History of The British Army - The Later Nineteenth Century

The Later Nineteenth Century

During the long reign of Queen Victoria, British society underwent great changes such as industrialisation and the enactment of liberal reforms (by both Liberal and Conservative governments) within Britain. The period was also marked by the steady expansion and consolidation of the British Empire.

Until the Crimean War, the Army's senior officers (mostly veterans of Wellington's campaigns) made few changes to the Army. The War, and the Indian Rebellion of 1857, demonstrated that reforms were urgently needed to guarantee that the Army could protect both the home nation and the Empire. Nevertheless, they did not take place until Liberal governments enacted wide-ranging reforms (the Cardwell Reforms and Childers Reforms) from 1870 to 1881. These gave the army the form it would take until the outbreak of the First World War.

The Industrial Revolution had changed the Army's weapons, transport and equipment, and social changes such as better education had prompted changes to the terms of service and outlook of many soldiers. Nevertheless, it retained many features inherited from the Duke of Wellington's army, and since its prime function was to maintain the expanding British Empire, it differed in many ways from the conscripted armies of continental Europe. For example it did not undertake large-scale manoeuvres. Indeed the Chobham Manoeuvres of 1853 involving 7,000 troops were the first such manoeuvres since the Napoleonic Wars.