User talk:Mrg3105/sandbox for Strategic operations of the Red Army in World War II


 * Your input on the article structure I have developed would be appreciated. It is intended for the series of articles dealing with Eastern Front operations. I am particularly concerned with the introduction section vs the opening paragraph. The opening paragraph is supposed to be a brief summary of the entire article, but :I have found way too much information inserted in them in other articles, duplicating information in 'campaign boxes' and repeated in the introductions that follow Contents.


 * Below is a suggested standard structure for article taxonomy based more on the military terminology, and incorporating a way of describing an event that follows a more military event structure.

+Contents (here)
 * ‘’’Introductory briefing’’’ (unnamed) – a short, one paragraph of no more then seven average length sentences, description of the article addressing the question when, where, who, why, larger context, significance, and outcome.) Using WikiProject Military history/Essays/Describing conflicts would be helpful here.
 * Role in the conflict – describes role of the event in the larger conflict. A war also has a context in a larger conflict since it usually evolves from non-armed forms of conflict such as social, cultural, political and economic conflicts.


 * Campaign situation – this describes the event in terms of a war's theatre campaign.
 * Strategic situation (as required) – this describes the event in terms of the campaign where an operation is the event
 * Operation situation (as required) – this describes the event in terms of the operation where a battle is the event
 * Battle situation (as required) – this describes the event in terms of the battle where an event describes a part of a tactical battle


 * Decision making – after assessment of the situation comes the decision-making process that seeks to change the existing situation through securing of initiative by offensive action.


 * Goal of the operation – to change the situation one needs a situational change goal
 * Objective of the battle – at the tactical level the goal is called an objective
 * Side A intelligence – the first step is to gather understanding by the attacked (A) of the defender’s (D) capacity to resist
 * Side D intelligence – usually anyone suspicious of an attack will also gather intelligence on the likelihood of an impending attack


 * Planning – after the intelligence is gathered, planning starts


 * Side A – description of planning should begin with a) organisational description, b) logistic arrangements, c) personnel availability and abilities, and d) technology to be used.
 * Forces involved – organisation of forces and their structural description (in modern times described as tables of equipment of organisation and equipment) need to be given
 * Side D
 * Forces involved


 * Description of the Campaign/Strategic operation/operation/battle – this is the core part of the article. All military events have phased sequence that can be divided into:


 * Initial attack – describes initial execution of the plan
 * Progress of the offensive – describes success or failure of the plan
 * Decisive action – describes the instance when the plan has the greatest chance of success or failure, or the attempt to correct the divergence from the plan
 * Final commitment – any attempts to secure success or prevent failure of the plan
 * Outcomes – comparison of end result with the planned result of the event plan


 * Consequences – the impact of the outcomes on events that follow, but which are not part of the above-described plan


 * Immediate effects – immediate effects that include changes in a) organisational description, b) logistic arrangements, c) personnel availability and abilities, and d) technology to be used.
 * Effects on future planning – describe effects on the planning in the larger scope of events


 * Myths – often popular rendition or beliefs about the event that are either partly or completely false, or presented for the purpose of propaganda
 * Memorials – a means of post event commemoration of the event
 * Popular culture – depiction of the event in popular culture and media
 * References – page reference in an authoritative source used to research the article content
 * Footnotes – explanatory notes for points made in the article
 * Bibliography – sources used for the compilation of research on the article
 * See also – other Wikipedia articles related to the event
 * Online resources – other online sites that relate to the event or its larger context
 * Further reading – other sources not used for the research of the article but recommended to the reader


 * The purpose of the article structure suggested above is not to straight-jacket the authors and editors, but to enhance consistency of presentation throughout the project’s assortment of articles to the reader, and to enable the future editors to be more focused in the editing process by providing more focused sections in the article structure.

Thank you--mrg3105mrg3105 00:10, 23 January 2008 (UTC)
 * This is not a specification to be followed, but a guide. If you think it can be improved or changed to suit the editing you are doing, please do so and point it out to me so I can incorporate your suggestions in other articles in future. Thank you--mrg3105mrg3105 04:50, 27 January 2008 (UTC)