Lessons from the Great War - Trench warfare developments in Swedish army during the WWI . Part III - Study tours during the war

About study tours during the war

The Foreign section of SGS (Utrikesavdelningen) was assigned to gather and analyse information about military developments outside of Sweden. One of the main procedures were study tours usually performed by general staff officers but even by other army personnel such as military doctors. Before WWI, during the period of 1900-1914, around 400 study tours were performed in almost all contemporary European states.[1] According to researcher Christian Sandhal, the main subjects for study tours were studying developments regarding military technology and combat technique. Also, there was a need to follow developments in military organizations of states that compering to Sweden for a long time had been used conscription service which was introduced in Sweden in 1901.

During the period of 1914-1918 around 60 study tours were performed which comparing to period before the war meant an extensive decline of study tours per year. Around one-third of the study tours from period of 1915-1918 were directly or indirectly focused on trench warfare. Of these, around 20 took place on the Eastern front while seven took place on the Western front.[2] Even if the war against Russia ended in autumn of 1917 Central powers remained the main destination for study tours where focus was switched on German army on Western front and Austro-Hungarian army fighting in Italy and in Balkans. Down below results from my research regarding the number of study tours and their destinations during 1914-1918 are presented.  

Study torus during the war 1914-1918

Year	Germany	Austria-Hungaria	France	UK	Others	Total
1914	5	3	3	2	3	16
1915	4	6	3	1	1	15
1916	2	4	1		1	8
1917	3	4				7
1918	8	6			2	16
Total	22	23	7	3	7	62

References 

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[1] Sandahl, Christian, ”Att vidga sin militära blick. Svenska arméofficerares studieresor till Europa 1900-1914” i Militärhistorisk tidskrift 1995 (Stockholm: Probus förlag, 1995).

[2] KrA, Generalstaben, utrikesavdelningen f.d. hemliga arkiv, serie D I, Liggare över reserapporter och hemar­beten 1914-1931, volym 1 samt serie EI g, 48,49,50,51,52,53,54,55,56,56a, 57 samt KrA, generalfälttygmästaren och chefen (inspektören) för artilleriet/Artilleriinspektionen, chefen för artilleriets expedition f.d. hemliga arkiv, serie E I, vol. 8-11.