CAMPUS

R-E-S-P-E-C-T, Find Out What it Means to Me: Military history and the academy

I admit: I’m kind of a military history nerd. And by “kind of” I mean I actually know how many Japanese surrendered after the Battle of Iwo Jima. If I could, I’d go get a PhD in the study of airpower and spend the rest of my life imparting that knowledge to fellow geeks.

A few weeks ago I decided to explore this option a bit. I was dismayed to discover that what a professor told me last year was quite true: “Military history is a dying art.” My options seemed limited to either one of the service academies or the Royal Military College of Canada—none of which are likely decisions. Interspersed with the meager degree results were articles in which professors point out the lack of interest in and respect for military history on college campuses. Military history, it seems, is relegated to the back room of higher education and thought to be the territory of History Channel addicts. I’ve even run across some people who are hostile to the idea of studying war for a living, as if that means one wants wars to happen.

I think it’s pretty sad that military history is pushed to the margins of education. It’s been said that the history of mankind is the history of armed conflict, and that is a very true statement. Most of history is studying about wars, then a period of peace, then another war, and then another war, and then more peace, and then yet another war. Military historians provide a valuable insight into history by studying how wars were fought, how strategy is made and tactics are executed, what made certain generals great or disastrous, and how one extra move might have changed the course of a battle, an entire war, and maybe even history.

Reading maps and memorizing how many men are in a brigade, regiment, and division may not seem as important as theorizing about the Declaration of Independence and the Constitution. But wars are an essential part of human history. War shows us human nature at its worst and at its best. In war we simultaneously see people killing each other for senseless reasons and 19-year-old kids who throw themselves on grenades to save their buddies. Little tells us more about humanity than warfare. If we don’t understand what goes into making wars, we’ve lost a valuable method to understanding mankind.

And for the argument that studying wars means one supports them? Well, that’s like saying a virologist is eagerly anticipating the next Spanish flu pandemic.