ABSTRACT
The two decades that followed the Second World War constituted a period of painful adjustment, when all the power, wealth and empire won in the two centuries after 1690 finally vanished. It was a major turning-point in the British history. Examining the history of the British Army from 1945 up to the present day, one sees that each phase of its pattern of the development has been influenced by some, or all, of the following factors: nuclear weapons, technological development, commitments to allies, the economic situation, the closing down of the British Empire, and the ‘social revolution’ in Britain. The British Commonwealth contributed a division to the largely American army which eventually held and repulsed the Communist invasion of South Korea. The British Army contributed a brigade to the Commonwealth Division, plus much of its headquarters staff and a great deal of its logistical support.
