Remaking Citizenship Through Warfare in Twentieth Century United States, Europe, and Their Colonies

Amanda Nagel, School of Advanced Military Studies

As the concept of citizenship continues to expand or contract depending upon perceptions, politics, or new developments, historians continually grapple with understanding this constant transformation. As ideas about citizenship change throughout the twentieth century, there is one common thread: military service. In many ways, military service as a path to a particular type of citizenship is not new, nor has it disappeared from American society. Over the past few decades, immigrants have devoted themselves to military service, which eventually results in United States citizenship. Why has military service become so intertwined with definitions of citizenship? Is there a particular type of citizenship military personnel access that others do not? This course seeks to explore these questions and the historiography of warfare and citizenship in the United States.