War, Society, and Culture since 1789

This course will survey the history of war and society in the West from the French Revolution of 1789 to the present. Military historian Michael Howard articulates best the approach we will take:

But to abstract war from the environment in which it is fought and study its technique as one would those of a game is to ignore a dimension essential to understanding, not simply of the wars themselves but of the societies which fought them. The historian who studies war, not to develop norms for action but to enlarge his understanding of the past, cannot be simply a ‘military historian,’ for there is literally no branch of human activity which is not to a greater or lesser extent relevant to his subject. He has to study war not only, as Hans Delbrück put it, in the framework of political history, but in the framework economic, social and cultural history as well. War has been part of a totality of human experience, the parts of which can be understood only in relation to one another. One cannot adequately describe how wars were fought without giving some idea of what they were fought about. (War in European History, pp. ix-x)

Accordingly, we will examine war in its widest social and cultural context, treating equally the profound effects of warfare upon the societies that wage it, and the many ways that particular societies and cultures affect the nature of the wars they wage.

The primary focus will be on Western and European civilizations, though we will also examine developments in other parts of the world to gain a comparative perspective and throw into clearer relief the distinctiveness of war and culture in the West. The history of armies, leaders, battles, and tactics and strategy will be among the important topics the course will cover, but we will also take seriously the social and cultural contexts that inform and shape these and other aspects of war. Some of the specific questions and themes we will address include:

• Is the concept of “total war” useful for understanding the changing nature of warfare, and of the effects of war on society and culture, since 1789?

• Why and how do men and women take part in war? What are their motivations for participating in combat or in other war-related activities?

• What different roles do various people play during wartime, what are their experiences of war, how does war affect their lives?

• How have participants in war sought to convey their experiences in writing, and how have narratives of war changed along with changes in war and in societies and cultures?

• How can studying the modern history of war and society help us understand the nature and trajectory of warfare in the present and future?

The study of history is about interrogating the past—asking why and how, as well as who, what, where, and when—and the history of war and society is no different, so this is how we will proceed. We will do our best to answer these questions, though with the full knowledge that hard, concrete answers will more often than not be elusive. Still, when we have finished this course, we will not only know more about the facts and figures of the history of war, society, and culture in this period, but we will also be in a better position to understand how that history has developed in various social and cultural contexts since 1789. We will do what historians (for that’s what you are learning to be in this course) are really supposed to do: explain, as best they can, change over time.

War, Society, and Culture to 1789

This course will survey the history of war and society from the origins of organized violence in prehistory to the eve of the profound transformation of war that began in the West during the Revolutionary period in the late eighteenth century. Our starting point and touchstone will be the following observation by renowned military historian Michael Howard:

But to abstract war from the environment in which it is fought and study its technique as one would those of a game is to ignore a dimension essential to understanding, not simply of the wars themselves but of the societies which fought them. The historian who studies war, not to develop norms for action but to enlarge his understanding of the past, cannot be simply a ‘military historian,’ for there is literally no branch of human activity which is not to a greater or lesser extent relevant to his subject. He has to study war not only, as Hans Delbrück put it, in the framework of political history, but in the framework economic, social and cultural history as well. War has been part of a totality of human experience, the parts of which can be understood only in relation to one another. One cannot adequately describe how wars were fought without giving some idea of what they were fought about. (War in European History, pp. ix-x)

Accordingly, we will examine war in its widest social and cultural context, treating equally the profound effects of warfare upon the societies that wage it, and the many ways that particular societies and cultures affect the nature of the wars they wage.

The primary focus will be on Western and European civilizations, though we will also examine developments in other parts of the world to gain a comparative perspective and throw into clearer relief the distinctiveness of war and culture in the West. The history of armies, leaders, battles, and tactics and strategy will be among the important topics the course will cover, but we will also take seriously the social and cultural contexts that inform and shape these and other aspects of war. Some of the specific questions and themes we will address include:

• The origins and nature of organized violence among human beings from earliest times: Are human beings inherently violent, or is the propensity to inflict organized violence on other human beings a phenomenon that attends the growth of civilization? Are certain human groups more or less violent than others? Do certain social or cultural contexts encourage warlike behavior more than others?

• The role of war and violence among the progenitors of Western civilization, the Greeks: What are the origins of war in Greek society? What were some of the attitudes toward war, and how did these attitudes change over time? Just how central was war and soldiering to Greeks’ understandings of who they were and what made them different from other peoples? More specifically, what do Xenophon’s adventures in Persia tell us about Greek identity?

• The place of warfare and violence in the culture of the Middle Ages, an era in which European and culture took concrete and decisive shape: How did warmaking and social organization mutually reinforce one another in the various systems known as feudalism during this period? What was the 2 medieval understanding of the proper role of the warrior, especially as revealed in The Song of Roland? How did waging war against Muslims in the Crusades shape European culture and identity? What was the role of violence and war in personal lives of knights and in the social code known as chivalry?

