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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ISBN-13: 978-0-7456-5978-7 ISBN-13: 978-0-7456-5979-4(pb)

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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,

...