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How Did The British Run An Empire With Such A Small Army? - Foreign Affairs (2) - Nairaland

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Re: How Did The British Run An Empire With Such A Small Army? by pleep(m): 10:57pm On Jul 24, 2011
The british used a tactic called divide and conquer, they would pit different ethnic groups or kingdoms against each other.
a good example of this is in india were the british allied with some kingdoms and used them to defeat others.

its also important to note that the british used mercenaries,and conscription in times of need. So those figures you posted are a little low.
Re: How Did The British Run An Empire With Such A Small Army? by Nobody: 10:58pm On Jul 24, 2011
sonyvaio:

just confirming what ElRazur said and it really looks stealthy grin



ok
Re: How Did The British Run An Empire With Such A Small Army? by Katsumoto: 11:05pm On Jul 24, 2011
Sun of god:



The were the first to militarize 'GUN POWDER'.

It was all about superior weaponry.

The gunpowder was first used in Cannons which were used by Iberians (Spanish and Portuguese) against Arab invaders in the 13th century. Its use was also prevalent in the middle east in the later part of the 13th century. The English started using cannons in the 14th century.

Arquebuses were the first guns and were used by the Chinese Ming Army against mongols in the 14th century. Hungary was the first European country to use the Arquebus in the 15th century.
Re: How Did The British Run An Empire With Such A Small Army? by Nobody: 11:09pm On Jul 24, 2011
owobokiri:

At the risk of derailing this thread further, let me remind those of us who buy into that line always thrown out by smart chinese officials about how china is still decades behind the west militarly of some important milestones in Chinese military improvements in recent times.  rIt[b] is important to remember that China has just produced a missile capable of destroying an aircraft carrie[/b]. (The Soviets failed at this). You can not project power in this age without an aircraft carrier so if yours can easily be blown out of water, your influence is being challenged. China will launch her own aircraft carrier any moment and her fifth generation stealth bombers are almost ready. Most importantly, China tested a missile that actually shot down an orbiting settlite. For those well versed in defence matters, the last example is one huge achievement. Why?

Somebody just said that the F35 maybe the last manned fighter to be biuld. If you are going to be fighting with robots and unmanned fighters, you need hundreds of sattelites for the GPS guarding systems and to guide the missles. Before the French and other NATO members could fly in to bomb Tripoli, they first asked the Americans to fly in some guided cruise missles to destroy the Libyan air defence systems. Imagine a situation where the sattelites responsible for all these are knocked off the night before the fight! Again when analyzing American and Chinese military budgets, remember that the Chinese source most of their hardwares locally and that means 'cheaply', that also means maybe ten times lower than America. Admiral Mullen knows that the Chinese are very close and are almost ready to go.

My guy take it easy na, US dey pain u?, note that the missile is still under test phase, and dont even think of distroying US Aircraft Carrier, you failed on that
Re: How Did The British Run An Empire With Such A Small Army? by sonyvaio(f): 11:19pm On Jul 24, 2011
pleep:

its also important to note that the british used mercenaries,and conscription in times of need. So those figures you posted are a little low.

I am no historian
Figures are from the BBC

pleep:

its also important to note that the british used mercenaries,and conscription in times of need.

Superior weaponry, divide and rule, conscription, Mercenaries (from where?),

I wonder why the US or China is not using such tactics today.
An American Empire doesn't sound bad, Chinese Empire, God forbid
Re: How Did The British Run An Empire With Such A Small Army? by modskiller(m): 11:23pm On Jul 24, 2011
iT IS NOT THE SIZE OF A MAN THAT MATTERS BUT THE SIZE OF HIS BALLS., THEM BRITAIN HAVE GAT BIG BIG BALLS MAN BIIIIG BALLS.
Re: How Did The British Run An Empire With Such A Small Army? by Nobody: 11:26pm On Jul 24, 2011
China is the new world power and American ego won't allow them to admit it, All they can do is paddle submarines to chinese waters and then say they invaded the waters without Chinese knowledge,

China openly tests all of it's weaponry and are ever ready for war, The USA needs to just take a bow and go back to the drawing board,

