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Books > Social sciences > Warfare & defence > Military life & institutions
This book describes the various tactics used in counter-recruitment, drawing from the words of activists and case studies of successful organizing and advocacy. The United States is one of the only developed countries to allow a military presence in public schools, including an active role for military recruiters. In order to enlist 250,000 new recruits every year, the US military must market itself to youth by integrating itself into schools through programs such as JROTC (Junior Reserve Officers' Training Corps), and spend billions of dollars annually on recruitment activities. This militarization of educational space has spawned a little-noticed grassroots resistance: the small, but sophisticated, "counter-recruitment" movement. Counter-recruiters visit schools to challenge recruiters' messages with information on non-military career options; activists work to make it harder for the military to operate in public schools; they conduct lobbying campaigns for policies that protect students' private information from military recruiters; and, counter-recruiters mentor youth to become involved in these activities. While attracting little attention, counter-recruitment has nonetheless been described as "the military recruiter's greatest obstacle" by a Marine Corps official.
Originally published in 1928, this book presents a concise account regarding the nature and development of food provision in the British Army from 1645 onwards. The text was written by the renowned British military historian Sir John William Fortescue (1859-1933). Illustrative figures are included. This book will be of value to anyone with an interest in the development of canteens, military history and the writings of Fortescue.
On the night of 20 November 1914, everything pointed to the likelihood of invasion by a German army, whisked across the North Sea on a fleet of fast transports. The Royal Navy's Grand Fleet prepared to sail south from remote bases in Scotland; shallow-draught monitors were moored in the Wash; and 300,000 troops stood by to repel the enemy on the beaches. Fortunately, the night passed without incident. For thirty years prior to the First World War, writers, with a variety of motivations, had been forecasting such an invasion. Britain regarded the army as an imperial police force and, despite the experience gained in military exercises involving simulated invasions, the Royal Navy was still expected to fulfil its traditional role of intercepting and destroying enemy forces. However, as the technology of warfare developed, with the proliferation of ever more powerful warships, submarines, mines, and torpedoes, alongside the added promise of aerial assault, it became obvious that these long-established notions of the Navy's invincibility might no longer be realistic. The perceived threat of invasion, whether justified or not, persisted throughout the First World War, and this book describes the measures taken to protect Britain against enemy attack by land, sea, or air.
The reign of Louis XIV of France had a great impact on the course of European and world military history. The years 1643 to 1715 were a defining epoch for western military, diplomatic, and economic matters. Most of those years were marked by conflict between major European powers and the Sun King's forces. This four-volume series is the first that present an extensive account of the many facets of the French army and the wars it fought. It was an era during which the Sun King's and eventually all armies saw extraordinarily significant changes such as: the advent of very large professional armies, increasingly centralized command systems, professional training for officers and men, introduction of obligatory military service, improvements in discipline and control, technical advances regarding armament thus affecting battlefield tactics, marked progress regarding fortifications, introduction of uniforms, logistics capable of supplying large armies, financial practices that permitted the upkeep and pay large military forces. The above and even more factors produced many influences that weighted heavily in European geo-political and geo-strategic maters. In these, the Sun King largely dominated Europe's agenda from the time he took effective autocratic power in 1661 to his last moments in 1715. Since his army was, initially, the largest, most modern and effective in Europe, he had success to the point that neighbouring countries formed coalitions to stop him. However, the Sun King was a master at geo-strategy, notably regarding the balance that he managed to maintain with the Ottoman Empire whose forces always threatened the eastern frontiers of France's opponents. Thus, France's forces were always sufficient to keep enemies mostly on the defensive; it was unthinkable that they would ever reach Paris. These and many more topics are presented in this four volume work. Each volume is basically in two parts. The first part is the era of the wars and their context, the second part consist of a detailed look at a part of the French army. The appendices present certain aspects such as uniform lists of the period and evaluations of opponent and allied armies of the Sun King's forces.
