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British Military Conflicts Reviewed - The Nature of Conflict

The 2003 Defence White Paper, titled Delivering Security in a Changing World described the future structure of the British military, and was preceded by the 1998 Strategic Defence Review (SDR) and the 2002 SDR New Chapter, that responded to the immediate challenges to security following the September 11 attacks.

Modern Warfare: Its Sinister Face

There is no denying that the nature of international Armed Conflict has changed dramatically compared to conventional wars fought in previous centuries – take the current war in Afghanistan: not two armies subscribing to international treaties and conventions like two noble chess players agreeing to the terms and conditions of armed conflict but a faceless enemy, uncooperative and ignoble, that refuses to fight in the traditional western method of facing the enemy head on and meeting the challenge.

Times have changed and the reports above affectively introduced a series of cutbacks to intergral equipment and manpower to reducing the number of future capital procurement projects especially for the Royal Navy and RAF. These moves may be as historically defining as those of The Royal Navy’s when Samuel Pepys became its Naval Administrator in the 17th century to help reform and professionalise it. Maybe however, it will prove that the Labour government made gross errors in the defence structures of this country, only time will tell, despite changes being unavoidable. Even so, there is little ignoring the fact that armed conflict has changed, perhaps irrevocably.

The current debates seem to focus on the tactics and future deployment of the Royal Navy and its Trident Nuclear Submarines, our continued reliance on the Nuclear deterrant, and on the use of infantry units when other forms of long distance fighting are available via satellite and robotic drones.

The one thing the British military has succeeded in doing well since the English Civil War and the Union with Scotland is that it has adapted to change, perhaps not because of political will but the will of those whom staff and run it, those whom have continued to show commitment and bravery down through the decades.

From about 1750 the United Kingdom has been one of the leading military and economic powers of the world – British troops have helped capture strategically important territories thus extending their influence, pacified international borders and supported democratically elected governments in consolidating their states in Aden, Palestine, Cyprus, Kenya, Yugloslavia, Sierra Leone, and Malaya; and defended its own borders from the aggressive policies of incompetant regimes. Among these conflicts were the Seven Years’ War, the American Revolutionary War, the Napoleonic Wars, the First and Second Opium Wars, the Boxer Rebellion, the Crimean War, the First and Second Boer Wars, the Irish War of Independence, the First and Second World Wars, serial interventions into Afghanistan, the Falklands War, and the First and Second Gulf Wars.

In this review we will look back at several influential conflicts which have made the British Armed Forces what it is today – something that has definded our history and identity.

Just click on one of the links below and it will take you to the revelant conflict review (more will be added shortly).

The Falklands Conflict (Op Corporate)
The Gulf War
The Invasion of Kosovo
The Sierra Leone Civil War (Op Palliser and Barras)
The Invasion of Iraq