there is no inherent stopping point. Clausewitz contrasts this ideal with real war, which is limited by friction, politics and circumstance.

Question 25Evolution of Strategic Thought and Military Thinkers

Mahan's theory of sea power emphasised which factor as central to national greatness?

  1. Air superiority over naval theatres
  2. Dominance of coastal artillery and minefields over the high seas
  3. Use of submarines to deny the sea to all surface traffic
  4. Control of the sea through a concentrated battle fleet and command of maritime communications Correct answer.

Explanation

Mahan argued that command of the sea, secured by a concentrated battle fleet and supported by maritime commerce and overseas bases, was the decisive element of national power. His historical analysis of British sea power made sea control the central object of naval strategy.

Question 26Evolution of Strategic Thought and Military Thinkers

Corbett's maritime strategy distinguished 'command of the sea' from which complementary concept?

  1. Absolute naval supremacy achieved by a single decisive battle
  2. Unrestricted commerce raiding as the primary naval mission
  3. The 'fleet in being' alone as the sole object of naval strategy
  4. A temporary, localised control of maritime communications rather than permanent global command Correct answer.

Explanation

Corbett treated command of the sea as rarely absolute and often temporary and local, tied to the passage of armies and trade along specific communications. This contrasts with the Mahanian image of a single decisive battle yielding permanent supremacy.

Question 27Evolution of Strategic Thought and Military Thinkers

Douhet's theory of air power rested most heavily on which claim?

  1. Strategic bombing is ineffective unless preceded by naval blockade
  2. Air power can win by bombing the enemy's vital centres and breaking civilian morale Correct answer.
  3. Air forces should be subordinated to naval command in coastal campaigns
  4. Air power is useful mainly for reconnaissance and artillery spotting

Explanation

Douhet argued that command of the air would allow bombers to strike industrial and population centres, shattering civilian will and forcing surrender. This made strategic bombing of vital centres the core of his theory.

Question 28Evolution of Strategic Thought and Military Thinkers

Liddell Hart's 'indirect approach' holds that military success is best achieved by which means?

  1. Overwhelming the enemy through superior numbers at the point of contact
  2. Dislocating the enemy's equilibrium through surprise and manoeuvre against his psychological and physical weak points Correct answer.
  3. Fixed positional warfare to exhaust the enemy's reserves
  4. Direct assault on the enemy's strongest defensive positions

Explanation

Liddell Hart argued that the indirect approach seeks to upset the enemy's balance and will to resist by striking where he is unprepared, often through manoeuvre and surprise. The goal is dislocation rather than frontal battering.

Question 29Evolution of Strategic Thought and Military Thinkers

Machiavelli's military thought in The Prince and The Art of War is best characterised by which position?

  1. Preference for citizen and national forces over mercenaries and auxiliaries Correct answer.
  2. Advocacy of perpetual peace through international arbitration
  3. Reliance on mercenary forces as the most efficient instrument of the state
  4. Complete rejection of infantry in favour of cavalry

Explanation

Machiavelli condemned mercenaries and auxiliaries as unreliable and dangerous, arguing that a prince's security rests on his own subjects and citizen militia. This republican militia ideal runs through both The Prince and The Art of War.

Question 30Evolution of Strategic Thought and Military Thinkers

Jomini's approach to strategy is distinguished from Clausewitz's chiefly by which emphasis?

  1. Rejection of interior lines as a strategic concept
  2. Denial that logistics affects the outcome of campaigns
  3. The primacy of chance, friction and moral forces over rules
  4. Geometric lines of operations and fixed principles governing the conduct of war Correct answer.

Explanation

Jomini sought a science of war built on principles such as concentration against the decisive point and the proper direction of lines of operations. Clausewitz instead stressed friction, chance and moral forces, making war a domain of uncertainty rather than fixed geometry.

Question 31Evolution of Strategic Thought and Military Thinkers

The 'Revolution in Military Affairs' debate of the 1990s in strategic studies was primarily concerned with which development?

  1. The integration of precision-guided munitions, information systems and stealth into a new mode of warfare Correct answer.
  2. The replacement of nuclear deterrence by conventional arms control
  3. The shift from cavalry to infantry in early modern Europe
  4. The abolition of standing armies in favour of private contractors

Explanation

The RMA debate centred on how information technology, precision strike and stealth might transform the conduct of war, as seen in the 1991 Gulf War. Analysts asked whether these technologies constituted a genuine discontinuity in military affairs.

Question 32Evolution of Strategic Thought and Military Thinkers

In the debate on the 'levels of war', which level is primarily concerned with linking tactical actions to political objectives?

  1. The doctrinal level
  2. The strategic level Correct answer.
  3. The logistical level
  4. The tactical level

Explanation

The strategic level sets political aims and determines how military means serve them, providing the framework within which tactical actions acquire meaning. Tactics concerns the conduct of engagements, while strategy connects those engagements to policy ends.

Question 33Evolution of Strategic Thought and Military Thinkers

Corbett argued that naval strategy must ultimately be subordinated to which consideration?

