The Strategic War Game of 1905 was a wargame run by the British

General Staff A military staff or general staff (also referred to as army staff, navy staff, or air staff within the individual services) is a group of officers, enlisted and civilian staff who serve the commander of a division or other large military un ...

between January and May 1905. The game was umpired by

James Grierson James Grierson may refer to: * James Grierson (British Army officer) Lieutenant-General Sir James Moncrieff Grierson, ADC (Gen.) (27 January 1859 – 17 August 1914) was a British soldier. Life He was born in 1859 the son of George Moncrie ...

, an expert on the

German Army The German Army (, "army") is the land component of the armed forces of Germany. The present-day German Army was founded in 1955 as part of the newly formed West German ''Bundeswehr'' together with the ''Marine'' (German Navy) and the ''Luftwaf ...

. There were three sides: Colonel

Charles Edward Callwell Major-General Sir Charles Edward Callwell (2 April 1859 – May 1928), was an Anglo-Irish officer of the British Army, who served in the artillery, as an intelligence officer, and as a staff officer and commander during the Second Boer War, ...

played the British commander-in-chief, William Robertson played the German commander-in-chief with Arthur Lynden-Bell playing that of the Belgian Army. Grierson had been the British military attaché to Berlin from 1896-1900, where he had had experience of their Kriegsspiel. The scenario was: :"War had broken out between France and Germany on 1 January 1905. At this time neither side had the help of allies. Germany had taken the initiative with an offensive against the French defences between Sedan and Belfort; but after two months when these attacks had failed, had decided to outflank the French by passing north through Belgium with six Army Corps, three cavalry divisions, and two Reserve Army Corps... it was assumed that Britain would be brought into the war by this violation of Belgian neutrality." The rules from the 1896 British Wargame were adapted and German cycling maps of Belgium were used to ensure detailed knowledge of even small roads. The game ran from 1 January 1905 to 24 May 1905.

Consequences

The game gave insight to the General Staff when the Prime Minister, Arthur Balfour posed three questions: # If Germany or France violated Belgian territory, what advantages might they get? Very likely Germany would violate neutrality for strategic reasons. # What level of effective opposition could be expected from Belgian army in the event of German invasion? Limited capacity for sustained resistance by themselves. # How long would it take to deploy two British Army Corps on the Continent? 23 days. Following the

Algeciras Conference The Algeciras Conference of 1906 took place in Algeciras, Spain, and lasted from 16 January to 7 April. The purpose of the conference was to find a solution to the First Moroccan Crisis of 1905 between France and Germany, which arose as Germany ...

, in 1906, the British and French General Staffs started organising joint planning sessions.

References

Bibliography

*{{cite book, last=Wilson, first=Andrew, title=The Bomb and the Computer, publisher =Barry & Rockliff, location=London, year=1968, doi=, isbn= British military exercises Military exercises and wargames 1905 in military history 1905 in the United Kingdom 20th-century military history of the United Kingdom