Military History

Military history is the scientific study of history in where the role of the military is put into a greater political, cultural, economic, gender and social-historical context.

Traditionally, the subject has been used for analysing historical campaigns and operations with the purpose of establishing general doctrines and illustrating principles.

Military history is an important and significant part of war studies, both nationally and internationally. This is clearly seen in, for example, field exercises, war games and applications.

Military history is the basis of war studies

Today, the scope of the subject has been expanded and the importance of context in the analyses is much more central than before. For these reasons, military history can be said to stand with one foot in a civilian academic environment and the other in the military profession.

The military history research at the Swedish Defence University aims to support officer training by examining various aspects of the history of the military profession and warfare, as well as aspects of the relationship between military and society in the past, which seem important in today's context. Through close collaboration with historical research environments outside the Swedish Defence University, the scientific relevance and wider societal benefit of research is ensured.

All experiences, both good and bad, are historical knowledge and thus the historian's area of ​​work. At the Swedish Defence University, the subject of military history therefore forms the basis for, among other things, the subject of war studies.