What were the main military lessons learned from the Franco-Prussian war, the Boer War, and the Russo- Japanese War and how were these later applied? Edward Kershaw - HUA-102 This essay will discuss the lessons that were learnt from the experiences of the Franco-Prussian war, the Boer War and the Russo-Japanese war and examine the extent to which these lessons were subsequently put in to practice, not only by those nations who participated in these wars, but also by those who observed both the conduct and the outcome of these different types of warfare. During the Franco-Prussian War, the main military lesson that was learnt was the value of conscription and the ability of the German states to call upon large, well trained military reserves. These reserves proved vital in providing the initial numerical superiority enjoyed by the Prussian army as it crossed into France in the beginning of August with 370,000 troops in comparison to the 240,000 French troops 175 in a war that would eventually see the mobilisation of 2 million French troops and 1.5 million German Troops. 176 This fact was further emphasised by the slow mobilisation of French reserves, which in July only managed 4,000 men in comparison to the Germans who had the ability to mobilise some 1 million reserves. 177 The lesson that regular armies had been surpassed by massed forces of small regular armies bolstered with that of large reserves was applied by many nations across Europe. In France during the war Freycinet
175 Brian Bond. War And Society In Europe 1870 - 1970 . (London: Fontana Press, 1988). P.17 176 Ibid. P.16 177 Geoffrey Wawro. The Franco-Prussian War . (Cambridge: Cambridge Univ. Press, 2007). P.75
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