94-642: People's Army/Armed Forces is/was the title of the armed forces or army of several countries: It is or was also the title used by various militias and rebel groups: The People's Army Model refers to a school of thought concerning the role of the Israel Defense Forces in Israeli society. Armed forces A military , also known collectively as armed forces , is a heavily armed , highly organized force primarily intended for warfare . Militaries are typically authorized and maintained by
188-420: A military secret . Scholars still do not know the exact nature of Greek fire , for instance. Researching Operation Enduring Freedom and Operation Iraqi Freedom, for example, have presented unique challenges to historians due to records that were destroyed to protect classified military information, among other reasons. Historians use their knowledge of government regulation and military organization, and employing
282-453: A sovereign state , with their members identifiable by a distinct military uniform . They may consist of one or more military branches such as an army , navy , air force , space force , marines , or coast guard . The main task of a military is usually defined as defence of their state and its interests against external armed threats. In broad usage, the terms "armed forces" and "military" are often synonymous, although in technical usage
376-479: A battle, so as to capitalize on the lessons learned from the past. When certifying military history instructors the Combat Studies Institute deemphasizes rote detail memorization and focuses on themes and context in relation to current and future conflict, using the motto "Past is Prologue." The discipline of military history is dynamic, changing with development as much of the subject area as
470-483: A broad view of warfare's role in the nation's history. They typically include displays of weapons and other military equipment, uniforms , wartime propaganda , and exhibits on civilian life during wartime, and decorations , among others. A military museum may be dedicated to a particular or area, such as the Imperial War Museum Duxford for military aircraft, Deutsches Panzermuseum for tanks,
564-555: A childhood background of relative socio-economic deprivation . For example, after the US suspended conscription in 1973, "the military disproportionately attracted African American men, men from lower-status socioeconomic backgrounds, men who had been in nonacademic high school programs, and men whose high school grades tended to be low". However, a study released in 2020 on the socio-economic backgrounds of U.S. Armed Forces personnel suggests that they are at parity or slightly higher than
658-583: A civilian job while training under military discipline at weekends; he or she may be called out to deploy on operations to supplement the full-time personnel complement. After leaving the armed forces, recruits may remain liable for compulsory return to full-time military employment in order to train or deploy on operations . Military law introduces offences not recognized by civilian courts, such as absence without leave (AWOL) , desertion, political acts, malingering , behaving disrespectfully, and disobedience (see, for example, offences against military law in
752-545: A combination of sulfur, saltpeter ( potassium nitrate ), aconitine , oil, resin, ground charcoal and wax." Joseph Needham argued the Chinese were able to destroy buildings and walls using such devices. Such experimentation was not present in Western Europe, where the combination of saltpeter, sulfur and charcoal were used exclusively for explosives and as a propellant in firearms. What the Chinese often referred to as
846-471: A distinction is sometimes made in which a country's armed forces may include other paramilitary forces such as armed police. A nation's military may function as a discrete social subculture , with dedicated infrastructure such as military housing, schools , utilities, logistics , hospitals , legal services, food production, finance, and banking services. Beyond warfare, the military may be employed in additional sanctioned and non-sanctioned functions within
940-506: A historian's political position on current events on interpretive disagreement regarding the causes of 20th century wars. He surveyed the ideological preferences of 109 active diplomatic historians in the United States as well as 54 active military historians. He finds that their current political views are moderately correlated with their historiographical interpretations. A clear position on the left-right continuum regarding capitalism
1034-525: A huge influence on Asian military doctrine, and from the late 19th century, on European and United States military planning . It has even been used to formulate business tactics, and can even be applied in social and political areas. The Classical Greeks and the Romans wrote prolifically on military campaigning . Among the best-known Roman works are Julius Caesar 's commentaries on the Gallic Wars , and
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#17328013612651128-458: 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 , the logistics, leadership, technology, strategy , and tactics used, and how these changed over time. On
