QUE ES LA HISTORIA MILITAR

STEPHEN MORILLO

with MICHAEL F. PAVKOVIC

What is

Military History?

Copyright C Stephen Morillo and Michael E Pavkovic 2013

The right of Stephen Morillo and Michael E Pavkovic to be identified as Authors of chis Work has been asserted in accordance with the UK Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988.

First published in 2013 by Polity Press

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1

An introduction to

Military History

Military history is not the most respected branch of historical inquiry in academic circles. In part this is because of (and despite) its popularity with the general public and its impor-tance in educating professional military personnel. The root of the disrespect, however, mostly lies in its subject: war. There exists deep suspicion that to write about war is sorpehow tu approve of it, even to glorify it — a suspicion not unfounded in the history of the writing of military history. But to recognize the importante of a subject in the study of the past does not mean approving of it, as any historian of the Holocaust will attest. Military history today is practiced by as broad a range of historians, in their political, ideologi-cal, and methodological interests, as any other branch of history, and both its topics and its methods lie (and should lie) solidly in the mainstream of historical study. This book is an introduction to this important field.

In most places, by the time writing was invented, there were already kings and armies. It did not take long for kings to recognize the value of the new communication technology in publicizing and thus glorifying their exploits. Military victories proved especially useful for such publicity, as they demonstrated the ruler's capacity to protect his subjects, and to subject foreign popu]ations with their riches to his rule (presumably to the benefit of the kingdom as a whole). Even more powerfully, the image of a war leader as presented in

2 An Introduction to Military History

writing and pictures spoke directly of the very qualities most likely to enhance a ruler's reputation: strength, decisiveness, glory, even fearsomeness. A ruler with a good military publicist appeared favored by the gods.

Military history is therefore the oldest form of historical writing in many cultures. It has long since ceased to be the exclusive preserve of publicists for great leaders, although such types certainly still exisr in abundante and the genre has produced some great literature, especially if one considers epics such aá. The Iliad as a form of military history. lndeed, it ceased to be the preserve of publicists in antiquity, when some of the finest minds in a number of classical civilizations turned to writing history, the history of wars in particular, partly in reaction to the tradition of heroic epics. Their more analytical approach to the study of history did nor replace popular war tales, but coexisted with it. In both fictional and non-fictional forms, the appeal of writing about war remains. In many places today, military history continues to be one of the most popular sorts of history and of non-fiction generally. This popularity still extends beyond the written word, just as it did in the days of oral traditions of war tales such as The lijad: the programming of The History Channel is dominated by military history.

Yet that very popularity means that there are many types of military history and a sometimes overwhelming volume of publications. The quality of this outpouring is inevitably uneven, and military history has not always enjoyed a high reputation in academie circles, for reasons we will explore further elsewhere in this book. The popularity of military history therefore complicares the problem of getting to know the field. Where does a student ¡List embarking on their study of military history begin to understand this deep and complex tradition of historical writing? The intenr of this book is to provide a beginner's roadmap: ro introduce students to the history of military history, to its current forms, practirioners, audiences, and controversies, and to its key concepts and directions. In short, this book attempts to answer the question "'What is Military History?".

We'll make an initial pass at this quesrion from two anglos. First, what is military history about? And second, who studies military history and why do they do so?

An Introduction to Military History 3 Military History: Definitions, Topics, Scope

We adopt a broad definition of military history. At the core of the field, of course, are histories of war — both particular wars and warfare (the conduct of military operations) more generally. But narratives of campaigns and battles, or even analyses of the patterns and principies of warfare illustrated by campaigns and battles, sometimes called the "art" or "science" of war, can be told in many ways. The historian can look at a war in tercos of how it fits into the larger politi-cal aims of a country or leader, what strategies leaders adopted to fit their larger aims, how and how well those strategies were executed, or what the results of the war were — that is, histories of particular wars and warfare are pare of the larger topic of histories of war in all its complex mani-festations and effects. The focas at any of these levels mighr be on the decisions made by leaders, the institutions that put those decisions into operation, the experience of individuals far from the decision-making process but close ro rhe action generated by the decisions, or the world of ideas, beliefs, and ideologies, including religious beliefs and practices, that shaped the plans, decisions, and actions of individuals and groups.

Nor do such varied approaches to the narration and analysis of warfare exhaust the possibilities of military history. Some armies never fight wars, but as institutions they are important (or simply interesting) despite (or even because of) the fact that they didn't fight. Military institu-tions, in other words, are as much rhe province of military history as are military actions. This is particularly true since institutional history subsumes the history of military orga-nization, unir structures, and allocations of equipment. Like-wise, the varying roles of soldiers and warriors in different societies and the social impact of warfare — whether directly through the interaction of combatants with non-combatants or indirectly through taxation, conscription, and other effects associated with the intrusion into societies of states and organized violence — have become central tu much mili-tary history. The basic constraints placed on warfare and those who wage ir by deep factors such as environment,

4 An lntroduction to Military History

climate, geography, and patterns of economic production as well as overall levels of economic productivity have also entered the mainstream of military history, especially in terms of histories of military technology. Technology, science, and the impact of war on individuals intersect in the history of military medicine. And the very popularity of war tales in many cultures indicates just one of the ways in which warfare, military institutions, and military values (including warrior codes of behavior) interact with the cultural values and constructs of different societies, bringing cultural analy-ses of war and warriors into the debate. Furthermore, both social structures and cultural constructs, including gender roles, affect the ways armies are raised, how they fight, and how they interact with society more broadly. In other words, the relationship between war and military institutions on one hand and society and culture on the other is reciproca'.

We therefore arrive at a broad definition of military history that encompasses not just the history of war and wars, but that includes any historical study in which military personnel of all sorts, warfare (the way in which conflicts are actually fought on land, at sea, and in the air), military institutions, and their various intersections with politics, economice, society, nature, and culture form the focus or topic of the work. One obvious implication of such a broad definition is that many works of military history could also be classified

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