In the years after World War I, the defeated and much-reduced German Army developed new clothing and personal equipment that drew upon the lessons learned in the trenches. In place of the wide variety of uniforms and insignia that had been worn by the Imperial German Army, a standardized approach was followed, culminating in the uniform items introduced in the 1930s as the Nazi Party came to shape every aspect of German national life. The outbreak of war in 1939 prompted further adaptations and simplifications of uniforms and insignia, while the increasing use of camouflaged items and the accelerated pace of weapons development led to the appearance of new clothing and personal equipment. Medals and awards increased in number as the war went on, with grades being added for existing awards and new decorations introduced to reflect battlefield feats. Specialists such as mountain troops, tank crews and combat engineers were issued distinctive uniform items and kit, while the ever-expanding variety of fronts on which the German Army fought - from the North African desert to the Russian steppe - prompted the rapid development of clothing and equipment for different climates and conditions. In addition, severe shortages of raw materials and the demands of clothing and equipping an army that numbered in the millions forced the simplification of many items and the increasing use of substitute materials in their manufacture. In this fully illustrated book noted authority Dr Stephen Bull examines the German Army's wide range of uniforms, personal equipment, weapons, medals and awards, and offers a comprehensive guide to the transformation that the German Army soldier underwent in the period from September 1939 to May 1945.
Several thousand ethnic Germans in Romania, (the so called Volksdeutscher) were drafted into the Waffen-SS in 1943. With these new troops Himmler built up the new 11th Waffen-SS Division. To fill the ranks Division Nordland also took over battalion strength units from Danmark and Norway, though ninety percent of the division were Volksdeutsche from Romania. They were first used incombat in Croatia, the Oranienbaumer, Estonia, and Latvia. After the Soviet attack in Pomerania they fought in Berlin and were destroyed there.
This book presents several years of research into the history of America's post-World War II M-1 Helmet. It provides the most comprehensive look into the research, development, and production of the M-1 Helmet during this often overlooked period. All aspects of the M-1 Helmet are covered, as well as associated research and development programs that impacted the helmet, such as the Nylon Helmet Program. The book provides a detailed look at helmet production, including the helmet body, cotton duck liner, Combat Helmet Liner, parachutist's helmets, and camouflage helmet covers. The production history of every major manufacture is also provided. Every production helmet is covered with full color photographs, including detail shots and production markings. Also included are contract sheets, a contract number reference, military specification drawings, and photos of helmet samples and helmet production.
Part history book and part travel guide, D-Day Gunners is aimed at anyone interested in the artillery on the D-Day beaches and landing grounds. While the heritage of the D-Day beaches and landing sites is well documented, this rarely includes the Gunner story. The author of this book aims to correct this by providing a visitors' guide to the gunner stories associated with the battlefield heritage, which remains on the D-Day Beaches, and usefully mapping the fire-plan for D-Day, against the known German locations and looked at what happened at these places. There is relatively little explanation about the role of the artillery in general or the deeds of artillerymen, in particular those of the Royal Regiment of Artillery. This book tells of the significance of artillery on D-Day and the part it played in the outcome. Initial reports published stressed that the coastal defences were effectively neutralized by the bombing and that no significant counter attacks developed on D-Day, however, post-war accounts increasingly attributed allied success to allied fire power.The book largely documents the stories of the men who served the guns on the D-Day beaches, mostly British, but with the occasional view of the Kannoniers. The main sources for this are the accounts by veterans and contemporary accounts. The medal cards within The National Archives contain some information about the actions, which resulted in awards. The last part of the book has been written as a guide to the D-Day Beaches, telling the gunner stories that are not always commemorated on memorials, interpretation boards, or recorded in more general guides. These poignant stories include war poets and heroes decorated for bravery or just the tales of some of the men buried on the war cemeteries or commemorated on the memorials.
