Technology and the Military Mind

Abstract

The reception of new technology within any given army seems to depend to a large extent on circumstances peculiar to that institution and its surrounding society. This chapter suggests that the issues surrounding technology were not value-free, but, on the contrary, could place a severe strain on the established military system, calling in question its fundamental values. It is concerned with the Austrian army in the years between 1866 and the outbreak of the First World War. 1866 was a decisive formative influence in the development of the Austrian army for the following forty years. The effectiveness of the Dreyse was compounded by the rigidity of the Austrian tactical doctrines. Within the army it has narrowly focused on the changes associated with a developing small-arms technology in a conservative military system. The post-war period was the moment to push through reform, of which the small-arms question was one aspect.