Isengard
So, how would Isengard operate on the international stage? Well, first, Saruman is pretty much surrounded by nations with resources he needs, stronger military forces when combined and a noticeable dislike of his backstabbing ways. Which means he has a very clear lack of time to work with. He needs as many victories as he can get and as soon as possible. This means a massive retaliation approach. He must crush his enemies totally so they do not rise up again later. He would need to strike hard and fast - so mobilization would mean war and mobilization would come at the first sign of trouble. Which naturally means a first strike, preventative war posture.
Now, as it is the enemy military that is the main threat to Saruman, I suspect that he would take little notice of civilians. The goal is to eliminate the military threat, not seek vengeance or wipe out specific cultures. We also have to remember that Saruman also has a desire to rule. There is no point in ruling an wasteland. If one has to wipe out all living things in an area, political control over it starts to sound meaningless. So I think that Isengard would take a primarily counter force posture. Counter value might be used to crush and deter rebellion or to speed up the collapse the morale of the military forces. But these would be tactical actions rather than elements of strategic postures.
He would need to totally break the enemy's ability to fight though. Which means the industrial base that feeds the war machine. To me this means a scorched earth strategy. Whatever is of use to the enemy needs to be denied them via looting or outright destruction. This needs to be done on as wide of a front as possible as fast as possible. So this might bleed into a more counter value posture. But the idea is that the suffering of the civilians is a way to break the logistics and morale of the enemy troops, not an end itself. Again, we see this counter value posture as a tactical means to secure a counter force strategic objective.
Now, I don't see Isengard as being really all that concerned with anything other than mere survival. The enemies seeking to defeat it are too many and too powerful. Meanwhile, it is a little difficult to be concerned with external stability when one seeks to defeat a superpower and conquer a continent. Nor can prosperity be a priority when one burns down the civilian areas that might be the source of consumer demand for exports. Lastly, I have no evidence that Saruman had any sort of real ideology motivating his actions.
Saruman does not appear to be much of a diplomatic person. Granted, he did try and recruit Gandalf. But practically all nations he has a disdain for and they distrust him in return. So negotiations appear out of the picture. Saruman also appears to use primarily preemptive war and strategies that demand surprise and rapid action. So Pearl Harbor and Port Author style attacks would be how Saruman would probably want to deal with a crisis. This suggests to me that while brinkmanship would be preferred to actual talks, I think Saruman would jump straight to the fighting.
As one can probably guess by this point, this practically demands that Saruman rely on the means of coercion as the primary means to secure international objectives. He would have the mindset to default to that, plus little economic or soft power to rely on. Also, his survival demands an overthrow of the status quo. Both major power blocks want to defeat him, partially due to his desire to attack them. Even when Saruman was loyal to the White Council, his objectives were openly hostile to Mordor. This did not every change. In a bipolar international order, the elimination of one of the superpowers can be naturally seen as inherently destabilizing to the whole international order. Meanwhile other nations hostile to Mordor I suspect would be happy with more status quo oriented aims of containment.
So, when we look at the actions of Isengard, it appears to me to be basic bandwagon tactics. By siding with Mordor, Saruman gets several things. First, he is able to keep an eye on Mordor's actions. Secondly, an attack from Mordor is delayed. He also gets a contingent of orcs and the ability to produce uruk-hai. So, Saruman's entire military power is rooted in his alliance with Mordor, plus whatever time he does have to build it up. But this also alienated his only other allies, which then led to his potential defeat. So the bandwagon idea appears to be both logical and ultimately problematic. Prior to his betrayal of the White Council, he was well placed to balance, but with much weaker forces to contribute.
There are
Fangorn, the eagles, Rohan, Gondor, Lothlorien, Mirkwood, Rivendell and Moria all would be enemies of Isengard. Long term there would be the Shire, Blue Mountains and Lindon to the far west. Then to the east would be Mordor, the Southrons and Easterlings. So basically everyone. All of them would have fundamental interests in wiping out Saruman's army, removing him from power and conquering his territory. All three primary interests of any government.
