The Great War Generals on the Western Front 1914-18

The Great War Generals on the Western Front 1914-18 PDF Author: Robin Neillands
Publisher: Constable
ISBN:
Category : Biography & Autobiography
Languages : en
Pages : 578

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Book Description
Many Great War histories tell the reader what happened on the Western front but few spell out why. In this book, the author looks at the battles through the eyes of the generals who were charged with winning them and examines the accusations that have surrounded them for over 70 years. The tragedy of the death toll on the Western Front gives weight to the argument against them, but what were the near unsurmountable problems that stood between the generals and final victory? How much of what the general public believes about the First World War is really true? This book aims to illuminate the bitter controversy.

The Great War Generals on the Western Front 1914-18

The Great War Generals on the Western Front 1914-18 PDF Author: Robin Neillands
Publisher: Constable
ISBN:
Category : Biography & Autobiography
Languages : en
Pages : 578

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Book Description
Many Great War histories tell the reader what happened on the Western front but few spell out why. In this book, the author looks at the battles through the eyes of the generals who were charged with winning them and examines the accusations that have surrounded them for over 70 years. The tragedy of the death toll on the Western Front gives weight to the argument against them, but what were the near unsurmountable problems that stood between the generals and final victory? How much of what the general public believes about the First World War is really true? This book aims to illuminate the bitter controversy.

British Generalship on the Western Front 1914-18

British Generalship on the Western Front 1914-18 PDF Author: Simon Robbins
Publisher: Routledge
ISBN: 0415350069
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 258

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Book Description
This book explores the British Army's response on the Western Front to a period of seminal change in warfare. In particular it examines the impact of the pre-war emphasis on worldwide garrison, occupation and policing duties for the Empire's defence of the mindset of the Army's leadership and its lack of preparation for a continental war involving a massive, unplanned increase in men and material. The reasons for the poor performance in the early years of the war, notably professionalism within the British Army, including poor staff work, 'trade unionism', careerism within the high command, and the tendency of an overconfident hierarchy to ignore the need for reform to tackle the tactical stalemate prior to 1916, are analysed. The high command rapidly learnt from the defeats of 1915-16 and performed much better in 1916-18, an especially formative period resulting in the promotion of a younger, more professional leadership and the development of the first truly modern system of tactics which has dominated wars ever since. During 1917-18 the Army's commanders and staff evolved and improved these new methods; developing a doctrine of combined arms to overcome the tactical stalemate bedevilling Allied offensives.

Battle Tactics of the Western Front

Battle Tactics of the Western Front PDF Author: Paddy Griffith
Publisher: Yale University Press
ISBN: 9780300066630
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 310

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Book Description
Historians have portrayed British participation in World War I as a series of tragic debacles, with lines of men mown down by machine guns, with untried new military technology, and incompetent generals who threw their troops into improvised and unsuccessful attacks. In this book a renowned military historian studies the evolution of British infantry tactics during the war and challenges this interpretation, showing that while the British army's plans and technologies failed persistently during the improvised first half of the war, the army gradually improved its technique, technology, and, eventually, its' self-assurance. By the time of its successful sustained offensive in the fall of 1918, says Paddy Griffith, the British army was demonstrating a battlefield skill and mobility that would rarely be surpassed even during World War II. Evaluating the great gap that exists between theory and practice, between textbook and bullet-swept mudfield, Griffith argues that many battles were carefully planned to exploit advanced tactics and to avoid casualties, but that breakthrough was simply impossible under the conditions of the time. According to Griffith, the British were already masters of "storm troop tactics" by the end of 1916, and in several important respects were further ahead than the Germans would be even in 1918. In fields such as the timing and orchestration of all-arms assaults, predicted artillery fire, "Commando-style" trench raiding, the use of light machine guns, or the barrage fire of heavy machine guns, the British led the world. Although British generals were not military geniuses, says Griffith, they should at least be credited for effectively inventing much of the twentieth-century's art of war.