  1. The prestige of the naval officer corps
  2. The requirements of the war on land and of national policy Correct answer.
  3. The size of the merchant marine alone
  4. The independent interests of the admiralty

Explanation

Corbett insisted that sea power is a means, not an end, and that naval strategy must serve the joint war effort and national policy, including land operations. This distinguishes his outlook from a purely navalist reading of strategy.

Question 34Evolution of Strategic Thought and Military Thinkers

The 'Mahanian' and 'Corbettian' traditions diverge most sharply on which question?

  1. Whether sea power matters at all for national security
  2. Whether admirals should be appointed by governments
  3. Whether navies should be equipped with guns or missiles
  4. Whether command of the sea is a permanent object won by decisive battle or a contingent condition tied to communications and joint operations Correct answer.

Explanation

Mahan tended to treat command of the sea as the decisive object, often associated with a concentrated battle fleet and decisive engagement. Corbett treated command as relative, temporary and tied to protecting communications within a joint campaign.

Question 35Evolution of Strategic Thought and Military Thinkers

Kautilya's concept of the 'mandala' in interstate relations refers to which idea?

  1. A circle of states with the Vijigishu at the centre and allies and enemies arranged in concentric rings Correct answer.
  2. A council of ministers advising the king
  3. The fortification of the capital city
  4. A standing army organised in circular formations

Explanation

The mandala theory models the international system as concentric circles around an aspiring conqueror, the vijigishu, with neighbours as natural rivals and states beyond them as potential allies. It is a spatial theory of alignments and enmity.

Question 36Evolution of Strategic Thought and Military Thinkers

Douhet's and Mitchell's air-power theories shared which assumption that later scholarship largely questioned?

  1. That air power required close coordination with naval blockade
  2. That air power alone could force a rapid decision by striking the enemy's vital centres Correct answer.
  3. That air power could not affect civilian morale
  4. That only defensive counter-air operations mattered

Explanation

Both Douhet and Mitchell assumed that strategic bombing of vital centres could by itself compel surrender, an assumption later questioned by evidence on morale, accuracy and the cost of bombing campaigns. They differed in detail but shared this faith in independent air power.

Question 37Evolution of Strategic Thought and Military Thinkers

The concept of 'friction' in Clausewitz's On War refers to which phenomenon?

  1. The physical resistance of fortifications to artillery fire
  2. The cumulative effect of difficulties, fatigue, uncertainty and chance that makes real war diverge from war on paper Correct answer.
  3. The political opposition of a legislature to military spending
  4. The logistical cost of transporting supplies by sea

Explanation

Friction is Clausewitz's term for the aggregate of small and large difficulties, uncertainties and random events that degrade plans and slow operations. It explains why real military action never matches theoretical calculation.

Question 38Evolution of Strategic Thought and Military Thinkers

Which statement best captures the relationship between strategy and tactics in classical strategic thought?

  1. Strategy is confined to peacetime planning and ends once war begins
  2. Strategy and tactics are identical because both concern the conduct of battles
  3. Strategy concerns the use of engagements to achieve the object of war, while tactics concerns the conduct of engagements themselves Correct answer.
  4. Tactics always determines political objectives independently of strategy

Explanation

In the classical formulation, tactics is the art of using forces in engagements, while strategy uses those engagements to attain the ends of the war. The two are nested, with strategy subordinating tactical success to political purpose.

Question 39Evolution of Strategic Thought and Military Thinkers

Sun Tzu's treatment of intelligence in The Art of War is best summarised by which claim?

  1. Intelligence is a marginal activity compared with the size of the army
  2. Spies are dispensable because deception is unnecessary
  3. Foreknowledge of the enemy is essential and should be obtained through agents rather than divination Correct answer.
  4. Intelligence should be gathered only after battle has begun

Explanation

Sun Tzu treats foreknowledge as the foundation of successful strategy and insists it must come from human agents, not from spirits or omens. He devotes a chapter to the five classes of spies precisely because intelligence enables victory without battle.

Question 40Evolution of Strategic Thought and Military Thinkers

A planner argues that a state should seek a decisive fleet engagement to win permanent command of the sea, while another insists command must be contested continuously to protect trade routes and support land operations. These positions most closely reflect which contrast?

  1. Douhet versus Mitchell on strategic bombing
  2. Sun Tzu versus Kautilya on deception
  3. Jomini versus Machiavelli on the militia
  4. Mahan versus Corbett on the nature of sea command Correct answer.

Explanation

The first position mirrors Mahan's emphasis on decisive battle and durable command of the sea, while the second mirrors Corbett's view of command as relative and tied to communications and joint operations. The pairing is the classic Mahan-Corbett contrast in maritime strategy.

Question 41Indian Military History and Heritage

The Indian Military Academy, which trains gentlemen cadets for a permanent commission in the Indian Army, is located in which city?

  1. Dehradun Correct answer.
  2. Ezhimala
  3. Khadakwasla
  4. Dundigal

Explanation

The Indian Military Academy was raised in 1932 at Dehradun in the Doon valley, and it remains the principal pre-commission training academy for direct-entry Army officers. Khadakwasla hosts the National Defence Academy, Ezhimala the Indian Naval Academy, and Dundigal the Air Force Academy.

