Interwar Period

956 Words4 Pages
The time during an interwar period is a valuable commodity to the military establishment. The interwar period is a time, naturally designated for reflection, theorizing, training, education, and revision of doctrine. However, it is also a phase, characterized by much uncertainty and filled with impediments. The British Army experience between World War I and World War II illustrates how economic considerations, and rigidity, are two of the most significant obstacles confronting a military organization while innovating during peacetime. Economic considerations are one illustration of a significant obstacle confronting the British Army while innovating during peacetime. Captain Jonathan M. House points out the most professional soldiers understood…show more content…
The defense policies of the British government during the interwar period nearly dismantled Britain’s military industrial complex thereby stifling innovation. During the First World War, there were over thirty arms factories, which supplied the Army with equipment such as tanks, trucks, guns, and ammunition. During the twelve years following, all but two production facilities had closed their doors. This resulted in the British government having to take control of private and civil factories once the government appropriated funds for rearmament. This resulted in a greater financial expenditure and resulted in the sacrifice in precious development time that the Army could not afford to lose. The inability of the Army to innovate during the interwar period resulted in the British Army facing opponents with insufficient and inferior…show more content…
Such was the case with the Chief of the Imperial General Staff Montgomery Massingberd. Massingberd was not an advocate for the development and utilization of armor on the battlefield and did not care to see the innovation progress any further. He held rigid views, was anything but forward thinking and further, he rejected senior leaders around him who held views that were more progressive than his own were. He even went so far as to impede their advancement within the

More about Interwar Period

Open Document