Their military artillery is privatized so they buy weapons! Do you know how many American companies did business with hitler? Their lack of morals and ethics will be their downfall!!!
Re: How Did The British Run An Empire With Such A Small Army? by pleep(m): 11:29pm On Jul 24, 2011
modskiller:

iT IS NOT THE SIZE OF A MAN THAT MATTERS BUT THE SIZE OF HIS BALLS., THEM BRITAIN HAVE GAT BIG BIG BALLS MAN BIIIIG BALLS.
you should know. you suck them.  tongue
Re: How Did The British Run An Empire With Such A Small Army? by pleep(m): 11:31pm On Jul 24, 2011
sonyvaio:

I am no historian
Figures are from the BBC

Superior weaponry, divide and rule, conscription, Mercenaries (from where?),

I wonder why the US or China is not using such tactics today.
An American Empire doesn't sound bad, Chinese Empire, God forbid

The mercenaries were usually from germany. In the American revolution the british used almost 30 thousand Hessian mercenaries.

The U.S & china are using such tactics like devide and conquer tody especially in Africa. ( some would say)  wink
Re: How Did The British Run An Empire With Such A Small Army? by heryyy(m): 11:35pm On Jul 24, 2011
wow i must admit i learn alot from this discussion,
Re: How Did The British Run An Empire With Such A Small Army? by kulutempa: 12:32am On Jul 25, 2011
Israel has demonstrated this in the past, where they defeated Syria, Egypt and a few nations in the "seven days war".

Also, Israel army is small when compared to that of Egypt, yet due to the efficiency of IDF (Israeli defence force), they handed the Egyptian and Syrian Army a beating that is forever written in history during the seven days war.

@ElRazur, point of slight correction. It was the six day war in June 1967, not seven days war. Link: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Six-Day_War

You are right though about the Israelis. They don't have the manpower nor resources for a large standing army so they concentrated on their air force and armoured tanks to develop a fast moving, hard hitting, hi tech army. The rest as they say, is history.
Re: How Did The British Run An Empire With Such A Small Army? by kulutempa: 12:43am On Jul 25, 2011
pleep:

The british used a tactic called divide and conquer, they would pit different ethnic groups or kingdoms against each other.
a good example of this is in india were the british allied with some kingdoms and used them to defeat others.

its also important to note that the british used mercenaries,and conscription in times of need. So those figures you posted are a little low.


My friend, you are going too far. You need look no further than Nigeria. We are still living with the results of that tactic today.
Re: How Did The British Run An Empire With Such A Small Army? by whobemumu(m): 1:05am On Jul 25, 2011
everybody reading wikipedia and pretending to be military genius
Re: How Did The British Run An Empire With Such A Small Army? by Yinkay: 3:49am On Jul 25, 2011
Just wondering where is Nigerian military in all this,what is our strategic military objective as a nation?
Re: How Did The British Run An Empire With Such A Small Army? by Nobody: 4:03am On Jul 25, 2011
Powerful Navy till the end of the 20th century. Helped them. At this millennium, They are enjoying special relationship with the the US they are one of the nuclear powers so all areas are covered literally speaking.
Re: How Did The British Run An Empire With Such A Small Army? by owobokiri(m): 4:23am On Jul 25, 2011
Just wondering where is Nigerian military in all this,what is our strategic military objective as a nation?

Nigerian military is designed to fight internal wars like Tiv wars, Odi wars, Okigwe wars and Boko Haram wars. They dont need all these tools. What they have is a bad mannered infantry that knows how to beat up civilians at check-points.
Re: How Did The British Run An Empire With Such A Small Army? by odumchi: 4:31am On Jul 25, 2011
@ OP:
The British Empire expanded for several reasons.
The main reason was its navy. from 1588 to 1945, Britain had the worlds largest and strongest navy. The main purpose of the navy was to protect the British isles for invasion and also to further the interests of the British crown. Britian did not bother maintaining a large army becuase it had a small population and was an island.

The British were notorious for using foreign troops. All throughout the 18th and 19th century, the British used Hessian mercenaries (Prussian troops) as the backbone of their foreign military force and by the time they conquered Mughal India, Indian troops ebcame the main soldiers of Britain outside Europe and teh Americas. Britain, with its strong navy and large reserve of Indian troops, came to dominate over 400 million people at its height in the Victorian era.

Britains navy did not invest much in aircraft carriers and relied on battleships and cruisers in the second world war, which eventually caused the decline of its naval presence on earth. And as India gained independence in 1947, the brightest days of the British empire were foever gone.
Re: How Did The British Run An Empire With Such A Small Army? by odumchi: 4:36am On Jul 25, 2011
Yinkay:

Just wondering where is Nigerian military in all this,what is our strategic military objective as a nation?

