A Two-Edged Sword: Technological Change and the Burdens of the Soldier Since 1800

This thesis will investigate whether the rapid rate of technological change over the last two hundred years had increased or decreased the burden of the soldier. It will concentrate principally on the application of peripheral technology whose primary purpose is not that of killing. It will examine the first and second order effects of such technology, many of which will be proven to be counter-intuitive. This thesis is principally concerned with how the soldiers themselves viewed the application of this technology. It will therefore draw upon hundreds of narrative accounts of warfare written by combatants from many nations and a range of conflicts to establish what the soldiers themselves believed were the principal burdens they must bear on behalf of their nations. This thesis will determine that where technological advances have impacted upon the burden of the soldier, in a number of cases they have decreased one burden only to increase another. For example, recent advances in aeromedical capabilities and sophisticated treatment techniques mean that soldiers are now more likely to survive horrific injuries that even a generation earlier would most likely have been fatal. But those who survive often face a life of permanent disfigurement and disability, the possibility of which troubles many soldiers. In some aspects, a more definitive answer will be given as to whether technological advances have increased or decreased the burden of the soldier. The contemporary soldier knows that his body will likely be recovered from the battlefield and if recovered will almost certainly be identified, thereby avoiding the abiding concern of his predecessors that his body might be left on the battlefield, buried in an unmarked grave. However, in other aspects, technological advances have clearly increased the burden of the soldier. For example, the growth of the modern media, fuelled by satellite communications and the Internet, can potentially reveal operational information and increase the risk of mission failure. A ubiquitous media presence also poses a very real risk that a soldier's actions on the battlefield will be taken out of context and held up to be judged in the court of public opinion