History of the British Army
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The history of the British Army spans three centuries and numerous European , colonial and global wars . From the early 1800s to 1914, the United Kingdom was the greatest economic and imperial power in the world. Although this dominance was based primarily on the strength of the British naval forces , the Royal Navy , the British Army played an important role in it. In peacetime Great Britain generally had only a small land force made up of volunteers; it was only increased by the required amount in times of war . This is mainly explained by Britain's traditional role as a sea power . Since 1745, the British Army had played little or no role in British domestic politics and was rarely used in internal conflict.
The British Army was involved in many international conflicts in the centuries that followed, including the Seven Years War , the Napoleonic Wars , the Crimean War and the two World Wars . They made a great contribution to the expansion and maintenance of the British Empire . Then, during the later half of the 20th century, she oversaw the largely orderly disintegration of this vast empire. In the 1990s, the British Army was increasingly involved in multinational peacekeeping operations, which it has continued into the 21st century. Recently, they were also used for combat operations in Iraq .
The British Army has always been a pioneer in new military developments. It was the first army to develop and deploy tanks , and today's Royal Air Force originated in the British Army.
Origin (1661–1774)
→ cf. List of British infantry regiments of the early modern period
Before the English Civil War in 1642, there was no standing army in either England or Scotland . The troops were raised by the king if he needed them - a development that goes back to the feudal system , in which the nobles were obliged to raise a certain number of knights , mercenaries and peasants and place them under the king. During the Civil War, however, this practice turned out to be fatal, as Oliver Cromwell managed to win many soldiers for the parliamentary army. After the civil war and the establishment of the republic, parliament took control of the military. The army's first regiments were based on Oliver Cromwell's New Model Army . After his installation, King Charles II saw a cohesive, stable and unified army under himself and placed other regiments in the service of the crown. On January 26, 1661 , Charles II signed the official charter of the English Army . It has been known as the British Army since the Act of Union 1707 , which incorporated the Scottish regiments into the army .
As early as 1689, the English parliament had limited the monarch's influence on the military. It rejected a standing army in peacetime, as it could also serve the monarch as an instrument of domestic political power. By the Bill of Rights 1689 a standing army could only exist with the consent of parliament. Until today, the parliament has to approve the existence of the army annually, although it is now a purely formal act. Demands to completely withdraw control of the army from the monarch could not be enforced, so that to this day he is the sole commander in chief of the British Army. The last king to lead his troops into battle was George II at the Battle of Dettingen .
The units were originally named for their colonels, such as Sir John Mordaunt's Regiment of Foot , but a numbering system was introduced in 1751 whereby each regiment was given a number corresponding to the rank of commander in British society. John Mordaunts Regiment became the 47th Regiment of Foot . Between 1661 and 1774 the British Army grew steadily. During the Seven Years' War the British Army was already operating worldwide. She was involved in the Seven Years' War in North America (1754–62), the third Carnatic War in India (1756–62), the Operation in West Africa in 1758 and the invasion of the Philippines in 1762 . One of the British Army's major conquests was the capture of Québec .
American Revolution, Napoleonic Wars, and Long Peace (1774–1854)
The American War of Independence began in 1775, when the 13 North American colonies revolted against economic foreign control by the British motherland. At that time, however, there were also many Americans in the 13 colonies who advocated remaining in the United Kingdom, some of them armed. They have been called loyalists . Between 1776 and 1778, five American regiments were added to the British Army , known as the American Establishment . In addition to the Anglo-Americans, many Indian tribes also served under British command, although they were not regularly included in the army. Just as numerous were German mercenaries from Braunschweig and Hesse in the British Army .
After the American troops and their French allies hit the decisive blow with the successful siege of Yorktown in October 1781 , the war ends. Many loyalists were forced to flee to Canada , where several subsequently served in the British Army . Nevertheless, of the many units that were set up by the Army during the war in order to be able to secure the quick replacement of garrisons , all but three regiments were dismissed from service immediately after the war.
At the beginning of the 19th century, the British Army began to incorporate new technologies and tactics into its ranks. Probably the most important innovation was the introduction of rifles with rifled barrel , which, compared to the musket with its smooth barrel, had a higher accuracy and greater penetrating power, as well as the formation of entire regiments of light infantry and snipers , the so-called riflemen . This renewal gave the British Army the opportunity to act more agile and faster than was the case in the then usual formation warfare. The first light infantry regiments were the 43rd and 53rd Foot in 1803, but they were still armed with muskets. The first sniper regiment , the so-called Experimental Corps of Riflemen , which was introduced into the army in 1802 as the 95th Regiment of Foot, had already been set up for trial three years earlier . It was fully armed with the Baker Rifle and stood out from other regiments by the green color of its uniforms, the so-called rifle green . This regiment was used very often; especially during the Spanish War of Independence in mountainous regions.
