Spenser Wilkinson
Encyclopedia
Henry Spenser Wilkinson was the first Chichele Professor of Military History at Oxford University. While he was an English
writer known primarily for his work on military subjects, he had wide interests. Earlier in his career he was the drama critic for London's Morning Post
.
. He was educated at Owens College
, Manchester and studied at Merton College, Oxford
in 1873-1878. While at Oxford, he became interested in armies and began his life-long interest in military affairs. As an undergraduate, he joined the Oxford Volunteers
. After Oxford, he read law at Lincoln's Inn
and was called to the bar
in 1880. On returning to Manchester in 1880, he took a commission in the volunteers and also founded the Manchester Tactical Society.
In 1880, Wilkinson married Victoria Crowe (1868–1929), daughter of Sir Joseph Archer Crowe
and niece of the artist Eyre Crowe
. Together, he and his wife had two sons and four daughters.
's campaign in Egypt
in 1883. He was made redundant in 1892 because of C.P. Scott's view that Wilkinson did not follow the principles of the Liberal Party
. Through his friendship with Lord Roberts
, Wilkinson obtained a post on the staff of the London Morning Post
from 1895 to 1914.
Convinced as early as 1874 that Great Britain
was inadequately armed, he increasingly devoted his attention to the subject of the national defense. He became a key figure in the founding of the Navy League of Great Britain in 1894 and a serious student of the German military philosopher Carl von Clausewitz
. During the early months of the Boer War
(1899–1900) and made remarkably accurate forecasts of military movements. Wilkinson's views on military affairs were widely influential. At the Foreign Office, Wilkinson's wife's brother, Sir Eyre Crowe
, summarized much of Wilkinson's argument from his 1896 book The National Awakening in his famous 1 January 1907 memorandum on British relations with France
and Germany
.
in the University of Oxford
and Fellow of All Souls College
in 1909. During World War I he became—like Clausewitz's foremost German proponent at the time, Hans Delbrück
--an energetic critic of his nation's counterproductive strategy and policy. He remained an influential voice in Britain until his death in 1937.
For on-line examples of Wilkinson's writings, see:
Wilkinson's Papers are located at the National Army Museum
, London. His correspondence with Sir Charles Dilke is in the British Library
, Add. Mss 43915-43916 and his Correspondence with Sir Basil Liddell Hart
is at King's College London
For an extended discussion of Wilkinson, see
English people
The English are a nation and ethnic group native to England, who speak English. The English identity is of early mediaeval origin, when they were known in Old English as the Anglecynn. England is now a country of the United Kingdom, and the majority of English people in England are British Citizens...
writer known primarily for his work on military subjects, he had wide interests. Earlier in his career he was the drama critic for London's Morning Post
Morning Post
The Morning Post, as the paper was named on its masthead, was a conservative daily newspaper published in London from 1772 to 1937, when it was acquired by The Daily Telegraph.- History :...
.
Early life and education
The second son of Thomas Read Wilkinson, a banker, and his wife Emma Wolfenden, he was born and raised near ManchesterManchester
Manchester is a city and metropolitan borough in Greater Manchester, England. According to the Office for National Statistics, the 2010 mid-year population estimate for Manchester was 498,800. Manchester lies within one of the UK's largest metropolitan areas, the metropolitan county of Greater...
. He was educated at Owens College
Victoria University of Manchester
The Victoria University of Manchester was a university in Manchester, England. On 1 October 2004 it merged with the University of Manchester Institute of Science and Technology to form a new entity, "The University of Manchester".-1851 - 1951:The University was founded in 1851 as Owens College,...
, Manchester and studied at Merton College, Oxford
Merton College, Oxford
Merton College is one of the constituent colleges of the University of Oxford in England. Its foundation can be traced back to the 1260s when Walter de Merton, chancellor to Henry III and later to Edward I, first drew up statutes for an independent academic community and established endowments to...
in 1873-1878. While at Oxford, he became interested in armies and began his life-long interest in military affairs. As an undergraduate, he joined the Oxford Volunteers
Volunteer Force (Great Britain)
The Volunteer Force was a citizen army of part-time rifle, artillery and engineer corps, created as a popular movement in 1859. Originally highly autonomous, the units of volunteers became increasingly integrated with the British Army after the Childers Reforms in 1881, before forming part of the...
. After Oxford, he read law at Lincoln's Inn
Lincoln's Inn
The Honourable Society of Lincoln's Inn is one of four Inns of Court in London to which barristers of England and Wales belong and where they are called to the Bar. The other three are Middle Temple, Inner Temple and Gray's Inn. Although Lincoln's Inn is able to trace its official records beyond...
and was called to the bar
Bar association
A bar association is a professional body of lawyers. Some bar associations are responsible for the regulation of the legal profession in their jurisdiction; others are professional organizations dedicated to serving their members; in many cases, they are both...
in 1880. On returning to Manchester in 1880, he took a commission in the volunteers and also founded the Manchester Tactical Society.
