Total War from a Naval Prospective During the Napoleonic Wars
As warfare developed in the 20th century, many historians began to view the extreme commitment of resources and strategies to completely defeat an adversary as the beginning of a new type of warfare: total war. The sheer violence and scope of both World War I and World War II make them prime examples of total war. Keith Nielson points to World War I as a prime example of total war for many reasons: “[T]he conflict of 1914-1918 was a total war that involved the belligerents in all phases of their national existence and faced military decision makers with new and complex problems.” While it is difficult for many historians to find a previous war in history comparing in style of warfare
…show more content…
He arrives at this position by first arguing that the scope of warfare changed dramatically during the Napoleonic Wars, contrary to what many historians believe: “Some historians persist in thinking of the eighteenth century as a time of uncontrolled conflict that fed directly into the excesses of 1792-1815. In doing so, however, they disregard the astonishing increase in the scope and intensity of warfare in the French Revolution[.]” Bell delivers several arguments as to why the French during the Napoleonic Wars adhere to the definition of total war, but quickly dismisses the British Royal Navy of the same time period in his argument. He notes that while decisive naval battles battles such as The Battle of Trafalgar occurred, the changes in naval warfare were arguably moot in comparison to land warfare by the French. Bell furthers his argument by dismissing naval warfare as total war because Great Britain is the only country which experienced significant changes to its naval branch. His latter view can be easily dismissed as insufficient as he bases the premises of his book on solely France when it comes to land warfare. As for the former argument, this is a research question worth exploring: Did the …show more content…
Broers believes that one cannot argue for the Napoleonic Wars being considerably different than others in the same era as most wars in this time period acknowledged mass slaughter as a normal occurrence, not as a special case. In addition, even though Broers admits a levée occurred during the French Revolution, he saw the levée not in the way Bell argued: “As R. R. Palmer pointed out long ago, however, levée has another, more profound meaning, that of a mass rising, a phenomenon quite the reverse of conscription.” While Broers and other noted historians have found flaws in Bell’s claims, Broers does not immediately refute the notion that total war transpired during the Napoleonic Wars. However, rather than land warfare being the deciding factor, Broers points to naval warfare: “Not surprisingly, the Royal Navy developed ships with hulls far more maneuverable than those of rival fleets. At the battle of Trafalgar these hulls gave the British superior maneuverability over the French and Spanish, and this was arguably what turned the engagement in their favour. Ultimately, Trafalgar was won in large part because of superior technology, but no major land battle was.” In this quotation, Broers implies that Bell too quickly dismisses the Royal Navy as a way to strengthen his argument. Moreover, there are many reasons to use naval warfare as the primary
Militarism, the glorification of the military, affected most of Europe at the turn of the twentieth century as demonstrated by Documents 1 and 7. Military spending in three of the major powers in Europe, Great Britain, France, and Germany, more than doubled per capita from 1870 to 1914, according to Document 1. Great Britian and Germany in particular were involved in an arms race with each other. Germany attempted to build a navy to rival Great Britian’s, whose navy was considered the best in the world at the time, and Great Britian responded by improving on their own navy. In the rest of Europe, countries were building up their stores of weapons, including rifles, bombs, and artillery, causing international
Most of them had also confronted the Wehrmacht’s formidable fighting power during the disastrous 1940 campaign in France while the experiences of British forces in North Africa and Libya against Field Marshal Erwin Rommel it did so much to diminish their respect for the German military capabilities. After the war, Brooke put the situation in these terms. He said, That he had found Marshall's rigid form of strategy very difficult to cope with. He said that he had never really fully appreciated what operations in France would mean the different type of training of German divisions as opposed to the rawt traiining American divisions and to most of our new divisions. He could not appreciate the Germans could reinforce the point of attack some three to four times faster than we could, nor would he understand that until the Mediterranean was open again we should always suffer from a crippling shortage of sea
The British Naval Forces were seizing ships not just from America but from other European Nations as well. However, what really angered the American government was how they, British Naval Forces, were not just seizing the ships but “[insulting] and [injuring] the American seamen’ (Chapter 6: The War of 1812). Understand by no means was France doing much different, they did stop some American ships from going through, however, Great Britain was by far the primary offender due to its “greater command of the sea” (Chapter 6: The War of 1812). Another insult to the American people, seamen, and American Government was when the Royal Navy captured American seamen and forced them into working for the Royal Navy. Due to this treachery President Madison went to Congress on June 1st, 1812 and asked “for a Declaration of War” even though the British complied with the demands of the American Government (War of 1812 -
3. As Europe marks 200 years since Napoleon’s french army was defeated at the battle of WaterLoo. The french
England was the home to one of the first Professional Armies and they proved quite useful. The New Model Army was used against Charles I and the cavaliers in many battles and was vital for the Roundhead’s cause in the Civil War. England started to become a noticeable European power after
The War of 1812 went well for the British, but that wasn't the same story in the Battle of Thames. The British lose and Tecumseh dies in the Battle of Thames. These were major events that occurred in the 1800’s.
