Ministry of Defence (United Kingdom)

The Ministry of Defence of the United Kingdom (Ministry of Defence ) is the headquarters of the armed forces of the United Kingdom and tasked with the implementation of the specified by the government defense policy.

History

In the interwar period, politicians and members of the civil service examined the power of the British state during the First World War and found an increased need for coordination between the three branches of the armed forces of the country. The coalition led by the then Prime Minister David Lloyd George rejected in 1921 the creation of a unified Ministry of Defence from, but informed the General Staff a 1923 to meet the need for increased co-operation between the branches of service. Due to the timeliness of rearmament taught Stanley Baldwin in the 1930s, then the post of Minister for Coordination of Defence ( "Minister for the coordination of defense matters " ) a. This took Lord Chatfield to the end of a government Chamberlain. A successful work remained to him due to his lack of authority over the ministries of the armed forces to which he was not superior to, and denied because of his lack of political influence.

Shortly after taking office in 1940, Winston Churchill created the post of defense minister. In addition to the already existing coordination skills it has now, for increasing its effectiveness, the parent of the General Staff. Churchill exercised in the position until 1946, when the government of Clement Attlee, the British defense establishment with the Ministry of Defence Act of 1946 reformed. The defense then took part in cabinet meetings, during this, do not longer held true for the Minister of the Armed Forces ministries that continue to retain their direct command.

From 1946 to 1964, the work of today's Defense Ministry on 5 ministries remained divided; the Admiralty for the Royal Navy, the British Army responsible for the War Office and the civilian and the military version of the Air Ministry, the Royal Air Force. These were summarized in 1964 to today's Defense In 1971 added the defense department of the air supply ministry.