ABSTRACT
This chapter examines the abrupt change that occurred in British military strategy between the Boer war and 1906 a period of transition in British foreign relations taking account of both the course of foreign policy and the ambitions of the army's bureaucracy. The idea of an England which was fundamentally anti-militarist and in which the civil arm always dominated the military has been accepted by most critics. The change in the army's thinking whereby Germany replaced the Dual Alliance as the most likely enemy in any future war has traditionally been explained by a growing awareness of the German threat. By accident Britain had acquired in Asia the military responsibility of a continental power, a responsibility for which the army was ill equipped. This fact profoundly affected British strategic thinking from the 1890s. The new situation was also reflected during 1901 and 1902 in the thinking of the army's strategic planners.
