Practices_Land+warfare

__ War Always Leads to Innovation __ - Necessity for survival of the individual and the nation. - Focus on the defence industry. - Total War mobilizes a nation socially, economically and militarily in an all out effort to defeat the enemy.

__ What were the characteristics of the First World War? __ - Static, attrition oriented warfare after late 1914 on the Western Front - Trench warfare - Use of Gas - Tunnelling - Introduction of air power and tanks

__ Between the Wars __ Britain: - Introduction of the Ten Year Rule (1919) - Stipulated that Britain would not be involved in another global conflict for at least ten years, this lead to defence spending cuts and lack of innovation. - Started modernizing 1934-1939

France: - Tactical stagnation - Believed that any conflict fought would be similar to the last war - Development of the Maginot Line (1930-1940) - Series of fortifications along the border with Germany

Germany: - Treaty if Versailles left the military weak, she looked toward winning the next war as opposed to dwelling on the last. - Secret alliance with the Soviet Union - Spanish Civil War 1936

Soviet Union: - Secret alliance with Germany; access to German technical and tactical innovations. - Purges of the officer corps by Stalin

__ Use of Tanks __ Allies and the First World War: - Used to break the stalemate of trench warfare. - Primarily seen as infantry support weapons, most were slow and unreliable - The allied nations are at the forefront of development

Germany and the Second World War: - Concept of Blitzkrieg - High speed, precision advance using tanks, air power, motorized infantry and artillery - Hugely successful during the early years of the conflict

Britain and France during the Second World War - Initially viewed tanks in the same light as the First World War - Saw them as infantry support, not as an individual entity - French Campaign 1940

__ Tank Development __ - Initially allied tanks were a match for their German counterparts - German development quickly accelerated - Eventually came down to a matter of quantity over quality - German tanks were better quality but were too few in number - Soviet and US production too great

__ Small Arms __ First World War: - Soldiers equipped with slow firing bolt action rifles - Introduction of machine guns - Huge impact at the time but slow rate of fire by modern standards

Second World War: - Mass introduction of automatic weapons - Increased firepower for the individual soldier - Some Second World War technology still in use today - Introduction of the assault rifle

__ Uniforms __ First World War: - Uniforms were worn for the parade ground - Proved to be impractical for the field - Gradually developed into more modern standards

Second World War: - By the end of the conflict uniforms were far more modern - Better designed helmets - Widespread use of camouflage uniforms - Lighter materials used for greater comfort


 * Practises of the Second World War **


 * WW2 **


 * **Evolution of bomber**
 * High losses led to greater defensive capability
 * RAF mass raids at night
 * Formation flying for mutual support
 * Introduction of drop tanks for fighter
 * Development in bombing techniques for greater accuracy


 * **Strategic bombings**
 * Both sides extensively targeted civilian population and military installation
 * Hoped that the population would lose the will to work and fight –total war
 * Americans by day, Britain by night
 * Did not have the desired effect during the blitz or allied bomber offensive


 * **Jet air was introduced**
 * great strides were made in aircraft design during the conflict
 * Germany produced good ones but not enough


 * **Paratroopers**
 * First mass use of airborne troops
 * Used extensively by the Germans in early years of conflict
 * Invasion of Holland and Crete
 * Used extensively by the allies during d day and operation market garden
 * Used on a scale never seen before or again
 * Losses to high during mass operation to count


 * **Radar**
 * Radio detection and ranging
 * Early warning system
 * Basic by todays standard
 * Used extensively during the battle of Britain
 * Not just ground based, also fitted to night fighters


 * **Ballistic Missiles**
 * Brought in but not very precise
 * Used to create fear amongst civilians
 * Played a role in US space mission.