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There have in history not only been wars and battles of great importance, but ther have also been military organizations that played a major role in history. The most
obvious was the Roman Legion which for centuries served as the foundation of the Pax Romana and the Roman Empire. The Mongol armies dominated much of Asia, the Middle East, and Eastern Europe for centuries. The British Royal Navy played a key role in the establishment of the modern world. One force that might not easily come to mind is the Grand Army of the Republic, the army created by the U.S. Federal Government to win the American Civil War. In the 20th century
there were numerous military forces of considerable importance, including the American Navy, the Wehrmacht, the Luftwaffe, the Red Army, and the Japanese Navy were of great importance. Military forces are designed to project a country's power. Ironically, some powerful military forces can ultimately prove to actually reduce a country's security. The best example here is Kaiser Wilhelm's highseas fleet.
The most obvious important military force in history is the Roman Legion which for centuries served as the foundation of the Pax Romana and the Roman Empire. Rome's legions were th most effective military mchine of the ancient world. The Legioins under first the Republic and then the Emperor were the tip of the spear that spread Roman power and in its wake Roman civilization around the known world. The central force of a Roman legion was heavily armored and disciplined infantry. The Legionaries armed with the gladiusn fought in closely formed ranks against many disperate forces. The most dangerous opponent was Carthage. Many other opponents were less disciplined warrior-based military forces. The discipline, tatics, and tenacity of the Legions were able to defeat often much larger armies. In the end the key to the Legions' success was its ability to come to grips with an opposing force and bring steel forward in a highly efficent killing machine. Is is perhaps ironic that perhaps the single greates aspect of Roman culture that arived in the wake of the Legioins was Roman law.
The largest empire in world history is that of the Mongols, actually dwarfing that of Alexander and Rome. The Mongols in the West are often described as the "Mongol hordes", suggesting they gained their victories by overwealming numbers. In fact the Mongols often prevailed over much larger opposing military forces. They did, however, amass very large armies, probably up to 50,000-100,000, some report even larger forces. While the Mongols were a generally primitive nomadic people, they developed highly innovative military tactics. The Mongols developed very effective forms of battlefield communications (a system of horns and flags). This and the mobility provided by mounted warriors provided an element of speed that their opponents
could not match. Mongol warriors traveled light and carried little in the way of supplies. They could survive on their horses' blood and a dried milk paste. Mongol units might move 10 days without stopping to camp and make fire to prepare food. Their mobility and endurance was a major factor in the Mongol's ability in many
cases of defeating much larger armies. There were many other innovations. The Mongols had experienced subcommanders with the authority to make field decisions on the spot depending on battlefield conditions. This was critical for a military force based on light calvary. The mongol calvary were archers and light swordsmen. The Mongol calvary acted not unlike the German Panzers in World War II. They had the force to break through enemy lines and surround large infantry forces. The Mongols in contrast were never dependant on a supply trail, they lived on the land. They were more numerous and faster than any heavy calvary forces they
encountered. This meant that they could choose when and where to strike and were able to better control their forces with their superior battlefield communications. The archers gave them the ability to strike opposing heavy calvary at a distance. The Mongols did not have metal armour, but rather silk clothing and padded
protection which gave them greater fredom of movement and was surprisingly effective.
The Royal Navy was founded by Henry VIII in the 16th century and four the next four centuries has played a central role in modern history. It is no exageration to say that Royal Navy was the critical force in the creation of the modern world. The Royal Navy is common seen as an instrument of British colonialism and the suppression of many Asian and african peoples. This is certainly true. It is also true that the Royal Navy helped establish the modern world trading system. It broke up the closed international system established by Spain and Portugal and replaced it with a much more open system. The Royal Navy impact on the modern world is extensive and pervasive. The Royal Navy chartered sea lanes around the world. There are few ports and sea coasts that have not been touched in some way by the Royal Navy. The Royal Navy played an important role in the Indistrial Revolution. It helped to defeat series of opponents for the most part countries goverened by authoritarian or dictatorial rulers (Philip II, Louis XIV, Napoleon, Kaiser Wilhelm II, and Hitler). Thus the Royal Navy played a key role in establishing parlimentary democracies in the modern world. It was the Royal Navy that ended the slave trade. Although the Royal Navy played a major role in the Revolutionary war, it is also true that for much of the early history, the Royal Navy provided a shield from European interference behind which the American Republic developed. The prestige of the Royal Navy by the 19th century was such that the uniform of the British enlisted sailor became a standard outfit not only for British boys, but also for boys throughout Europe and North America.
One force that might not easily come to mind is the Grand Army of the Republic, the army created by the U.S. Federal Government to win the American Civil War.