1222-524: A minimum period of service of several years; between two and six years is typical of armed forces in Australia, the UK and the US, for example, depending on role, branch, and rank. Some armed forces allow a short discharge window, normally during training, when recruits may leave the armed force as of right. Alternatively, part-time military employment, known as reserve service , allows a recruit to maintain
1316-548: A sanitised version of warfare." The actual bomber that dropped the atomic bomb on Japan became the focus of an angry national controversy with veterans attacking curators and historians when the Smithsonian Institution planned to put its fuselage on public display in 1995. The uproar led to cancellation of the exhibit. The documentation of military history begins with the confrontation between Sumer (current Iraq ) and Elam (current Iran ) c. 2700 BC near
1410-464: A sense of military tradition , which is used to create cohesive military forces. Still, another is to learn to prevent wars more effectively. Human knowledge about the military is largely based on both recorded and oral history of military conflicts (war), their participating armies and navies and, more recently, air forces . Despite the growing importance of military technology , military activity depends above all on people. For example, in 2000
1504-618: A significant impact at the strategic level. This concept was pioneered by the German army prior to and during the Second World War . At this level, planning and duration of activities takes from one week to a month, and are executed by Field Armies and Army Corps and their naval and air equivalents. Military tactics concerns itself with the methods for engaging and defeating the enemy in direct combat. Military tactics are usually used by units over hours or days, and are focused on
1598-409: A targeted and systematic research strategy to piece together war histories. Despite these limits, wars are some of the most studied and detailed periods of human history. Military historians have often compared organization, tactical and strategic ideas, leadership, and national support of the militaries of different nations. In the early 1980s, historian Jeffrey Kimball studied the influence of
1692-434: A technological bias, a focus on leading military powers and dominant military systems, the separation of land from sea and recently air conflicts, the focus on state-to-state conflict, a lack of focus on political "tasking" in how forces are used. If these challenges were not sufficient for military historians, the limits of method are complicated by the lack of records, either destroyed or never recorded due to their value as
1786-416: A very wide coverage of military history, with over 180,000 articles . Its editors sponsor Misplaced Pages:WikiProject Military history and encourage readers to join. Military museums specialize in military histories; they are often organized from a national point of view, where a museum in a particular country will have displays organized around conflicts in which that country has taken part. They typically take
1880-653: A victory more often than that achieved by the Romans in praying to the gods before the battle. Later this became known as military science , and later still, would adopt the scientific method approach to the conduct of military operations under the influence of the Industrial Revolution thinking. In his seminal book On War , the Prussian Major-General and leading expert on modern military strategy , Carl von Clausewitz defined military strategy as 'the employment of battles to gain
1974-495: A year include scholarly articles reviews of new books, and a bibliography of new publications and dissertations. The Society has 2300 members, holds an annual convention, and gives out prizes for the best scholarship. Historiography is the study of the history and method of the discipline of history or the study of a specialised topic. In this case, military history with an eye to gaining an accurate assessment of conflicts using all available sources. For this reason military history
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#17328013612652068-431: Is also an area in which much effort is invested – it includes everything from global communication networks and aircraft carriers to paint and food. Possessing military capability is not sufficient if this capability cannot be deployed for, and employed in combat operations. To achieve this, military logistics are used for the logistics management and logistics planning of the forces military supply chain management ,
2162-407: Is arguably one of the most complex activities known to humanity; because it requires determining: strategic, operational, and tactical capability requirements to counter the identified threats; strategic, operational , and tactical doctrines by which the acquired capabilities will be used; identifying concepts, methods, and systems involved in executing the doctrines; creating design specifications for
2256-405: Is conducted by determining a military budget , which is administered by a military finance organization within the military. Military procurement is then authorized to purchase or contract provision of goods and services to the military, whether in peacetime at a permanent base, or in a combat zone from local population. Capability development, which is often referred to as the military 'strength',
