British+Army

The British Empire was surprisingly strong at wars with foreign monarchies and countries. There was three types of armies, the Army, the Royal Navy, and the Royal Air Force. First, with the Army.

By European standards, the British Army was a tiny army. But what it lacked in numbers it made up for in professionalism. In other words, this was a kind of a troop of assasins, not blundering soldiers. There was an odd combination of a public school educated officer corps bred to lead and a pool of hardy labourers forced off their land and/or workers attempting to avoid the harsh conditions of the new industrial cities. It is interesting that the Scottish and the Irish supplied such a high proportion of the British armed forces. This was probably due to the lack of economic opportunities in their respective home countries. Whatever the reason, they served the British army extremely ably. It should be thought of that the army was never given the title 'Royal' unlike the other two war services. This was due to its unreliability- with very good reason to assume so. It dates back to the time of the English Civil War and the defeat of King Charles. British monarchs never forgot this and so have never bestowed the 'Royal' name. The element of trust was also why so many members of the Royal Family were made in to the Colonels in Chief of so many regiments. It was a way of ensuring loyalty. It should be noted that the army has always been a interesting organisation. Ever since the Seventeenth Century troubles, Britain has never really liked having a large standing army on its land. Most of the warhomes were either overseas in the colonies or closer to home in Ireland - but not so often in England itself. Another hangover of the Seventeenth Century problems is still evident in the division of responsibilites of the army even to today. All soldiers must pledge allegiance to the king. It was hoped that this constitutional arrangement would keep the army out of political squabbles and prevent future rebellions - which it has done remarkably successfully for over 300 years.