Editing Mobilization (section)

{{Short description|Assembling and readying military troops and supplies for war}}
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{{About|military mobilization}}
{{More footnotes|date=October 2012}}
[[File:Messangers were sent to every village.jpg|thumb|When [[king Æthelred]] and [[Alfred the Great|Alfred]] learnt that [[Vikings]] were in [[Wessex]], they sent messengers to mobilize men in every village]]

'''Mobilization''' (alternatively spelled as '''mobilisation''') is the act of assembling and readying military [[troops]] and supplies for [[war]]. The word ''mobilization'' was first used in a military context in the 1850s to describe the preparation of the [[Prussian Army]].<ref>{{cite web |last1=Schubert |first1=Frank N. |title=Mobilization in World War II |url=https://permanent.access.gpo.gov/websites/www.history.army.mil/brochures/Mobilization/mobpam.htm |website=Permanent Access GPO Government |publisher=U.S. Army Center of Military History |access-date=5 March 2020}}</ref> Mobilization theories and tactics have continuously changed since then. The opposite of mobilization is [[demobilization]].

Mobilization institutionalized the [[Levée en masse]] (engl. ''mass levy of conscripts'') that was first introduced during the [[French Revolution]]. It became an issue with the introduction of [[conscription]], and the introduction of the railways in the 19th century.

A number of technological and societal changes promoted the move towards a more organized way of deployment. These included the [[telegraph]] to provide rapid communication, the railways to provide rapid movement and concentration of troops, and conscription to provide a trained [[Military reserve force|reserve]] of soldiers in case of war.