2350-571: Is in the nature of the secrecy of the information they seek, and the clandestine nature that intelligence operatives work in obtaining what may be plans for a conflict escalation , initiation of combat , or an invasion . An important part of the military intelligence role is the military analysis performed to assess military capability of potential future aggressors, and provide combat modelling that helps to understand factors on which comparison of forces can be made. This helps to quantify and qualify such statements as: " China and India maintain
2444-595: Is named after Bayonne , France where it was first manufactured in the 16th century. It is used often in infantry charges to fight in hand-to-hand combat. General Jean Martinet introduced the bayonet to the French army. They were used heavily in the American Civil War , and continued to be used in modern wars like the Invasion of Iraq . Balloons were first used in warfare at the end of the 18th century. It
2538-477: Is periodised, creating overlaying boundaries of study and analysis in which descriptions of battles by leaders may be unreliable due to the inclination to minimize mention of failure and exaggerate success. Military historians use Historiographical analysis in an effort to allow an unbiased, contemporary view of records. One military historian, Jeremy Black, outlined problems 21st-century military historians face as an inheritance of their predecessors: Eurocentricity,
2632-476: Is that if your enemy has a potentially war winning weapon, you have to either match it or neutralize it. Chariots originated around 2000 BC. The chariot was an effective, fast weapon; while one man controlled the maneuvering of the chariot, a second bowman could shoot arrows at enemy soldiers. These became crucial to the maintenance of several governments, including the New Egyptian Kingdom and
2726-654: Is the Revolution in Military Affairs (RMA) which 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. In terms of the history profession in major countries, military history is an orphan, despite its enormous popularity with the general public. William H. McNeill points out: In recent decades University level courses in military history remain popular; often they use films to humanize
2820-530: The Nautilus . The Howitzer , a type of field artillery , was developed in the 17th century to fire high trajectory explosive shells at targets that could not be reached by flat trajectory projectiles. Organizational changes resulting in better training and intercommunication, made the concept combined arms possible, allowing the use of infantry, cavalry, and artillery in a coordinated way. Bayonets also became of wide usage to infantry soldiers. Bayonet
2914-825: The Lange Max Museum for the Western Front (World War I) , the International Spy Museum for espionage, The National World War I Museum for World War I , the "D-Day Paratroopers Historical Center" (Normandy) for WWII airborne, or more generalist, such as the Canadian War Museum or the Musée de l'Armée . For the Italian alpine wall one can find the most popular museum of bunkers in the small museum n8bunker at Olang / Kronplatz in
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3008-593: The Roman Civil war – written about 50 BC. Two major works on tactics come from the late Roman period: Taktike Theoria by Aelianus Tacticus , and De Re Militari ('On military matters') by Vegetius . Taktike Theoria examined Greek military tactics, and was most influential in the Byzantine world and during the Golden Age of Islam . De Re Militari formed the basis of European military tactics until
3102-680: The Shang dynasty and the nation states of the early to middle Zhou dynasty . Some of the military unit types and technologies which were developed in the ancient world are: For settled agrarian civilizations, the infantry became the core of military action. The infantry started as opposing armed groups of soldiers underneath commanders. The Greeks and early Romans used rigid, heavily armed phalanxes . The Macedonians and Hellenistic states would adopt phalanx formations with sarissa pikemen. The Romans would later adopt more flexible maniples from their neighbors which made them extremely successful in
3196-587: The Tanker War , as part of the Iran–Iraq War . The first navigable submarine was built in 1624 by Cornelius Drebbel , it could cruise at a depth of 15 feet (5 m). However, the first military submarine was constructed in 1885 by Isaac Peral . The Turtle was developed by David Bushnell during the American Revolution . Robert Fulton then improved the submarine design by creating
3290-441: The explosive charge was ignited by a lit match or hot coal held in the other hand. In the mid-15th century came the matchlock , allowing the gun to be aimed and fired while held steady with both hands, as used in the arquebus . Starting about 1500, clever but complicated firing mechanisms were invented to generate sparks to ignite the powder instead of a lit match, starting with the wheel lock , snaplock , snaphance , and finally
3384-545: The flintlock mechanism , which was simple and reliable, becoming standard with the musket by the early 17th century. At the beginning of the 16th century, the first European fire ships were used. Ships were filled with flammable materials, set on fire, and sent to enemy lines. This tactic was successfully used by Francis Drake to scatter the Spanish Armada at the Battle of Gravelines , and would later be used by