Originally published in 1927, this book contains the text of lectures delivered to Cambridge undergraduates between 1920 and 1926, which demonstrate the possible applications of psychological techniques to the training and deployment of soldiers. Bartlett examines features in the life of a soldier, including fatigue and the effects of battle, and offers some suggestions on how modern psychology can better be employed in the service of the army. This book will be of value to anyone with an interest in the history of psychology and the role psychology can play in the armed forces.
Pathways to Pacifism and Antiwar Activism among U.S. Veterans seeks to answer the question of how and why some military personnel become antiwar activists. To examine this, the authors look at the stories of 114 veterans' pathways from a militaristic perspective to either a Just War or pacifist perspective. Identity theory provides a lens for exploring this process. The authors argue that this postservice process of identity transformation is not pathological but healthy, as it offers healing and verification of multiple roles and social aspects of the veterans' lives.
No longer dogs of war running ragtag armies, the new breed of private soldiers operate their million-dollar contracts from executive boardrooms worldwide. Whether they're ex-special forces, CIA spooks or Foreign Legionnaires, you'll find them exchanging gunfire with insurgents in Baghdad, patrolling government buildings in Afghanistan, or spying on environmental protestors. The lucrative contracts of the 'War on Terror' have made their plans even more ambitious - to offer governments and corporations discrete and well-trained private armies. These corporate soldiers are part of the last great outsourcing - the privatisation of war. War plc examines how we got here, how these companies operate, and how close we are to letting them run our battlefields.
In Our Veterans, Suzanne Gordon, Steve Early, and Jasper Craven explore the physical, emotional, social, economic, and psychological impact of military service and the problems that veterans face when they return to civilian life. The authors critically examine the role of advocacy organizations, philanthropies, corporations, and politicians who purport to be "pro-veteran." They describe the ongoing debate about the cost, quality, and effectiveness of healthcare provided or outsourced by the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA). They also examine generational divisions and political tensions among veterans, as revealed in the tumultuous events of 2020, from Black Lives Matter protests to the Trump-Biden presidential contest. Frank and revealing, Our Veterans proposes a new agenda for veterans affairs linking service provision to veterans to the quest for broader social programs benefiting all Americans.
It was 2006, and eight hundred soldiers from the Canadian Armed Forces (CAF) base in pseudonymous "Armyville," Canada, were scheduled to deploy to Kandahar. Many students in the Armyville school district were destined to be affected by this and several subsequent deployments. These deployments, however, represented such a new and volatile situation that the school district lacked--as indeed most Canadians lacked--the understanding required for an optimum organizational response. Growing Up in Armyville provides a close-up look at the adolescents who attended Armyville High School (AHS) between 2006 and 2010. How did their mental health compare with that of their peers elsewhere in Canada? How were their lives affected by the Afghanistan mission--at home, at school, among their friends, and when their parents returned with post-traumatic stress disorder? How did the youngsters cope with the stress? What did their efforts cost them? Based on questions from the National Longitudinal Survey of Children and Youth, administered to all youth attending AHS in 2008, and on in-depth interviews with sixty-one of the youth from CAF families, this book provides some answers. It also documents the partnership that occurred between the school district and the authors' research team. Beyond its research findings, this pioneering book considers the past, present, and potential role of schools in supporting children who have been affected by military deployments. It also assesses the broader human costs to CAF families of their enforced participation in the volatile overseas missions of the twenty-first century.
In the turbulent times of the post-World War One era, new political parties emerged frequently in Germany, many with opposing extremist policies. The Communist movement grew out of the Socialist working classes using the Russian Bolshevik Party as a template. In direct opposition, the new National Socialist German Workers Party under the leadership of Adolf Hitler, occupied the extreme right-wing position. Head on conflict was inevitable and both parties organised violent demonstrations against the other. Hitler recognised that he was physically vulnerable and ordered the formation of his own protection squad, made up of loyal men who would not shirk from a fight. From the rudimentary ranks of Hitler's select few grew the infant SS, a modern praetorian guard, which developed over the years into a massive and efficient military style force with tentacles spreading into all elements of everyday life in Nazi Germany. To administer this organisation, Hitler appointed leaders upon whom he could rely. Many names remain obscure, but this book highlights who they all were and how they appeared.
