Logo: to the web site of the Swedish Defence University

 ABSTRACT: Over the last Century, several military operations have been won and lost due to the success or failure of concentration of effort. For instance, the Russian successes during Operation Bagratin were due to their use of concentration of effort, while the British setbacks during the Battle of Gazala were a direct consequence of their failure to achieve concentration of effort.

 The cases mentioned above give rise to the question, what is it that contributes to some achieving success with a concentration of effort while others fail?

To answer this question a tentative theory case study based upon Collin, Liddell Hart and Clausewitz theories about concentration of effort has been conducted. On the basis of their theories four variables have been identified. These four variables are then tested against two military operations, which are known to be cases where concentration of effort was used. This is done to test the validity of the theory dealing with concentration of effort.

The results demonstrate that only three of the four variables are included in both cases and the conclusion is that it is possible to achieve concentration of effort successfully even though not all variables are included.