Military History

Introduction:
Soldiers in fight were the main theme of the earliest Greek epic and the earliest histories. It has not
lost its interest for modern readers and writers. The focus of academic military history, in any case, has
changed as especially as the idea of modern warfare has changed.

World War I:
World War I was the first European war to be battled by literate armed forces, and the fighters in
that fire made an extraordinary writing as well as a mass of material about their experiences.

Paul Fussell (American Historian):

In The Great War and Modern Memory (1975), Paul Fussell utilized these archives to deliver a
record of life in the battles. Although the literary output of soldiers in World War II was much less
significant.

Humanities Discipline:
Military history is a humanities discipline within the scope of general historical recording of armed
conflict in the history of humanity, and its impact on the societies, their cultures, economies and
changing local and international relationships.
Professional historians normally focus on military affairs that had a major impact on the societies
involved as well as the aftermath of conflicts, while 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, leadership, technology, strategy, and tactics used, and how
these changed over time.

Early Historians:
The documentation of military history begins with the confrontation between Sumer (current Iraq)
and Elam (current Iran) c. 2700 BC near the modern Basra.
Other prominent records in military history are the Trojan War in Homer's Iliad, The
Histories by Herodotus (484 BC – 425 BC) who is often called the "father of history".
Next was Thucydides whose impartiality, despite being an Athenian, allowed him to take advantage
of his exile to research the war from different perspectives by carefully examining documents and
interviewing eyewitnesses.

Modern Warfare:
In modern times, war has evolved from an activity steeped in tradition to a scientific
enterprise where success is valued above methods.
Militaries have developed technological advances compete with the scientific accomplishments of
any other field of study.
Modern military organizations used the technological variety of tools and methods available to
modern battlefield commanders, from submarines to satellites, from knives to nuclear warheads.