3478-407: The history of war , with military history focusing on the people and institutions of war-making, while the history of war focuses on the evolution of war itself in the face of changing technology, governments, and geography. Military history has a number of facets. One main facet is to learn from past accomplishments and mistakes, so as to more effectively wage war in the future. Another is to create
3572-688: The "fire drug" arrived in Europe, fully fleshed out, as gunpowder. Cannons were first used in Europe in the early 14th century, and played a vital role in the Hundred Years' War . The first cannons were simply welded metal bars in the form of a cylinder, and the first cannonballs were made of stone. By 1346, at the Battle of Crécy, the cannon had been used; at the Battle of Agincourt they would be used again. The first infantry firearms, from fire lances to hand cannons , were held in one hand, while
3666-577: The 12th century also became important in the Middle Ages. It helped to give the English a large early advantage in the Hundred Years' War , even though the English were eventually defeated. The Battle of Crécy and the Battle of Agincourt are excellent examples of how to destroy an enemy using a longbow. It dominated battlefields for over a century. There is evidence for gunpowder evolving slowly from formulations by Chinese alchemists as early as
3760-574: The 2nd century BC Han dynasty invented rudders and sculled oars for their warships. Fortifications are important in warfare. Early hill-forts were used to protect inhabitants in the Iron Age . They were primitive forts surrounded by ditches filled with water. Forts were then built out of mud bricks, stones, wood, and other available materials. Romans used rectangular fortresses built out of wood and stone. As long as there have been fortifications, there have been contraptions to break in, dating back to
3854-614: The 3rd–4th century AD, heavily armored cavalry became widely adopted by the Parthians, Sasanians , Byzantines , Eastern Han dynasty and Three Kingdoms , etc. The early Indo-Iranians developed the use of chariots in warfare. The scythed chariot was later invented in India and soon adopted by the Persians . War elephants were sometimes deployed for fighting in ancient warfare. They were first used in India and later adopted by
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3948-475: The 4th century, at first as experiments for life force and metal transmutation, and later experiments as pyrotechnics and incendiaries. By the 10th century, the developments in gunpowder led to many new weapons that were improved over time. The Chinese used incendiary devices based on this in siege warfare against the Mongols starting in the mid 13th century. "Pots with wicks of flax or cotton were used, containing
4042-620: The British Army declared: "Man is still the first weapon of war." The military organization is characterized by a command hierarchy divided by military rank , with ranks normally grouped (in descending order of authority) as officers (e.g. colonel ), non-commissioned officers (e.g. sergeant ), and personnel at the lowest rank (e.g. private ). While senior officers make strategic decisions, subordinated military personnel ( soldiers , sailors , marines , or airmen ) fulfil them. Although rank titles vary by military branch and country,
4136-576: The British by Tipu Sultan of the Kingdom of Mysore during the Anglo-Mysore Wars . Rockets were generally inaccurate at that time, though William Hale , in 1844, was able to develop a better rocket. The new rocket no longer needed the rocket stick , and had a higher accuracy. In the 1860s there were a series of advancements in rifles . The first repeating rifle was designed in 1860 by
4230-623: The Chinese, Russians, Greeks, and several other countries in naval battles. Naval mines were invented in the 17th century, though they were not used in great numbers until the American Civil War . They were used heavily in the First and Second World Wars. Air-deployed naval mines were used to mine the North Vietnamese port of Haiphong during the Vietnam War . The Iraqi Navy of Saddam Hussein used naval mines extensively during
4324-784: The Internet for many more resources than are typically available in nearby libraries. Since 1993, one of the most popular sites, with over 4000 members (subscriptions are free) has been H-WAR, sponsored by the H-Net network based at Michigan State University. H-War has six coeditors, and an academic advisory board that sets policy. It sponsors daily moderated discussions of current topics, announcements of new publications and conferences, and reports on developments at conferences. The H-Net family of lists has sponsored and published over 46,000 scholarly book reviews, thousands of which deal with books in military history broadly conceived. Misplaced Pages itself has
4418-478: The MI their true capabilities, and to impress potential ideological recruits. Having military intelligence representatives participate in the execution of the national defence policy is important, because it becomes the first respondent and commentator on the policy expected strategic goal , compared to the realities of identified threats . When the intelligence reporting is compared to the policy, it becomes possible for
4512-589: The Persians. War elephants were also used in the Battle of the Hydaspes River , and by Hannibal in the Second Punic War against the Romans. One of the most important military transactions of the ancient world was Chandragupta Maurya 's gift of 500 elephants to Seleucus I Nicator . Naval warfare was often crucial to military success. Early navies used sailing ships without cannons; often
