Big Wars and Small Wars The British Army and the Lessons of War in the 20th Century

The book sets out to show how in the 20th century the British army has learnt lessons from one war in order to prepare for the next. For the British Army in the twentieth century the challenge has been particularly great as it has never had the luxury of emerging from one major European war and then preparing itself for the next but has always has to reckon with ongoing commitments to a range of "small wars" that included after 1902 and again after 1918 colonial campaigns, counter-insurgency operations between 1945 and 1969 and almost predominantly since 1990 peace support operations. As the Army's current doctrine is still that by preparing for major war it also enables itself to prepare for lesser conflicts, this volume explores the historical dimension to this debate and offers analyses by the most prominent experts in the field including Hew Strachan, Edward Spiers, David French, Paul Cornish, Daniel Marston, David Benest, Simon Ball and Colin McInnes.
This book will be of great interest to students of military history and strategic studies, in general, and of particular interest to students of the British Army and British military doctrine.

This is a fascinating new insight into the British army and its evolution through both large and small scale conflicts. To prepare for future wars, armies derive lessons from past wars. However, some armies are defeated because they learnt the wrong lessons, fighting new conflicts in ways appropriate to the last. For the British Army in the twentieth century, the challenge has been particularly great. It has never had the luxury of emerging from one major European war with the time to prepare itself for the next. The leading military historians show how ongoing commitments to a range of ‘small wars’ have always been part of the Army’s experience. After 1902 and after 1918 they included colonial campaigns, but they also developed into what we would now call counter-insurgency operations, and these became the norm between 1945 and 1969. During the height of the Cold War, in 1982, the Army was deployed to the Falklands. Since 1990 the dominant tasks of the Army have been peace support operations. This is an excellent resource for all students and scholars of military history, politics and international relations and British history.

Acknowledgements Introduction - Hew Strachan Between the South African War and the First World War, 1902-14 – Edward M. Spiers Big Wars and Small Wars between the Wars, 1919-39 – David French Learning new lessons: the British Army and the Strategic Debate, 1945-50 – Paul Cornish Lost and Found in the Jungle: the Indian and British Army Jungle Warfare Doctrines for Burma, 1943-45, and the Malayan Emergency, 1948-60 – Daniel Marston Aden to Northern Ireland, 1966-76 – David Benest The Unchanging Lessons of Battle: the British Army and the Falklands War, 1982 – Simon Ball The Gulf War 1990-91 – Colin McInnes

Strachan, Hew