Victorian era
Structure and use
From the middle of the 19th century to the beginning of the 20th century, Great Britain was the dominant world power with unrestricted supremacy. Although the Royal Navy is always cited as the main instrument in the expansion of the British Empire, the British Army also played a crucial role. The army was essential to defend the colonies against other nations and insurgents. However, the ground troops also played an essential role in the conquest of new colonies, as Great Britain wanted to control the territories far inland and therefore had to act outside the scope of the Royal Navy.
During the 25 years in command of Wellington there had been a stagnation in the development of the British Army. This was particularly evident in the Crimean War . Therefore, the new Commander in Chief Henry Hardinge, 1st Viscount Hardinge , was asked by Prince Albert to improve the training of the British Army. The Aldershot garrison ( The Home of the British Army ) was established in 1854 . In the course of the later Cardwell Reforms , a number of the old, often outdated, traditions of the army were abolished.
In contrast to the armies in France and Germany, the British army in the Victorian era was not a mass army and there was no conscription either . The British regiments were deployed in a rotation system at home or in the colonies. The stay of the infantry regiments in the colonies was mostly 20 years. Depot companies remained in their homeland, where the basic training of the recruits took place. In peacetime, the British Army was a cadre army, which in the event of war was reinforced by recruiting volunteers. After the Franco-Prussian War , reforms were carried out again in the British Army. The garrisons in the so-called white colonies (Canada, Australia, New Zealand) were disbanded, and these countries were made responsible for their own defense. On the one hand, this freed up troops and resources, and on the other hand, service in the army became more attractive because overseas deployments could be reduced.
Towards the end of the 19th century, there were two strong rival groups in the British Army with different ideas about defense policy: Garnet Joseph Wolseley's Ashanti ring stood for reinforcing British troops in the motherland in order to prepare for war against France or Russia in Europe to be. In contrast, Lord Roberts' group was in favor of strengthening British troops in India and seeking a decision against Russia there ( Great Game ). As a result of this dispute, among other things, the function of Commander-in-Chief of the British Army was replaced by the Chief of the Imperial General Staff .
By 1855 the British Army consisted of
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infantry
- 3 regiments of guard
- 85 line regiments
- 13 regiments of light infantry
- 2 regiments of riflemen
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cavalry
- 3 regiments of guards ( cuirassiers )
- 6 regiments of Guard Dragons (heavy)
- 4 heavy dragoon regiments
- 4 light dragoon regiments
- 3 hussar regiments
- 4 Uhlan regiments
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artillery
- 1 regiment of foot artillery
- 1 brigade of mounted artillery
The traditional distinction between heavy battle and light reconnaissance cavalry had been abolished twenty years earlier for economic reasons. He only expressed himself in the uniform and the names of the regiments. Both the heavy and the light regiments were used for reconnaissance and outpost services , but also for attack in battle.
After 1815 the army was involved in a large number of wars. With the exception of the Crimean War, these were considered "small wars", mostly "small imperial wars". These wars cost a lot of money and their outcome has often been questionable. The total cost of the Army and Fleet accounted for 47% of government spending in 1846. A third of the Army's cost was spent on garrisons overseas. From 1862 the British garrisons were withdrawn from the self-governing colonies - Canada, New Zealand and Australia - and assigned their own defense to them.
Crimean War
The Crimean War (also Orient War) took place from 1853 to 1856 between Russia on the one hand and the Ottoman Empire , France , Great Britain and from 1855 on Sardinia-Piedmont on the other. It began as the ninth Russo-Turkish War and was named the Crimean War because the longest and most decisive battles were fought over the Crimean peninsula . The Crimean War is considered the first modern trench warfare and in the technical sense modern war of world history . For the first time infantry units were used on the British side that were equipped with rifled rifles throughout ( Enfield Rifled Musket in caliber .577 inch (14.65 mm), introduced in 1853, effective range approx. 800 meters). Also new is the modern artillery with explosive grenades . The telegraph was also used for the first time and the railroad was used to replenish people and materials. The Crimean War was at the same time the first historically trench and trench warfare . Furthermore, with the death ride of Balaklava , the Crimean War put the use of the classic cavalry attack in question, as this was a losing proposition to modern automatic fire weapons.
Anglo-Afghan wars
The Anglo-Afghan Wars were three military interventions by the British Empire in Afghanistan between 1839 and 1919. The aim of these wars was to secure British supremacy in this area and to curb the expansionist efforts of the Russian Empire.