In 1880, Wilkinson married Victoria Crowe (1868–1929), daughter of Sir Joseph Archer Crowe
Joseph Archer Crowe
Sir Joseph Archer Crowe , was an English consular official and art critic, whose volumes of the History of Painting in Italy, co-written with the Italian critic Giovanni Battista Cavalcaselle , stand at the beginning of disciplined modern art history writing in English,...
and niece of the artist Eyre Crowe
Eyre Crowe
Sir Eyre Alexander Barby Wichart Crowe GCB GCMG was a British diplomat. Crowe was appointed Companion of the Order of the Bath in 1907, Knight Commander of the Order of St Michael and St George in 1911, Knight Commander of the Order of the Bath in 1917, Knight Grand Cross of the Order of St...
. Together, he and his wife had two sons and four daughters.
Career as a Journalist
From 1882 to 1892 he was on the staff of the Manchester Guardian, for which he wrote occasional pieces on military subjects and was sent on a short-term assignment to cover Lord WolseleyGarnet Wolseley, 1st Viscount Wolseley
Field Marshal Garnet Joseph Wolseley, 1st Viscount Wolseley, KP, GCB, OM, GCMG, VD, PC was an Anglo-Irish officer in the British Army. He served in Burma, the Crimean War, the Indian Mutiny, China, Canada, and widely throughout Africa—including his Ashanti campaign and the Nile Expedition...
's campaign in Egypt
Egypt
Egypt , officially the Arab Republic of Egypt, Arabic: , is a country mainly in North Africa, with the Sinai Peninsula forming a land bridge in Southwest Asia. Egypt is thus a transcontinental country, and a major power in Africa, the Mediterranean Basin, the Middle East and the Muslim world...
in 1883. He was made redundant in 1892 because of C.P. Scott's view that Wilkinson did not follow the principles of the Liberal Party
Liberal Party (UK)
The Liberal Party was one of the two major political parties of the United Kingdom during the 19th and early 20th centuries. It was a third party of negligible importance throughout the latter half of the 20th Century, before merging with the Social Democratic Party in 1988 to form the present day...
. Through his friendship with Lord Roberts
Frederick Roberts, 1st Earl Roberts
Field Marshal Frederick Sleigh Roberts, 1st Earl Roberts, Bt, VC, KG, KP, GCB, OM, GCSI, GCIE, KStJ, PC was a distinguished Indian born British soldier who regarded himself as Anglo-Irish and one of the most successful British commanders of the 19th century.-Early life:Born at Cawnpore, India, on...
, Wilkinson obtained a post on the staff of the London Morning Post
Morning Post
The Morning Post, as the paper was named on its masthead, was a conservative daily newspaper published in London from 1772 to 1937, when it was acquired by The Daily Telegraph.- History :...
from 1895 to 1914.
Convinced as early as 1874 that Great Britain
Great Britain
Great Britain or Britain is an island situated to the northwest of Continental Europe. It is the ninth largest island in the world, and the largest European island, as well as the largest of the British Isles...
was inadequately armed, he increasingly devoted his attention to the subject of the national defense. He became a key figure in the founding of the Navy League of Great Britain in 1894 and a serious student of the German military philosopher Carl von Clausewitz
Carl von Clausewitz
Carl Philipp Gottfried von Clausewitz was a Prussian soldier and German military theorist who stressed the moral and political aspects of war...
. During the early months of the Boer War
Second Boer War
The Second Boer War was fought from 11 October 1899 until 31 May 1902 between the British Empire and the Afrikaans-speaking Dutch settlers of two independent Boer republics, the South African Republic and the Orange Free State...
(1899–1900) and made remarkably accurate forecasts of military movements. Wilkinson's views on military affairs were widely influential. At the Foreign Office, Wilkinson's wife's brother, Sir Eyre Crowe
Eyre Crowe
Sir Eyre Alexander Barby Wichart Crowe GCB GCMG was a British diplomat. Crowe was appointed Companion of the Order of the Bath in 1907, Knight Commander of the Order of St Michael and St George in 1911, Knight Commander of the Order of the Bath in 1917, Knight Grand Cross of the Order of St...
, summarized much of Wilkinson's argument from his 1896 book The National Awakening in his famous 1 January 1907 memorandum on British relations with France
France
The French Republic , The French Republic , The French Republic , (commonly known as France , is a unitary semi-presidential republic in Western Europe with several overseas territories and islands located on other continents and in the Indian, Pacific, and Atlantic oceans. Metropolitan France...
and Germany
Germany
Germany , officially the Federal Republic of Germany , is a federal parliamentary republic in Europe. The country consists of 16 states while the capital and largest city is Berlin. Germany covers an area of 357,021 km2 and has a largely temperate seasonal climate...
.
Academic career
Wilkinson was very well connected to key figures in politics and in the armed forces as he journalist and had long hoped for an academic appointment, as his interests increasingly turned toward historical study. He was elected the first Chichele Professor of Military HistoryChichele Professor of the History of War
One of the statutory Chichele Professorships established at All Souls College, Oxford, this chair was originally established in 1909 as the Chichele Professorship of Military History...
in the University of Oxford
University of Oxford
The University of Oxford is a university located in Oxford, United Kingdom. It is the second-oldest surviving university in the world and the oldest in the English-speaking world. Although its exact date of foundation is unclear, there is evidence of teaching as far back as 1096...
and Fellow of All Souls College
All Souls College, Oxford
The Warden and the College of the Souls of all Faithful People deceased in the University of Oxford or All Souls College is one of the constituent colleges of the University of Oxford in England....
in 1909. During World War I he became—like Clausewitz's foremost German proponent at the time, Hans Delbrück
Hans Delbrück
Hans Delbrück was a German historian. Delbrück was one of the first modern military historians, basing his method of research on the critical examination of ancient sources, the use of auxiliary disciplines, like demography and economics, to complete the analysis and the comparison between...
