The Armies

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The British Army maintains a standing liability to support the civil authorities in certain circumstances, usually in either niche capabilities (e.g. explosive ordnance removal) or in general support of the civil authorities when their capacity is exceeded. [119] [120] In recent years this has been seen as army personnel supporting the civil authorities in the face of the 2001 United Kingdom foot-and-mouth outbreak, the 2002 firefighters strike, widespread flooding in 2005, 2007, 2009, 2013 and 2014, Operation Temperer following the Manchester Arena bombing in 2017 and, most recently, Operation Rescript during the COVID-19 pandemic. [121] [122] Eastern Europe [ edit ] New advanced rifle for Ranger Regiment". www.army.mod.uk. 7 September 2023 . Retrieved 20 October 2023.

The larger colonies (Australia, New Zealand, Canada, South Africa, etc.) mostly achieved Commonwealth Dominion status before or after the First World War and were granted full legislative independence in 1931. While remaining within the British Empire, this placed their governments on a par with the British government, and hence their military units comprised separate armies (e.g. the Australian Army), although Canada retained the term "militia" for its military forces until the Second World War. From the 1940s, these dominions and many colonies chose full independence, usually becoming Commonwealth realms (as member states of the Commonwealth are known today). [205] [206]The Continental Army was created on 14 June 1775 by the Second Continental Congress [24] as a unified army for the colonies to fight Great Britain, with George Washington appointed as its commander. [15] [25] [26] [27] The army was initially led by men who had served in the British Army or colonial militias and who brought much of British military heritage with them. As the Revolutionary War progressed, French aid, resources and military thinking helped shape the new army. A number of European soldiers came on their own to help, such as Friedrich Wilhelm von Steuben, who taught Prussian Army tactics and organizational skills. The British Army is the principal land warfare force of the United Kingdom, a part of the British Armed Forces along with the Royal Navy and the Royal Air Force. As of 1July2023, [update] the British Army comprises 76,225 regular full-time personnel, 4,139 Gurkhas, 26,755 volunteer reserve personnel and 4,532 "other personnel", for a total of 111,651. [8] Chisholm, Hugh, ed. (1911). "Constantinople". Encyclopædia Britannica. Vol.7 (11thed.). Cambridge University Press. p.3. Clifford Walton (1894). History of the British Standing Army. A.D. 1660 to 1700. Harrison and Sons. pp. 1–2. While this proved to be a war-winning formula, the New Model Army, being organised and politically active, went on to dominate the politics of the Interregnum and by 1660 was widely disliked. The New Model Army was paid off and disbanded at the Restoration of the monarchy in 1660. For many decades the alleged excesses of the New Model Army under the Protectorate of Oliver Cromwell were used as propaganda (and still feature in Irish folklore) and the Whig element recoiled from allowing a standing army. [23] The militia acts of 1661 and 1662 prevented local authorities from calling up militia and oppressing their own local opponents. Calling up the militia was possible only if the king and local elites agreed to do so. [24]

Standing Joint Command, which coordinates defence's contribution to UK resilience operations in support of other government departments. [197] Great Britain was challenged by other powers, primarily the German Empire and Nazi Germany, during the 20th century. A century earlier it vied with Napoleonic France for global pre-eminence, and Hanoverian Britain's natural allies were the kingdoms and principalities of northern Germany. By the middle of the 19th century, Britain and France were allies in preventing Russia's appropriation of the Ottoman Empire, although the fear of French invasion led shortly afterwards to the creation of the Volunteer Force. By the first decade of the 20th century, the United Kingdom was allied with France (by the Entente Cordiale) and Russia (which had a secret agreement with France for mutual support in a war against the Prussian-led German Empire and the Austro-Hungarian Empire). [65] Supreme sacrifice: British soldier killed in Iraq was unemployed TA man". Thefreelibrary.com. 28 August 2003. Archived from the original on 30 April 2011 . Retrieved 28 March 2011.a b "Operation Banner: An analysis of military operations in Northern Ireland" (PDF). Ministry of Defence. 2006. Archived from the original (PDF) on 27 February 2008 . Retrieved 21 March 2008. Last troops pull out of Bessbrook". BBC News Online. 25 June 2007. Archived from the original on 20 August 2007 . Retrieved 8 August 2009. The British Army – Warrior infantry fighting vehicle". www.army.mod.uk. Archived from the original on 10 April 2017 . Retrieved 9 March 2017.

NATO Enhanced Forward Presence: The British Army deploys approximately 900 troops to Estonia and 150 to Poland as part of its commitment to NATO. [179] a b "Special Reconnaissance Regiment". Parliament of the United Kingdom. Archived from the original on 25 April 2010 . Retrieved 26 March 2010.a b The Militia Artillery 1852–1909, by Norman EH Litchfield. The Sherwood Press (Nottingham) Ltd. 1987 Operations in the UK: Defence Contribution to Resilience" (PDF). Ministry of Defence. 2007. Archived (PDF) from the original on 5 March 2016 . Retrieved 1 May 2017. Led by Commander Field Army, the Field Army is responsible for generating and preparing forces for current and contingency operations. The Field Army comprises [191] Part of British Forces South Atlantic Islands: After the 1982 conflict, the UK established a garrison on the Falkland Islands, consisting of naval, land and air elements. The British Army contribution consists of an infantry company group, a Royal Artillery Battery and an Engineer Squadron. [187]

All soldiers and commissioned officers must take an oath of allegiance upon joining the Army, a process known as attestation. Those who wish to swear by God use the following words: [4] UK Armed Forces Quarterly Manning Report (PDF). United Kingdom: Ministry of Defence. 4 March 2010. p.13. Archived from the original (PDF) on 16 January 2014 . Retrieved 5 July 2016. (Table 2a – Strength of UK Armed Forces1 Holmes, Richard (2011). Soldiers: Army Lives and Loyalties from Redcoat to Dusty Warriors. HarperCollins.Khaki— Foot Guards, Honourable Artillery Company, Princess of Wales's Royal Regiment, Royal Anglian Regiment, Royal Welsh, Royal Yorkshire Regiment After 1700, British continental policy was to contain expansion by competing powers such as France and Spain. Although Spain was the dominant global power during the previous two centuries and the chief threat to England's early transatlantic ambitions, its influence was now waning. The territorial ambitions of the French, however, led to the War of the Spanish Succession [36] and the Napoleonic Wars. [37] Operation Banner ended at midnight on 31 July 2007 after about 38 years of continuous deployment, the longest in British Army history. [101] According to an internal document released in 2007, the British Army had failed to defeat the IRA but made it impossible for them to win by violence. Operation Helvetic replaced Operation Banner in 2007, maintaining fewer service personnel in a more-benign environment. [101] [102] Of the 300,000 troops who served in Northern Ireland since 1969, there were 763 British military personnel killed [103] and 306 killed by the British military, mostly civilians. [104] An estimated 100 soldiers committed suicide during Operation Banner or soon afterwards and a similar number died in accidents. A total of 6,116 were wounded. [105] Taylor, AJP (1976). The Second World War an illustrated history. Penguin books. ISBN 0-14-004135-4. The British Army was heavily involved in the Napoleonic Wars, participating in a number of campaigns in Europe (including continuous deployment in the Peninsular War), the Caribbean, North Africa and North America. The war between the British and the First French Empire of Napoleon Bonaparte stretched around the world; at its peak in 1813, the regular army contained over 250,000 men. A coalition of Anglo-Dutch and Prussian armies under the Duke of Wellington and Field Marshal von Blücher finally defeated Napoleon at Waterloo in 1815. [58]