ABSTRACT
The principal weapon for war-making in 1914-18 was the artillery. Although World War I compelled the invention of modern combined-arms warfare, it was really the great artillery war. Infantry and tanks could not advance once they had outrun their artillery support, except at the cost of suffering prohibitive losses. By way of sharp contrast, the principal war-making machines in 1939-45 were armoured fighting vehicles and aircraft. Between 1918 and 1940 there had been a mechanization of warfare that most scholars now regard as a revolution in military affairs (RMA). By that we mean a radical change in the character and conduct of war. However, RMA is a contested concept. Some historians discern evolution rather than revolution, and they emphasize the complexity of war and strategy, which can significantly limit the tactical and operational impact of new technologies (Black, 2004: 225). Moreover, the leading challenge to military establishments between the wars – beyond the nightmare of unaffordability, that is – was to decide what doctrinal sense to make of the novel military-technical possibilities.