- First Anglo-Afghan War 1839 to 1842
- Second Anglo-Afghan War 1878 to 1881
- Third Anglo-Afghan War 1919
Opium Wars
The so-called Opium Wars were fought between Great Britain and the Chinese Empire of the Qing Dynasty in the mid-19th century . A distinction must be made between:
- The First Opium War (1839–1842) and
- The Second Opium War (1856-1860)
Sepoy riot
The Sepoy Uprising was an uprising against British colonial rule over India . He started on 10 May 1857 as a mutiny of sepoys of the garrison of Meerut . Its underlying cause was the widespread dissatisfaction of the Indian upper class with the growing cultural and religious influence of British imperialism . After the rebellion was put down, the British East India Company was disbanded as the British government saw its practices in treating the Indian population as the main cause of the uprising. The Company's territories were placed under the Crown and the Indian Army became the Army of the British Government of India. The company's so-called European regiments were subordinated to the British Army.
Ethiopia expedition of 1868
The British Ethiopia Expedition of 1868 was a punitive expedition directed against the Emperor of Ethiopia Theodor II . He felt provoked when he did not ask the British government to respond to his request for help in the wars with his neighbors. The British government initially tried to negotiate to find a solution to the conflict. When this proved unsuccessful, a force of 12,000 men was sent to the British Indian Army , commanded by Robert Cornelis Napier , with the aim of freeing the hostages held captive by the Negus . The expeditionary force landed in Zula on the Red Sea in December and marched south towards Theodor's capital Magdala . On April 13, 1868, there was a battle at the gates of the citadel, in which the defenders were driven away.
Zulu War
The Zulu War (1879) was a war between the people of the Zulu in South Africa and the British Empire. After the Zulu's initial successes, the British were able to win the war and the Zulu Empire ceased to exist as a sovereign state.
The powerful and belligerent Zulu state in the neighborhood appeared to the British at this time as a threat to their settlements in Natal and in the Transvaal ( South African Republic ). In January 1879, after an ultimatum, British colonial troops under Lieutenant General Lord Chelmsford invaded the Zulu Empire of King Cetshwayo from Natal . The British army consisted of 11,300 Europeans and 5,800 Africans. On January 22, 1879, part of the British middle division suffered a catastrophic defeat in the Battle of Isandhlwana . On the same day, at Rorke's Drift, 145 British were able to withstand the attack by about 4,000 Zulu of the UNdi Corps, under Prince Dabulamanzi kaMpande. For this fight 11 men were awarded the Victoria Cross. This is the largest number of Victoria Crosses ever awarded for a single battle. In the summer Lord Chelmsford began to restructure his troops. The British sent troops from across the Empire to South Africa during this period. The decision was made on July 4th at the Battle of Ulundi . After only half an hour, the Zulu attack collapsed in the fire of the technically superior British, who were equipped with artillery and Gatlings.
Occupation of Egypt
In the course of the suppression of the Urabi movement , Egypt was occupied by Great Britain in 1882. In September 1882, British troops under General Wolseley landed in Egypt in order to be able to ensure further economic and financial penetration of the country and, above all, control of the Suez Canal . On September 13, Orabi Pasha's army was defeated in the battle of Tel-el-Kebir and he himself was taken prisoner.
The Mahdi uprising in Sudan
In Sudan , which came under the rule of the Ottoman viceroys ( Khedives ) of Egypt from 1821, the Mahdi uprising began in 1881 . 1884/1885, the British Army led an operation to rescue Gordon Pasha and to the relief of Khartoum by the Mahdi through, called the Nile Expedition through. While the main force ( River Column ) under Garnet Joseph Wolseley advanced with steamers on the Nile , the so-called Camel Corps , under Sir Herbert Stewart , marched directly through the desert. British troops reached Khartoum on January 28, 1885, two days after it fell and Gordon was killed.
Since his appointment as sirdar (commander in chief) of the Egyptian army in 1892 , Horatio Herbert Kitchener had worked on the preparation of the Egyptian troops for the reconquest of Sudan. In 1896 the Anglo-Egyptian Nile Expeditionary Force , under his command, was finally put on the march. This initially carried out the occupation of northern Sudan in the Dongola campaign . On June 7, 1896, the battle of Firket took place and on September 23, Dongola fell. After the problem of long supply routes was resolved by building a railway line in the great arch of the Nile from Wadi Halfa to Abu Hamed from January 1897 , the Anglo-Egyptian army was able to advance further. From 1897 to 1898 the British marched further south in the Nile campaign . After several skirmishes, Kitchener defeated the Mahdists on September 2, 1898 at the Battle of Omdurman .
