Author: Spencer Jones Publisher: University of Oklahoma Press ISBN: 0806188065 Category : History Languages : en Pages : 310
Book Description
The British Expeditionary Force at the start of World War I was tiny by the standards of the other belligerent powers. Yet, when deployed to France in 1914, it prevailed against the German army because of its professionalism and tactical skill, strengths developed through hard lessons learned a dozen years earlier. In October 1899, the British went to war against the South African Boer republics of Transvaal and Orange Free State, expecting little resistance. A string of early defeats in the Boer War shook the military’s confidence. Historian Spencer Jones focuses on this bitter combat experience in From Boer War to World War, showing how it crucially shaped the British Army’s tactical development in the years that followed. Before the British Army faced the Boer republics, an aura of complacency had settled over the military. The Victorian era had been marked by years of easy defeats of crudely armed foes. The Boer War, however, brought the British face to face with what would become modern warfare. The sweeping, open terrain and advent of smokeless powder meant soldiers were picked off before they knew where shots had been fired from. The infantry’s standard close-order formations spelled disaster against the well-armed, entrenched Boers. Although the British Army ultimately adapted its strategy and overcame the Boers in 1902, the duration and cost of the war led to public outcry and introspection within the military. Jones draws on previously underutilized sources as he explores the key tactical lessons derived from the war, such as maximizing firepower and using natural cover, and he shows how these new ideas were incorporated in training and used to effect a thorough overhaul of the British Army. The first book to address specific connections between the Boer War and the opening months of World War I, Jones’s fresh interpretation adds to the historiography of both wars by emphasizing the continuity between them.
Author: Spencer Jones Publisher: University of Oklahoma Press ISBN: 0806189614 Category : History Languages : en Pages : 263
Book Description
The British Expeditionary Force at the start of World War I was tiny by the standards of the other belligerent powers. Yet, when deployed to France in 1914, it prevailed against the German army because of its professionalism and tactical skill, strengths developed through hard lessons learned a dozen years earlier. In October 1899, the British went to war against the South African Boer republics of Transvaal and Orange Free State, expecting little resistance. A string of early defeats in the Boer War shook the military’s confidence. Historian Spencer Jones focuses on this bitter combat experience in From Boer War to World War, showing how it crucially shaped the British Army’s tactical development in the years that followed. Before the British Army faced the Boer republics, an aura of complacency had settled over the military. The Victorian era had been marked by years of easy defeats of crudely armed foes. The Boer War, however, brought the British face to face with what would become modern warfare. The sweeping, open terrain and advent of smokeless powder meant soldiers were picked off before they knew where shots had been fired from. The infantry’s standard close-order formations spelled disaster against the well-armed, entrenched Boers. Although the British Army ultimately adapted its strategy and overcame the Boers in 1902, the duration and cost of the war led to public outcry and introspection within the military. Jones draws on previously underutilized sources as he explores the key tactical lessons derived from the war, such as maximizing firepower and using natural cover, and he shows how these new ideas were incorporated in training and used to effect a thorough overhaul of the British Army. The first book to address specific connections between the Boer War and the opening months of World War I, Jones’s fresh interpretation adds to the historiography of both wars by emphasizing the continuity between them.
Author: Eversley Belfield Publisher: Leo Cooper Books ISBN: Category : South African War, 1899-1902 Languages : en Pages : 232
Book Description
Reissued at a time when South Africa faces another turning point in its history, this account of the Boer War, first published in 1975, sets out and explains the complex workings and issues of a war that was for Britain in many ways the prelude to World War I.
Author: Martin Bossenbroek Publisher: Seven Stories Press ISBN: 1609807480 Category : History Languages : en Pages : 464
Book Description
The Anglo-Boer War (1899-1902) is one of the most intriguing conflicts of modern history. It has been labeled many things: the first media war, a precursor of the First and Second World Wars, the originator of apartheid. The difference in status and resources between the superpower Great Britain and two insignificant Boer republics in southern Africa was enormous. But, against all expectation, it took the British every effort and a huge sum of money to win the war, not least by unleashing a campaign of systematic terror against the civilian population. In The Boer War, winner of the Netherland's 2013 Libris History Prize and shortlisted for the 2013 AKO Literature Prize, the author brings a completely new perspective to this chapter of South African history, critically examining the involvement of the Netherlands in the war. Furthermore, unlike other accounts, Martin Bossenbroek explores the war primarily through the experiences of three men uniquely active during the bloody conflict. They are Willem Leyds, the Dutch lawyer who was to become South African Republic state secretary and eventual European envoy; Winston Churchill, then a British war reporter; and Deneys Reitz, a young Boer commando. The vivid and engaging experiences of these three men enable a more personal and nuanced story of the war to be told, and at the same time offer a fresh approach to a conflict that shaped the nation state of South Africa.
Author: Jay Stone Publisher: ISBN: 9780819166524 Category : Military art and science Languages : en Pages : 0
Book Description
This volume contends that the Boer War had a far greater impact upon British military reform than previously appreciated. The study concludes that had there not been the Boer War then quite possibly the First World War might have turned out differently. To support this judgment the Boer War is itself examined in terms of its impact on numerous and diverse fields of military concern. Co-published by arrangement with Atlantic Research and Publications, Inc.
Author: Martin Marix Evans Publisher: Osprey Publishing ISBN: Category : History Languages : en Pages : 168
Book Description
Martin Marix Evans' splendidly detailed account of the events of the Boer War, a conflict which marked a turning point in the development of military technology. Complete with first-hand accounts, and over 150 contemporary maps and photographs.
Author: Zara S. Steiner Publisher: London : Macmillan ISBN: Category : Europe Languages : en Pages : 320
Book Description
Taking into account the scholarship of the last 20 years, this new edition rejects recent arguments that Britain went to war out of either weakness, fear of an "invented" German menace, or fears for the Empire. Instead, while placing greater emphasis than before on the role of Russia, Zara S. Steiner and Keith Neilson maintain the view that Britain was forced into the war in order to preserve the European balance of power and Britain's favorable position within it.
Author: Spencer Jones Publisher: ISBN: 9781914059988 Category : Languages : en Pages : 400
Book Description
This book is the latest volume of Spencer Jones's award-winning series which examines the British Army on the Western Front year-by-year.
Author: Phil Tomaselli Publisher: Bright Sparks ISBN: Category : Great Britain Languages : en Pages : 52
Book Description
"The Boer War was engaged in by British forces between Waterloo and the First World War. Troops from Britain and the Empire were sent to South Africa and tens of thousands of young men joined volunteer units to serve Queen and Country. This booklet suggests ways of researching the soldiers and sailors who saw action during the war"--Back cover.
Author: Spencer Jones
Author: Spencer Jones
Author: Eversley Belfield
Author: Martin Bossenbroek
Author: Jay Stone
Author: Martin Marix Evans
Author: Zara S. Steiner
Author: Spencer Jones
Author: Phil Tomaselli
Author: Anthony King