"Military history is the study of armed conflict in the history of humanity, and its impact on the societies, cultures and economies thereof, as well as the resulting changes to local and international relationships."
The study of past military conflicts and events to gain a better understanding of military strategy, tactics and lessons learned.
Battles: Understanding famous battles and their outcomes is essential when studying military history. This includes analyzing military tactics, strategies, and the role of the different branches of the military.
Weapons and technology: The study of military history includes an understanding of the evolution of military technology over time.
Military Leaders: Analyzing the impact of military leaders, their decisions, strategies, and decisions on historical events, is an essential component of studying military history.
Military structures: Studying military structures like the hierarchy of command, chain of command, organization of troops, and administration of resources is essential in military history.
Military Geography: Understanding the geographical considerations of military operations like terrain, climate, and other environmental factors that influence the tactics and strategies of military operations.
Military logistics: Understanding the logistics of military operations from supply chains, transportation, medical support, and strategic planning.
Warfare in different periods: For instance, ancient warfare, medieval warfare, modern warfare, and others, their differences and shifts in military tactics, and strategies.
Military Intelligence and Surveillance: The role of intelligence and reconnaissance in military operations and the influence of military findings on operations.
Military Ethics and Conduct: Understanding the ethical considerations in military operations and how military behavior changes across time.
Relationships between military and civilian populations: Analyzing the nature of relationships between the military and civilians in different periods and how they have evolved over time.
Military and political relationships: Understanding the interaction between military leaders and political leaders in many periods of history.
How Armies are raised and sustained: The history of military recruitment, the training of soldiers, the management of their payment and supply, and policies that aided them.
Military reform: Reforms that changed military systems, and their impacts.
Military and cultural change: Analyzing the influence of the military on societal change, and how it influences cultural trends.
Military and gender: Analyzing the role gender plays in military history and how the military treatment of women and people of different sexual orientations has shifted across history.
Military and economic change: How war has influenced the economy, and how economic changes influenced how different countries waged war.
Strategic Military History: This type of military history studies large-scale military operations, the overall strategy of war, and decision-making processes of high-ranking officials and commanders. It also focuses on examining the political and socio-economic factors that influence strategic planning.
Tactical Military History: This type of military history studies the actions and decisions taken at the battlefield level. It covers topics such as proper use of troops and equipment, tactics, and maneuvers employed by the combatants. This type of military history often involves analyzing smaller battles in order to understand the larger-scale strategic operations.
Operational Military History: This type of military history focuses on campaigns and operations, which usually cover a wider geographical area and take place over an extended period of time. It involves understanding how the military was organized and how they planned their operations. Study methodology includes the use of maps and other cartographic resources to understand troop movements.
Naval Military History: This type of military history involves the study of naval warfare, the role of navies in military operations, and the development of maritime strategy. It also examines the technology and tactics used in naval operations, including the use of submarines, aircraft carriers, surface ships, and amphibious warfare.
Air War Military History: This type of military history involves the study of aerial warfare, including the development of air power, aircraft design and technology, the use of air power in military campaigns, and the role of air forces in modern warfare.
Intelligence Military History: This type of military history studies the use of intelligence and espionage in military operations, including the gathering and analysis of information on enemy forces, the use of propaganda, counter-insurgency, and cyber-warfare.
Medical Military History: This type of military history examines the role of medical personnel in war, and the development of medical technology used to treat wounded soldiers. It also focuses on the impact of disease, infection, and other medical issues related to military operations.
Cultural Military History: This type of military history focuses on the impact of culture and identity on military operations. It examines how gender, race, religion, and other cultural factors influence the conduct of war and the experiences of soldiers.
Social Military History: This type of military history examines the impact of military operations on society, including the impact on civilian populations, the roles played by different social groups in wars, and the role of propaganda in shaping public opinion.
Economic Military History: This type of military history studies the economic factors that influence military decisions, including the financing of war, the economic impact of military operations on society, and the role of military technology in advancing economic development.
"Professional historians normally focus on military affairs that had a major impact on the societies involved as well as the aftermath of conflicts."
"Amateur historians and hobbyists often take a larger interest in the details of battles, equipment, and uniforms in use."
"The essential subjects of military history study are the causes of war, the social and cultural foundations, military doctrine on each side, the logistics, leadership, technology, strategy, and tactics used, and how these changed over time."
"Just war theory explores the moral dimensions of warfare and seeks to establish a doctrine of military ethics."
"The military command seeks to not repeat past mistakes and improve upon its current performance by instilling an ability in commanders to perceive historical parallels during a battle, so as to capitalize on the lessons learned from the past."
"The Combat Studies Institute deemphasizes rote detail memorization and focuses on themes and context in relation to current and future conflict."
"The motto is 'Past is Prologue.'"
"The discipline of military history is dynamic, changing with development as much of the subject area as the societies and organizations that make use of it."
"The rapidity of change in military forces, the art and science of managing them, as well as the frenetic pace of technological development during the Industrial Revolution and more recently in the nuclear and information ages."
"The Revolution in Military Affairs (RMA) attempts to explain how warfare has been shaped by emerging technologies, such as gunpowder."
"It highlights the short outbursts of rapid change followed by periods of relative stability."
"...its impact on the societies, cultures, and economies thereof."
"Professional historians normally focus on military affairs that had a major impact on the societies involved as well as the aftermath of conflicts."
"Just war theory explores the moral dimensions of warfare... seeks to establish a doctrine of military ethics."
"To understand how these changed over time and their influence on armed conflicts."
"The military command seeks to not repeat past mistakes and improve upon its current performance by instilling an ability in commanders to perceive historical parallels during a battle."
"They deemphasize rote detail memorization and focus on themes and context in relation to current and future conflict."
"The discipline of military history is dynamic, changing with development as much of the subject area as the societies and organizations that make use of it."
"The Revolution in Military Affairs (RMA) attempts to explain how warfare has been shaped by emerging technologies such as gunpowder."