Nigeria has Africa's largest military in terms of "numbers". Egypt is arguably Africa's most experienced, and advanced military. Nigeria flies mig-21s, has virtually no heavy or medium tanks, but does have an exceptional air-defence organisation (SAMs, anti-aircraft airtillery etc).
Egypt flies Mig-29s and Sukhois, uses T-72s (whhich arent that great but are superior to Nigerian light-tanks) and has an excpetional air-defence sytsem like Nigeria.
Re: How Did The British Run An Empire With Such A Small Army? by Nobody: 5:20am On Jul 25, 2011
odumchi:

Nigeria has Africa's largest military in terms of "numbers". Egypt is arguably Africa's most experienced, and advanced military. Nigeria flies mig-21s, has virtually no heavy or medium tanks, but does have an exceptional air-defence organisation (SAMs, anti-aircraft airtillery etc).
Egypt flies Mig-29s and Sukhois, uses T-72s (whhich arent that great but are superior to Nigerian light-tanks) and has an excpetional air-defence sytsem like Nigeria.

Egypt flies F-16s not MIGs.
Re: How Did The British Run An Empire With Such A Small Army? by odumchi: 5:22am On Jul 25, 2011
Really? Wow, I hadnt noticed. Iwas going on my previous knowledge because i thought the US always supported Israel over Egypt and sent Israel F-16s, so what good would it make if both of them flew the same planes? Well thanks for the correction, ill look into it.
Re: How Did The British Run An Empire With Such A Small Army? by pleep(m): 5:25am On Jul 25, 2011
only like 65k in the Nigerian army If recall correctly  sad
owobokiri:

Nigerian military is designed to fight internal wars like Tiv wars, Odi wars, Okigwe wars and Boko Haram wars.  They dont need all these tools. What they have is a bad mannered infantry that knows how to beat up civilians at check-points.
Lol!!
kulutempa:


My friend, you are going too far.  You need look no further than Nigeria.  We are still living with the results of that tactic today.

Haha, wow your right! I didn't even think of that.
Yinkay:

Just wondering where is Nigerian military in all this,what is our strategic military objective as a nation?
For your information pleep never quotes wikipedia in nairaland discussions  tongue
Re: How Did The British Run An Empire With Such A Small Army? by Nobody: 5:26am On Jul 25, 2011
They do have Migs but they dont rely on them anymore and they have more F16s now , more than 200. i think 4th of 5th in the world.
Re: How Did The British Run An Empire With Such A Small Army? by pleep(m): 5:36am On Jul 25, 2011
There's better stuff than f-16 I think. ( perhaps the f-22) And even if there isn't eygpt still doesn't have stealth bombers Military satelites and all the top secret stuff that I'm sure the u.s is giving to isreal.

If the isrealis haven't developed it themselves. undecided
Re: How Did The British Run An Empire With Such A Small Army? by odumchi: 5:39am On Jul 25, 2011
pleep:

only like 65k in the Nigerian army If recall correctly  sadLol!!Haha, wow your right! I didn't even think of that.For your information pleep never quotes wikipedia in nairaland discussions  tongue

Im sure thats only active duty servicemen/servicewomen. Every country has a small amount of active duty but larger reserves. Nigeria can have asily 500k reserves.

pleep:

There's better stuff than f-16 I think. ( perhaps the f-22) And even if there isn't eygpt still doesn't have stealth bombers Military satelites and all the top secret stuff that I'm sure the u.s is giving to isreal.

If the isrealis haven't developed it themselves. undecided

The only nation that uses f22s are the USA and at 1Billion USD each, hardly anyone else can afford them. Besides the f22, the US's main jets are f-18s and I dont think they're ready to give those away just yet. So F16 will be flown for some more time.

@ Βουκέφαλος
Good to know. Thanks again.
Re: How Did The British Run An Empire With Such A Small Army? by Nobody: 5:40am On Jul 25, 2011
F-22 is expensive, but yes more effective. they have a lot of fighter jets to cover their a** at least. i keep wondering how many we have  undecided
Re: How Did The British Run An Empire With Such A Small Army? by pleep(m): 6:04am On Jul 25, 2011
odumchi:

The only nation that uses f22s are the USA and at 1Billion USD each, hardly anyone else can afford them. Besides the f22, the US's main jets are f-18s and I dont think they're ready to give those away just yet. So F16 will be flown for some more time.