The American Navy appered during the Revolutionary War. Although it could not begin to cpmpete with the vast Royal Navy, it did help to raise the cost of the War to the British. It was also the only naval force able to gain victories against the Britisg in individual naval combat, a record it repeated in the Warof 1812. The American Navy disapeared after te Wr and was not revived again until the war with the Barbary pirates at the turn of the 19th century. America did not begin to build a professional force until the Naval Academy in anapolis was founded (18??). The Navy played a role in the Mexican War abnd the opening of Japan. The Navy's primary accomplishment in the 19th century was its part in blocakading the Confederacy as part of the Federal Anaconda Plan. It was the American Navy that first deployed a modern iron vessel--the Monitor. American did not, however, begin building a modern navy until President Cleveland's Administration, a process subsequemtly furthered by President T. Roosevelt. After World war I, the British Royal Navy was no longer able to play its traditional role in controling the seas. After Pear Harbor (1941), a new vastly expanded American Navy took on that role and played a major role in the defeat of Japanese militarism and European Fascism.
The Wehrmacht was in the mind of many military historians the finest military force in modern history. It was also a vast criminal enterprise. Since the end of World War II there has been an effort to paint the Wehrmacht a a professional, not political force that was the victim of Hitler and the NAZIs. Nothing could be further from the truth. The German Army (tHe Reichwehr) became highly politicized following World War. Conspiracy theiries florished in the minds of officers and men who could not bring themselves to accept defeat. The leadership of the Reichwehr was never committed to German democracy and the Weimar Re;public. It should be rememvered that its was President Hindenburg, a Prussian Junker to the core, who brought Hitler to power. The faced with the threat of the NAZI SA, agreed to swear a personal oath of loyalty to Adolf Hitler. The Wehrmacht cooperated closely with the NAZIs to rearm Germany far beyonf that needed for defensive puroses. It is true that there was resistance with the Wehrmacht to Hitler's early aggressions, especially the seizure of the Sudetenland, but this was more out of fear that it would bring a disatrous war than the objectiion to the goal of seizing the German populated area. Hitler turned the Wehrmacht into his instrument of aggression, the invasion of neighboring countries and the seizure of their resources to support the German war mmachine. It was also the occupying military force estanlish the German conmtrol needed to conduct the Holacaust, a process that was to be continued with the Slavs in the East. It is true that the Holcaust itself was conducted by the SS and there were Wehrmacht officers who were horrified at NAZI attricities. It is also true that the Wehrmacht was deeply implicated in the Holocaust itself. And as the NAZI regime grew in strength, so did support for the NAZIs grow within the Wehrmacht. Only the impending defeat of Germany brought about an attempted, but failed coup (July 1944). The bulk of the Wehrmacht remained loyal to Hitler. The Wehrmacht's early success came because the German economy was converted to the production of a new generation of modern weapons effectively used in the concept of Blitzkrieg adopted by the Wehrmacht. The NAZI Party and Hitler Youth also effectively prepared young Germans for war. The Wehrmacht high-command did not resist the NAZIfication process. Many commanders subscribed to the syabbed-in-the-back" conspiracy theories. They saw NAZI indicrination as stiffening the backbone of the German soldier. The Wehrmacht's basic military concept was designed to use its superior equipment, supported by the Luftwaffe, and tactical doctrine to defeat opponents before they could adequately prepare. The NAZIs unfortunately for the Wehrmacht took the victories for a confirmation of the racial superority of the German people. Failure in the skies over Britain (1940) and before Moscow (1941) meant that two dangeous opponents were not defeated in quick lighting strokes. When Hitler inexplicably added America to German enemies, the fate of the Wehrmacht was sealed. Germany faced enemies who used the tactical doctrines Germany developed and backed them with far greater human and material resources.
The Germans during World War I created an air arm during World War I (1914-18). The airplane was first used in any significant way in World war I. It played a useful, but marginal ole. The Allies were able to outproduce the Germans, but both side made important technological strides. The German air ace the Red Baron (von Rictoff) was the most famous pilot of the War. When he was killed, Herman Goering took over command of the the Flying Circus. The German air forces were dissolved after the War, as required by the Treaty of Versailles. Even so the German military continued to develop technology through secret arrangements with the foreign countries. German companies built planes in other countries, especially the Netherlands. Glider clubs throughout Germany provided training for future pilots. The operations were expanded when the NAZIs seized control (1933). Soviets and Japanese. Adolt Hiter ordered Göring to formally establish thevLuftwaffe (February 26, 1935). The Versailles Treatu was still in force.
The Red Army was founded by Leon Trotsky and emerged victorious in the Civil War that followed the Revolution (1917). It provided the victory when enabled the creation of the Soviet state and rulling Cimmunist Party. That Party under the command of Stalin turned on the Red Army in a series of purges launched in 1937. Here the NAZIs appeared to have played a role in inspiring the purges. As a result of the purges the Red Army was severely weakened. None-the-less under Zukov they defeated the Japanese in an undeclared border war with Japan (1939). The Red Army also along with the Wehrmacht occupied Poland (1939), fought a war with Finland (1939-40), occupied the Baltic republics (1940), and seized areas of Romania (1940). The central event in the history of the Red Army was of course the Great Patriotic War. Hitler ordered the invasion of the Soviet Union--Operation Barbarossa (June 1941). The resulting military campaign was the most titantic military struggle in human history. The Red Army weakened by Stalin's purges and inept leadership was staggered by the German blitzkrieg, but with the help of the Autumn rains and then the Winter freeze, the Wehrmachy was stopped before Leningrad and Moscow (December 1941). The German battle plan was based on lightening strikes before the opponent could adequately prepare for war. Failure first against Britain (1940) and then the Soviet Union (1941) meant that the Germans were faced with a long war of attrition and with the entry of America into the War, an alliance with superior resources. In the end it was the Red Army that stopped the Wehrmachtt and blead it to the point that the Western Allies could cross the Channel and attack the Wehrmacht from the west. After the War, the Red Army was the instrument by which the Soviet Union established a Russian empire throughout Eastern Europe--compliant satellite regimes creating Soviet style totalitarian regimes.
