Nature Of Warfare 1900-2000

Question 1

Size of the army 1900-2000

Answer 1

Was low during peacetime and high during wartime
-when it grew, it grew to unprecedented size: grew to 3,500,000 in WW1
-the size of the standing army has gradually decreased. Since 1900, it has fallen back to the size it was in 1840

Question 2

Composition of the army 1900-2000: infantry

Answer 2

65% of the army in 1914, 25% in 2015

Still the most likely to confront the enemy on the ground

Question 3

Composition of the army 1900-2000: cavalry

Answer 3

10% in 1914, ceased use in 1918

Replaced by tanks, 10% in 2015

Question 4

Composition of the army 1900-2000: Artillery

Answer 4

20% in 1914, role is now shared with tanks and aircraft: 10%in 2015

Question 5

Composition of the army 1900-2000: specialist troops

Answer 5

5% in 1914, 55% in 2015

-royal engineers(10%) build bridges, roads ect
-royal electrical and mechanical engineers(10%) tend to vehicles and equipment
-logistics corps (15%) and royal army medical corps (3%)

Question 6

Haldane’s Reform’s 1908

Answer 6

-societal attitudes towards the performance of the army in the Boer War (1899-1902) led to calls for reform
-1908, secretary of state for war, Lord Haldane, restructured the army. His ideas are still influencial

Question 7

Haldane’s structure of the army

Answer 7

Regular Army (standing army)
-permanent force of 150,000 volunteers which would defend the country or serve abroad
-was sent to war in 1914 and 1939

Territorial Force
-combined the part time and reserve forces (like the yeomanry) into a national reserve. Could defend against attack and reinforce regular army in an emergency
-had 270,000 by 1914. Was renamed Territorial army in 1920

Question 8

Army 2020 structure (plans for the future made in 2010)

Answer 8

Regular army
-full time, volunteer, professional soldiers. Planned to be 82,000 troops

The army reserve
-new name of the Territorial Army since 2013. Part-time soldiers. Planned to be about 30,000 troops

Question 9

Logistics pre 1900

Answer 9

-until 1790s, food and transport was arranged by army commanders. Raided food supplies, requisitioned food stores from friendly suppliers and hired transport from contractors.

-1790s, Royal Waggoners created as uniformed army transport corps within the army. It was disbanded during peacetime.

-1855, logistics problems in Crimea calked for creation of the Military train. In 1888, this was renamed the Army Service Corps (ASC).

Question 10

During WW1, logitics became challenging. ASC had to supply food and petrol for:

Answer 10

-120,000 men, 50,000 horses and 1000 vehicles in 1914
-3,000,000 men, 500,000 horses and 90,000 vehicles in 1918

This meant that in 1918, ASC had 300,000 men working for it (10% of the Army). It was renamed the Royal Army Service Corps.

Question 11

Logistics in WW2 became…

Answer 11

…even more demanding.
-D-day (June 1944) was the biggest amphibious troop landing in history.

Question 12

Logistics from 1993 onwards

Answer 12

1993, RASC merged with Royal Logistics Corps (RLC) with 16,000 men and women. This made up 15% of the army.

2003, RLC planned logistics for Iraq: 45,000 troops with arms, tents, food, water and portaloos transported 3000km in 73 ships and 1200 aircraft flights.

Question 13

(Specialist troops) Explosive Ordnance Disposal (EOD)

Answer 13

WW2- some bombs didn’t explode so specialist troops were needed to make these safe. In 1940, 25 army bomb disposal units were formed, each with 16 men. Cleared 20 bombs in June, 100 in July and 300 in August.
-by the end of the year, another 109 teams were formed. In that year, 25,000 were made safe

Question 14

(Specialist troops) Explosive Ordnance Disposal units in recent wars

Answer 14

Dealt with land mines and IEDs
-in 1972, remote controlled robot invented by lieutenant-colonel Peter Miller. Used electrically operated wheel barrow to tow bombs to a place of safe detonation. Recently, these have become more complex, for example, British ‘Dragon Runner’ has pincers, digging arms, cameras and electronic jammers.

