The Interwar Period: Lessons from the Past

After the end of the Cold War, the United states Army is facing the prospect of a new interwar period in which the lack of a threat and economic and political concerns may cause a major reduction of resources for the Army. The interwar period of the 1920s and the 1930s can provide the Army some useful lessons in the event the period replicates itself in the 21st Century. Those lessons derive not from the well-established fact that the nation failed to provide the Army the necessary resources to remain a robust, modernized force rather those lessons derive from the fact that the Army failed to balance its scarce resources. The Army at that time made choices which caused it to become undermanned and overstructured, unready, unsustainable, and unmodernized. This paper challenges the reader to explore the lessons learned from this period and apply them to the Army of the 21st Century as it confronts a new interwar era.