The Japanese Imperial Navy (Nihon Kaigun) by 1941 was the dominant naval force in the Pacific. The Japanese had a large well-trained naby with excellent ships. There was no peace-time neglect as the British and U.S. navies experienced. The American Navy was aware that the Japanese had a modern effective navy, but did not fully understand the campabilities of the Imperal Navy or the danger posed by the sizeable carrier fleet. The Japanese Imperial fleet was superbly trained with outstanding night fighting capabilities. Not only was the fleet well trained and included modern vessels, many of the Japanese vessels and naval aircraft were supperior to American and British vessels in many aspects. Japan led the world in operational aircraft carriers and carrier aircraft. (The British in 1941 were still using Swordfish biplanes on their carriers and American planes, especially the fighters were slower and less manuerable. The Japanese Mitsubishi Type 00 fighter, the Zero, was both faster and more maneuverable than either the U.S. Navy carrier fighter, the Grumman F4F Wildcat. The full extent of the threat was in part obscured by American rascial sterotypes and wide-spread belief that the Imperial Navy was not an effective force. In reterospect, the only suprising question about the attack on Pear Harbor and Japanese offensive in the South Pscifiuc, is not how they succedded, but how America managed to stop the Japanese after only 6 months of victories. The two glaring weakeneses were the lack of radar and the ineffective fore supression systems. Not well understood is that Japan had a very substantial submarine fleet.
Military forces are designed to project a country's power. Ironically, some powerful military forces can ultimately prove to actually reduce a country's security. The best example here is Kaiser Wilhelm's highseas fleet. Germany in the mid-19th century was seen by Briton's as an ally and France as a security threat. Rhe British royal family was of German origins. Prince Albert himself was German. This view was altered by Kaiser Wilhelm II's aggressive foreign policy and boisterous, eratic behavior. This revised view was confirmed by the Kaiser's decession to build a highseas fleet. The major impact of the fleet was to seek alliances with Russia and France, Germany's historic enenies. The Kaiser's surface fleet played a very minor role in the War. The u-boat became Germany's primary naval weapon, yet the primary achievement of the uboat fleet was to draw Americ into the War, thus ensuring Germany's defeat. The Kregsmarine again played a minor role in World War II. The German surface fleet was a major disappointment to Hitler. The U-boat proved again to be Germany's primary naval threat.
The Continental Army in the Revolutionary War was the first truly national institution abd of course won independence from the Brirish Empire. The United States Army has played a major role in shaping our modern world. The Grand Army of the Republic held America together in the Civil War which meant that a united American was a major influence on the 20th century. The American Army played major roles in both World wars. American entered both wars without a large trained army and in both instances Germany made a fatefull gamble that they could win the war before the arrival of the Americans in force. When America declared war on Germany (April 1917) there was essentially no American Army. Although America only entered World war I in 1917, German Field Marshal Ludendorf was to say that it was the American infantry that was the decisive force in the West. Again when World war II broke out, the American Army consisted of only a small professional core. Devisive debates were held in the Congress over drafting a sizeable force (1940 and 1941). Only amonth before Pearl Harbor, the Congress almost ended the draft and allow those drafted to return home (November 1941). A journalist working in Britain recalls see the first boatload of American infantry arriving in Britaion (January 1942). They were an IOwa National Guard unit, the 43th infantry. They landed in Belfast still wearing the old World War I helmets. They were singing, ":Ioway--Ioway--Out Where the Tall Corn Grows". The journalist writes, "I hoped with all my heart that the men who led them knew what they were doing. They seemed a little dewy behinf the ears, almost surprised that they were overseas so far from Iowa where they might soon have to fight an ememy who wanted to kill them," [MacVane, p.75.] Few in this and subsequent units had any military experience. And they would soon be pitted against the battle hardened Wehrmact arguaably the most professional military in the history of warfare. They were in fact not prepared as the Panzers demonstrated at Kaserine (February 1943). They proved, however, to be fast learners and were backed by the emenese industrial capacity of the United states. Unlike World War I, the U.s. Army did not play the central role in deating NAZI Germany. Itv did play an important role in defeating the NAZIs and in preventing Western Europe from falling under the orbit of the Soviet Union.
We intend to create a page linking pages under progress on the military forces of individual countries. At this time we only have completed a page on German World War II military forces.
MacVane, John. On the Air in World War II (William Morrow and Company: New York, 1979), 384p.
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