Military Past, Military Present, Military Future:the Usefulness Of Military History

摘要

Military history is useful: this is the simple, if controversial, argument of this paper. Used carefully, military history is an invaluable tool for decision makers, whether military or civilian, at every level from grand strategy down to tactics. This is not to say that simple prescriptive 'lessons' can be drawn from history. However, military history does provide a databank of experience which, with care, can be drawn upon to inform decision making. Almost every military situation has an 'approximate precedent': something like it will have happened at some point in the past. Best practice, based on careful study of the past and codified in doctrine, can provide valuable guidelines for decision-makers. In times of shrinking or stagnating defence budgets, it is essential to demonstrate why it is necessary to spend money on historians. In short, what the Higher Command and Staff Course (HCSC) calls the 'so what' factor is all-important. A lecture on a particular campaign might be very interesting, but it needs to be demonstrated why a military practitioner needs to know about it.