So the real question is the relative power and geography of these powers. The first group of powers all are close enough to be immediately threatened by the actions of Isengard and to immediately respond. The second group requires Isengard's expansion into the Shire before they are in a similar position. Mordor's remaining coalition partners need to fight their way through Gondor, Rohan and the elves to get to Isengard. So there is a likely delay there. But there is a bit of an upside here - Isengard is protected from the naval power of the Corsairs. Not that this will save him or anything, but that is still one less power he has to worry about.
We know that the eagles have total air supremacy. So when they decide to attack, Isengard has no answer. The ents are basically the same. Though because they are ground based, there is a greater chance of them losing. But not a huge one. They will still be able to do massive amounts of damage and like the eagles strike the strategic heart and weak spots of Isengard with Isengard having little to counter this with. Rohan is not technically as strong, its just that its political structure and military tactics would be perfect for countering Isengard's attacks. Same with the elves. Moria would be the clearest force to an equal for Isengard in that they both use phalanx based heavy infantry. But total victory there requires fighting where the dwarves have significant terrain advantages. Isengard's artillery would be a bigger help against Moria than other powers though.
So, no one has any real historical precedent for attacking Isengard. Though a lot would have motives. The ents are naturally concerned with the destruction of Fanghorn. The political subversion and invasion of Rohan would alienate them. As they supply food to the eagles, they have an interest in defeating Isengard too. The elves would have the same concerns as the ents, plus their sense of betrayal. Mordor was betrayed too. Though Sauron would be more motivated to crush Isengard out of a desire to make an example of Saruman. If he can get away with defection, then the rest of his partners might start getting ideas. The hobbits would have the quite understandable motive of not liking the occupation of their homes. Moria would dislike the threat to economic trade and international stability.
Mordor would be the main global and long range threat to Isengard. Everyone else are more regional. Their desire to defeat Isengard is not out of any desire for long term global hegemony. But they all are going to be waging a battle of life and death for Isengard as all threaten all three fundamental interests. So they would be pretty high intensity. I would also say that they are all expanding, as they will become increasingly hostile proportional to the militarization and hostile acts of Isengard. The more he acts to secure his interests, the more the other powers will see him as a threat and act accordingly.
And as such, they are all national level threats. It is hard to say that they threaten the rest of the international order with their actions as Saruman so completely isolated himself internationally. But their regime change objectives makes it hard to see them as sub national threats or non military threats. Similarly, they are traditional and lethal.
The main exception would be the hobbits. They want independence, not the total destruction of Saruman's regime. So they would be sub national in my mind. Their tactics are also unconventional. As Saruman's interests here is in pipe weed and rearmament, the independence of the Shire takes an economic as well as political dimension as well.
But there is one threat that is more political and unconventional threat that might be considered sub national. But still an expanding and lethal threat. Wormtongue. As the story progresses, he goes from a loyal servant to the one who kills Saruman. He does not threaten the survival of the nation. He just wants to remove the guy at the top. He has no military power and his objectives are more political rather than economic. But the ultimate defeat of Saruman comes at his hands.
Structure
Politically, Isengard is a smaller version of Mordor. It was ruled by a single strong man that ruled through fear and force. It also was fond of deception and subversion, using Wormtongue to virtually rule Rohan.
Lets step aside for a moment and remark on how lucky Saruman was to have Wormtongue on his side. First, he was responsible for passing remarkable amounts of information to Isengard, including the weaknesses in Helm’s Deep. His intentionally flawed advice kept Rohan from engaging sooner, thus making it much weaker than it should have been. He was also responsible for undermining the legitimacy of the royal family by spreading false rumors that Theoden was sending horses to Mordor.
