War at the Dawn of the 20 th Century: The Emergence of Total War 1 Lesson 4.

War at the Dawn of the 20th Century:The Emergence of Total War

1

Lesson 4

Lesson Objectives

• Build a foundation for understanding the wars of the 20th century.

• Understand and describe the concept of Military Revolutions and how they have impacted the evolution of modern war.

• Describe how weapon technology changed the character of war at the beginning of the 20th century.

• Define total war and describe its roots in the 19th century.

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Which War?

3

Which War?

4

Which War?

French infantry - 19145

Which War?

Petersburg VA 1865

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Two Concepts

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Military Revolution

Total War

Military Revolution

Concept first introduced by

Michael Roberts

The Military Revolution 1560-1660

Lecture first delivered at Queen’s University, Belfast, 1955

• Gunpowder influenced changes in strategy & tactics

• Significant increase in size of armies

• Increased human & material cost of war

Richard Kagan, in a review ofThe Military Revolution: Military Innovation and the Rise of the West, 1500-1800 by Geoffrey ParkerReviewed in Journal of Interdisciplinary History (Spring 1989)

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Military Revolution

9

“ ‘radical military innovation . . . that fundamentally changes the framework of war’ …

Lt Col Anthony C. Cain, USAFReview of The Dynamics of Military Revolution, 1300–2050 edited by MacGregor Knox and Williamson Murray, 2001

“… involving social, political, and military cultures and organizations … in ‘uncontrollable, unpredictable, and unforeseeable” patterns of change that render former systems and methods obsolete or irrelevant ‘

Produce Significant Change at the Strategic Level of War

Military Revolutions

Napoleonic RevolutionLand Warfare RevolutionNaval Revolution

Infantry RevolutionArtillery RevolutionRevolution of Sail and ShotFortress RevolutionGunpowder Revolution

Interwar Revolutions in Mechanization, Aviation, and Information

Nuclear Revolution

Ten

Andrew F. Krepinevich“Cavalry to computer: the pattern of military revolutions”The National Interest, Fall 1994

10

16th-18th Centuries

19th Century

20th Century

Military Revolutions


19th Century


Infantry RevolutionArtillery RevolutionRevolution of Sail and ShotFortress RevolutionGunpowder Revolution

Interwar Revolutions in Mechanization, Aviation, and Information

Nuclear Revolution

Ten

11

Linear Warfare18th Century

12

Battle of Fontenoy Belgium, 1745

Napoleonic RevolutionLate 18th to early 19th century

Levee en masse produced huge armies

Tools of Industrial Revolution supported large armies

Also:

New, large formations: division, corps

• Spirited, motivated “citizens”overcame obstacles

• Losses not a significant factor

A13

Exploited artillery & gunpowder revolutions

• Technology produced lighter, more mobile artillery

• Standardized artillery “systems”

Land Warfare RevolutionMid- to late-19th century

Quantum leaps in mobility, firepower, communications

• Rifled firearms, machine guns

A14

Brown BessClassic Musket

Statistics:

• Length varied: 58” to 62” (1.47 m to 1.57 m)

• Weight: about 10 pounds (4.5 kg)

• Caliber: 0.75 inch (19 mm)

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19th Century Firearms

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Brown Bess .75 cal c 1740 - Effective Range: ~ 100 m

M1842 Springfield Musket .69 cal - Effective Range: ~ 100 m

Flintlock

Percussion cap

Rifled Firearms

Transition from musket to rifle

Needed some method to ease

loading of a rifled projectile

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In History, Things Aren’t Always What They Seem

The Battle of Bunker Hill not fought on Bunker HillThe Minié Ball … wasn’t!

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In History, Things Aren’t Always What They Seem

The Minié Ball … wasn’t!