4606-975: The United Kingdom ). Penalties range from a summary reprimand to imprisonment for several years following a court martial . Certain rights are also restricted or suspended, including the freedom of association (e.g. union organizing) and freedom of speech (speaking to the media). Military personnel in some countries have a right of conscientious objection if they believe an order is immoral or unlawful, or cannot in good conscience carry it out. Personnel may be posted to bases in their home country or overseas, according to operational need, and may be deployed from those bases on exercises or operations . During peacetime, when military personnel are generally stationed in garrisons or other permanent military facilities, they conduct administrative tasks, training and education activities, technology maintenance , and recruitment . Initial training conditions recruits for
4700-640: The analysis of a leader was taken by Xenophon (430–355 BC) in Anabasis , recording the expedition of Cyrus the Younger into Anatolia . The memoirs of the Roman Julius Caesar (100–44 BC) enable a comparative approach for campaigns such as Commentarii de Bello Gallico and Commentarii de Bello Civili . The nature of warfare never changes, only its superficial manifestations. Joshua and David , Hector and Achilles would recognize
4794-497: The armed forces, and at all levels of the military hierarchy of command. Although concerned with research into military psychology , particularly combat stress and how it affects troop morale , often the bulk of military science activities is directed at military intelligence technology, military communications , and improving military capability through research. The design, development, and prototyping of weapons , military support equipment, and military technology in general,
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#17328013612654888-513: The civilian population with respect to socio-economic indicators such as parental income, parental wealth and cognitive abilities. The study found that technological, tactical, operational and doctrinal changes have led to a change in the demand for personnel. Furthermore, the study suggests that the most disadvantaged socio-economic groups are less likely to meet the requirements of the modern U.S. military. The obligations of military employment are many. Full-time military employment normally requires
4982-656: The combat experience. For example, Eugene P. A. Scleh, history professor at the University of Maine, has explored the advantages and problems of teaching a course of "Modern War and Its Images" entirely through films. Students said they found the documentaries more valuable than the dramas. However, military historians are frustrated by their marginal status in major history departments. Academic historians concerned with military topics have their own scholarly organization, Society for Military History . Since 1937 it has published The Journal of Military History . Its four issues
5076-451: The combat that our soldiers and Marines have waged in the alleys of Somalia and Iraq. The uniforms evolve, bronze gives way to titanium, arrows may be replaced by laser-guided bombs, but the heart of the matter is still killing your enemies until any survivors surrender and do your will. New weapons development can dramatically alter the face of war, the cost of warfare, the preparations, and the training of soldiers and leaders. A rule of thumb
5170-592: The commanding forces and other military, as well as often civilian personnel participate in identification of these threats. This is at once an organization, a system and a process collectively called military intelligence (MI). Areas of study in Military intelligence may include the operational environment, hostile, friendly and neutral forces, the civilian population in an area of combat operations, and other broader areas of interest. The difficulty in using military intelligence concepts and military intelligence methods
5264-454: The concepts and methods used by the command to employ appropriately military skilled, armed and equipped personnel in achievement of the tangible goals and objectives of the war , campaign , battle , engagement, and action. The line between strategy and tactics is not easily blurred, although deciding which is being discussed had sometimes been a matter of personal judgement by some commentators, and military historians. The use of forces at
5358-410: The concerns of military command. Military strategy is more concerned with the supply of war and planning, than management of field forces and combat between them. The scope of strategic military planning can span weeks, but is more often months or even years. Operational mobility is, within warfare and military doctrine , the level of command which coordinates the minute details of tactics with
5452-512: The consumables, and capital equipment of the troops. Although mostly concerned with the military transport , as a means of delivery using different modes of transport; from military trucks , to container ships operating from permanent military base , it also involves creating field supply dumps at the rear of the combat zone, and even forward supply points in a specific unit's tactical area of responsibility . These supply points are also used to provide military engineering services, such as
