On October 7th the Palestinian militant group Hamas executed an opening salvo, initiating a new escalation in the ongoing struggle with the State of Israel. Its fighters attacked communities near the Gaza Strip, killing hundreds of people, and taking dozens of hostages. Hamas is an acronym for Harakat al-Muqawama al-Islamiya, or "Islamic Resistance Movement." The group is sworn to Israel's destruction and wants to replace it with an Islamic state. Hamas has fought several wars with Israel since it took power in Gaza in 2007.
An opening salvo is an attack that is strong and sudden. Salvo, in military parlance, means a series of shots by artillery batteries, missiles, bombs, etc.
Salvo entered the English language in the late 16th century. It arrived from Italian, where it referred to a simultaneous discharge of two or more guns. In a battle, soldiers armed with muzzleloaders required time to refill their guns with powder and shot. Drills were designed to enable an almost continuous rain of fire on the enemy by lining troops into ranks, allowing one line to fire a salvo, while the other ranks prepared their guns for firing. At certain public events a concurrent salute of guns was also called a salvo.
Salvo was used to describe the firing of broadsides by warships. During fleet engagements in the days of sail (17th to 19th centuries) ships were manoeuvred with the objective of bringing the greatest possible number of cannons to bear on the enemy and to discharge them at one time, causing enough damage and confusion as to allow time for the cannon to be swabbed out and reloaded for another salvo.
When airplanes began to be used in warfare, a salvo was the release, all at one time, of a rack of bombs on the enemy.
More than a millennium prior, the Latin word salve, from which salvo was derived, was an ancient Roman greeting meaning ‘hail.’ Salve could be translated as hello or good morning.
In the Middle Ages the Abbey of Cluny established a form of the hymn Salve Regina (Hail Queen) which has been used as an evening song in the Roman Catholic liturgy since the 12th century. As a prayer, it is commonly said at the end of the Rosary.
Salvo is also an Australian slang word for a member of the Salvation Army religious organization.
More recently In the English language salvo has migrated to non-military usage. A salvo can refer to verbal attacks, like a critical remark aimed at a debate opponent, or a pointed accusation at the start of an editorial. During an artistic performance a sudden occurrence of applause is a salvo. Impulsive laughter during a play is a salvo. A salvo is the beginning part of a speech or the first in a series of actions intended to get a particular result. At a rally, a salvo of cheers is a sudden outburst in favour of a specific point in a speech. The first salvo of a parliamentary debate is a spirited attack against a motion or stance of the government.
Perhaps the best kind of salvo is the spontaneous laughter from the audience at every joke the comedian utters. We can always use more of that type of salvo.
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