The Minié Ball

A19

The Minié Ball

As used in the Civil War,

• Not invented by Minié

• Not a ball

, and

A20

The Minié Bullet

Developed by French officer, Claude Minié

1848

21

Burton BulletDeveloped by James H. Burton

Harpers Ferry, c. 1849

Minié Bullet Burton Bullet 22

Burton Bullet

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19th Century Firearms

Brown Bess .75 cal c 1740 - Effective Range: ~ 100 m

M1842 Springfield Musket .69 cal - Effective Range: ~ 100 m

M1861 Springfield Rifle .58 cal - Effective Range: ~ 400 m

Civil War Tactics

"The Circle of Modern War" and logo© Thomas D. Pilsch 2007-2013 (

Civil War Tactics (YouTube: 7:38)

Rifled FirearmsBreech Loading

Springfield M1873 Rifle .45 cal - Effective Range: ~ 400 m

Springfield M1873 Carbine.45 cal - Effective Range: ~ 300 m

“Trapdoor” Springfield

7th Cavalry weapon at the Little Big Horn

Rifled FirearmsMagazine Loading

French Lebel M1886

http://www.sbhac.net/Republica/Fuerzas/Armas/Infanteria/Fusiles/Fusiles.htm 27

Tubular Magazine (8 Rounds)

8 mm - Effective Range: ~ 500 m

Rifled FirearmsMagazine Loading

Epitomized by the

Mauser Gewehr M1898

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7.92 mm - Effective Range: ~ 500 m

Mauser M1898 Gewehr

World Gunshttp://world.guns.ru/rifle/rfl02-e.htm

Clip & chamber

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Machine Guns

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Gatling Gun

http://static.howstuffworks.com/flash/machine-gun-gatling.swf31

Hiram Maxim

1840-1916

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Maxim Gun

Invented in 1884

First adopted by the British in 1889 33

Maxim Gun

Recoil-driven Operation

• Force of recoil opens bolt and cocks weapon

Recoil Mechanism Demonstration

Belt-fed

• Initially cloth belts

• Later metal links

Ammunition Feed System Demonstration

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(click on trigger)

(click on trigger)

History of the Maxim Gun

"The Circle of Modern War" and logo© Thomas D. Pilsch 2007-2013

Tales of the Gun: Early Machine Guns (YouTube: 25:02-32:21)

Maxim GunWidely Deployed

Russian Sukolov 1910 German MG1908

US M1917 Browning British Vickers Gun 36



• Rifled firearms, machine guns

A

, rifled artillery

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Artillery

Breech Loading

Stronger steels

Smokeless powder (more powerful)

Improved recoil mechanisms

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Breech Loading

Naval Ordnance and Gunneryhttp://www.eugeneleeslover.com/USNAVY/GUN-BARL-CONSTRUCTION-1.html

Fixed Ammunition: Cartridge provides tight seal

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Improved Metallurgy

Naval Ordnance and Gunneryhttp://www.eugeneleeslover.com/USNAVY/GUN-BARL-CONSTRUCTION-1.html

Stronger metals allowed thinner breeches, barrels

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“French 75”

M1897 75mm cannon

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Recoil Mechanisms

Recoil Mechanisms

Demonstration

http://canonde75.free.fr/photos/freintir/freinrecul.swf

French 75

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Late 19th Century Artillery

"The Circle of Modern War" and logo© Thomas D. Pilsch 2007-2013

3:09



Intensity, scope of warfare increased

• Rifled firearms, machine guns, rifled artillery

• Railroads enhanced mobility, supply

• Telegraph facilitated massing of forces

• Campaigns of constant maneuver

• Economic instrument of power more relevant

A44

• Production infrastructure became a target of war



Intensity, scope of warfare increased

Battles produce massive casualties

• Rifled firearms, machine guns, rifled artillery

• Railroads enhanced mobility, supply

• Telegraph facilitated massing of forces

• Campaigns of constant maneuver

• Emergence of Total War

• Tactics not adapted to firepowerA45

because …

Naval RevolutionLate 19th, early 20th century

Technology-driven:

• Steam power (first reciprocating, then turbine)

A46

Naval Advancements

USS Monitor - 1862

Speed: 8 knotsTwo cylinder single expansion steam engine

Propulsion

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Naval Propulsion

Single Expansion Steam Engine

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Naval Advancements

USS Monitor - 1862

USS Maine - 1895

Speed: 8 knots

Speed: 15 knots

Two cylinder single expansion steam engine

Triple expansion steam engine

Propulsion

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Naval Propulsion

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Naval Advancements

HMS Dreadnaught - 1906

USS Monitor - 1862

USS Maine - 1895

Speed: 8 knots

Speed: 15 knots

Speed: 21 knots

Two cylinder single expansion steam engine

Triple expansion steam engine

Propulsion

Steam turbine51

Naval Propulsion

Steam Turbine

Rotor

Coupled Turbines 52


Technology-driven:


• Iron, later steel hulls

• Long-range rifled artillery

A53

Naval Advancements

USS Monitor - 1862

Two 11 in smoothbore ML

Armament

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Naval AdvancementsArmament

Turret, USS Monitor c 186255

Naval Advancements

USS Monitor - 1862

USS Maine - 1895

Four 10 in riflesSix 6 in rifles


Armament

56


5 in. gun position, USS Olympia57

Naval Advancements


USS Monitor - 1862

USS Maine - 1895

Ten 12 in/45 rifles

Four 10 in riflesSix 6 in rifles


Armament

58


Large caliber gun turret, c 190059


All big-gun battleship (Dreadnaught)


60


Technology-driven:

Expense favored large powers




A61

Rush of Technology

HMS Dreadnaught - 1906USS Monitor - 1862

Ten 12 in/45 riflesTwo 11 in smoothbore ML

62

Speed: 8 knots Speed: 21 knots

SE-5 - 1917 F-4 Phantom II - 1961

Speed: 1,200+ mphSpeed: 138 mph

+ 44 years

+ 44 years




Submarines

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Technology-driven:

Expense favored large powers




Emergence of submarine, self-propelled torpedo

• Spawned submarine blockade as new form of war

A64

Submarine Development

David Bushnell’s Turtle

First submarine attack against a warship

HMS Eagle - New York harbor, 1776 (unsuccessful)65


CSS Hunley

First successful attack against a warship

USS Housatonic - Charleston, 1864

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USS Holland c 1897

First submarine to combine internal combustion engine for surface propulsion and electric motor for underwater

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Submarines

USS Holland - 189768

Military Revolutions Late 19th Century

Land Warfare Revolution

All the significant weapons of World War I were in place:

• Breech loading rifled artillery

• Machine gun

• Full power rifle

• All big-gun fast battleship

• Submarine

Naval Revolution

69

Total War

A war that is unrestricted in terms of the weapons used, the territory or combatants involved, or the objectives pursued

US Military Dictionary

Military conflict in which the contenders mobilize all of their civilian and military resources in order to obtain a complete victory.

Britannica Concise Encyclopedia

A military conflict in which nations mobilize all available resources in order to destroy another nation's ability to engage in war.

Wikipedia

especially one in which the laws of war are disregarded. ,

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Total War

French Revolutionary Wars 1792-1802

Total war: one in which the whole population and all the resources of the combatants are committed to complete victory

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• Levée en Masse - 1793

• “Nation in arms”

Total War

… and thus become legitimate military targets ...


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U.S. Civil War• Sheridan’s Shenandoah Valley Campaign - 1864-65

• Atlanta - 1864

• Sherman’s Georgia Campaign - 1864

1861-1865

resources

Total War



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… and the laws of warfare are ignored.

20th Century Wars• Aerial Bombardment • Submarine Warfare • WMD

Total War



Hugh BichenoOxford Companion to Military History 74

… and the laws of warfare are disregarded.

(Our Working Definition)

Characteristics of Total War

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TOTAL mobilization of society

HUGE armies

MASSIVE casualties & destruction

Economic Instrument of Power paramount!

High loss of life

Insatiable material requirements

Infrastructure & productivity disrupted

Lesson 5

WWI: 1914 -The Lights Go Out Across Europe

Next:

76

Lesson Objectives

• Understand and be able to discuss the major causes of World War I.

• Be able to describe the opening moves of the war in Europe.

• Be able to describe the Schlieffen Plan and its modifications prior to August 1914.

• Begin to understand why the opening moves of the war did not go as anyone planned.

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End

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Rush of Technology

HMS Dreadnaught - 1906USS Monitor - 1862

Ten 12 in/45 riflesTwo 11 in smoothbore ML

80

Speed: 8 knots Speed: 21 knots

SE-5 - 1917 F-4 Phantom II - 1961

Speed: 1,200+ mphSpeed: 138 mph

+ 44 years

+ 44 years

War at the Dawn of the 20 th Century: The Emergence of Total War 1 Lesson 4.

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Transcript of War at the Dawn of the 20 th Century: The Emergence of Total War 1 Lesson 4.