Boer War
The Boer War from 1899 to 1902 was a conflict between Great Britain and the Boer Republics of Orange Free State and Transvaal , which ended with the incorporation of the latter into the British Empire .
From December 1899 to January 1900 the British suffered several catastrophic defeats against the Boer Army. The tide turned for the British when General Buller was replaced by Field Marshal Frederick Sleigh Roberts and his Chief of Staff General Horatio Herbert Kitchener at the beginning of 1900 and 60,000 reinforcements arrived in South Africa. The cities besieged by the Boers were fought free and on June 5th the capital of the Transvaal, Pretoria , fell . Britain seemed to have won the war; Roberts returned to England and left Kitchener in command. But now the Boers changed their tactics and started a guerrilla war that was extremely costly for the British . Since an opponent operating in this way was hard to grasp in the conventional way, Kitchener employed a " scorched earth " strategy . In addition, Kitchener restricted the Boer guerrilla troops' freedom of movement. To this end, a system of log houses was first built along the railway lines and then across the entire country, and were occupied by small garrisons. On May 31, 1902, the Boer War was finally ended with the Peace of Vereeniging .
British Indian Army (1858-1947)
After the suppression of the Sepoy uprising , the British East India Company was dissolved in 1858 . The Company's territories were placed under the Crown and the Indian Army became the army of the British Government of India. The Indian Army at that time contained both British and Indian units. At the beginning of the 20th century, extensive reforms were carried out by the Commander-in-Chief Lord Kitchener . The Army of India consisted of 1903-1947:
- Troops of local soldiers with British officers ( Indian Army )
- British troops who were commanded to India for a certain period of time (20 years) ( British Army in India )
In the First World War 1.3 million and in the Second World War 2.5 million members of the Indian Army took part.
The First World War
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Even before the beginning of the First World War , Germany had questioned the supremacy of Great Britain. Since Great Britain had concluded alliances with France and Russia, the first military confrontation between the two states took place in 1914 . At the beginning of the war, the army had to be adapted to the conditions of the new war waged with mass armies. Therefore, Minister of War Horatio Herbert Kitchener launched a program for the creation of a mass army ( Kitchener's Army ). Over 900,000 British Empire soldiers were killed and about two million injured in the course of the war. In the Battle of the Somme alone , the British Army lost around 419,000 soldiers. The First World War was the war with the greatest losses in the history of the British Army. For the first time, technical innovations such as aircraft and tanks were used here, which would shape the face of later wars.
structure
Supreme command
The commander of the British Army ( Commander-in-Chief of the Forces was) the military / technical leader of the British land forces by mid-17th century to 1904 (see list of Chief of the British Army ). Due to the reorganization of the army administration, Lord Roberts resigned as Commander-in-Chief in 1904, which was no longer occupied. The function was later carried out by the Chief of the Imperial General Staff . The Chief of the Imperial General Staff or Reich General Staff was the Chief of the General Staff of the British Land Forces between 1908 and 1964. Since 1964 the military leader of the Army has been called the Chief of the General Staff .
Officers
The officers who had to be gentlemen were mainly recruited from the upper class, not necessarily from the nobility, mostly from sons who were born later. Skilled soldiers always had the opportunity to move up the hierarchy. Until 1871, officers of the Foot Guard regiments held a rank above theirs in the field with other units ( double rank ). Promotions to general ranks were based on seniority.
Purchase of officers' certificates
The purchase of (very expensive) officer patents was possible until November 1871. Up until the reform of 1844, direct entry into higher ranks was possible, which resulted in completely incompetent commanders losing battles. From 1844 on, in order to be able to buy a captain's patent, one had to have served as a lieutenant for at least two years. Only those who had six years of service could advance to major. After the purchase of patents was restricted, the number of officers trained in cadet institutions increased and thus more professional.
| Officer's license prices (1844) in £ | |||||
| unit | Lt. Colonel | major | Captain | Lieutenant | Ensign / Cornet |
| Life guards | 7250 | 5350 | 3500 | 1785 | 1260 |
| Royal Horse Guards | 7250 | 5350 | 3500 | 1600 | 1260 |
| cavalry | 6175 | 4575 | 3225 | 1190 | 840 |
| Foot guards | 9000 | 8300 | 4800 | 2050 | 1200 |
| infantry | 4540 | 3200 | 1800 | 700 | 450-500 |
The last officer who had bought his entry-level patent left in January 1910.
