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Expeditionary warfare is a militaryinvasion of a foreign territory, especially away from established bases. Expeditionary forces were in part the antecedent of the modern concept ofrapid deployment forces. Traditionally, expeditionary forces were essentially self-sustaining with anorganiclogistics capability and with a full array of supporting arms.
The earliest examples of expeditionary warfare come from theSea Peoples, a term used for aconfederation of seafaringraiders of thesecond millennium BC who sailed into the eastern shores of theMediterranean, caused political unrest, and attempted to enter or controlEgyptian territory during the late19th dynasty, and especially during Year 8 ofRamesses III of the20th dynasty.
The raiding tactics were expanded into the more complex expeditionary warfare operations byAlexander the Great who usednaval vessels for both troop transporting andlogistics in his campaigns against thePersian Empire.
The next exponents of expeditionary warfare in the ancient world of theMediterranean Basin were theCarthaginians who introduced two entirely new dimensions to the use ofnaval forces by staging not only operations that combinednaval andland troops, but also eventuated in combiningstrategic multi-national forces during the land phase of the operation whenHannibal in his most famous achievement at the outbreak of theSecond Punic War marched an army, which includedwar elephants, fromIberia over thePyrenees and theAlps intoNorthern Italy.
Following on the example of Carthage, theRomans used expeditionary operations extensively to expand their Empire and influence in the Mediterranean and beyond, including theRoman conquest of Britain which was not only a limited expeditionary operation, but one conceived to include long-termoccupation and Roman settlement of the territories.
TheHan dynasty of ancient China also famously used expeditionary warfare to deal with the nomadicXiongnu people during theHan–Xiongnu War. Under the orders ofEmperor Wu of Han, the Han launched numerous long-distance raids deep into Xiongnu territory. The exploits of famed Han generalsWei Qing andHuo Qubing were of particular note, with both recording multiple successful expeditions between the years 127 and 119 BC, eventually annexing theHexi Corridor and expelling the Xiongnu from theQilian Mountains. The expeditionary Han forces were primarily made up of cavalry and were typically arrayed in columns. They also frequently crossed vast distances–Huo Qubing is said to have travelled 2,000li, roughly 620 miles/1000 km, during one of his raids.
Shortly after the collapse of the Roman empire in Italy, the EuropeanMiddle Ages began with anexpedition of imperialByzantine generalBelisarius against theVandals. But as that empire dwindled, its warfare became more defensive.
The most prominent development of expeditionary warfare during the Middle Ages came from theenvironmental pressures in theScandinavian region during the Middle Ages, and the emergence of theViking migrations that combined raiding, longer term inland operations, occupation and settlement. These operations were conducted assea,coastal andriverine operations, and sometimes were strategic in nature, reaching as far asConstantinople.
Expeditionary warfare inEast Asia began very much in the same way it had in the Mediterranean with short-term raids byJapanese pirates. Because thewokou were weakly resisted by theMing dynasty, the raiding eventually developed into fully-fledged expeditionary warfare with theJapanese invasions of Korea (1592–1598).
The development in expeditionary operations reached a new level when during theCrusades the element ofpolitical alliance as an influence on the military strategy was introduced, for example in theSixth Crusade (AD 1228.)
Although all expeditionary warfare until the invention of the combustion engine was largely dependent onsailing vessels, it was with the creation of sophisticatedrigging systems of the EuropeanRenaissance that theAge of Sail allowed a significant expansion in expeditionary warfare, notably by the Europeancolonial empires such as the SpanishConquest of Mexico, theConquest of Peru and theConquest of the Philippines, far from Spanish bases. Some have argued that this was the firstrevolution in military affairs that changed national strategies, operational methods, and tactics both at sea and on the land.
Though a significantly expanded expeditionary operation, theCrimean War was the first example of a planned expeditionary campaign that was directed as part of a multinational coalition strategy. It was also the first modern expeditionary operation that usedsteam-powered warships andtelegraph communications.
The next development in the evolution of the expeditionary warfare was made during the expansion of the westernEuropean empires and the era ofcolonialism that also led to the inclusion of the expeditionary methods into the direct expression of national strategies to avoid full-scale conflicts in the shape of thegunboat diplomacy approach. It was at this time thatnaval troops previously used almost exclusively for defence of vessels or minorbeach operations were expanded to enable extendedlittoral operations. The colonial experience, though largely confined to the period before theFirst World War, persisted well into the20th century.
The period of theFirst World War and its aftermath in the 1920s saw expeditionary warfare established as a systematic and planned type of operations with larger scope than simpletransportations of troops to the theatre, such as theBritish Expeditionary Force in 1914,Russian Expeditionary Force in 1916, and theAmerican Expeditionary Forces in 1917, and the beginnings of development in true combined operations at strategic, operational and tactical levels with the unsuccessfulamphibious landing atGallipoli. Not only did this operation combine the elements of overall war planning context, multinational deployment of forces as part of the same operation, and use of troops prepared for the landings (as opposed todisembarkation), as well asnaval gunfire support that was limited during the era of sailing ships, but also included extensive use ofcombat engineering in support of theinfantry. One of the most extensive and complex of expeditionary operations that followed the war was theAllied intervention in the Russian Civil War that saw forces deployed in theBaltic region, theArctic region, along theBlack Sea coast, and in theRussian Far East.
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Other expeditionary forces during WWI included:
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