Modern Period (1900-2003 Flashcards
How did the size of the army stay the same in this period?
There was a small standing army during peacetime that grew for wars and shrunk when ended
How did the size of armies change during this period?
Grew hugely for wars such as 3.5million for WW1. Standing army had grown in industrial period but standing army in 1900 was the size of the 1840 army
How did infantry numbers change in this period?
65% of army in 1914. 25% of army in 2015 as warfare more complex
How did cavalry numbers change in this period?
10% in 1914 - used as scouts and for raids. Tanks replaced cavalry and made up around 10% in 2015.
How did artillerymen numbers change in this period?
20% of army in 1914. 10% army was royal artillery in 2015 as aircraft and ranks shared role of artillery bombardment
How did specialist unit numbers change in this period?
5% in 1914. 55% in present day such as mechanical engineers
What were Haldane’s reforms in response to?
Poor performance in the Boer War
Who was Lord Haldane?
Secretary of State for war
What did Lord Haldane do?
Restructured British army in a way that still influences army today: split army into regular army and territorial force.
How was the regular army planned to run in Haldane’s reforms?
Have 150,000 permanent volunteers that were sent to war in 1914 and 1939
When were Haldane’s reforms?
1908 modern army structure
How was territorial force of Haldane’s reforms planned to work?
Combined part-time forces and reserves into a reinforcement option for the regular army, consisting of 270,000 men by 1914
What was planned in 2010?
Army 2020 structure
How did the army 2020 structure work?
Full time professional volunteers with a planned 82,000 troops.
What did the Territorial army become in 2013 and what did it plan to have?
Army Reserve and planned to have 30,000 troops.
What are army logistics?
Transporting and providing food, supplies and ammo; moving wounded troops.
How well was army logistics organised before 1900?
Awfully
How was food and transport supplied till 1790s?
Arranged by army commanders and included raiding food supplies and requisitioning food stores from friendly suppliers.
When were the Royal Waggoners created and what for?
1790s as a uniformed army transport in the British army
What happened in 1855?
Problems with logistics in Crimean War led to the creation of the military train to move supplies
When was the Military train renamed Army Service Corps (ASC)?
1888
Why did logistics of such a big army become a problem during WW1?
The ASC had to provide things like petrol now
How much supplies did the ASC have to provide for by 1918?
3 million men
How much of the army was made up of the ASC by 1918?
10% and men served as drivers etc
What was the ASC renamed as?
Royal Army Service Corps (RASC)
What is evidence that logistics was even more complicated in WW2?
Landing in France on D-day (June 1944) took 4300 ships to transport and land under fire
Why did RASC become Royal Logistics Corps (RLC)?
In 1993, RASC joined with other army corps and now made up 15% of army
Who planned logistics for the Iraq War and how many troops where transported over what distance?
RLC. 45,000 troops transported over 3000km.
When did it become clear that specialists needed to increase safety?
Bombs didn’t explode in WW2.
What happened in 1940 for specialist units?
25 army bomb disposal units formed.
How many bombs were made safe in June 1940?
25,000
What did Explosive Ordnance Disposal (EOD) troops specialise in?
Bomb disposals, land mines and improvised explosive devices
When were bomb disposal robots made?
1972
What is the most up-to-date bomb disposal robot?
The British ‘Dragon Runner’
How many EOD personnel and sniffer dogs did the British army have by 2015?
2000 EOD personnel and 300 sniffer dogs
Why was changes in weaponry, transport and surveillance so common and rapid between 1900-45?
As armies got new weapons, transport/surveillance methods, it strengthened attacked and enabled territory to be captured quickly
How did stalemates occur in the long term?
Using new weapons as an advantage meant weapons of defence resisted and made it equal
What are ‘wars of attrition’?
Slowly wearing down the enemy
How were stalemates and wars of attrition seen from 1914-1918?
Railways and massed troops gave attackers upper hand, until 1914-16 when artillery, rifles and machine guns strengthened defence and led to a war of attrition. Then in 1917-18 tanks and aircraft gave attackers upper hand again so stalemate broken.
How did Germany use railways in 1914?
For military transport to ensure surprise against France by going througn Belgium
How did Germany outmanoeuvre the French?
Trains were 15x faster than marching
What new type of war did military transport create?
‘War of movement’
How was a stalemate still produced in France vs Germany?
Machine guns dominated in 1914 so even though the attacking army was in perfect position, a stalemate produced as they couldn’t combat the machine guns ans artillery defences
Why were Maxim Guns too heavy to carry?
50kg
Why were Maxim Guns bad in rapid advances but awesome in defence?
Had to be fed, fired and cooled but could shoot at 600rpm
How was the Western Front formed?