Then, he almost was able to take over the entire kingdom. He was possibly slowly poisoning Theoden. When Theoden’s son died, Wormtongue attempted to get Eomer disinherited. From there, he had plans to marry Eowyn. This would have made an agent of Isengard the effective ruler of the realm when Isengard was planning an invasion. However, Gandalf was able to expose him.
Saruman himself was also so abusive towards him that Wormtongue decided to murder Saruman. This would come to be one of Saruman's worst mistakes.
Public Agenda
Saruman outside of his great intellectual prowess was known for his charisma and ambition. He was able to convince Treebeard to let him go after the ents defeated him. His persuasion was also key in convincing the Wild Men to side with him during his conquest of Rohan. His pride and ambition were great enough that he felt that he could use the One Ring to dominate Middle Earth himself. This meant that Sauron’s influence had a solid weak point to corrupt Saruman, but it also meant that Saruman was not truly loyal. If he felt that he had gathered enough power in his own right (especially if his Uruk Hai had captured Frodo at Amon Hen), he would have turned on Mordor.
So, we know why Sauron is interested in the alliance. But what are Saruman’s actual motives for turning to evil and what does he ultimately want to achieve? First, he wants Sauron's power and to take over Middle Earth personally. He also has a strong desire for knowledge. His plan was to temporarily ally with Sauron in an attempt to potentially control him. His other option was to take the One Ring for himself for the sake of using it to overthrow Sauron. In fact, his research into the location of the One Ring leads him to believe that it might be found in the river near Dol Guldur – which is why he agrees to help drive out Sauron from it prior to the War of the Ring. His imprisonment of Gandalf and attack on the Fellowship were motivated by the desire to get the One Ring for himself, not out of real loyalties to Mordor.
This is not really out of any direct lust for power, but a love of technology and a desire to force everyone to be good. Essentially, the conquest of Middle Earth was to be a set up for a totalitarian regime based on social engineering attempting to make people better morally. Granted, there was a decent desire for power built into this. He felt he could imitate the means of his evil enemy and the One Ring. This proved to be a bit flawed, but still that was his logic.
At this point, Saruman was pretty set on either challenging Sauron. The alliance with him was merely buying time and potentially manipulating Saruon into doing the bidding of the wizard. Which is not wholly illogical - apparently only those with the strongest wills can resist Saruman's persuasive power. Should this fail or the situation become desperate enough, direct confrontation was the next option. So his army was meant to destroy Sauron and defeat all those who got in his way. His impatience led him to desire to force others to do good.
Now, Saruman was clearly not too loyal to either side – he was allied with Mordor but only as long as that was useful. He wanted the One Ring for himself so he could be powerful enough to overthrow Sauron and become total master of Middle Earth himself. The attempt to take the ring was not an act to appease his ally, but an act of betrayal. With no one he really could count on due to his own treacherous ways, he had to strike hard and fast to eliminate rivals when they were weak. This meant bandwagoning with a stronger power until he had the chance to strike them while using deception and subversion to to weaken and distract his enemies to the point they were open to such fatal and sudden blows. This was his strategic plan against Rohan.
Isengard’s main weakness is not the dam that could flood the whole area if it was broken. The real threat is Saruman has no where else to go. Thus, should it fall, Saruman falls with it. It actually mirrors Sauron to a degree – the destruction of the ring protecting Saruman would be as devastating to him as the loss of the One Ring would be to Sauron. Technically Saruman would not die and we see him take power in the Shire later. But the overwhelming need to keep Isengard safe cannot be overstated.
Assets
Isengard has its own copper and iron deposits and is built in a volcanic area. Saruman has a strong resource base and very defended home base, but absolutely no strategic depth. This means that one of his first acts is to secure more land. As we can see with his actions in Fanghorn that provoked the retaliation by the ents, he lacked fuel. So another war aim would be the quest for raw materials.
