Bomarsund i ett internationanellt perspectiv

This paper uses the fortress of Bomarsund, located in the Aland Islands, to examine the concepts of strategic culture and global rivalry. The fortress represented Russian strategy in an Anglo-Russian struggle for world power and economic advantage that stretched from the Baltic to Alaska, by way of Vladivostock and the Bosphorus. The strategic culture of any state is unique, reflecting location, politics, economics, geography, population, history and other variables. It provides a useful analytical tool, as pioneer military historian Hans Delbrück stressed: ‘the art of war is an art like painting, architecture, or pedagogy, and the entire cultural existence of peoples is determined to a high degree by the military organisations, which in turn are closely related to the technique of warfare, tactics, and strategy. All these things have mutual influence on one another (Delbrück, H. The History of the Art of War Volume IV The Modern Era. transl. Renfroe, W. Lincoln Nebraska 1985 original German edition Berlin 1919)