How Armies Grow

This anthology of historical war studies looks at military expansion from the French Revolution to WWII—and the enduring lessons for today.

In the years after the Cold War, many governments sought to reduce the sizes of their armed forces. Along with this general reduction came a shift in military doctrine away from conventional warfare and toward counterinsurgency operations. But in light of new geopolitical developments, the pendulum is swinging back. Once again, armies are growing in size. Now is the time to look back at the age of total war and the hard-won military lessons about the buildup, composition and use of large formations. It is these lessons from history that this book addresses.

What does history tell us about military expansion? How did armies prepare and train for a major conflict in times of peace? How did the armies ensure that the doctrine and training used in a small army was adequate for a drastically enlarged army in the case of total war? All these questions were as relevant then as they are now.

This anthology analyzes a number of case studies and provides insights into themes and topics that characterized the so-called ‘reconstitution’ of armies in their historical and social contexts.