After the 19th Century Napoleonic Wars, against the backcloth of many
conflicts (a number of which, admittedly, should not have involved us)
successive governments tried to save money on defence. It was dangerous
policy.
We then disarmed heavily in preparation for The Great War at the same time
as the Kaiser was arming heavily. The consequence was, that at the invasion of
Belgium, we had an army of just 82,000 soldiers opposing the 850,000 of the
Germans.
Having learned a great deal from History, we then spent the 30s disarming
in preparation for the Second World War.
Recent governments have taken the easy option by hitting defence budgets to
the point that our Armed Forces now number less than they have done at any time
in the last 200 years. Two centuries ago, our population was ten million
compared to the 62 million+ today." Those who cannot
remember the past, are condemned to repeat it," Santayana.
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