"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."
Studying the history of warfare can provide valuable insights into past military successes and failures, as well as inform modern military strategy.
The Ancient World: The earliest known forms of warfare from ancient Greece, Rome, and Egypt.
Medieval Warfare: The evolution of warfare from the fall of Rome to the development of gunpowder weapons.
The Renaissance: The emergence of firearms as the dominant battlefield weapon.
The Enlightenment: The application of scientific thinking to military strategy.
The Napoleonic Era: Napoleon's military tactics and leadership techniques.
The American Civil War: The strategies and tactics employed by the North and South.
World War I: The military strategies of the Great Powers, including trench warfare and the use of gas.
World War II: Military strategies from the Pacific and European fronts, including Blitzkrieg and amphibious invasions.
The Cold War: The strategies and tactics employed by the U.S. and Soviet Union in proxy conflicts around the world.
The Gulf War: The coalition's swift victory over Iraq in 1991.
The War on Terror: The military strategies employed in the ongoing global war on terror.
Future Warfare: The emerging face of military strategy, including drone warfare and cyber-attacks.
Military Leadership: The essential qualities of effective military leadership, including communication, charisma, and decision-making.
Technology and Warfare: The impact of technology on military strategy and its application on the battlefield.
Psychological Warfare: The use of propaganda and other psychological tactics in war.
Guerrilla Warfare: The strategies and tactics of unconventional warfare, including ambushes and hit-and-run attacks.
Naval Warfare: The strategies and tactics of naval warfare, including the use of aircraft carriers and submarine warfare.
Air Warfare: The evolution of air power and its impact on modern military strategy.
Logistics and Supply Chain Management: The essential elements of maintaining a military force, including transportation, supply chains, and deployment strategies.
Diplomacy and War: The role of diplomacy in preventing and resolving conflicts, including the use of sanctions and peacekeeping missions.
Ancient warfare: This refers to the tactics, equipment, and organization used by armies during ancient times, such as Egyptian, Greek, and Roman armies. They were characterized by large formations, heavy use of chariots and Phalanxes.
Medieval warfare: This evolved from the Middle Ages and features chivalry, fortified castles, and armored knights. Siege warfare played a significant role, using trebuchets and battering rams.
Modern warfare: This began with the introduction of firearms in the 15th century and ushered in the era of artillery, naval warfare, and large standing armies. The industrial revolution made warfare more efficient by bringing technology pace (e.g. tanks, airplanes) and made wars longer and deadlier.
Guerrilla warfare: This is a form of irregular military tactics that use small, mobile units to carry out surprise attacks and hit-and-run raids on enemy forces. Guerrilla warfare is usually conducted by a civilian population or an unorganized military force and is intended to achieve a strategic balance by minimizing losses and frustrating the enemy.
Naval warfare: Naval warfare has been a centuries-old source of military strategy. The main aim is control of the seas or waterways, with a focus on creating favorable conditions for naval battles. Naval battles have evolved to become more complex, incorporating submarines and aircraft carriers.
Air warfare: Conflict fought in the skies includes aerial bombing raids, dogfights between fighter planes, and bombing campaigns directed at targets on the ground. More recently, military organizations worldwide have invested in combat drones and missile defense systems, putting the skies at the center of warfare.
Cyber warfare: This is a new type of warfare that targets computer systems or other electronic infrastructure, aiming to compromise or disable an opponent's technological network. It includes hacking, cyber espionage, and other similar activities.
Asymmetric warfare: Asymmetric warfare involves conflicts between nations with vastly different military capabilities, such as a superpower versus a smaller or weaker state or group with no state backing. Rebellions against a government can also fall in this category, presenting a threat to a nation, state, or community.
Total war: Total war is conflict that goes beyond military targets and includes civilian infrastructure. It is designed to completely destroy an enemy's capacity to continue fighting and, as such, has been utilized in many wars throughout history.
"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."