--an energetic critic of his nation's counterproductive strategy and policy. He remained an influential voice in Britain until his death in 1937.
Published Writings
- Essays toward the Improvement of the Volunteer Forces (1886)
- The Brain of an Army (1890), An account of the GermanGermanyGermany , officially the Federal Republic of Germany , is a federal parliamentary republic in Europe. The country consists of 16 states while the capital and largest city is Berlin. Germany covers an area of 357,021 km2 and has a largely temperate seasonal climate...
general staff - Imperial Defence (1892), with Sir Charles DilkeSir Charles Dilke, 2nd BaronetSir Charles Wentworth Dilke, 2nd Baronet PC was an English Liberal and reformist politician. Touted as a future prime minister, his aspirations to higher political office were effectively terminated in 1885, after a notorious and well-publicised divorce case.-Background and education:Dilke was the...
- The Command of the Sea (1894)
- The Nation's Awakening (1896)
- British Policy in South Africa (1899)
- War and Policy (1900)
- Britain at Bay (1909)
- HannibalHannibal BarcaHannibal, son of Hamilcar Barca Hannibal's date of death is most commonly given as 183 BC, but there is a possibility it could have taken place in 182 BC. was a Carthaginian military commander and tactician. He is generally considered one of the greatest military commanders in history...
's March through the AlpsAlpsThe Alps is one of the great mountain range systems of Europe, stretching from Austria and Slovenia in the east through Italy, Switzerland, Liechtenstein and Germany to France in the west....
(1911) - First Lessons in War (1914)
- The French Army before NapoleonNapoleon I of FranceNapoleon Bonaparte was a French military and political leader during the latter stages of the French Revolution.As Napoleon I, he was Emperor of the French from 1804 to 1815...
(1915) - The Nation's Servants (1916)
For on-line examples of Wilkinson's writings, see:
- Strategy in the Navy, The Morning Post, 3 August 1909. This essay is essentially an attack on the influential British naval theorist Julian Stafford Corbett's interpretation of Clausewitz and on Corbett's influence on the Royal Navy.
- Killing No Murder: An Examination of Some New Theories of War, Army Quarterly 14 (October 1927). This is a bitingly critical response to B.H. Liddell Hart's book, The Remaking of Modern Armies (London: J. Murray, 1927).
Sources
- William ArcherWilliam Archer (critic)William Archer , Scottish critic, was born in Perth, and was educated at the University of Edinburgh, where he received the degree of M.A. in 1876. He was the son of Thomas Archer....
, Real Conversations (London, 1904) - John B. Hattendorf, "The Study of War History at Oxford" in Hattendorf and Malcolm H. Murfett, eds., The Limitations of Military Power (1990).
- Jay Luvaas, The Education of an Army: British Military Thought, 1815-1940 (1965.
- A. J. A. Morris, "Wilkinson, (Henry) Spencer (1853-1937)" in xford Dictionary of National Biography. (2004)
Wilkinson's Papers are located at the National Army Museum
National Army Museum
The National Army Museum is the British Army's central museum. It is located in the Chelsea district of central London, England adjacent to the Royal Hospital Chelsea, the home of the "Chelsea Pensioners". The National Army Museum is open to the public every day of the year from 10.00am to 5.30pm,...
, London. His correspondence with Sir Charles Dilke is in the British Library
British Library
The British Library is the national library of the United Kingdom, and is the world's largest library in terms of total number of items. The library is a major research library, holding over 150 million items from every country in the world, in virtually all known languages and in many formats,...
, Add. Mss 43915-43916 and his Correspondence with Sir Basil Liddell Hart
Basil Liddell Hart
Sir Basil Henry Liddell Hart , usually known before his knighthood as Captain B. H. Liddell Hart, was an English soldier, military historian and leading inter-war theorist.-Life and career:...
is at King's College London
King's College London
King's College London is a public research university located in London, United Kingdom and a constituent college of the federal University of London. King's has a claim to being the third oldest university in England, having been founded by King George IV and the Duke of Wellington in 1829, and...
For an extended discussion of Wilkinson, see
- Chapter 9, "Major British Military Writers," and Chapter 15, section "Wilkinson on Liddell Hart and Clausewitz," in Christopher BassfordChristopher BassfordChristopher Bassford is an American military historian. Bassford graduated from the College of William and Mary with a degree in history and honors for his dissertation on tactical nuclear weapons and completed his MA in American diplomatic history at Ohio University. Subsequent to receiving his...
, Clausewitz in English: The Reception of Clausewitz in Britain and America, 1815-1945 (New York: Oxford University Press, 1994).