Victory through Coalition

Victory through Coalition PDF Author: Elizabeth Greenhalgh
Publisher: Cambridge University Press
ISBN: 1139448471
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 322

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Book Description
Germany's invasion of France in August 1914 represented a threat to the great power status of both Britain and France. The countries had no history of co-operation, yet the entente they had created in 1904 proceeded by trial and error, via recriminations, to win a war of unprecedented scale and ferocity. Elizabeth Greenhalgh examines the huge problem of finding a suitable command relationship in the field and in the two capitals. She details the civil-military relations on each side, the political and military relations between the two powers, the maritime and industrial collaboration that were indispensable to an industrialised war effort and the Allied prosecution of war on the western front. Although it was not until 1918 that many of the war-winning expedients were adopted, Dr Greenhalgh shows that victory was ultimately achieved because of, rather than in spite of, coalition.

The British Army and the First World War

The British Army and the First World War PDF Author: Ian Beckett
Publisher: Cambridge University Press
ISBN: 1107005779
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 485

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Book Description
A comprehensive new history of the shaping and performance of the British army during the First World War.

British Logistics on the Western Front

British Logistics on the Western Front PDF Author: Ian M. Brown
Publisher: Praeger
ISBN:
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 288

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Book Description
This work examines the evolution of the British Expeditionary Force's (BEF's) logistic and administrative infrastructure in France and its impact on operations. In so doing, it challenges the popular notion of British generals as bungling incompetents by analyzing an all too often ignored, but crucial, facet of military campaigns. While the BEF may be found wanting in some areas, administration was not one of them. The British generals proved themselves to be thoroughly modern professional officers in the manner in which they solved the ongoing crises that attended the explosive growth of the BEF and its artillery-intensive style of warfare. This study reinvigorates the debate about World War I by examining the understudied field of logistics.

The Chief

The Chief PDF Author: Gary Sheffield
Publisher: Aurum
ISBN: 1845137345
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 342

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Book Description
‘Well written and persuasive …objective and well-rounded….this scholarly rehabilitation should be the standard biography’ **** Andrew Roberts, Mail on Sunday ‘A true judgment of him must lie somewhere between hero and zero, and in this detailed biography Gary Sheffield shows himself well qualified to make it … a balanced portrait’ Sunday Times ‘Solid scholarship and admirable advocacy’ Sunday Telegraph Douglas Haig is the single most controversial general in British history. In 1918, after his armies had won the First World War, he was feted as a saviour. But within twenty years his reputation was in ruins, and it has never recovered. In this fascinating biography, Professor Gary Sheffield reassesses Haig’s reputation, assessing his critical role in preparing the army for war.

Seeking Victory on the Western Front

Seeking Victory on the Western Front PDF Author: Albert Palazzo
Publisher: U of Nebraska Press
ISBN: 9780803287747
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 268

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Book Description
Palazzo's study is convincing in demonstrating that the British military command was not, contrary to the common belief, unwilling to adapt innovations in technology for use on the battlefield."-Virginia Quarterly Review.

British Generalship on the Western Front 1914-1918

British Generalship on the Western Front 1914-1918 PDF Author: Simon Robbins
Publisher: Routledge
ISBN: 1134269676
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 414

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Book Description
This book explores the British Army's response on the Western Front to a period of seminal change in warfare. In particular it examines the impact of the pre-war emphasis on worldwide garrison, occupation and policing duties for the Empire's defence of the mindset of the Army's leadership and its lack of preparation for a continental war involving a massive, unplanned increase in men and material. The reasons for the poor performance in the early years of the war, notably professionalism within the British Army, including poor staff work, 'trade unionism', careerism within the high command, and the tendency of an overconfident hierarchy to ignore the need for reform to tackle the tactical stalemate prior to 1916, are analysed. The high command rapidly learnt from the defeats of 1915-16 and performed much better in 1916-18, an especially formative period resulting in the promotion of a younger, more professional leadership and the development of the first truly modern system of tactics which has dominated wars ever since. During 1917-18 the Army's commanders and staff evolved and improved these new methods; developing a doctrine of combined arms to overcome the tactical stalemate bedevilling Allied offensives.

Directing Operations

Directing Operations PDF Author: Andy Simpson
Publisher: Spellmount, Limited Publishers
ISBN:
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 310

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Book Description
"This is the first book to deal with the role of British corps command on the Western Front in the Great War. It is also a significant contribution to the debate on the BEF's learning curve from 1916 to 1918. Taking a chronological approach, it analyses how corps' role changed as the war went on, beginning simply as a post-box for relaying orders from above to the divisions below." "In attempting to answer the question, who ran the War and how? Directing Operations is essential reading for any student of the British army in the Great War."--BOOK JACKET.