Defences halted Germans just short of Paris so trenches had to be dug. Opposing trenches remained unchanged until around 1917 and became known as the Western Front
Why were 60,000 British soldiers wounded/died on first day of Battle Of the Somme (1916)?
Due to machine guns, rifles and artillery shells
How did WW1 become a war of attrition?
Movement was replaced by stalemate by 1916
How were wars of movements broight back in 1916-18?
Due to new weapons, motorised transport and surveillance
How did tanks develop since the Somme?
At the Somme: only moved at 1mph and to scare people
After: British developed Whippets which could go 10mph.
Who initially supplied the aircraft in 1914?
British Flying Corps (BFC) which had 63 aircrafts
Where did the BFC bomb in 1916?
Factories in Ruhr and Rhineland
How many horses and motorcars were there in 1914?
50,000 horses but only 800 motor cars
Why were motor cars gradually used more?
For comms and moving supplies
How many motorised trucks were in the British army by 1918?
55,000
What maintained the war of movement at the start of Ww2?
Tanks and aircraft
How fast could tanks move in WW2?
20-40mph
How did aircrafts work in WW2 wars?
Dropped 509kg bombs, used parachutes to drop troops behind enemy lines
What were radios used to do?
Coordinate attacks
How did the German army combine all tactics of troops in a war of movement?
The Blitzkrieg (‘lightning war’)
What was the Blitzkrieg?
When speed of attacking weapons punched through defence then initiative was used to continue the attack
What returned to stalemate from 1940?
Other weapons and surveillance methods
Why was bombing from aircrafts during WW2 not immediately decisive?
There were many stalemates before they were
What was Britain’s faster fighter plane in WW2?
Spitfire - 350mph
Which fighter plane shot down most German planes during WW2?
Hawker Hurricane
What did Robert Watson-Watt do?
In 1935, created radars which led Brits to build the Chain Home
What was the Chain Home?
A seriess of towers like modern day national grid to detect incoming aircraft
How did anti-aircraft guns work?
Used automated reloading and radars to help aiming
How many anti-aircraft guns did Germans use against Allied bombers?
50,000
What did defences like land mines and bazookas eventually end up in after having an impact?
A stalemate
What happened in 1943 in terms of stalemates?
Britain and allies overcame German defences and broke stalemate, showing air attack as stronger once again
What factors caused the German stalemate to be broken in 1943?
Government actions, improved technology and industrial strength.
Example of how bombers improved?
Lancaster bombers had a range of 2500km and Britian built 7000 of them by 1945
Example of how bombing technology improved?
Brits developed the ‘oboe system’ to target bombs by using radio signals to guide a bomber.
Example of how bombing strategy changed?
Initially everyone used strategic bombing but by 1943, area bombing was used to reduce civilian morale.
Example of the impact of bombs on Hamburg?
In only four raids, then RAF used 3000 bombers to drop 9000 tonnes of bombs on Hamburg.
How many German civilians were killed by allied bombs in WW2?
400,000
How did bombing tie up military assets in WW2?
85% of German anti-aircraft guns had to be used in cities to fend of air attacks
What was the impact of bombing destroying Germanies economic landmarks like factories?
Reduce German ability to make key weapons
How did WW1 and WW2 end up being a ‘total war’ and war of attrition?
Both wars had long periods of stalemate as radars and machine guns stopped a winner. This caused war to drag on and intensify.
Hiw was warfare different in medieval and modern period?
Medieval: limited warfare
Modern: total warfare
Why were WW1 + 2 classified as a total war?
The countries had to use all their power to break a stalemate. Used their whole population, all technological, scientific and industrial resources, lots of money and attacked anyone to get resources
Which factors impacted war before 1900 but were also applied in total wars after 1900?
Science, technology and economic strength
How did science change the nature of modern warfare?
Radars and atom bombs developed warfare
How did technology change the nature of modern warfare?
British meteor made in 1944 flew twice as fast as conventional fighter planes.
How is it clear that industry changed modern warfare?
Britain had spent £23 million on artillery shells by 1918.
How was it clear that the whole population was involved in WW2?
1.4 million civilians volunteered as raid wardens
What is a war of attrition?
Wearing down opposition till enemy runs out of troops, weapons, resources, money or morale.
Evidence that wars of attrition caused great suffering?
10 million combatants died in WW1.
How did victory often come from wars of attrition?
Collapse of enemy
How was it clear that nations were defeated as much as the armies in wars of attrition?
4.5 milliln Germans died in WW2
How was chemical warfare limited before 1900?
To ideas such as poisoning water supplies
What happened in April 1915?
Germans released chlorine gas in French trenches that killed 1250 troops.
