The Changing Nature of Warfare 1792–1945 - Unit Y315 Sample Essay plan on the topic of Battlefield Tactics. Written by student who achieved a top A* in 2018
‘Battlefield tactics remained unchanged.’ How far do you agree with this view of the period
from 1792 to 1945?
Certainly, a number of tactics (the use of armed forces in a particular battle), namely full frontal
assaults, manoeuvre, and guerilla tactics, remained fundamentally unchanged throughout the
period… However, it could also be argued that defensive tactics underwent significant developments,
particularly towards the end of the period in WW1, and finally that the tactics of combined operations
(coordination of multiple kinds of
Strong argument that offensive tactics remained unchanged throughout the period
● Full frontal assaults widely used throughout period, with battlefield attacks seen in WW1 often
fundamentally identical to those in the Napoleonic Wars
○ Eg. 1914 Battle of Mons Germans advanced in attack columns against strong British
rifled positions
○ Tactically identical to: Jemappes 1792 - Enthusiastic and overwhelming bayonet
charges of men
● Fact that identical tactics seen throughout other wars during this period, for example
■ Franco-Austrian War - Solferino (1859) bayonet charges in columns against
opposing infantry and artillery
■ ACW - Pickett’s charge at Gettysburg in 1863 involved Lee sending Pickett,
Pettigrew and Trimble’s divisions across 2 km of open ground against fortified
union positions
■ Russo-Japanese - Siege of Port Arthur (1904) General Nogi literally hurled
consecutive waves of troops against the walled Russian defenses (leading to
almost 58,000 Jap. casualties)
○ ...proves that the use of full-frontal assault tactics were both widely used and remained
identical throughout this period
● Manoeuvre
○ Ulm 1805 Napoleon used a series of complicated inter-corps manoeuvres to encircle
and capture General Mack’s 27,000 Austrians troops
○ Blitzkrieg WW2: 1940 defeat of France - motorized forces outflanked French defensive
lines, allowing them to cut the Allied forces in half and successfully encircle both
○ Franco-Prussian War: Battle of Sedan 1870 Prussians quickly outflanked the French
and encircled them in a ‘mouse trap’, forcing Napoleon III to surrender the 104,000
troops trapped inside the city
○ ACW: During 1863 Vicksburg campaign, Grant employed three major diversionary
feints to confuse the Confederates, while moving the bulk of his army down the west
bank of the Mississippi and conducting a huge amphibious crossing.
● Thus, the fact that tactics of full frontal assaults and manoeuvre remained fundamentally
identical throughout this period make it clear that offensive battlefield tactics remained
unchanged
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