War, Society, and the "New" Military History of the United States

Abstract

Analysts of America's military past have long labored beneath a cloud. Their study of war and warriors has focused upon the causes of conflict and the methods of combat. Liberal scholars have often felt uncomfortable with both topics. Furthermore, the orientation of military writers has been largely either popular or professional, emphasizing the heroic aspects of American wars or the strategic and tactical lessons which servicemen might extract from them. But a "new" military history has emerged since the close of World War II, with a broader scope and less dominated by popularizersand professional soldiers. Since 1945 America's military past has been steadily reinterpreted from a civilian perspective. T here has been an increasing emphasis upon the social origins of American military institutions, the development of civil-military relations, the intellectual perspectives of both military history and civilian views of the armed forces, and an awareness of how political as well as economic realities have shaped military policy and activity in the United States.1