C1700-c1900: Warfare And British Society In The 18th And 19th Centuries Flashcards
- Continuity and change in composition of army
c1700-1850: continuity
- permanent standing army of 50,000
- decline of cavalry, only 20%
- artillery formed 5%
c1850-1900: change
- growth of british empire meant there was an army of around 250,000
- government more involved in organising army size, finances which both rose dramatically
- Specialisation and professionalisation
c1700
- soldiers pressed into service
- marched lr rode in bright uniform
- infantry armed with muskets and bayonets
- support came in from immobile cannons
c1900
- command structures more defined with effective leadership structures
- wore camoflauged brown or grey uniforms
- transported to battle in steamships or trains
- new weapons such as machine gun and rifles led to specialised roles
- Continuity on the battlefield
Roles
- cavalry still important for harrassing enemy despite new weapons left them vulnerable
- infantry still the decisive factor in battlle, used the ‘brown bess’ musket from 1715 to 1850
Tactics
- cavalry: officers determined to keep traditional cavalry forces, showing importance of social attitudes
- infantry: still fought in lines columns and squares, often overwhelmed by firepower, generals refused to accept changing situationa dn relied on old tactics
- The use of rifles and bullets
- Rifles: invented in 1600, developed in 1850 which made them more effective and practical
- minie bullets: small bullets invented in 1847, they expanded within barrel, made loading easier
- conical bullets: more aerodynamic, increased range of rifles
- percussion bullets: made loading easier amd rifles more reliable
- breech-loading: made reloading 4x quicker then muskets
- magazines: allowed several bullets to be loaded at once
- Field guns and heavy artillery
Development in tech and industry led to improvements in artillery
- Field guns
- by 1890 field guns were designed so they recoiled made firing quicker and easier
- this was down to experiments with bronze making cannons lighter
- Heavy artillery
- steel cannon were stronger then bronze
- cannon with rifled barrels could shoot up to 5km
- from 1890’ smokeless powder stopped smoke affecting aim or revealing positions
- Changes in weaponary impact on tactics and formation
- Impact on tactics and formation
- At battle of waterloo, 1815, british infantry formed squares to repel enemy
- by 1853-56 (crimean war) the musket had been replaced by percussion rifles with its increases range and accuracy meaning a new defence was needed
- Development in trench warfare
- in crimean war systems of trenches gave protection againgst enemy fire. Troops and supplies could move near front line without being exposed.
- defending forces chose trenches over mobility, power of defensive fire was better then attacking force.
- Machine guns
- could fire 150 bullets a minute, were introduced by british army but were commonly used after 1900’s
- Factors affecting change
-spiralling change: when one country improved weaponary others would try to do better
-social attitudes: conservatism, fear and cost
-industrialisation: improvements in science, tech snd industry
- What were the main developments in industrialisation that impacted warfare?
- Steam trains : enabled armies to operate furthur from home, enabled troops to move 15x faster
Supplies could be moved at 20mph rather then 10 a day. - Steamships : sailed 2x as fast as sailing ships, were used in the crimean war and took less then 3 weeksnto ship men and supplies to crimea.
- Science : development of the fultimate of mercury provided explsoive that led to percussion bullets and invention of nitroglycerine led to development of smokeless powder
- Improved communication, benefits and when?
In 1854, British miltary built and operated the first field telegraph, 24 mile network connected 8 telegraph stations across crimean battlefield
- How did mass production affect warfare
- The mass production of iron and steel made it cheap. This enabled the government to equip the whole army with reliable weapons at a fraction of the cost
- What were the changes in recruitment amd changes?
- in the 1700’s it was difficult to recruit because there was little pay, high ranks only given to nobility
Methods of recruitment
- colonels recruitment: officers paid to set up and equip new regiments, created as cheaply as possible to make a profit
- 1857 militia act: overhaul of assize of arms men 18-50 had to serve 5 years in local militia
What did Gladstone and cardwell do?
In 1868, Gladstones government argued for army reform, he appointed Cardwell as secretaryy state for war who made reforms
Cardwells 1870 army act
- he professionalised the army ensuring a constant suplly of trained soldiers
- soliders enlisted for 12 years, 6 active 6 in reserves, reserves weee paid a daily rate amd retrained each year
- after 12 years soldiers could resign or sign up for another 12 + a pension
Cardwells 1871 regularisation of the forces act
- reorganised regiments into regions with local barracks for accommodation
- every regiment had 2 linked battalions one serving home, one abroad
- each regiments third battalion was made up of local militia
How did training improve after the 1850’s?
- by 1860 more officers came into the army via the royal military college
- artillery and engineering officers trained at ‘woolwich royal military academy’ from 1741
- promotion depended on merit alone
- military schools opened at ‘Hythe’ 1853 and ‘shoeburyness’ 1859 to train weapon instructers
