Inter War Years

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Inter War Years

• Major Rascon

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Learning Objectives

• Comprehend why the interwar period represented
  only an armistice rather than genuine peace or
  international stability by describing attempts at
  peace and why they failed
• Know and explain the bases of American
  isolationism in 1920s - 30s, and the resultant
  impact on defense preparedness
• Know and explain the doctrine of defense, with
  emphasis on the Maginot philosophy and the
  thoughts/contributions of Liddell Hart

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Reference

• Dupuy and Dupuy, The Encyclopedia of Military
  History, pp. 1027 1050
• Preston and Wise, Men in Arms, pp. 278 294
• Ropp, War in the Modern World, pp. 275 313
• Weigley, The American Way of War, pp 223 - 265

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Attempts at Peace

• The Aftermath
• - High costs of War in human and material
• - New attitude of revulsion against war
• - Need to recover and build a system to prevent
  war again
• Out come of peacemaking endeavors
• - League of Nations principle of collective
  security
• - Disarmament not total, but a limit on Arms

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Attempts at Peace Contd

• True peace or a 20-year cease-fire
• -Temporary, shallow peace
• - No practical solutions

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Americans Withdraw

• Isolationism
• - Avoid being dragged into war again
• - Return to prewar strengths
• - US its own best guarantor of peace
• Isolationism deepens as the Depression years
  unfold
• - Economic problems
• - Reduction of military
• - Anti-military service sentiment appears
• Defense preparedness takes a back seat

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Doctrine of Defense

• An outgrowth of post-World War 1 reaction
• Passive security dominates military thought
• - Maginot Line in France
• - Fortified with integrated firepower
• - Created false sense of security
• - Stifled offensive planning

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Composition of Forces

• Land Forces
• Interwar Armies adjusted according to results of
  WWI
• Reforms made by losers to avoid previous failures
  
• Victors - returned to pre-1914, colonial type
  forces
• Vanquished Countries developed new weapons

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Composition of Forces

• Sea Forces
• Principle Navies United States, Britain, Japan,
  France and Italy
• Adopted attitudes towards new weapons was
  conditioned by traditional position and potential
  enemies
• Future roles of battleships, aircraft, and
  submarines obscured by technological uncertainty
• Confusion reflected in naval conferences
• Washington - 1921, Geneva - 1927, London - 1930
  1935

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Air Forces

• Sought to achieve independent Roles
• Air demonstrations of potential military value at
  every opportunity
• Technological advances slow until early 30s
• Deterrence not practical until after 1935

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Theorists

• Britain- where strongest against the incompetent
  way the war was fought on the Western Front
• Theorists included
• - Admiral Sir Herbert Richmond
• - Major General J.F.C Fuller
• - Captain B. H. Liddell Hart
• General Mitchell, U.S.- air power
• Major C.D. Barrett, U.S first manual for
  landing operations
• Colonel DeGaulle, France armor in France

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National Armed Forces, U.S. (Land)

• Machine Gun recognized, Truck, Tank and Plane not
  fully appreciated
• National Defense Act of 1920 - reverted to
  mobilization plans of 1927
• Infantry Army envisioned, but no selective
  service
• Isolationism - Army cut to 119,000 men

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National Armed Forces, U.S. (Sea)

• Navy revived 1916 program - rendered most ships
  under construction obsolete
• Navy concentrated on Carriers and Air Ships -
  conference limitations on Battleships
• Later returned to building battleships to balance
  fleet
• Amphibious Warfare developed by USMC

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National Armed Forces, U.S. (Air)

• Army Air Service championed by General Billy
  Mitchell (wartime hero)
• Mitchell ahead of times - eventually sacked for
  disobedience
• Later, Mitchells claims were evaluated and Army
  Air Corps was established
• Strategic Bombing Doctrine Developed
• and the B-17 prototype tested

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National Armed forces, Britain (Land)

• British Army followed colonial heritage, fought
  mechanization
• Growth extremely slow, despite Fuller and Hart
  publication in 1929 of army field manual
• Result - British tanks technically superior to
  Germans, but were attached to trenched infantry
  that they were quickly destroyed by Germans

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National Armed Forces, Britain (Sea)

• Royal Navy reduced by politicians and disarmament
  treaties
• Little effort to submarines, carriers, or
  antisubmarine Warfare
• New dimensions in Naval Warfare were disregarded

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National Armed Forces, Britain (Air)

• RAF used to police primitive tribal areas
• Home defense handled better by RAF than by older
  two services
• Counter-strike deterrent force developed
• Stress of fighters for home defense came just in
  time to save Britain in 1940

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National Armed Forces, France

• Fear of revived Germany dominated Paris
• France retained most powerful army and air force
  in Europe
• Cordon Sanitaire attempted around Germany by
  France
• Maginot Line constructed
• By 1940 - political struggles crippled military

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National Armed Forces, Italy

• 1922 - Mussolinis fascist government revived
  prestige of military
• Army modernized and highly mechanized
• Air Force given full independence
• Forces exercised in Ethiopia (1935-36) and Spain
  (1936 - 39)
• However, as war began Italian armed services were
  in decline (lack of modern material, economic
  base or morale to fight)

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National Armed Forces, Japan (Land)

• Dominated by Samurai tradition, developed along
  German lines
• Mechanization, mobility, and jungle operations
• Fought in China from 1931
• Army Air Force - rapid progress, but fought
  second class enemies and technical developments
  neglected

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National Armed Forces, Japan (Sea and Air)

• Carriers - great strides in development (under
  British instruction)
• Cruisers and destroyers excellent, torpedoes were
  highly potent
• No strategic bombing force (no need for it)
• Suspicious of U.S. and the lack of a stand by the
  Allies in Manchuria led to East Asia
  Co-Prosperity Sphere (expansion plan)

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National Armed Forces, Russia

• Badly demoralized - 1917 failure of Czar
  leadership
• Made mechanization the symbol of the revolution
• German help, British thought, and American
  ingenuity highly mobile, infantry carrying tanks
  
• Supply Corps established
• Compromise between military/communist party
• Military and political general staffs created
• Air Force reborn with help from Germany
• Hitler struck before work complete

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National Armed Forces, Germany (Land)

• Deprived of power by treaty
• Army experiments and remolds doctrine
• Regular army became a cadre of officers
• Works of Fuller and Hart translated and
  elaborated
• Hitler gave the army more support
• Mechanization proceeded and equipment tested in
  Spanish Civil War
• General staff openly resumed Pre-Versailles power

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National Armed Forces, Germany (Sea and Air)

• Raeder developed new U-Boats
• Pocket battleships developed
• Bismark and Tirpitz constructed
• Luftwaffe mushroomed under Goering
• Tactical Air Force only good for Blitzkrieg, but
  not for long term war

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Summary

• Interwar years characterized by military
  peacetime problems (economy, cutbacks and
  complacency)
• Major nations treated armed forces in the
  interwar years as diplomatic position
• Disarmament movement acted as a brake until
  collapse in Geneva in 1934
• Then there was a universal shift or rearmament,
  especially in the air

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Questions?