Joe Haldeman’s The Forever War shows us how dehumanizing war can be in a science fiction story through the eyes of William Mandella, a Physicist that is drafted into the forever war. Throughout the war Mandella feels like there is something off about the war. Mandella keeps learning more and more about how unsafe the war is for him and the rest of his team. Some things he learns consists of dying from some of the collapsar jumps because of the speed, and the unsafe body armor that can blow you to pieces if you are not careful. With Mandella knowing this it makes him worried, but after a couple hundred earth years of traveling the universe in a ship that goes light speed and fighting an alien enemy that is more advanced than him he doesn’t worry
Why was WW1 a “total war“ ? In this essay, I am going to analyze why War One (28 July 1914 to 11 November 1918) was a total war by emphasizing the economical, military and political and social characteristics of the First World War. These characteristics are part of the definition of a “total war“. A total war is defined as “A war that is unrestricted in terms of the weapons used, the territory or combatants involved, or the objectives pursued, especially one in which the laws of war are disregarded“ .
The British Generals were crude and ill equipped for the large scale war they fought. From the British empire, under General Haig’s control, 8,904,467 soldiers were deployed. Out
Do the wars of the ancien régime and/or French Revolution include the elements you identified in question 1? The wars of the ancien régime were destructive and could produce mass casualties. The Thirty Years’ War, for example, produced mass devastation but it is not considered a total war because societies were not mobilized against an enemy and dedicated to the complete destruction of that enemy.
“...every Afghan story is marked by death and loss and unimaginable grief” (395). Afghanistan is overwhelmed with casualties and agony due to the event of war. In the novel A Thousand Splendid Suns, Author, Khaled Hosseini explains the life of two women, Mariam and Laila, who live in Afghanistan. Mariam and Laila experience unfortunate events due to the war; certainly, it affects them greatly. Thus, the theme of the effects of war develops throughout the novel by showing war has the ability to impact individuals, families, and society.
During the course of this essay, the significance of the Somme will be examined in terms of territory, casualties, Anglo (BEF)-French relations, tactics, technology, the contribution of empire forces, supplies and logistics
The Civil War. The Napoleonic Wars. The Hundred Years’ War. The Vietnam War. The Korean War.
Introduction It is well-known fact that as human beings we need guidance in life. That specific guidance that was there for our ancestors, is here for us and it will be for our descendants, is history. Even though there have been events in history which ended happily, the ones which had the biggest impact on our lives were the ones which occurred through battles and wars. One of the most important episodes in the history of Great Britain is the one during which the War of the Roses happened.
This book provided me with an in-depth analysis of the final months of the Great War. The combination of personal experiences and strategic tactics used by the Triple Entente to combat Germany was especially engaging. The book gave me an opportunity to appreciate the