History
Isengard and its main tower Orthanc were originally built by Gondor and ceded to Saruman after Gondor’s power waned to the point Gondor was no longer able to hold it itself. Basically, as Calenardhon and the Arnor kingdoms declined in population, there was less of a need for a strong garrison. A small detachment under the command of a hereditary steward was all that was left for a while. After Rohan was given control over the plains of Calenardhon, Gondor kept Isengard. But its guard intermarried into the Wild Men as Isengard was slowly forgotten.
This became a bit of a problem. The Wild Men were not exactly friendly with Rohan. Over time, Isengard became a Wild Men base of operations. In one battle, those based here almost destroyed one of Rohan's armies. But Rohan eventually won the war. From then on it safeguarded the tower for Gondor. But it was still technically owned by Gondor and Rohan was a cavalry based military culture. Also, Gondor's decline had begun to set in. So neither had the military power to totally occupy Isengard. But someone allied to them had to in order for it to stay out of enemy hands. Hence why Gondor liked the idea of Saruman becoming the steward of Isengard.
Saruman was originally a member of the White Council. But that did not end very well. His study of dark magic led him to desire the One Ring for himself, thinking it would allow him to defeat Mordor and rule Middle Earth himself. Ultimately he was loyal to neither the White Council or Mordor, seeking instead purely his own interests.
Dark magic and his arrogant assumption that he could use the One Ring for his own purposes were not the only factors that led to his fall. When the 5 wizards arrived in Middle Earth, Saruman was recognized as the leader of the wizard order. But Círdan the Shipwright was the one who possessed the Elven Ring Narya at the time. When they arrived in Middle Earth, Cirdan not only recognized that they were Maia spirits but that Gandalf was actually the wisest of them. When the White Council formed, Galadriel favored Gandalf. These fed Saruman's jealousy and dislike for Gandalf plus did a great deal of harm to Saruman's over developed pride. So while Saruman ended up winning the power struggle, there was still bitterness there.
These struggles with Gandalf had some comical and important implications for the story. Saruman felt that Gandalf's interest in hobbits was due to some secret plot against Saruman. He even sent spies to keep an eye on Gandalf, which led to Saruman's discovery of and first contacts in the Shire. This led to Saruman trying to secretly visit the Shire. He naturally stuck out pretty bad. But two things of note came out of this. First was he took up smoking to copy Gandalf.The other was the trade in pipe weed that got set up. Which paid off finally in the Scouring of the Shire.
Yeah, his turn to the dark side started with some petty crap one would expect from middle school. Also, let this be a lesson for you. Smoking means you are at increased risk of becoming a dictator. More importantly, you are at increased risk of being killed when your working conditions boil over into a violent industrial action.
He spent many years travelling around Rhun. Saruman spent many years after his return from the east looking at the archives in Minas Tirith and suspected that Isengard had one of the palantír. He felt that he could use it to benefit the Free People, so he proposed taking over Isengard. The area was abandoned and having someone seen as friendly run it would be beneficial to Gondor and Rohan. So he was given control. But he kept his use of the palantir a secret.
Once he took over, his plotting escalated. When the White Council figured out that Dol Guldur was in fact being controlled by Sauron, he advised against attacking. Gandalf began to suspect Saruman was seeking the One Ring for himself. But at this point, he just wanted Sauron to be baited into revealing his hand and thus possibly the location of the One Ring. But when Saruman realized just how powerful Sauron was and was closer to securing the One Ring, Saruman took part in the attack in Dol Guldur.
Ten years after this, Sauron openly occupied Mordor and secretly began talking to Saruman. With the Palantír, Sauron was able to further Saruman's turn to the dark side. But despite his reservations, Gandalf still revealed he knew the location of the One Ring just before the Council of Elrond. Saruman then revealed his desire for the One Ring, his alliance with Mordor and broke ties with the White Council. He tried to recruit Gandalf. When Gandalf refused, Saruman held him prisoner. In one version of what happened, Saruman went to beg forgiveness from Gandalf in an attempt to get out from under Mordor's control, but Gandalf was already gone.
