"The coordination of forces remained a problem throughout the period" How far do you agree with this
view of the period 1792-1945?
Undoubtedly evidence to suggest that it remained problematic in the early part of the period.
Coordination of forces within armies
● Crimean War
○ British armies → Charge of the Light Brigade at Balaclava 1854
■ Lack of coordination between Cardigan and Lucan led to the gross mis-communication
of orders at Balaclava → disastrous Charge of the Light Brigade, where 197 out of 627
calvary were shot down in the space of 4 minutes.
● Franco-Austrian
○ Austrian armies → Austrian reserve army notorious for getting lost eg. Solferino failed to appear
on the battlefield, 20 miles away
Inter-Alliance coordination
● Napoleonic Wars
○ Napoleon's Ulm-Austerlitz campaign 1805.
■ Lack of co-ordination between the 4th coalition was seen clearly in the fact that Austria
and Russia were using different calendars, meaning Russian forces arrived too late to
save the Austrian forces at Ulm and arguably doom the campaign
● Crimean War
○ Distrust between French and British was very problematic, with 4 allied commanders waging
war by consensus
■ impossible for the allies to agree on a positive course of action.
● eg. Sevastopol 1854 - the British Admirals developed plans for a naval
diversion, but the French general changed them
○ ⇒ led the fleets to fight a costly action for no purpose, because no-one
told them it was no longer necessary.
That said, there was striking exception → Napoleon + Berthier's Imperial HQ
● the French army dispersed over 200 miles in Bataillon Carré formation came together to encircle the
Austrians at Ulm 1805 under the coordinated orders from Berthier's Imperial HQ
However overall, on the whole the coordination of forces clearly remained a serious problem through the start
of the period.
By contrast later in the period, the coordination of forces became far less of a problem due to the
developments of strong general staff systems and communication technologies
Strong General Staff system = forces could be coordinated effectively
● Prussian General staff – Wars of German Unification
○ Eg. minutely detailed timetables were used to rapidly mobilize and converge 250,000 troops at
Könnigrätz in 1866, resulting in a decisive Prussian victory
● Oyama - Russo-Japanese War (1904-5)
○ From his HQ Oyama received front line reports via telephone and issued new instructions
immediately
■ Meant artillery and infantry could be effectively coordinated to pin down enemy troops
whilst advancing eg. Battle of Mukden 1805
Developments in communication meant that even the mass armies of World Wars could be coordinated
● Co-ordinated attacks (combined operations): infantry + newly developed tanks + aircraft under a
united command (Ferdinand Foch).
○ e.g. effectively deployed on a mass scale at Battle of Verdun 1916
The telegraph, radio and telephone had the most dramatic impact, as they allowed for instantaneous
transmission of messages and enabled greater co-ordination on the battlefield.
● Strikingly seen at D-Day (June 1944) - mass coordination between British and American forces → 5,000
ships landed 156,000 troops
view of the period 1792-1945?
Undoubtedly evidence to suggest that it remained problematic in the early part of the period.
Coordination of forces within armies
● Crimean War
○ British armies → Charge of the Light Brigade at Balaclava 1854
■ Lack of coordination between Cardigan and Lucan led to the gross mis-communication
of orders at Balaclava → disastrous Charge of the Light Brigade, where 197 out of 627
calvary were shot down in the space of 4 minutes.
● Franco-Austrian
○ Austrian armies → Austrian reserve army notorious for getting lost eg. Solferino failed to appear
on the battlefield, 20 miles away
Inter-Alliance coordination
● Napoleonic Wars
○ Napoleon's Ulm-Austerlitz campaign 1805.
■ Lack of co-ordination between the 4th coalition was seen clearly in the fact that Austria
and Russia were using different calendars, meaning Russian forces arrived too late to
save the Austrian forces at Ulm and arguably doom the campaign
● Crimean War
○ Distrust between French and British was very problematic, with 4 allied commanders waging
war by consensus
■ impossible for the allies to agree on a positive course of action.
● eg. Sevastopol 1854 - the British Admirals developed plans for a naval
diversion, but the French general changed them
○ ⇒ led the fleets to fight a costly action for no purpose, because no-one
told them it was no longer necessary.
That said, there was striking exception → Napoleon + Berthier's Imperial HQ
● the French army dispersed over 200 miles in Bataillon Carré formation came together to encircle the
Austrians at Ulm 1805 under the coordinated orders from Berthier's Imperial HQ
However overall, on the whole the coordination of forces clearly remained a serious problem through the start
of the period.
By contrast later in the period, the coordination of forces became far less of a problem due to the
developments of strong general staff systems and communication technologies
Strong General Staff system = forces could be coordinated effectively
● Prussian General staff – Wars of German Unification
○ Eg. minutely detailed timetables were used to rapidly mobilize and converge 250,000 troops at
Könnigrätz in 1866, resulting in a decisive Prussian victory
● Oyama - Russo-Japanese War (1904-5)
○ From his HQ Oyama received front line reports via telephone and issued new instructions
immediately
■ Meant artillery and infantry could be effectively coordinated to pin down enemy troops
whilst advancing eg. Battle of Mukden 1805
Developments in communication meant that even the mass armies of World Wars could be coordinated
● Co-ordinated attacks (combined operations): infantry + newly developed tanks + aircraft under a
united command (Ferdinand Foch).
○ e.g. effectively deployed on a mass scale at Battle of Verdun 1916
The telegraph, radio and telephone had the most dramatic impact, as they allowed for instantaneous
transmission of messages and enabled greater co-ordination on the battlefield.
● Strikingly seen at D-Day (June 1944) - mass coordination between British and American forces → 5,000
ships landed 156,000 troops
