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Seeking the figures playing the role of Karl Clausewitz and Alfred Thayer Mahan in R.A.F : The Military History Education in the R.A.F. Staff College of Great Britain during the Inter-war Period

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ABSTRACT

Great Britain established the Royal Air Force as an independent service of armed force like Army and Navy during the first world war the first time in the world history. Since the foundation of new organization was based on the wartime need, it was hardly suppressed by high pressures of reduction in defense budget and manpower during the inter-war period. The Air Force Staff College(Andover) was built in this mood and from the start it maintained the aim not just to develop the administrative skills of officers but also to forster potential leaders. For this purpose, military history was a major tool. Andover’s curriculum covered the variety of military histories even from the ancient one to the First World War in spite of the shortness of newly founded Air Force’s history. The first commandant, Air commodore Brooke-Popham, played a serious role in this process, because he thought the broad approaches on military history was highly important for the future commanders. The American Civil War and the Russo-Japanese War, although both were histories without aircraft, were actively handled in the class. Especially to find the potential roles of the Air Force, sometimes the existence of aircraft was conceived in some campaigns with great details. Several ‘Great Men’ in military history were regarded as important figures in the Leadership class. In this as well, the Air Force case was not yet noticeable, so Garibaldi, Napoleon, even Nelson were accepted as role models and studied by officer-students. Also lecturers and students seriously considered military history to find ‘principles of war’, while given the newness of Air Force, they never neglected other forces’ principles. Particularly the Seven Years War was suggested as the best example for ‘Higher Direction War’ studying. Although these subjects were never fully maintained throughout the inter-war period, the newly established armed force was never shamed to refer to the other services’ histories.

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