Teams
The service obligation was usually "voluntary" and lifelong. Especially during times of war, however, attacked the responsible for recruiting agents who were given a bounty to various tricks to soldiers forcibly recruiting . Recruits received an entry bonus ( King's Shilling ). During the Napoleonic Wars, until 1829, limited hours of service were introduced to attract a better breed of recruits. That was 7 years in the infantry and 12 years in the cavalry. The Enlistment Act 1870, part of the Cardwell reforms, introduced 12 years of general service. Six years of active service and six years as a reservist were done; a ratio that was later changed to seven to five years.
As everywhere in Europe, at the end of the 18th century the “profession” of the soldier was extremely underestimated and was only attractive to the poorly reputed classes. Wellington spoke of his soldiers as " scum of the earth ". The soldiers were mostly drunk even when they were on duty. Brothels were set up within Indian garrisons until 1897 . As in Prussia in the time of Frederick the Great, discipline had to be maintained by the strictest measures.
In peacetime, teams (1878) received ¾ lb. of food every day. Meat and 1 lb. Bread . Twelve men had 37 lb. To share coal as well as the 2 3/16 gill of oil distributed per 18 men. Vegetables and other dishes had to be bought. In the field it would have been 1½ lb. Bread or rusks, add 16 oz. Fresh or salted meat , if available. There was also two ounces of rice and two ounces of sugar , one ounce of coffee or ¼ oz. Tea , with fresh vegetables or dried potatoes . In India the rations were higher. Instead of coal there was wood . The uniform with a woolen red tunic was characteristic. The name redcoats (" red coats ") for the soldiers is derived from him. This tunic turned out to be impractical in the tropical colonies because it was not only visible from afar, it was also much too hot. From around 1850, starting in India, brownish uniforms became common, at least in combat operations. The khaki clothing, introduced at regimental level especially overseas, in isolated cases since 1849 and reinforced from 1879 onwards, became standard for everyday use in the motherland in 1902, whereas it had already been prescribed for all overseas service since 1896.
Artillery and Pioneers
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The Artillery ( Royal Artillery ) and the Pioneers ( Royal Engineers ) existed until 1855 with an independent command structure under the Board of Ordnance. After that they were subordinate to the War Office as part of the army. Since 1793 a distinction had been made between the mounted Royal Horse Artillery and the lighter units of the Foot Artillery . Initially, the units were named after their commanders, from 1899 the system was changed. The 21 (1898) mounted units were now designated by letters (A – U), the more numerous foot units were numbered (planned were 103, plus 10 mountain batteries). From 1899 to 1924 a distinction was made between field and fortress artillery. The mounted and field batteries usually consisted of six guns with a corresponding train. Around 1900 a normal battery had five officers, nine NCOs and 148 men, plus local drivers in the colonies .
There were two separate careers within the engineer troops . For officers the Royal Engineers, for men the Royal Sappers and Miners. After being placed under the War Ministry, there was only the Corps of Royal Engineers from 1856 . The usual tactical unit was the field company, which in peacetime (1898) consisted of three officers, 22 non-commissioned officers and 160 men. In the field they were expanded to six officers, 34 non-commissioned officers and 171 men. At the turn of the century there were the following battalions: 18 for fortresses, 12 underwater miners, four surveyors and two for railroad service. There were also smaller special units for telegraphy , aeronauts , etc.
The Royal Wagon Train took care of the supplies until 1833 . It was not until the Crimean War that a separate supply unit was set up again with the Land Transport Corps , which was then called the Military Train until 1869 . This was followed by the division into Army Service Corps for men and Control Department for officers, which was called Commissariat and Transport Department from December 1875 . Both organizations were merged again in 1888 as the Army Service Corps. The units usually operated as independent companies.
Mediciners
An effective medical service only came about through the work of Florence Nightingale in the face of the horrors of the Crimean War . Doctors as officers were members of the individual regimental staffs until 1873. The medical soldiers belonged to the Army Hospital Corps, founded in 1855, respectively. the Medical Staff Corps . The separation ended with the creation of the Royal Army Medical Corps in 1898.
literature
- David Woodward: Armies of the World 1854-1914. London 1978, ISBN 0-283-98243-8 .
- David Chandler: The Oxford Illustrated History of the British Army. Oxford 1994, ISBN 0-19-869178-5 .
- Haythornthwaite, Philip J .; The Colonial Wars Source Book, London 1995, ISBN 1-85409-196-4 .
See also
- Armament of the British Army until the First World War
Web links
Individual evidence
- ↑ The british Interlude ( Memento of the original from August 24, 2012 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. on Multiply
- ↑ Nicholas Mansergh: The British Commonwealth, p. 229 ff
- ↑ a b c d e Haythornwaite (1995), p. 29f.
- ↑ a b Haythornwaite (1995), pp. 30-2.