5546-429: The demands of military life, including preparedness to injure and kill other people, and to face mortal danger without fleeing. It is a physically and psychologically intensive process which resocializes recruits for the unique nature of military demands. For example: The next requirement comes as a fairly basic need for the military to identify possible threats it may be called upon to face. For this purpose, some of
5640-463: The end of war'. According to Clausewitz: strategy forms the plan of the War, and to this end it links together the series of acts which are to lead to the final decision, that is to say, it makes the plans for the separate campaigns and regulates the combats to be fought in each. Hence, Clausewitz placed political aims above military goals , ensuring civilian control of the military . Military strategy
5734-401: The existence of the military is to engage in combat , should it be required to do so by the national defence policy, and to win. This represents an organisational goal of any military, and the primary focus for military thought through military history . How victory is achieved, and what shape it assumes, is studied by most, if not all, military groups on three levels. Military strategy is
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#17328013612655828-628: The field of battle. The kingdoms of the Warring States in East Asia also adopted infantry combat, a transition from chariot warfare from centuries earlier. Archers were a major component of many ancient armies, notably those of the Persians, Scythians, Egyptians, Nubians, Indians, Chinese, Koreans and Japanese. Cavalry became an important tool. In the Sicilian Expedition , led by Athens in an attempt to subdue Syracuse ,
5922-731: The form of military camouflage or misdirection using decoys , is used to confuse the enemy as a tactic. A major development in infantry tactics came with the increased use of trench warfare in the 19th and 20th centuries. This was mainly employed in World War I in the Gallipoli campaign , and the Western Front . Trench warfare often turned to a stalemate, only broken by a large loss of life, because, in order to attack an enemy entrenchment, soldiers had to run through an exposed ' no man's land ' under heavy fire from their opposing entrenched enemy. As with any occupation, since ancient times,
6016-587: The goal was to ram the enemy ships and cause them to sink. There was human oar power, often using slaves, built up to ramming speed. Galleys were used in the 3rd millennium BC by the Cretans . The Greeks later advanced these ships. In 1210 BC, the first recorded naval battle was fought between Suppiluliuma II , king of the Hittites , and Cyprus , which was defeated. In the Greco-Persian Wars ,
6110-544: The heard of the dolomites of South Tyrol . The U.S. Army and the state National Guards operate 98 military history museums across the United States and three abroad. Curators debate how or whether the goal of providing diverse representations of war, in terms of positive and negative aspects of warfare. War is seldom presented as a good thing, but soldiers are heavily praised. David Lowenthal has observed that in today's museums, "nothing seems too horrendous to commemorate". Yet as Andrew Whitmarsh notes, "museums frequently portray
6204-517: The largest armed forces in the World" or that "the U.S. Military is considered to be the world's strongest". Although some groups engaged in combat, such as militants or resistance movements , refer to themselves using military terminology, notably 'Army' or 'Front', none have had the structure of a national military to justify the reference, and usually have had to rely on support of outside national militaries. They also use these terms to conceal from
6298-540: The late 17th century. Perhaps its most enduring maxim is Igitur qui desiderat pacem, praeparet bellum (let he who desires peace prepare for war). Due to the changing nature of combat with the introduction of artillery in the European Middle Ages , and infantry firearms in the Renaissance , attempts were made to define and identify those strategies, grand tactics , and tactics that would produce
6392-482: The level of organization between strategic and tactical is called operational mobility . Because most of the concepts and methods used by the military, and many of its systems are not found in commercial branches, much of the material is researched, designed, developed, and offered for inclusion in arsenals by military science organizations within the overall structure of the military. Therefore, military scientists can be found interacting with all Arms and Services of
6486-426: The management of forces in wars and military campaigns by a commander-in-chief , employing large military forces, either national and allied as a whole, or the component elements of armies , navies and air forces ; such as army groups , naval fleets , and large numbers of aircraft . Military strategy is a long-term projection of belligerents' policy, with a broad view of outcome implications, including outside
