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Warfare and British Society, c1250–present

The experience of war, c1700–c1900

  • 3 things to know
  • Paper 1

Overview

Edward Cardwell's reforms: the end of purchased commissions, short service enlistment, localisation and the end of flogging in peacetime, the meaning of professionalisation, recruitment before the reforms, billeting and requisitioning, Russell's and Fenton's reporting from the Crimea and coverage of the Boer War.

What you need to know

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Numbers

Who was Edward Cardwell?

Key term

What was the purchase of commissions?

Key term

Why was the purchase of commissions abolished by Cardwell?

Questions from this subtopic

Each one with the model answer underneath.

  1. 1

    Who was Edward Cardwell?

    Model answer

    The Secretary of State for War who carried through a series of reforms of the British army from 1868.

  2. 2

    What was the purchase of commissions?

    Model answer

    The system by which a man bought his rank as an officer, so that promotion depended on money rather than experience.

  3. 3

    Why was the purchase of commissions abolished by Cardwell?

    Model answer

    Because commanding men in battle should depend on ability and training, and wealthy but incompetent officers had cost lives.

  4. 4

    What was short service enlistment?

    Model answer

    Recruits signed on for six years with the army and six more in the reserve, instead of over twenty years with the colours.

  5. 5

    Why was short service an improvement?

    Model answer

    It made joining far more attractive to young men and built up a reserve of trained soldiers who could be recalled in a crisis.

  6. 6

    What did Cardwell's localisation scheme do?

    Model answer

    It gave each regiment a permanent county depot, with one battalion at home recruiting and training while the other served overseas.

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