Mobilization

Mobilization, in military terminology, is the act of assembling and readying troops and supplies for war. The word mobilization was first used, in a military context, to describe the preparation of the Russian army during the 1850s and 1860s. Mobilization theories and techniques have continuously changed since then. The opposite of mobilization is demobilization.

Mobilization became an issue with the introduction of conscription, and the introduction of the railways in the 19th Century. Mobilization institutionalized the mass levy of forces that was first introduced during the French Revolution, and that had changed the character of war. A number of technological and societal changes promoted the move towards a more organized way of assembling armies. These included the telegraph to provide rapid communication, the railways to provide rapid movement and concentration of troops, and conscription to provide a trained reserve of soldiers in case of war.

The Roman Empire was able to mobilize at various times sizeable forces, which including poorly trained militia totaled between 6% (81-83 BCE) to, in emergency and for short periods, as much as 10% (210s BCE) of total Roman population (which included as many as 75% of males aged 17–45).

The Confederate States of America is estimated to have mobilized about 11% of its free population in American Civil War (1861-1865).Kingdom of Prussia mobilized about 6-7% of its total population in the years 1760 and 1813. Sweden mobilized 7.7% in 1709.

Armies in the seventeenth century possessed an average of 20,000 men. A military force of this size requires around 40,000 pounds of food per day, shelter, as well as all the necessary munitions, transportation (typically horses or mules), tools, and representative garments. Without efficient transportation, mobilizing these average-sized forces was extremely costly, time-consuming, and potentially life-threatening. Soldiers could traverse the terrain to get to war fronts, but they had to carry their supplies. Many armies decided to forage for food— however, foraging restricted movement because it is based on the presumption that the land the army moves over possesses significant agricultural production.

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