6580-630: The manufacturers who would produce these in adequate quantity and quality for their use in combat; purchase the concepts, methods, and systems; create a forces structure that would use the concepts, methods, and systems most effectively and efficiently; integrate these concepts, methods, and systems into the force structure by providing military education , training , and practice that preferably resembles combat environment of intended use; create military logistics systems to allow continued and uninterrupted performance of military organizations under combat conditions, including provision of health services to
6674-497: The military has been distinguished from other members of the society by their tools: the weapons and military equipment used in combat. When Stone Age humans first took flint to tip the spear , it was the first example of applying technology to improve the weapon. Since then, the advances made by human societies, and that of weapons, has been closely linked. Stone weapons gave way to Bronze Age and Iron Age weapons such as swords and shields . With each technological change
6768-607: The modern Basra . Other prominent records in military history are the Trojan War in Homer 's Iliad (though its historicity has been challenged), The Histories by Herodotus (484–425 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. An approach centered on
6862-425: The national leadership to consider allocating resources over and above the officers and their subordinates military pay, and the expense of maintaining military facilities and military support services for them. Source: SIPRI Defense economics is the financial and monetary efforts made to resource and sustain militaries, and to finance military operations , including war. The process of allocating resources
6956-553: The navy became of increasing importance. Triremes were involved in more complicated sea-land operations. Themistocles helped to build up a stronger Greek navy, composed of 310 ships, and defeated the Persians at the Battle of Salamis , ending the Persian invasion of Greece. In the First Punic War , the war between Carthage and Rome started with an advantage to Carthage because of their naval experience. A Roman fleet
7050-460: The other hand, just war theory explores the moral dimensions of warfare, and to better limit the destructive reality caused by war, seeks to establish a doctrine of military ethics. As an applied field, military history has been studied at academies and service schools because 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
7144-421: The overarching goals of strategy . A common synonym is operational art. The operational level is at a scale bigger than one where line of sight and the time of day are important, and smaller than the strategic level, where production and politics are considerations. Formations are of the operational level if they are able to conduct operations on their own, and are of sufficient size to be directly handled or have
7238-417: The personnel, and maintenance for the equipment; the services to assist recovery of wounded personnel, and repair of damaged equipment; and finally, post-conflict demobilization , and disposal of war stocks surplus to peacetime requirements. Development of military doctrine is perhaps the most important of all capability development activities, because it determines how military forces are used in conflicts,
7332-486: The physicality of armed forces, their personnel , equipment , and the physical area which they occupy. As an adjective, military originally referred only to soldiers and soldiering, but it broadened to apply to land forces in general, and anything to do with their profession. The names of both the Royal Military Academy (1741) and United States Military Academy (1802) reflect this. However, at about
7426-445: The rank hierarchy is common to all state armed forces worldwide. In addition to their rank, personnel occupy one of many trade roles, which are often grouped according to the nature of the role's military tasks on combat operations: combat roles (e.g. infantry ), combat support roles (e.g. combat engineers ), and combat service support roles (e.g. logistical support ). Personnel may be recruited or conscripted , depending on
7520-415: The recovery of defective and derelict vehicles and weapons, maintenance of weapons in the field, the repair and field modification of weapons and equipment; and in peacetime, the life-extension programmes undertaken to allow continued use of equipment. One of the most important role of logistics is the supply of munitions as a primary type of consumable, their storage, and disposal . The primary reason for
7614-524: The reign of Ramses II , features in bas-relief monuments. The first Emperor of a unified China , Qin Shi Huang , created the Terracotta Army to represent his military might. The Ancient Romans wrote many treatises and writings on warfare, as well as many decorated triumphal arches and victory columns . The first recorded use of the word "military" in English, spelled militarie ,
7708-431: The societies and organisations that make use of it. The dynamic nature of the discipline of military history is largely due to the rapid change of military forces, and the art and science of managing them, as well as the frenetic pace of technological development that had taken place during the period known as the Industrial Revolution , and more recently in the nuclear and information ages . An important recent concept