It was around this time that Saruman began to build up his army. Gandalf partially did not suspect he was heading into a trap because the industrialization was not so bad it was visible on the surface. But from the top of the Orthanc, Gandalf did see this process take shape. Because Saruman did not see himself as having fallen, he felt betrayed by Gandalf's refusal to join. Which somewhat explains Saruman's refusal of Gandalf's pardon.
But Sauron is not stupid. He knew he had to keep an eye on his "ally". To this end a Ring Wraith arrived two days after Gandalf's escape. Apparently, this did not go well. By one account, Saruman was able to convince the wraith that he did not know about the Shire or the location of the One Ring. He tipped off the wraith to Gandalf knowing about the One Ring. Though in one account he told the wraith that Gandalf had escaped and to get the information the wraith needed to hunt him down. In another, he claimed that Gandalf was still a prisoner.
But these deceptions got uncovered. Wormtongue is said to have revealed that Saruman knew about the Shire and had lied to the wraith. One of the spies working for Saruman gave detailed maps to the wraith meant for Isengard. So, basically Mordor knew that Saruman was not entirely trustworthy. Saruman came to feel that he would gain no clemency from either side and thus the power of the One Ring could be his only salvation. He sent spied to look for Frodo and orcs to watch likely avenues the Fellowship would take. The uruk hai band that killed Boromir was part of this. This raiding party and his quest for security in a hostile world unleashed the chain of events that made his defeat inevitable. Essentailly he was revealed as a traitor to both sides at the same time and before he was ready. Thus desperation led him to act before he was ready.
After Helm's Deep, he was essentially placed under house arrest, confined to Isengard by Treebeard. His anger and hate led him to attempt to corrupt Theoden and Gandalf again when they visited the Tower. He then turned down an offer of pardon. Saruman was expelled from the Wizard Order as a result and his staff was broken. He gave Treebeard the keys to Orthanc and took power over the Shire. It was here that he was finally defeated by the hobbits and killed by Wormtongue.
Demography and Population
Orcs from the Misty Mountain served as the initial work force. They also brought with them the wargs used later as Isengard's cavalry mounts. THe Wild Men were also a small number of residents - though it seems mainly as the foundation of a program to create a human and orc hybrid. The best estimate I have for this population was one to two thousand men and orcs killed in the Battle of Isengard. The majority of the population though were uruk hai bred in Isengard by Saruman.
Territories
It is located in a brilliant location for such a fortification – right at the pass between the Misty and White Mountains. Any army trying to move through the area would have serious trouble doing so without getting permission of the garrison. Hence the need for the Fellowship to risk Moria. This location was intentional too. Isengard was built explicitly to serve this role, blocking attacks from the west into what became Rohan.
The main territory of Isengard was enclosed in a circular, black wall. There was a single, south facing gate that led to the interior. This was mainly a flat plain. This is bounded to the north by the southern tip of the Misty Mountains. The River Isen starts at the same point and is the only point where the Ring of Isengard is breached.
Military
The strike force aimed at Helm’s Deep is actually over half of the total forces available. It is estimated that the total force at Isengard is 20,000. This was deployed in two groups – one to the Fords of Isen and the other to Helm’s Deep. When some of the Fords of Isen force was sent to reinforce the Helm’s Deep force and wild men allies join in, the 10,000 number is probably just the uruk hai sent directly to Helms Deep from Isengard. Thus, we can assume that the total force of Isengard is close to 25,000 and that the Helm’s Deep attack was around 13,000 to 14,000 total. Isengard’s main advantage is the application of force at decisive points. Even with his force parity with Rohan, Saruman was able to take the initiative and force battles where he decided. This meant he was able to get overwhelming force where it mattered.
Isengard’s primary means of open war are to aim his armies at a center of gravity then attack. The goal is tho attempt to destroy the enemy in a decisive battle they cannot recover from. But he is also more reliant on intelligence as a result. He needs to know where such a blow needs to be delivered. So espionage – like what we see with Wormtongue – would be the core of his operations. Meanwhile, his use of proxies would prove quite useful in deception and bleeding the enemy in engagements reliant more on attrition and defeat in detail.
