Inwarfare, atheater ortheatre is an area in which important military events occur or are in progress.[1][2] A theater can include the entirety of the airspace, land, and sea area that is—or that may potentially become—involved in war operations.[3]
In his bookOn War,Carl von Clausewitz defines the termKriegstheater (translating the older, 17th-century Latin termtheatrum belli) as one that:
Denotes properly such a portion of the space over which war prevails as has its boundaries protected, and thus possesses a kind of independence. This protection may consist of fortresses, or important natural obstacles presented by the country, or even in its being separated by a considerable distance from the rest of the space embraced in the war. Such a portion is not a mere piece of the whole, but a small whole complete in itself; and consequently it is more or less in such a condition that changes which take place at other points in the seat of war have only an indirect and no direct influence upon it. To give an adequate idea of this, we may suppose that on this portion an advance is made, whilst in another quarter a retreat is taking place, or that upon the one an army is acting defensively, whilst an offensive is being carried on upon the other. Such a clearly defined idea as this is not capable of universal application; it is here used merely to indicate the line of distinction.[4]
Theater of operations (TO) is a sub-area within a theater of war. The boundary of a TO is defined by thecommander who is orchestrating or providing support for specificcombat operations within the TO.
Theater of operations is divided into strategic directions or military regions depending on whether it is a war or peacetime.Unified combatant commands of theDepartment of Defense (United States) have responsibility for military activities (combat and non-combat) within theirarea of responsibility.
TheSoviet andRussian Armed Forces classify a large geographic subdivision—such as continental geographic territories with their bordering maritime areas, islands, adjacent coasts[5]and airspace—as a theater. The Russian-language term for a military "theater" isтеатр военных действий,teatr voennykh deistvii (literally: "theater of military operations"), abbreviatedТВД,TVD.
This geographical division aids strategic and operational planning, allowingmilitary operations offronts. Fronts were originally named in accordance with their theater of operations; for example theSouthwestern Front (Russian Empire) (1914–1918), the1st Ukrainian Front (1943–1945, which fought in Ukraine, Poland, Germany, and Czechoslovakia), and theNorthern Front (Soviet Union) (June to August 1941). In peacetime, lacking the urgencies of a strategic direction, fronts were transformed intomilitary regions (districts) responsible for an assigned section of operations.
In 1986 the U.S. Department of Defense'sSoviet Military Power identified ten continental and four oceanic TVDs, however, most being merely geographical areas without forces or headquarters: North American, South American, African, Australian, Antarctic, Arctic Ocean, Atlantic, Indian Ocean, and Pacific.[6] Four others - the Far Eastern, Western, South-Western, and Southern, had identified headquarters established in 1979 and 1984. Plans appear to have existed to form a Northwestern TVD headquarters on the basis of the Staff of theLeningrad Military District.[7]
In their most modern form, High Commands for the TVDs were first reestablished in February 1979 for the Far East.[8] Harrison wrote in the 2020s that the new command encompassed theFar East Military District and theTransbaikal Military District.[9] An official military encyclopedia published after theFall of the Soviet Union stated, said Harrison, that theSoviet Pacific Fleet, anair army, and an air defence corps were also operationally subordinated to the new formation; and that the high command "coordinated" with the armies of Vietnam, Laos, Cambodia, and Mongolia.[10] The headquarters was set up atUlan-Ude, nearLake Baikal. TheRAND Corporation said in 1984 that the Soviet air and ground forces in Mongolia [subordinate to the Transbaikal Military District] and elements of theMongolian Ground Forces andMongolian Air Force were also at its disposal.[11] In September 1984 three more High Commands were established: the Western (HQLegnica), South-Western (HQKishinev), and Southern (HQBaku)[8][12]
The termtheater of operations was defined in the American field manuals as the land and sea areas to be invaded or defended, including areas necessary for administrative activities incident to the military operations (chart 12). In accordance with the experience ofWorld War I, it was usually conceived of as a large land mass over which continuous operations would take place and was divided into two chief areas—the combat zone, or the area of active fighting, and the communications zone, or area required for administration of the theater. As the armies advanced, both these zones and the areas into which they were divided would shift forward to new geographic areas of control.[13]
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