Intro to WW1 - Army & Navy Background Flashcards
Who was St John Broderick and what were his proposed reforms?
- Secretary of State for the war 1901
- Creation of 6 self contained army corps; 3 regulars ready to fight abroad, 3 of both regular and auxiliary units to form a home defence
Did St John Broderick’s reforms have an impact? If so or if not, why?
- They never got off the ground due to criticism from press and parliament
- Army was too small for a European war but too large for colonial conflicts
What was the Esther committee and who led it?
- A small committee put in place under Hugh Arnold Foster
- Lord Esther was in charge and was to report on reform of the war office
What recommendations did the Esther Committee make in 1904?
- A ‘clean sweep’ of the war office, removal of Lord Roberts as commander in chief
- Commander in Chief replaced by inspector general of the forces
- Creation of an army council where war office ministers will be joined by 4 military members
- Centre of defence planning should be done by Committee of Imperial Defence (CID)
What was the result of the recommendations of the Esther Committee in 1904?
- Balfour agreed and implemented them
Why did Arnold-Forster ask for the changes that he did?
Influenced by the need to cut spending and offset a recruiting crisis
What reforms did Arnold-Forster propose?
- Wanted to abandon both Broderick’s army corps and the Cardwellian system of linked battalions
- Army was to be divided into a ST (3 yr) home defence force of 30 battalions and LT (9 yr) of 112 battalions for overseas
- He saw little need for auxiliary forces as he believed in the navy ability to defend Britain
- Sought economies by reducing volunteers, disbanding half of the militia and absorbing the remainder of the army
Did Arnold-Forsters proposed reforms have success?
- Encountered opposition from CID, cabinet, new army and Parliament
- Abandoned the auxiliary forces proposal
- Gained Cabinet approval for LT enlistment (1904) and Experimented with ST recruiting in 1905
- Not enough time to take effect, Balfours gov failed in December 1905
What did Britain and France do when Germany began to seem like more of a threat?
- Britain and France Entente in 1904
What did the Navalists believe when the threat from Germany grew?
- Believed in the event of war land fighting should be left to the French and Britain should maintain the seas
- Britains safety ultimately depended on the navy, and money in the army would take away from the navy
- Some still maintained that the troops would make a difference and should be funded for reform
When was the National Service League implemented and what did they do?
- Est 1902
- Campaigned for compulsory military service to toughen the physique and character of urban masses
What support was given to the NSL?
- 1905 Lord Reports resigned from CID to support the NSL
- NSL membership rose from 10,000 to 96,500
- There was little support in Parliament as conscription would be electoral suicide
What did Secretary of State for war Richard Haldane do to reform the military?
- Him and liberals wanted to cut military expenditure
- Wanted the force to operate within a budget of £28 million a year
- A two line army, Expeditionary Force of 3 army corps (150,000)
- One Territorial Force created by volunteers, militia and yeomanry who would support snd expand the expeditionary force
Haldane’s reforms did not go EXACTLY to plan, what did he instead to?
- Could not reform the Army for a continental war
- Restored the Cardwellian System to help with the provisions of drafts for battalions overseas
- Rectified the balance of the army with 71 Bt’s at home and 85 abroad allowing a max of 74 at home
- Expeditionary Force was a ‘general purpose’ army as a force to be deployed anywhere (assumed would be used against Germany)
- Ensured he had support of army council and cabinet before presenting to parliament
When was the Territorial and Reserves act passed and how did Haldane’s Territorial force grow?
- Passed in 1907
- Force never met its full est of 312,000 only got to 236,389
- Was more complete in its arms and equipment as they had artillery, engineers and medical supply services
