Military Cultures, Military Histories And The Current Emergency

Abstract

Culture in military history focuses on perception and expectations, especially the perception of opportunities, of problems, of options, and of success. This chapter highlights that culture is dynamic, not static, as both a reality and an analytical process. Cultural influences emerge clearly in the writing of history, including military history. Culture is a much employed term for, aside from the culture of society as a whole, including why people fought and how they responded to the issues of conflict, on which there has recently been excellent work for the American Civil War, there is also the organizational culture of particular militaries, a topic that overlaps with sociology. Military history, of course, is not in some fashion separate to contemporary discussion about war, nor to the general currents of historical thought. The historical moment for the modern cultural assessment is clearcut. Keywords: American civil war; cultural influences; military history; sociology