British military policy in the twentieth century

The development of the British military policy throughout the twentieth century and beyond are analysed in the fifth chapter. The British military is characterised by the embeddedness of traditional institutions rather than its sensitivity to societal imperatives. Yet, the normative imperatives of liberal society did affect the British military policy. The long historical period of the entire twentieth century allows us to examine, for example, the debates on the merit of the National Service that started before the First World War, the programme of citizenship education during the Second World War, and the military role in counterinsurgency operations until the present time.