During the inter-war period, British technological development fell behind competing nations due to economic constraints, poor assumptions developed by senior military leaders, as well as contributing strategic and political factors. Historical examples suggest Great Britain had emerged as a leader in terms of technological innovation as it exited War World One . The country of Great Britain arguably exits the First World War as a leader in technological development regarding all three of its services but entered war world two woefully unprepared . The Army successfully utilized an armor force to penetrate an enemy defense, but fails to improve this technology to exploit its initial success . Naval leaders understood the necessity of the
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The economy through the interwar period was plagued with problems associated with debt accrued during the previous war effort, unemployment, as well as recessions and a depression which further exacerbated the economic problem . Given the dire situation, British policy makers chose implement budget cuts into the armed services in an attempt to alleviate the national economic concerns. These policy makers mandated the armed services prioritize their respective efforts to focus to the protection of the colonies throughout the British Empire, understanding these assets represented the financial wealth of the empire. Therefore, the armed forces were relegated to act as a colonial police force, and therefore slowing and even halting many technology advancement programs. For example, PM Chamberlain and parliament elected to cut 70 million pounds from the services, decimating technological advancement programs . One result of this decision would ensure the weakness of Britain’s armored and mechanized forces at the onset of World War Two. Another example resides with the Navy as low priority technology efforts were delayed, especially those relating to carrier advancement and subsurface warfare . Furthermore, the country’s fledgling aviation industry was stunted and consequently would be unable to provide adequate bomber capability until 1943 . Cleary these …show more content…
Britain’s problems certainly can’t be contributed to a single one of these issues, but instead, should contributed to a combination of all three, and potentially others still. It should be noted, in these political and military leaders’ defense, the decisions they made should always be placed in historic context. That is, Britain was a country who well remembered the horrors of World War One, was facing tremendous economic turbulence, and could embrace its geographic position to remain independent of continental affairs. However, the fact remains, because Britain elected to dwell in these ideas, the country removed itself as a leader in technological innovation and ensured it would be unprepared for the coming challenges. The question begs, then, if Britain had somehow managed to eliminate these challenges, how prepared would its forces be when confronted with World War Two? Arguably, adequate armored forces may have been available to rapidly respond and move to the aid of the French. The RAF may have been capable to disrupt German industrial capacity well before 1943. Or, a strong British navy, centered on capable carriers, may have been influential in the pacific theater. Although this is speculation, one may agree that had Great Britain remained as a leader of technological innovation the
The economy through the interwar period was plagued with problems associated with debt accrued during the previous war effort, unemployment, as well as recessions and a depression which further exacerbated the economic problem . Given the dire situation, British policy makers chose implement budget cuts into the armed services in an attempt to alleviate the national economic concerns. These policy makers mandated the armed services prioritize their respective efforts to focus to the protection of the colonies throughout the British Empire, understanding these assets represented the financial wealth of the empire. Therefore, the armed forces were relegated to act as a colonial police force, and therefore slowing and even halting many technology advancement programs. For example, PM Chamberlain and parliament elected to cut 70 million pounds from the services, decimating technological advancement programs . One result of this decision would ensure the weakness of Britain’s armored and mechanized forces at the onset of World War Two. Another example resides with the Navy as low priority technology efforts were delayed, especially those relating to carrier advancement and subsurface warfare . Furthermore, the country’s fledgling aviation industry was stunted and consequently would be unable to provide adequate bomber capability until 1943 . Cleary these …show more content…
Britain’s problems certainly can’t be contributed to a single one of these issues, but instead, should contributed to a combination of all three, and potentially others still. It should be noted, in these political and military leaders’ defense, the decisions they made should always be placed in historic context. That is, Britain was a country who well remembered the horrors of World War One, was facing tremendous economic turbulence, and could embrace its geographic position to remain independent of continental affairs. However, the fact remains, because Britain elected to dwell in these ideas, the country removed itself as a leader in technological innovation and ensured it would be unprepared for the coming challenges. The question begs, then, if Britain had somehow managed to eliminate these challenges, how prepared would its forces be when confronted with World War Two? Arguably, adequate armored forces may have been available to rapidly respond and move to the aid of the French. The RAF may have been capable to disrupt German industrial capacity well before 1943. Or, a strong British navy, centered on capable carriers, may have been influential in the pacific theater. Although this is speculation, one may agree that had Great Britain remained as a leader of technological innovation the