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Historiography of Military History

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lightbulbAbout this topic
Historiography of Military History is the study of how military events, strategies, and institutions have been interpreted, analyzed, and represented by historians over time. It examines the methodologies, perspectives, and biases that shape the writing of military history, reflecting broader societal values and historical contexts.
lightbulbAbout this topic
Historiography of Military History is the study of how military events, strategies, and institutions have been interpreted, analyzed, and represented by historians over time. It examines the methodologies, perspectives, and biases that shape the writing of military history, reflecting broader societal values and historical contexts.

Key research themes

1. How has the evolution from traditional operational narratives to interdisciplinary approaches reshaped the historiography of military history?

This research area investigates the historiographical transition from classical military history, which primarily focused on battles, commanders, and tactics, toward a 'new military history' that incorporates social, cultural, economic, and individual soldier experiences. It matters because it broadens the understanding of war’s impact on societies and challenges earlier narrow frameworks, informing more nuanced analyses and teaching in military historiography.

Key finding: The paper provides a detailed overview of the emergence since the 1960s of the 'new military history,' which introduced social, cultural, gender, and global perspectives into military historiography. It highlights how... Read more
Key finding: This work contextualizes the coexistence and mutual challenges among traditional battlefield-focused military history, the 'new military history' concerned with war and society, and cultural-memory approaches. It underscores... Read more
Key finding: The article critically examines the limitations of the new military history, especially its methodological stagnation and reliance on classic works, using eighteenth-century British Army studies as a case. It argues that... Read more
Key finding: This paper identifies military history's unique position between popular and academic spheres and the increasing broadness of its subject matter, covering everything from weapons and institutions to individual soldier... Read more

2. What is the role of soldier-centered narratives in reshaping military historiography and understanding the lived experience of warfare?

This theme explores how incorporating the perspectives, emotions, and identities of individual soldiers into military history provides alternative and complementary understandings to institutional or strategic accounts. By foregrounding soldiers' lived experiences, including themes such as boredom, humor, violence, trauma, and identity, researchers highlight the human dimension of war, offering crucial insights that reshape historiographical approaches.

Key finding: This work identifies the limitations of prevailing military studies which maintain an etic (outsider) perspective focused on institutional effectiveness or critique. It advocates for an emic (insider) perspective emphasizing... Read more
Key finding: By centering on the firsthand accounts of South African soldiers in WWII, this study challenges the predominance of high-level political and operational histories. It demonstrates the importance of recovering human... Read more
Key finding: This chapter surveys published personal narratives of South African WWII personnel to define and analyze the 'Springbok Tale'—a distinct soldier’s voice. It establishes that veterans themselves positioned their accounts as... Read more
Key finding: Echoing and extending the analysis of South African soldiers’ personal narratives, this paper underscores how personal memoirs and ego documents serve as vital repositories for understanding the complexities of war from... Read more

3. How have anthropological and sociocultural approaches influenced the historiography of military history, and what unique insights do they provide?

This theme addresses the incorporation of anthropological methods—especially ethnographic fieldwork and holistic, comparative analyses—into military history. It foregrounds cultural and social dimensions related to militarization, gender, family life, and the medical aftermath of warfare. Such approaches expand military historiography beyond strategic and operational studies to include military institutions as cultural and social systems.

Key finding: The chapter delineates the anthropology of militaries as a distinct, recently emerging field that applies sociocultural anthropological methods to study militaries in industrial societies. It highlights ethnographic fieldwork... Read more
Key finding: This reflection situates military history within the broader social context of Colombia’s ongoing conflict and explores ambivalent human attitudes toward war. By challenging simplistic interpretations, it emphasizes the moral... Read more
Key finding: The article theorizes the constitution of soldier identities through the disciplining narratives that emerged after the Middle Ages, shaped by spatial and strategic representations of warfare. Drawing on Foucauldian concepts,... Read more