7802-453: The specific tasks and objectives of squadrons , companies , battalions , regiments , brigades , and divisions , and their naval and air force equivalents. One of the oldest military publications is The Art of War , by the Chinese philosopher Sun Tzu . Written in the 6th century BCE, the 13-chapter book is intended as military instruction, and not as military theory , but has had
7896-428: The state, including internal security threats, crowd control , promotion of political agendas , emergency services and reconstruction, protecting corporate economic interests, social ceremonies, and national honour guards . The profession of soldiering is older than recorded history . Some images of classical antiquity portray the power and feats of military leaders . The Battle of Kadesh in 1274 BC from
7990-646: The system chosen by the state. Most military personnel are males; the minority proportion of female personnel varies internationally (approximately 3% in India, 10% in the UK, 13% in Sweden, 16% in the US, and 27% in South Africa ). While two-thirds of states now recruit or conscript only adults, as of 2017 50 states still relied partly on children under the age of 18 (usually aged 16 or 17) to staff their armed forces. Whereas recruits who join as officers tend to be upwardly-mobile , most enlisted personnel have
8084-471: The time of the Napoleonic Wars , military began to be used in reference to armed forces as a whole, such as " military service ", " military intelligence ", and " military history ". As such, it now connotes any activity performed by armed force personnel. Military history is often considered to be the history of all conflicts, not just the history of the state militaries. It differs somewhat from
8178-526: The times of Romans and earlier. Siege warfare is often necessary to capture forts. Some of the military unit types and technologies which were used in the medieval period are: Bows and arrows were often used by combatants. Egyptians shot arrows from chariots effectively. The crossbow was developed around 500 BC in China, and was used heavily in the Middle Ages . The English/Welsh longbow from
8272-786: The well-trained Syracusan cavalry became crucial to the success of the Syracusans. Macedonian Alexander the Great effectively deployed his cavalry forces to secure victories. In battles such as the Battle of Cannae of the Second Punic War , and the Battle of Carrhae of the Roman-Persian Wars , the importance of the cavalry would be repeated. There were also horse archers , who had the ability to shoot on horseback—the Parthians , Scythians , Mongols , and other various steppe people were especially fearsome with this tactic. By
8366-543: Was apparent in most cases. All groups agreed with the proposition, "historically, Americans have tended to view questions of their national security in terms of such extremes as good vs. evil." Though the Socialists were split, the other groups agreed that "miscalculation and/or misunderstanding of the situation" had caused U.S. interventionism." Kimball reports that: People interested in military history from all periods of time, and all subtopics, are increasingly turning to
8460-478: Was built in 261 BC, with the addition of the corvus that allowed Roman soldiers to board enemy ships. The bridge would prove effective at the Battle of Mylae , resulting in a Roman victory. The Vikings , in the 8th century AD, invented a ship propelled by oars with a dragon decorating the prow, hence called the Drakkar . The 12th century AD Song dynasty invented ships with watertight bulkhead compartments while
8554-511: Was first introduced in Paris of 1783; the first balloon traveled over 5 miles (8 km). Previously military scouts could only see from high points on the ground, or from the mast of a ship. Now they could be high in the sky, signalling to troops on the ground. This made it much more difficult for troop movements to go unobserved. At the end of the 18th century, iron-cased artillery rockets were successfully used militarily in India against
8648-455: Was in 1582. It comes from the Latin militaris (from Latin miles ' soldier ' ) through French, but is of uncertain etymology, one suggestion being derived from *mil-it- – going in a body or mass. As a noun phrase, "the military" usually refers generally to a country's armed forces, or sometimes, more specifically, to the senior officers who command them. In general, it refers to
8742-718: Was one of a triumvirate of ' arts ' or 'sciences' that governed the conduct of warfare, the others being: military tactics , the execution of plans and manoeuvring of forces in battle , and maintenance of an army. The meaning of military tactics has changed over time; from the deployment and manoeuvring of entire land armies on the fields of ancient battles, and galley fleets; to modern use of small unit ambushes , encirclements , bombardment attacks, frontal assaults , air assaults , hit-and-run tactics used mainly by guerrilla forces, and, in some cases, suicide attacks on land and at sea. Evolution of aerial warfare introduced its own air combat tactics . Often, military deception , in
8836-528: Was realized some tangible increase in military capability, such as through greater effectiveness of a sharper edge in defeating armour , or improved density of materials used in manufacture of weapons. Military history 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 . Professional historians normally focus on military affairs that had
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