Collision of Empires: Britain in Three World Wars, 1793-1945

800 Pages·2003·23.129 MB·English

by  A.D. Harvey

COLLISION OF EMPIRES
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COLLISION OF EMPIRES
BRITAIN IN THREE
WORLD WARS, 1793-1945
A.D. HARVEY
THE HAMBLEDON PRESS
LONDON AND RIO GRANDE
Published by The Hambledon Press, 1992
102 Gloucester Avenue, London NW1 8HX (U.K.)
P.O. Box 162, Rio Grande, Ohio 45672 (U.S.A.)
ISBN 1 85285 078 7
© A. D. Harvey 1992
A description of this book is available from the
British Library and from the Library of Congress
Typeset by Midlands Book Typesetting, Loughborough
Printed on acid-free paper and bound in
Great Britain by Cambridge University Press
Contents
Contents v
Introduction xiv
PART ONE: THE GREAT WAR WITH FRANCE, 1793-1815
Outline: 1793-1815 3
1 Britain at War with France 5
2 The Industrial Revolution at War 28
3 Britain at War with Europe 79
4 Wellington’s War 112
5 Venetian Oligarchy or Vacuum 163
PART TWO: THE FIRST WORLD WAR, 1914-1918
Outline: 1914-1918 203
6 Britain’s Entry into the First World War:
A Study in Motives 205
7 The War against Militarism and Imperialism 257
8 Towards the Economics of Total War 272
9 The War of the Generals 302
10 Armageddon in the Machine Age 364
11 The War of the Transitional Dictatorships 428
VI Collision of Empires, 1793-1945
PART THREE: THE SECOND WORLD WAR, 1939-1945
Outline: 1939-1945 485
12 Right against Right 487
13 The War of the Super-economies 529
14 The War of Technology 570
15 The Strategy of Long Views and Wide Margins 600
16 The Correct Use of Air Power 641
17 The War of the Plebiscitary Dictatorships 709
Envoi 757
Index 759
PART ONE
THE GREAT WAR WITH FRANCE
1793-1815
Outline: 1793-1815 3
1 Britain at War with France 5
I Causes or Occasions 5
II The Occasion of War 6
III The Ideology of the War 12
IV The Objectives of the War in the 1790s 15
V The War against Napoleon 17
VI Unofficial War Aims 23
2 The Industrial Revolution at War 28
I Assessing Britain’s Wartime Economy 28
II Population and Wealth: Some International
Comparisons 30
III The Evidence of Tax Statistics 32
IV Industrialization and Boom 39
V Mobilizing National Resources 43
VI The Contribution of Technology 50
VII The Contribution of Industrial Production 54
VIII International Comparisons: External Trade 57
IX A Key Resource: Money 62
X The Paper System 69
viii Collision of Empires, 1793-1945
3 Britain at War with Europe 79
I The European Response to British Policy 79
II The Case for Action against Britain 84
III The Armed Neutrality of 1800 90
IV Copenhagen, 1807 97
V The Continental System 102
VI From Isolation to Triumph 109
4 Wellington’s War 112
I The Elusive Strategic Pattern 112
II The Problem of Strategic Control 114
III Command of the Sea 119
IV The British Army: A Profession of Amateurs 127
V Military-Naval Cooperation 131
VI The Continental Commitment 133
VII The Duke of Wellington 136
VIII Wellington’s System: Logistics and Repression 143
IX Wellington’s Logistics and the Logic of Success 158
5 Venetian Oligarchy or Vacuum 163
I The British Political System during the French Wars 163
II Government and Party in the 1800s 168
III The Structure of Public Opinion 175
IV George III as National Symbol 181
V Alternative Symbols 185
VI The War and the Established Order 187
VII The War and National Consensus 195
Contents ix
PART TWO
THE FIRST WORLD WAR
1914-1918
Outline: 1914-1918 203
6 Britain’s Entry into the First World War:
A Study in Motives 205
I Problems of Agenda 205
II Views from the Other Side 206
III Voices of the People 208
IV The Standard Excuses: Belgium and the Entente 213
V Parallel Cases: Turkey 221
VI Parallel Cases: Italy 224
VII Parallel Cases: Greece 232
VIII Parallel Cases: Portugal 234
IX Last Parallel Case: The United States 238
X The British Case 246
XI Psychological Crisis and the Decision for War 249
7 The War against Militarism and Imperialism 257
I The War against Prussianism 257
II The New Eastern Question 261
III The Cause of the Small Nationalities 264
IV Democracy versus Autocracy 267
8 Towards the Economics of Total War 272
I The Scale of the War 272
II The Failure of Forward Planning 277
X Collision of Empires, 1793-1945
III The Evolution of the British War Economy 282
IV Britain and the Allies 288
V Foreign Parallels: Russia and Austria-Hungary 295
VI The German War Economy 298
9 The War of the Generals 302
I Some Images of the Great War 302
II New Ideas and the Old Guard 304
III Careers Open to Talent 308
IV Left-Overs from Queen Victoria’s Little Wars:
Kitchener and Hamilton 317
V Sir John French 328
VI The New Professionalism 334
VII Sir Douglas Haig 340
VIII The New Warfare of the Industrial Era 349
IX Learning the Lessons of War 354
X The Military Mind Confronts Reality 357
10 Armageddon in the Machine Age 364
I Improved Ways of Killing 364
II The Machine Gun 365
III Gas 376
IV The Tank 380
V The Image and Achievements of Air Power 386
VI The Birth of Bombing 392
VII Aeroplanes and the War of the Trenches 403
VIII The Battle for Air Supremacy 409
IX The Air Lobby 418
X The Mind and the Machine 425
11 The War of the Transitional Dictatorships 428
I The Instability of the Old Order 428
II Opposition to War Governments 430