1billion each? Damn. Anyway keep in mind this is isreal they pretty much get w/e they want from America lol.
but I dunno, I'll have to do some reseach on the isreali air force later cuz this is interesting.
Re: How Did The British Run An Empire With Such A Small Army? by KA24DETT(m): 6:19am On Jul 25, 2011
odumchi:

Im sure thats only active duty servicemen/servicewomen. Every country has a small amount of active duty but larger reserves. Nigeria can have asily 500k reserves.

The only nation that uses f22s are the USA and at 1Billion USD each, hardly anyone else can afford them. Besides the f22, the US's main jets are f-18s and I dont think they're ready to give those away just yet. So F16 will be flown for some more time.

@ Βουκέφαλος
Good to know. Thanks again.

Canada flies the F18s, but US definitely not selling the F22 to anyone, Australia expressed interest to buy some F22 but US didnt bulge, The US signed everyone up to the F35 Joint strike fighter, Most NATO countries gona get the F35
Re: How Did The British Run An Empire With Such A Small Army? by juman(m): 7:11am On Jul 25, 2011
Good planning.
Re: How Did The British Run An Empire With Such A Small Army? by Nobody: 8:53am On Jul 25, 2011
9jaganja:

China is the new world power and American ego won't allow them to admit it, All they can do is paddle submarines to chinese waters and then say they invaded the waters without Chinese knowledge,

China openly tests all of it's weaponry and are ever ready for war, The USA needs to just take a bow and go back to the drawing board,

Their military artillery is privatized so they buy weapons! Do you know how many American companies did business with hitler? Their lack of morals and ethics will be their downfall!!!

Keep dreaming
Re: How Did The British Run An Empire With Such A Small Army? by PAGAN9JA(m): 9:33am On Jul 25, 2011
the british had good weapons and most important of all, they were disciplined.
Re: How Did The British Run An Empire With Such A Small Army? by Nobody: 11:29am On Jul 25, 2011
odumchi:

The only nation that uses f22s are the USA and at 1Billion USD each, hardly anyone else can afford them. Besides the f22, the US's main jets are f-18s and I dont think they're ready to give those away just yet. So F16 will be flown for some more time.


Hmmm, bros. Kindly check your facts. E no reach $1 Billion or did you mean to use naira? shocked
Re: How Did The British Run An Empire With Such A Small Army? by kodewrita(m): 11:46am On Jul 25, 2011
pleep:

There's better stuff than f-16 I think. ( perhaps the f-22) And even if there isn't eygpt still doesn't have stealth bombers Military satelites and all the top secret stuff that I'm sure the u.s is giving to isreal.

If the isrealis haven't developed it themselves. undecided

Its standard procedure in Israel to always alter the american f-16s they recieve with more high-tech accessories. They also have a national fighter jet called the Kfir( the original Kfirs were modelled on the french Dassault fighter jet) which is also very fast and specifically designed to handle Migs.

They are world leaders in drone tech too.

odumchi:

Nigeria has Africa's largest military in terms of "numbers". Egypt is arguably Africa's most experienced, and advanced military. Nigeria flies mig-21s, has virtually no heavy or medium tanks, but does have an exceptional air-defence organisation (SAMs, anti-aircraft airtillery etc).
Egypt flies Mig-29s and Sukhois, uses T-72s (whhich arent that great but are superior to Nigerian light-tanks) and has an excpetional air-defence sytsem like Nigeria.

89k+ troops doesnt count as being the largest. Ethiopia has way more i believe (will confirm and edit this post). The trend in more advanced countries is to have a trained populace capable of fighting wars if given the necessary weapons and having a small dedicated professional army.

Example: Switzerland has been at peace for 300 years but this peace is guaranteed by the fact that every swiss male recieves compulsory military training and a package containing uniforms and a rifle always kept in an accessible location at home. Notice of an invasion would bring instant mobilization of the ENTIRE MALE POPULACE. Israel too. Young students spend a year in compulsory military training. If necessary, the entire adult population of this tiny 13 mil strong country can go to war if threatened. Thats POWER.

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