Isengard would probably rely on the blitzkrieg doctrine to secure its aims, especially against Rohan. It would have to replace the tanks and mechanized forces for Warg riders. It is unclear if those changes will be enough. Like Mordor’s Deep Battle, the fact that its technology is sufficiently advanced that its enemies have no functional equivalent means that total parity of numbers or unit types might not be needed. Blitzkrieg, like Deep Battle requires air superiority - which Isengard totally lacks. So, Isengard will be trying to replicate the core ideas as closely as possible in a medieval/Napoleonic framework.
The core idea of blitzkrieg is total force concentration. This is to use speed and surprise to encircle the enemy. Ideally it unbalances the enemy, making it difficult for it to respond to the continuously changing front. A battle of annihilation is the desired culmination of the campaign. Deep penetration and encirclement of enemy forces are the hallmarks of this doctrine. From this point, the enemy would be functionally unable to resist after one catastrophic defeat that comes as soon as possible after starting hostilities. To facilitate this, the Germans used terror elements like loud sirens, local superiority and striking before the enemy can fully mobilized.
Ideally, a blitzkrieg works via targeting the strategic center of gravity for the enemy – something that if taken would mean game over for the enemy even if no troops are lost by them in the process. This in a lot of cases would be a capital or a major industrial center or something similar. From there, the attacker aims to gain tactical numerical superiority so that they can dominate that specific battlefield. One does not need to have more troops in total, just at the most important area.
Granted, this is a risky move. After all, the enemy would be free to attack everywhere else with vastly superior forces. But, should the blitzkrieg work, such an important target was taken resistance everywhere else is futile. But defeat of the blitzkrieg decisive battle fails, so many of the attacker’s forces are lost that they lose the war regardless of the other theaters as well. When front defenses are able to withstand the attacks or enemy breakthroughs do not induce panic, blitzkrieg fails. Holding the flanks on the sides of the breakthrough allows the defenders to reverse the situation – they can envelope the attacks, cutting them off from supplies. This would be even more of a profound risk for Isengard, as it has no aerial resupply power. The last threat to blitzkrieg is an enemy that is willing and able to sacrifice space for time. By retreating deeper into their own territory in an organized manner, the defenders can bait the attackers into overextending their supply lines. Then, there is the issues of supply. Blitzkrieg planning assumes and thus provides supplies for short wars. Should that fail, producing the needed war supplies will become harder and harder.
At first, military operations would operate from a “preclusive” or forward defensive posture. Such a posture is based on striking out at enemies before they are able to penetrate into a nation's territory. Raids could be launched to disrupt incoming attacks or subversion can be used to force the enemy to focus on internal problems rather than aggressive foreign policy ambitions. But preventative and preemptive war are some of the most famous moves in this strategic framework. This system requires a strong intelligence network. The bulk of forces need to be placed on the border and a series of sentries should be constructed along the border to spot incoming enemies. This system will always vulnerable to unusually large concentrations of forces, as the army would have to be too thinly spread along the borders to deal with such threats. Nor would there be any reserves to the rear of the border. This means that an invasion force that successfully penetrated the perimeter defenses would have unchallenged. So, to a certain degree, this policy pushes the problem further out but does not solve the issue. However, over time the pushing out of frontiers would mean Isengard itself would become less exposed to a quick, preemptive attack. Saruman’s territory would slowly allow greater power to withdraw and absorb an initial thrust. Later offensives would be kept short of their goal and far from the Orthanc.
Now, we have to get into how these wars would actually be waged. Now, as hinted at above, there is likely to be a deficit of force available to Isengard, especially as the borders expand outward. In order to get enough forces to wage effective offensives, units need to be drawn from defensive positions, which could leave some areas dangerously exposed. If the enemy is not destroyed shortly, they might be able to exploit the gaps in the line and march on an even less defended Isengard. Just as important is the fact that Isengard, especially at first, would not have the resources to sustain a long war.