Why weren’t gas attacks that beneficial in early stages of modern period?
Wind made the effects uncertain and gas masks could be used
How many gas attacks occured by 1918?
146
What was the Geneva Protocol?
In 1925, 16 nations signed it to never use gas as a weapon
How many stored chemical weapons have been destroyed since 1997?
85%
When did Soviet Union explode first A bomb?
1949
How many nuclear warheads were there by 2015?
15000
Why weren’t nuclear weapons used since 1945?
Due to mutually assured destruction, causing a new kind of stalemate
What was the creation of high-tech military equipment due to?
Advancements in science and technology
How have cars advanced?
Now include satellites to navigate?
What two things shaped high-tech military equipment?
Lasers and satellites
What was high-tech infantry equipment?
Body armour and helmet, night vision glasses and radio. Assault rifle with grenade launcher and sometimes a 750rpm machine gun
How was bombarding the enemg done since 1945?
. ‘Stealth’ bombers were difficult to spot on radars
. Drones could deliver bombs
. ICBM’s could now travel over 5500km so were versatile
How do modern infantry get military support?
Air support, with Merlin helicopters being able to carry 45 armed troops.
What did surveillance rely on before 1900?
Telescopes
When was surveillance from space possible?
After 1957
Why were satellites used during 1991 and 2003 Iraq wars?
To locate enemy, predict weather, photograph damage and provide communications.
How were high-tech weapons used to attack enemy positions in modern period?
ICBMs and aircraft used to bombard. Then helicopters and motorbikes deliver infantry, tanks, jets and mobile artillery support infantry.
When was the only time improvised attack proved to work?
1940 Blitzkrieg
Why were coordinated attacks needed by 1990s?
Due to the new high-tech equipment
What is the ‘Revolution in military affairs’? (RMA)
A headquarters miles from battle that the west developed where commanders control fighting. They coordinate info and surveillance picked up, video footage of damage and communications
What is asymmetric warfares?
When two sides are not equal in power
What older wars were examples of asymmetrical wars?
Boer War and Battle of Falkirk
Why did modern weapons make asymmetrical wars more common?
Due to the cost of high-tech equipment - typhoon fighter jets cost £80 million so only wealthy could afford
Why have powerful states only ever gone to war with the less powerful states?
‘MAD’ meant equal fights would cause a catastrophe
How did less well- armed forces sometimes win asymmetrical wars?
By using guerilla warfare
What did a commentator say to show guerilla warfare was effective against modern bombing?
‘You can’t win a guerilla war by dropping bombs from the air.’
How many volunteers came in for the army in by 1914 for WW1?
1 million
Why did volunteers fall by 1915?
They realised the casualties of war
How many volunteers were needed per week to replace casualties as fighting worsend in 1915?
35,000
What happened in January 1916?
Military Service act introduced conscription
When was compulsory enlisment used?
World wars and for short periods close to home
Who did conscription make liable for service?
All unmarried men aged 18-41
When were married men included to conscription service?
May 1916
How many people were conscripted into armed forces from 1916-18?
3.5 million men
How many were conscripted to British army in 1939?
Over one million - still not enough
How was conscription extended in December 1941?
Up to men aged 51 and unmarried women aged 20-30
How did conscription change for women in 1943?
Age limit increased to 51
Why did some people refuse conscription?
On moral or religious grounds
How many conscription objectors were sent to prison in WW1?
Around 7000
How many conscription objectors were forced to enlist in WW2?
50,000
What were attitudes to conscientious objectors in Ww1?
Negative. In one Home Office prison, ten COs died in prison
How did attitudes towards COs change for WW2?
Improved a bit but many county council sacked teachers who were COs.
How was conscription ‘scaled down’ after WW2?
‘National service’ meant all men aged 17-21 had to do 18 months of military training and service, and then serve in reserves for 4 years.
When did conscription finally end?
- Army returned to permanent standing volunteers
Why were women usually accepted in total wars?
Needed help from everyone
What change helped women to be more accepted?
Social change led them to be more accepted right before Ww1. This allowed women to step up in power and prove their strength.
How did women initially serve and when were they integrated?
Initially in all-female units but integrated in 1992.
Where did women equality in armies stand in 2015?
Equal roles to men except in things like the Tank Regiment
How many troops were women in the 2008 Afghanistan war?
1 in 6
What does the modern British army consist of and how many troops overall?
RAF and navy adds up to a permanent army of around 150,000
What does modern army mostly train for?
Dealing with the new high-tech equipment
How long do army recruits have to sign for?
At least 4 years
How many modern army officers enter as university graduates?
Over 80%
How much did army officers make in 2015?