Question 42Indian Military History and Heritage

The Param Vir Chakra, independent India's highest wartime gallantry decoration, was instituted with effect from which date?

  1. 26 January 1952
  2. 15 August 1950
  3. 15 August 1947
  4. 26 January 1950 Correct answer.

Explanation

The Param Vir Chakra was instituted on 26 January 1950, the day India became a republic, replacing the British Victoria Cross as the supreme award for valour in the face of the enemy. Although the award was constituted in 1950, it could be and was granted retrospectively for actions during the 1947-48 Kashmir operations.

Question 43Indian Military History and Heritage

Which regiment of the Indian Army traces its raising to 1776 and is celebrated as the senior-most infantry regiment of the force?

  1. Punjab Regiment
  2. Sikh Regiment
  3. Rajputana Rifles
  4. Madras Regiment Correct answer.

Explanation

The Madras Regiment, raised in 1776, is regarded as the oldest and senior-most infantry regiment of the Indian Army, with its centre at Wellington in the Nilgiris. Its claim rests on the continuous lineage of the Madras European and native battalions of the East India Company era.

Question 44Indian Military History and Heritage

The National War Memorial, which commemorates Indian soldiers who fell in conflicts after 1947, stands adjacent to which structure in New Delhi?

  1. Rashtrapati Bhavan
  2. Teen Murti Bhavan
  3. India Gate Correct answer.
  4. Red Fort

Explanation

The National War Memorial was inaugurated in February 2019 in the India Gate complex, near the Amar Jawan Jyoti, so that modern sacrifices are honoured alongside the memorial to the Indian soldiers of the First World War. Its placement in the C-hexagon of the India Gate lawns is central to its symbolic purpose.

Question 45Indian Military History and Heritage

Operation Vijay is the name given by the Indian armed forces to which of its major operations?

  1. The 1987 Indian Peace Keeping Force deployment in Sri Lanka
  2. The 1999 Kargil conflict Correct answer.
  3. The 1971 liberation of Bangladesh
  4. The 1961 liberation of Goa

Explanation

Operation Vijay was the Indian Army's campaign in 1999 to evict intruders from the heights of the Kargil sector in Jammu and Kashmir. The same codename had earlier been used for the 1961 Goa action, but in contemporary strategic-studies usage Operation Vijay denotes Kargil.

Question 46Indian Military History and Heritage

Which Indian military officer became the first Chief of Defence Staff of the Indian armed forces?

  1. Air Chief Marshal R. K. S. Bhadauria
  2. General M. M. Naravane
  3. Admiral Karambir Singh
  4. General Bipin Rawat Correct answer.

Explanation

General Bipin Rawat took office as India's first Chief of Defence Staff on 1 January 2020, heading the Department of Military Affairs and serving as principal military adviser to the government. He died in a helicopter crash in December 2021 while still in that appointment.

Question 47Indian Military History and Heritage

The Battle of Saragarhi, commemorated in Indian military heritage, was fought in 1897 by soldiers of which unit?

  1. 45th Rattray's Sikhs
  2. 36th Sikhs Correct answer.
  3. 14th Sikhs
  4. 23rd Sikh Pioneers

Explanation

Twenty-one soldiers of the 36th Sikhs defended the Saragarhi post on the Samana ridge against a far larger Afghan force in September 1897, and all were killed. The regiment's successor, the 4th Battalion of the Sikh Regiment, observes Saragarhi Day on 12 September each year.

Question 48Indian Military History and Heritage

The Longewala battle of December 1971 is remembered in Indian military history primarily because it demonstrated the decisive use of which arm?

  1. Naval gunfire support
  2. Air power against armour Correct answer.
  3. Airborne assault
  4. Electronic warfare

Explanation

At Longewala a small Indian garrison held out through the night while Hunter aircraft of the Indian Air Force destroyed a Pakistani armoured column caught in the open desert at first light. The action is studied as a classic case of close air support defeating an armoured thrust when ground reinforcements were distant.

Question 49Indian Military History and Heritage

The instrument of surrender ending the 1971 Indo-Pakistani War was signed at Dhaka by which Pakistani commander?

  1. General Tikka Khan
  2. General Yahya Khan
  3. General Abdul Hamid Khan
  4. General A. A. K. Niazi Correct answer.

Explanation

Lieutenant General A. A. K. Niazi, commanding Pakistan's Eastern Command, signed the instrument of unconditional surrender at the Ramna Race Course in Dhaka on 16 December 1971 before Lieutenant General Jagjit Singh Aurora. The surrender produced the largest capitulation of troops since the Second World War.

Question 50Indian Military History and Heritage

Which Indian military operation was mounted in 1984 to secure the Siachen Glacier and pre-empt Pakistani occupation of the Saltoro ridge?

  1. Operation Cactus
  2. Operation Poorna Vijay
  3. Operation Trident
  4. Operation Meghdoot Correct answer.

Explanation

Operation Meghdoot was launched on 13 April 1984, when Indian troops airlifted to the Saltoro range occupied the key passes and established control over the Siachen Glacier. The operation takes its name from the cloud messenger of Kalidasa's poem, reflecting the airlift dimension.