Book: The Army of the Future

Introduction
"The Army of the Future" is an armed forces treatise written by Charles de Gaulle in 1934, who would later on work as the President of France after World War II. The book was an effective review of the French army's obsolete structure and proposed cutting edge changes to its organization and also techniques. De Gaulle anticipated the dramatic modifications to war, which would certainly soon happen during World War II, and suggested that the French military needed to adjust in order to avoid being bewildered by a premium enemy force.

Technical Developments and also the New Warfare
De Gaulle acknowledged the considerable advancements in armed forces technology that had taken place because World War I, including the growth of containers, aircraft, and also radio communications. He suggested that these advancements would inevitably transform the means future battles were combated, which reliance on traditional methods and strategies would lead to tragic repercussions. Particularly, he stressed the value of mechanized forces and making use of containers as the foundation of brand-new warfare.

He additionally pointed out that the future of war would be very based on the rate of procedures, which any kind of future problems would certainly be won or lost based upon the ability of one side to swiftly restrain the various other. De Gaulle thought that a hectic, extremely mobile approach to combat would prefer the side ready to adjust to brand-new strategies and technological improvements, while a slow, defensive technique would lead to beat.

The Professional Army and also the Rejection of the Maginot Line Mentality
De Gaulle criticized the French federal government's dependence on the Maginot Line, a heavily strengthened series of static defenses that they believed would certainly safeguard France from a German invasion. He argued that these stable defenses were obsoleted in light of modern technology and methods, which they put unwarranted faith in a protective, easy approach to warfare.

Instead, de Gaulle required the production of an elite, specialist army that would be very trained, knowledgeable, and also knowledgeable about the most up to date innovations in war. He thought that this professional, highly mobile military would certainly be capable of striking versus an adversary assault and introducing fast offensives of its own, rather than waiting on an enemy invasion to come. This new style of warfare, which highlighted rate and also movement over standard defensive tactics, would certainly become known as Blitzkrieg.

Company of the Army of the Future
To execute his vision of the army of the future, de Gaulle suggested several transformations to the company of the French armed force. He called for the creation of mechanized departments focused around consolidated arms groups of tanks, infantry, and also artillery. These divisions would run individually as well as have their own communications and logistical support, which would allow them to react quickly and also successfully to enemy movements or attacks.

In addition, de Gaulle recommended that the French military ought to have an overarching critical headquarters that would certainly be accountable for collaborating the actions of all these mechanized divisions. This would certainly give the military a natural total approach, while still supplying a degree of freedom for private devices to respond to the needs of the battleground. De Gaulle believed that this company would provide the military the flexibility as well as adaptability it needed to encounter quickly altering conditions on the combat zone.

Verdict and also Legacy
Charles de Gaulle's "The Army of the Future" was a visionary job that predicted many of the modifications in military tactics and also approach that would certainly occur throughout World War II. While his ideas were not carried out in time to conserve France from the quick German invasion in 1940, they played a significant duty in educating the Allied method later on in the war. His impact on the growth of modern-day military concept as well as technique continues to be really felt today, and also his ideas on the relevance of technology, mobility, and specialist training have been verified by background.