OCR History revision notes: 'The Changing Nature of Warfare' Chapter 1 Unit 3 - the development of strategy
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Course
The Changing Nature of Warfare (Y315)
Institution
OCR
Key revision notes for unit 1.3, 'the development of strategy, the aims of campaigns and their determination', from the OCR History course 'The Changing Nature of Warfare '.
1.3 The development of strategy (aims and outcomes)
Strategy: ‘the art of planning and directing overall military operations’.
Grand Strategy: ‘an overall plan for winning a war’.
1. Economic strategy (blockades, bombing, use of superior resources)
Napoleonic Wars:
British strategy sought to use economic might to defeat France, while avoiding large-scale
commitment of ‘boots on the ground’ in continental Europe
o British wealth was used to subsidise allied armies in coalitions to engage France
militarily
o This strategy was highly costly + the coalitions Britain financed had limited successes
for many years
Napoleon recognised that a naval strategy could not defeat Britain, so turned to economic
warfare with the 1806 Continental System
o This meant persuading/forcing his allies to put an embargo on British exports to
Europe
o This would hit Britain’s economy and make it much harder to continue the subsidies
paid to its allies (around £65 million), as well as bringing social unrest
o The Continental System was counterproductive
The loss of Britain as a trading partner did more damage to the economies
of France & its allies more than it did to Britain’s
Anger at the System weakened Napoleon’s ties with his allies
It led to overextension/imperial overreach – Napoleon mistakenly
attempted to enforce the ban by invading Russia, which drained him of
manpower and resources (decisive in the outcome of the war of the 6 th
coalition?)
American Civil War:
in 1861 the Union implemented a blockade of Southern ports
o The disruption caused by the blockade hit supplies of Southern cotton to Europe,
damaging the South’s economy
o Debate about the effectiveness of the blockade – ¾ of all attempts to evade it
succeeded
o Others have argued it exacerbated inflation, made it more difficult to replace raw
materials, and - while not airtight - created a situation where the South could not
hope to win a lasting conflict
One aspect of Grant’s grand strategy = an attack on the southern homelands, waging brutal
economic warfare
o Sherman’s march to the sea (November – December 1864) involved economic
destruction of key elements like railways
o Sherman marched from Atlanta to Savannah, using scorched earth tactics as he
went:
200 miles of railroad, $20 million civilian property, $180 million military
property destroyed
, First World War:
Allies used economic warfare to blockade Germany (able to do this due to supremacy of
British Royal Navy). Blockade lasted from 1914 to 1919; considered a key element in
outcome of the war
o No cargo destined for Germany allowed to reach its destination; even foodstuffs
considered a ‘contraband of war’
o Devastating impact on German economy, which before the war had relied v. heavily
on imports (approx. 25-30% of food was imported pre-1914)
o By 1915 Germany’s imports had fallen by 55% from its pre-war levels
o Blockade made a large contribution to the outcome of the war. Shortages of vital
raw materials e.g coal ––> Germans unable to produce as many war-supplies
o Food shortages led to starvation among the German people. Debatable how many
starved but many thousands went hungry = loss of morale on home front and
among troops
o The German home front collapsed because of the British naval blockade & war
became unsustainable; no choice but to surrender
Germans tried to counter the blockade with the U-boat, technology capable of subverting
British naval superiority
o Could be devastating (sinking of the Lusitania)
o Generally ineffective – 1917 British adopted the ‘convoy system’ which successfully
countered the U-boats
o Policy of ‘unrestricted submarine warfare’ introduced in 1917 provoked USA into
entering the war; counterproductive, like the Continental System
The Second World War:
German submarine war on Atlantic supply routes scored early successes. Churchill: ‘U-boat
peril’. Battle of the Atlantic
o Attempt to starve Britain into submission
o Big impact on amount of dry cargo reaching Britain
U-boat tactics
o Wolf-pack tactics developed to target Allied ships
o USA initially slow to catch on to idea of convoy system – number of ships lost
increases when America joins the war
Allies regain initiative in the Battle of the Atlantic in 1943
o Germans lack aircraft carriers
o Convoy system limits losses
o German production is slow
Allied bombing campaign sought to diminish Germany’s war capacity by targeting industrial
centres
o Allied air supremacy enabled them to destroy the Luftwaffe but also much of
Germany’s war economy
o Bombing reduced industry, lines of communication, and oil production
Heavy bombing raids on Germany affected its industrial capacity (but not decisively?)
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