All papers in Historiography of Military History

KIBRIS BARIŞ HAREKATINDA HAVA İNDİRME HAREKATI VE KAYSERİ 3 NCÜ PARAŞÜT TABURUNCA BOZDAĞLARDA RUM-YUNAN 32 NCİ KOMANDO TABURU VE 361 NCİ RUM PİYADE TABURUNUN İMHASI VE YOK EDİLMESİ Ben bu kitabı; bir savaş olimpiyatı olan... more
KIBRIS TÜRK KUVVETLERİ ALAYI'NIN ADAYA ÇIKIŞININ TÜRK ROMANINA YANSIMALARI * Öz Osmanlı Devleti tarafından 1571'de fethedilen Kıbrıs'ta bu tarihle beraber Türk varlığı başlamıştır. Devletin 19. yüzyılda zayıflaması üç yüz yıllık... more
Ibarrola, Bernardo,“Cinco líneas de historicidad del Ejército Nacional Mexicano”. Pp. 49-60 En Ricardo Sodi Cuéllar (coord.) La Defensa Nacional del Estado Mexicano. México, Porrúa-Universidad Anáhuac-Dirección General de Educación... more
Ibarrola, Bernardo, “Cien años de historiografía militar mexicana” pp. 617-640. En Felipe Ávila (Coord.) Historia de los Ejércitos Mexicanos. 2a Ed. México, Instituto Nacional de Estudios Históricos de las Revoluciones de México. 2014.... more
Dzieje polskiej motoryzacji po zakończeniu II wojny światowej nie były do tej pory przedmiotem szerszego zainteresowania historyków. O ile można wskazać pojedyncze artykuły dotyczące tej tematyki i koncentrujące się na historii społecznej... more
Poland in September 1939 and Ukraine in February 2022 found themselves in a very similar situation: they had to face an enemy that prevailed not only numerically, but also qualitatively. The entire territory of our countries was under air... more
African Military Studies is an exciting, new series of books on war, conflict and armed forces in Africa. Covering the whole span of African history-and the full conflict continuum-the series seeks to encourage works on the drivers of... more
African Military Studies is an exciting, new series of books on war, conflict and armed forces in Africa. Covering the whole span of African history-and the full conflict continuum-the series seeks to encourage works on the drivers of... more
Soldiers of Empire deserves a wide audience for the argument it raises, but also for some of the issues it seems to elide. Though it claims coverage of British and Indian soldiers, it spends much more time on the latter, though the... more
Major conflicts leave lasting and transformative impacts on social and institutional memories of the belligerents. Although it is officially labeled as “the Cyprus Peace Operation,” Turkish military intervention in 1974 is a case of... more
South African radar operators, who played a role in protecting the strategic sea route around the Cape, deserve more recognition and research attention. This rugged and rocky coastline was a supply lifeline for Allied troops voyaging... more
W ostatnich latach w Polsce coraz większą popularność zdobywają autorzy odchodzący od klasycznego przedstawiania II wojny światowej. Ma to miejsce zarówno w zakresie tworzenia historii alternatywnych jak i opisywania wydarzeń czy postaci... more
Major conflicts leave lasting and transformative impacts on social and institutional memories of the belligerents. Although it is officially labeled as “the Cyprus Peace Operation,” Turkish military intervention in 1974 is a case of... more
Wars are Fought, and Lived, by Real People  Ian van der Waag Wars are Fought, and Lived, by Real People  Ian van der Waag interesting insights in terms of morale and the experience of active combat. He shows how a 'missing narrative'... more
This chapter seeks to gain a deeper understanding of South Africans’ experience of the Second World War. The personal narratives (mostly published) of a range of South African service personnel were surveyed, their essential features... more
Abstract: Moral and moral upbringing of soldiers is an undertaking that has attracted the attention of their commanders for millennia. The Greek Hoplites, each of whom is also a citizen of his polis, have a sense of moral superiority over... more
Article about Bulgarian football clubs with names of historical persons in "Bulgarian history" magazine
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