30k-100k, competing for a good career
What was major difference in recruitment between post-medieval and pre-1900 compared to modern period?
Post-medieval and pre-1900 not used to being forced to serve yet it was the norm in both world wars
Why did many conscripted citizens die in world wars?
Due to the size of world war armies
In WW1, how many of the 70 million who fought died?
9 million
How many estimated combatants died in WW2?
15 million
How did civilian deaths at home increase since 1900?
Through the development of bombing and the nature of warfare such as total wars
How many Brits were killed by German bombs in all of WW1?
Only 1414
How many Brits were killed in the ‘Blitz’? (1940-41)
40,000
What was modern warfare more likely to involve than in other periods?
Direct attack in or in major cities
How many civilians died in the 2003-2010 Iraw conflict?
Over 100,000
How many of the casualties in 1990s wars were civilian deaths?
90%
What was the Home Front?
Also called ‘Dads army’, was formed in 1940 to protect Britain in case of invasion
What was Civil Defence?
Formed in 1941 and combined air-raid wardens and firefighters
How many Civil defence staff had been killed on duty by 1945?
7000
What was the Women’s voluntary service? (WVS)
Part of the civil defence and assisted those affected by bombing?
How many members of the WVS were there by 1941?
One million members
Why were daily citizen lives impacted in the modern period?
Due to changes in the nature of warfare
Why was rationing used in both world wars?
Because both sides deliberately cut off food supplies to the enemy
When was rationing reintroduced?
Six months into ww2
How much rations were there every week per person in 1918?
Less than 1lb of meat per person each week
Why dis homelessness increase?
Cities were targeted in modern warfare
How many British homes were destroyed during the Blitz?
2 million
What did some wars since 1900 deprive people of and evidence of this?
Deprived of basic freedom. In 1914, the Defence of the realm act (DORA) banned basic activities such as flying kites in Britain
What was feared by 1949?
A cold war
Example of nuclear defence booklet issued to public by late 1980s?
Protect and Survive
Why did fears of a cold war recede in the 1970s?
The Strategic arms limitation treaty began reducing nuclear weapons
How were women benefited from the modern period?
Now working equally in jobs and armed forces
Why did medical improvements advance quicker in modern period?
Large numbers of casualties occured in world wars
What did Britain get used to the government controlling during modern wars and what did this mean?
Basic needs of life, so when the wars ended, British public expected this to continue.
What was the 1919 Housing Act and the 1944 Education act?
Housing act - council houses for the poor
Education act - provided free primary and secondary education
How many journalists could report directly from the battlefield in WW1?
1, Colonel Swinton
How many reporters were embedded among coalition troops by the Iraq war?
700
How did changes in technology allow more reporters to be on battlefield?
In 1900, reporters relied on couriers and electric telegraph to transfer reports back home. Since 1900, live satellites, radio, internet and films allowed reporters to report events as they occur
What was another reason for increased war reporting?
Changing attitudes towards censorship
Why was information censored in world wars?
To keep morale high and prevent enemy getting information
How did some newspapers make the news seem better than it was?
By ‘self-censoring’
How many people were employed to read and censor soldiers’ letters home during WW1?
10,000
What change allowed public to get more info on wars?
Changes in technology
What did reporters in Iraq do in 1991?
Told TV viewers about coalition bombing of Baghdad before the war had even been announced
What are reporters even critical of now?
Conduct of war
Evidence to show that journalists did still sometimes favour their own side?
During Iraq war, British journalists were more likely to report enthusiasm over the war rather than criticism from Iraqi public
What forms of propaganda boosted recruitment in Ww1 + example?
Government posters and famous patriotic films.
Film: The Battle Of The Somme shown in 2000 cinemas in 1916.
What radio station was made for propaganda in WW2?
The Forces Programme. Transmitted audio reports on the war and often put an optimistic slant on the news
What attitude was still strong in the early 1900s?
Jingoism
How was WW1 initially viewed?
Enthusiastically
Evidence to show that public support for wars declined since 1945?
1 million people marched in London to oppose iraq war
Why did attitudes towards war change?
Reportinfg of wars meant public can now see the bloodshed caused by bombing and shelling, such as the reporting of the first bombs falling on Baghdad in the Iraq War.
How has financial cost of war increased so greatly in this period?
Spifires were only £6000 yet Typhoon fighters are £80 million
How is human cost of war greater post-1900 than pre-1900?
WW2 casualties were counted in millions while pre-1900 deaths were counted in thousands
Evidence that bombing has changed to reduce casualties?
Hiroshima intended to cause maximum casualties while drones and ‘smart’ bombs try to minimise casualties.
Why must the government now listen to the public?
As we have a major voice in modern society