Question 15

(Specialist troops) how many EOD personnel and working sniffer dogs did the army have in 2015?

Answer 15

2,000 EOD personnel and 300 working sniffer dogs

Question 16

Total warfare

Answer 16

-whole population involved in the war effort
-all resources dedicated to war effort (scientific, technological and industrial)
-vast sums of money spent
-civilians targeted

Question 17

War of attrition

Answer 17

A prolonged period of conflict during which each side seeks to gradually wear down the enemy
-in WW1, German government collapsed because of protests against food shortages
-WW2, defeat of the Nazi nation rather than the military

Question 18

Chemical warfare and WW1

Answer 18

April 1915: Germans use Chlorine gas for the first time, killed 1250 troops
1915-18: French, British and German armies use chemical warfare (Chlorine, Phogane and Mustard gas)
By the end of the war: 90,000 killed and 1,000,000 injured by gas attacks

Question 19

Chemical warfare post WW1

Answer 19

1925 Geneva Protocol: 16 major nations pledge never to use chemical weapons

1997 Chemical Weapons Convention: 190 nations ban storing and using chemical weapons. Since then, 85% of stored chemical weapons have been destroyed.

Question 20

Atom bombs

Answer 20

Developed by US in 1945
Developed by USSR in 1949
MAD (mutually assured destruction) meant that if a bomb was dropped, both sides could be obliterated

Question 21

High technology equipment for infantry

Answer 21

-Body armour + a helmet with nightvision glasses and a personal radio
-Assualt rifle with telescopic sight, laser aiming and 30 round magazine
-grenade launchers fitted to rifles
-sometimes, machine guns firing 1,800 metres at 750 rpm

Question 22

High technology equipment for artillery/bombing

Answer 22

-ICBMs have range of over 5,500km; carry nuclear or conventional warheads; fired from land, ship, submarines and lorries.
-2016, Britain had 4 nuclear subs, each with 16 trident ballistic missiles
-stealth bombers, difficult to spot on radar. Cost $2 billion each
-drones: remote controlled aircraft without pilots, can be used to deliver bombs
-mobile artillery vehicles travel up to 30mph and fire satellite-controlled missiles

Question 23

Satellites

Answer 23

First sent to space in 1957
In Iraq wars in 1991 and 2003, they were used to:
-locate enemy troops and military targets
-predict weather conditions for planned military action
-photograph damage inflicted by attacks
-provide communication with and between troops units

Question 24

Impact of modern technology on tactics

Answer 24

-ICBMs and aircraft bombard enemy positions
-helicopters and motorised vehicles deliver infantry to the battlefield
-tanks, jets, attack helicopters and mobile artillery support infantry

Question 25

Impact of modern technology on strategy

Answer 25

1990s, it became clear that high-tech was most effective when coordinated, unlike blitzkrieg. Western powers develop ‘Revolution in Military Affairs’ (RMA). Commanders at headquarters control the fighting by co-ordinating!
-information and surveillance from satellites
-computer, video and radio communication with troops on the ground
-satellite-guided weapons, and video footage of damage inflicted by them

Question 26

Asymmetric warfare

Answer 26

‘Unequal wars between well-armed and less well armed opponents. Modern weapons have made asymmetric warfare because:

-high-tech weapons and equipment are expensive: a British challengerII tank costs £4,000,000 and a typhoon fighter jet costs £80,000,000. Only wealthy countries are well armed
-MAD: war between two well armed states would mean MAD

Question 27

Guerilla warfare

Answer 27

Less-well armed forces might use this against enemy troops occupying their land. Often unofficial armies with no uniform, letting them blend in with civillians.
Guerilla warfare involves avoiding major battles and using hit and run tactics. Conventional tactics are less effective against this