• Near the end of the period we will examine, the transformations in war wrought by emerging technologies: What factors explain the decline of medieval styles of warfare and the knights who waged them? What technologies played the most critical roles in this process? What were the consequences of the so-called “military revolution” for the world beyond Europe?

• Two broader and recurring questions we will address: Do contemporary historical films and their visions of war and society tell us anything reliable about the past, or do they tell us more about contemporary cultural concerns? Finally, from the time of the Greeks to the end of the early modern period (and, to be sure, beyond), Westerners’ often violent meetings with non-Westerners have decisively shaped both war and society in the West. What does this tell us about European and Western identity and culture over the longer term?

The study of history is about interrogating the past—asking why and how, as well as who, what, where, and when—and the history of war and society is no different, so this is how we will proceed. We will do our best to answer these questions, though with the full knowledge that hard, concrete answers will more often than not be elusive. Still, when we have finished this course, we will not only know more about the facts and figures of military history, but we will be in a better position to understand how that history has developed in various social and cultural contexts from prehistory to the eighteenth century. We will do what historians (for that’s what you are learning to be in this course) are really supposed to do: explain, as best they can, change over time.

War and Gender

This course will explore the role of gender in shaping war and experiences of war, and the role of war in shaping understandings and expressions of gender. Readings will focus primarily, though not exclusively, on these themes in European and United States history since the eighteenth century, and will address theoretical concerns as well as the lived experiences of people from all walks of life. Without forgetting the importance of battles and military institutions in the history of warfare, this course will seek to place war firmly in its broadest social and cultural contexts.

We will proceed largely chronologically. However, we will begin with a broad theoretical overview, Joshua Goldstein’s War and Gender, which will orient us to many of the main thematic issues we’ll address for the rest of the semester. We’ll then trace these briefly from the early modern period through the nineteenth century, before exploring developments in the twentieth century in great detail. Since we will proceed mostly chronologically, themes and issues will emerge and reemerge repeatedly—war as a gendered activity, changing (and not so changing) notions of masculinity and femininity in relation to war, war and sexuality, gendered notions of violence, sexual orientation and military service, gender identity and military service, the gendered language of war and violence, gender and the emergence of total war, the wartime experiences of women and men, and many more—and by the end of the semester we will have had an opportunity to think about them in a wide variety of contexts.

Violence, War, and Empire in the 19th and 20th Centuries

This readings course will examine various topics related to violence, war, and empire in the nineteenth and twentieth centuries. We will pay particular attention to French and German colonialism, though we will also examine British, Belgian, and other modern colonial empires. The following are some of the key questions that we will explore:

• Is violence systemic in all imperial formations and colonial situations? If so, what factors determine the exact nature and extent of that violence?

• Can we distinguish colonial violence from the more or less organized violence we customarily call “war”?

• What roles do indigenous soldiers play in the violence of empire and war?

• How does race and racism influence violence and war?

• Can we usefully and responsibly compare the violence of colonialism and empire across time, space, and cultures?

• Are there important differences between the violence of empire during the different phases of its development: conquest and building; rule and maintenance; dissolution, collapse, or decolonization?

• How do we properly use the terms we deploy to talk about these issues: violence, war, empire, imperial, imperialism, colonial, colonialism?

• What different insights can we gain from examining imperial and colonial violence and war from close-up, individual perspectives, versus more panoramic, state-centered perspectives?

War, Society, and Culture

This course will take as its starting point and touchstone the following observation by Michael Howard:

But to abstract war from the environment in which it is fought and study its technique as one would those of a game is to ignore a dimension essential to understanding, not simply of the wars themselves but of the societies which fought them. The historian who studies war, not to develop norms for action but to enlarge his understanding of the past, cannot be simply a ‘military historian,’ for there is literally no branch of human activity which is not to a greater or lesser extent relevant to his subject. He has to study war not only, as Hans Delbrück put it, in the framework of political history, but in the framework economic, social and cultural history as well. War has been part of a totality of human experience, the parts of which can be understood only in relation to one another. One cannot adequately describe how wars were fought without giving some idea of what they were fought about. (War in European History, pp. ix-x)

Accordingly, we will examine war in its widest social and cultural context, treating equally the profound effects of warfare upon the societies that wage it, and the many ways that particular societies and cultures affect the nature of the wars they wage. Readings will begin by investigating the origins of war and violence among early humans, but will then focus more squarely on the modern period. We will explore the changes in warfare that have multiplied and accelerated since 1789, branching out from the conventional focus on European and Western experiences to consider developments in cultures of war across the globe. Along the way, we will pause to consider various aspects of the relationship between modern society and modern war, such as the role of women in war, the effect of gender on war, war crimes, “shell shock” (or post-traumatic stress disorder), war journalism, war and artistic expression, and other topics. By the end of the term, we will have gained a deeper understanding and appreciation of the transformative power of modern war, both on and off the battlefield.