With these two factors together, we can assume that Saruman would strike hard and fast at a vital point to force the enemy on the defensive. This point is meant to be chosen also as a tool to win the war in a single decisive battle instead of a long protracted campaign. Meanwhile, the largest possible army would be marshaled for the strike. The next major element is a strategy of “bellum se ipsum alet” - translated to English as The war will feed itself. Effectively this means looting and pillaging to keep the troops loyal and fed. Think Sherman’s March to the Sea in the US Civil War. The result is a wide path of destruction aimed to destroy the main center of the enemy. Shock and awe can be expected – brutal and widely reported use of force can be expected to break the defender’s will to fight.
The battle of annihilation strategy aims to force the enemy to engage in a single, all important battle. This can be done through surprise, but also the use of overwhelming force on a key point. Should the battle be won, the other side would have no choice but to surrender. It is important to note that the killing or capture of all enemy troops is not needed – but it does help. As long as the enemy is no longer able to resist, the outcome is the same. This means that should the largest concentrations of enemy forces be defeated and most troops desert as a result, a battle of annihilation still occurred. In the case of Isengard’s wars, the taking of Helm’s Deep and killing the king, his daughter and possibly his last remaining son would have the same effect.
Technological Level
Isengard is an interesting case in that it only has two main residents prior to the beginning of the events of Lord of the Rings and one of them was sent out to subvert Rohan and gather intelligence. This means that on top of Isengard’s massive industrialization and military armaments program, it had to breed an entire army as well. Then add on that the Uruk Hai were basically Saruman’s “invention” and you realize he was not just a great engineer and industrialist but geneticist and biologist as well. Not to mention his chemistry skills demonstrated by his invention of gunpowder.
Foreign Relations
From a foreign policy perspective, Isengard serves as a puppet state. While Saruman does not seek to keep that relation over the long term, for most of the narrative it is the case. In this perspective, Isengard is utilized as a means to open a second front against Rohan. The goal is to have Saruman destroy Rohan at best but at a minimum keep it from reinforcing Gondor. This means Mordor’s forces can fully concentrate on Gondor without worrying about flanking attacks. Then there is the best case scenario where Isengard is able to send reinforcements to Minas Tirith – so that not only are Gondor’s allies eliminated but Mordor’s forces are bolstered even more. This is a solid bit of strategic thinking.
Proxies in the form of Wild Men were used to raid Rohan and keep it off balance. Though the Wild Men make Isengard an inversion of Mordor’s relationship with its external proxies. Mordor had an army of generally inferior troops under its direct command and relied on its proxies and allies for large numbers of high quality infantry and specialists. Isengard’s own forces were much better in terms of organization, training, morale and equipment than Mordor. Meanwhile its proxy forces were actually so pathetic that skirmishes with Rohirrim kept them away from an unoccupied Edoras. This use of proxies is also a solid strategic move on the part of Saruman, even if they are not decisive. More on that elsewhere though.
There is no other foundation for the reconstruction of military forces or to fall back to in case of defeat. Both are important and would govern Saruman’s thinking, which provides a major starting point for how Isengard’s foreign policy would operate. Essentially, without more land to provide strategic depth, Saruman would continue to be exposed. This means that he will seek to target areas around Isengard in an effort to push back the enemies from his core base. Targets would be chosen based on which enemies were the most likely to penetrate his defenses, get to Isengard and take it. Once an area is taken, fortifications would be constructed to serve as fall back positions in case Isengard is taken. Operations would likely be distributed so no one loss would be fatal. The result is a slow construction of a defense in depth system through the conquest of new territories.
