5:Warfare and the Nation-State in the 19th century

Question 1

why can warfare in the 18th century be classed as ‘gentlemanly warfare’?

Answer 1

-states had limited tax/recruitment bases
-armies were small and made up of professionals and mercenaries
- some states had constitutional limits on army size and use
-governments encouraged their generals not to risk expensive assets in costly battles

Question 2

how did warfare change because of men?

Answer 2

-rapid European population growth
- the capacity to make bigger armies grew
- Napoleon boasted of having an “income” of 200’000 men a year

Question 3

how did warfare change because of changes economically?

Answer 3

-professional state bureaucracies, so governments could raise more tax revenues to fund wars
-new financial institutions-national banks to manage loans & debt
e.g. city of London

Question 4

how did technology change warfare?

Answer 4

industrialised it because weaponry/firepower became more industrialised

Question 5

how did the population of the British isles change between 1700-1890?

Answer 5

1700: 9 million
1750: 10.5
1800: 16
1890: 37.4

Question 6

how did the population of France change between 1700-1890?

Answer 6

1700: 19 million
1750: 21.5
1800: 28
1890: 38.3

Question 7

French revolutionary wars

Answer 7

1792-1802

Question 8

how did the French revolutionary wars change warfare?

Answer 8

“the nation in arms”
- large-scale industrial war production and conscripted citizen armies
- non-professional armies, unprecedented at the time
- more participation in the war than before, more violence
- ideological war to completely overthrow the enemy- opposite of limited war

Question 9

when did Napoleon Bonaparte become Emperor of France?

Answer 9

1804

Question 10

French victories in the Napoleonic wars

Answer 10

Austria and Russia: Austerlitz 1805
Prussia: Jena 1806
Russia: Friedland 1807

Question 11

French defeats in the Napoleonic wars

Answer 11

Peninsular wars: 1808-1814
invasion of Russia: 1812
Leipzig; 1813
Waterloo: 1815

Question 12

Key features of Napoleonic warfare

Answer 12

-Huge armies: French army that invaded Russia consisted of 685’000
-logistics:lived off land/looting
-officers promoted by talent(aristocracy in Britain)

Question 13

how many died in the Napoleonic wars?

Answer 13

5-7 million
-many indirectly by famine, poverty etc

Question 14

American Civil War

Answer 14

1861-1865

Question 15

why can the American Civil war be classed as the first ‘total war”?

Answer 15

-new railways/telegraphs were key to communication/logistics
-heavy infantry casualties because of new artillery and rifle technologies
-civilians on the frontline

Question 16

How many died in the American civil war?

Answer 16

620’000-750’000
comparable to the total of US fatalities in all other US wars combined

Question 17

what did Prussia create the first of?

Answer 17

the first general staff
a body of trained professional military experts

Question 18

events of the Franco-prussian war

Answer 18

1864: victory over Denmark
1866: victory over Austria
July 1870: invasion of France with an army of over 1 million
Jan 1871: Paris fell
May 1871: France surrendered

Question 19

what did the Prussian victory in the Franco-Prussian war facilitate?

Answer 19

Bismarck’s unification of Germany in 1871

Question 20

ways Naval warfare changed in the 19th century

Answer 20

-steam power
-powerful guns/armoured warships

Question 21

how did steam power change naval warfare?

Answer 21

-increased speed and manoeuvrability
-it made refuelling necessary which meant overseas bases and coal stations were important

Question 22

how did powerful guns/ armoured warships change naval warfare?

Answer 22

-were pioneered in American civil war
- new theories of naval warfare
-had to adapt to new guns on revolving turrets

Question 23

who dominanated the seas in the 19th century?

Answer 23

British Royal Navy

Question 24

what was the british attitude to warfare?

Answer 24

-classic liberalism: war was bad for trade, trade was good for Britain
-distrusted a large standing army so relied on Navy for security
-had a diplomatic strategy
-engaged in “small wars” for imperial expansion and colonial security

Question 25

British diplomatic strategy regarding war

Answer 25

-maintain a balance of power in Europe to prevent war
-however avoid continental commitment in the event of European war, and rely on allies to fight costly land battles

Question 26

Name 5 British colonial Wars after 1850

Answer 26

-New Zealand (Maori) wars
-Second Opium war
-Anglo-Persian war
-second Anglo-Afghan war
-First Boer war

Question 27

New Zealand (Maori) Wars

Answer 27

1845-1872

Question 28

Second Opium War

Answer 28

1852-1853

Question 29

Anglo-Persian War

Answer 29

1856-57

Question 30

Second Anglo-Afghan war

Answer 30

1878-80

Question 31

First Boer war

Answer 31

1880-81

Question 32

what event highlighted the limits of British power?

Answer 32

the second Boer war
1899-1902

Question 33

how did the Second Boer war impact Britain?

Answer 33

-the british expected an easy war
-Black week-public crisis of confidence
- new tax burdens with the budget increase from £117m to £205m in 1902
-300’000 troops required
-crisis of defence policy identified- coundnt afford to defend the empire from so many threats

Question 34

why was the First World War a total war?

Answer 34

• states could mobilise more economic resources because of industrialisation
• weapons with unprecedented power
  -nationalism/conscription of mass armies
  -no longer napoleonic doctrines of manoeuvre;stalemate and slaughter on western front