The next basis for Isengard’s expansionist aims would be the adaptation of the Carter Doctrine to Isengard’s unique position. The Carter Doctrine states “An attempt by any outside force to gain control of the Persian Gulf region will be regarded as an assault on the vital interests of the United States of America, and such an assault will be repelled by any means necessary, including military force”. The speech in which this position was articulated was meant to describe the US response to the Soviet invasion of Afghanistan. No other reason for the US getting involved was given outside the threat to US oil supplies. The Reagan Corollary to the Carter Doctrine adds that the US will intervene to protect internal stability of regimes in the region. This essentially boils down to a declaration that the US will use military force to get and protect access to oil. Now, Isengard would not be going to war over oil in a world in which no oil is produced. However, we see Isengard relying on burning wood to fuel is war industries. His quest for more wood is what puts him in conflict with the Ents. This says to me Isengard has decent reserves of metal but clearly lacks the fuels needed to forge the required amounts of armor. When researching the Dwarves, I found they find digging coal beneath them. Which means that there is coal in Middle Earth. Saruman would have a strong interest in that as well. Therefore, we can assume from this that Saruman would attack nations to gain or protect his access to vital fuel sources.
Ents specifically had a lot of grievances against Isengard. The use of trees for fuel was an important factor. But apparently orcs cut down trees just for the fun of it. Then, the ents felt that the cross breeding of humans and orc was a violation of the natural order of things. These crimes were seen as especially galling due to the fact Saruman was supposed to be better than the average mortal. Saruman for his part discredited the threat psoed by the ents. He felt they were mainly pawns of Gandalf. Which meant that without his prodding, the ents would not act. So when Gandalf "died" in Moria, he could disregard the threats from the trees.
As noted elsewhere, the partnership between Saruman and Sauron was not exactly a model of trust. Sauron sent a Ring Wraith to watch him at one point. Essentially obedience by Saruman was a temporary expedient. Sauron saw Isengard as a useful asset so long as it could be controlled, then discarded when no longer useful. To give an idea of how little faith Sauron had in Saruman, Isengard was to be given to the Mouth of Sauron after Mordor won. So it was assumed that Isengard would either lose or betray Mordor.
Agriculture & Industry
Now, the main characteristics of this army is a solid industrial base that provides decent if not that great weaponry.
So, Isengard's ability to wage war is clearly founded on its industrial power. Huge, deep pits are dug not just to get raw materials but to make factories and breeding pits. The size and scope of this industrialization and the way Saruman creates his Uruk-hai means that he can be said to have manufactured his entire army. This same scale - especially when it takes over the Shire - is meant to demonstrate the destructive power of industrialization. While it did create his army and what power he did have, it also led to the Ents and Hobbits rebelling against him. He was ultimately defeated by the same factors that he needed to resist.
So, the River Isen was dammed to possibly provide hydropower for Isengard's factories. The down side is that these factories were underground. So when that dam burst, it flooded the entire industrial base. Not only was power lost but the actual equipment destroyed.
Infrastructure
So, Isengard is quite well placed to be a center of trade. It controls a major pass through which goods and travelers would want to pass through to get from one side of the Misty Mountains to the other. Then there is the river Isen. We can assume that Isengard would be at the center of a locate trade route. Maybe not the biggest, but still important. Plus, there is the fact Isengard has the only major dam I know of in Middle Earth.
Granted Divine Powers
Saruman was, as stated elsewhere, was a Maia. Like Sauron, he was a servant of Aulë, Valar of Smithcraft. We can assume then that his technological prowess and skills were supernaturally advanced. Not only was he able to invent gunpowder and essentially jump start an industrial revolution. He also created an upgraded orc (the uruk-hai) and a human/orc hybrid used as spies in Bree.
He also had quite impressive and supernatural persuasive powers. Apparently he was actually able to deceive one of the Ring Wraiths. He could change the minds of, sow fear in and convince of lies with supernatural ease. Of more importance to us here is his ability to sneak up on people. Saruman was also known for being able to increase the speed and motivation of living things, which he used on his armies and raiding parties.
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