Inspired by a collection of letters received by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle during the First World War, Philip Abbott sets out to explore the inspirational campaign to provide body armour to British soldiers serving in the trenches. Setting the letters in the context of the terrible losses suffered during the Battle of the Somme, Abbott reveals the actions of the War Office and Ministry of Munitions in providing better protection for the troops. He examines Conan Doyle's personal motives for involvement, and investigates the part played by another Edinburgh graduate, Caleb Saleeby, in promoting the development of helmets, body armour and shields. Saving Lives is an absorbing account of how the creator of Sherlock Holmes used his fame to campaign against the horrific casualties on the Western Front.
First published in 1922 as the second edition of a 1920 original, and formed from lectures delivered in the Psychological Laboratory at the University of Cambridge in 1919, this book attempts 'to put into a biological setting the system of psycho-therapy which came to be generally adopted in Great Britain in the treatment of the psycho-neuroses of war' in the wake of WWI. Rivers suggests a variety of treatments for war-related psychological disorders, including hypnotism, and the possible link between of military duties and 'the neuroses of warfare'. This book will be of value to anyone with an interest in the history of psychology or in psychological disorders arising from combat situations.
The literature on trench journalism is well established for Britain and France during the First World War, but this book is the first systematic study in English of German soldier newspapers as a representation of daily life and beliefs on the front. Printed by and for soldiers at or near the front line these newspapers were read by millions of 'ordinary soldiers'. They reveal an elaborately defined understanding of comradeship and duty. The war of aggression, the prolonged occupation on both fronts and the hostility of the local populations were justified through a powerful image of manly comradeship. The belief among many Germans was that they were good gentlemen, fighting a just war and bringing civilization to backward populations. This comparative study includes French, British, Australian and Canadian newspapers and sheds new light on the views of combatants on both sides of the line.
In the late months of 1944, seventy-one men climbed aboard a runt of a ship only one-hundred-fifty-feet long and twenty-three feet wide, and headed toward the sound of gunfire. The ship carried an arsenal of weapons equal to those of ships twice its height and weight. Its shallow draft made it capable of maneuvering to within a few feet of any Pacific island beach. It was unique to all other crafts and earned its title of ""gunboat"" and fell in among the ranks of its sisters known as ""Mighty Midgets."" To the U.S. marines and soldiers landing on Japanese held islands in that final year of World War II, it became a guardian angel. Packed tight within the bulkheads of the tiny craft was a crew of men, diverse and contrasting, who would, over the course of the next several months, become as close as brothers. They came from every occupation: farmers, students, wagon loaders, cooks, teachers, and many more. They ranged from the very young at seventeen to the very noticeable middle-agers. They were black, white and brown; first-generation Americans and grandsons of western pioneers. A few had already seen combat in the Atlantic and the Pacific, while some only knew violence from watching a calf being born. But the ship made them all the same; she treated them with total disregard for their indiscretions, their flaws, their color and their religions. She kept them alive and they reciprocated by protecting her to their last breath. When the war finally ended and their mission was complete, they, the crew of Landing Craft Support 52 would hold her and their shipmates forever dear within their hearts and souls. They would carry with them the scars of war and most would see the day when the old 52 would go to the bottom without them. One by one they, like all the veterans of that war, would pass into distant history; most would never bear the pain of telling their war stories. The only reminders left to us of their courage and selfless sacrifice: weathered photos of men posing at their ominous guns, and drunken sailors on conquered beaches. Their smiles are sometimes lying and their eyes sometimes too truthful for those who have never met great fear or held a dying friend. It is from these cracked and saffron-colored photos that the foundation for building the story of LCS 52 and her crew began. Shipmates is the story of those brave men who served their country abroad a little known naval vessel during World War II, and it is the story of survivors who returned and built lives and families. They should never be forgotten though they are no longer here to give their own account.
In many ways the German soldiers who marched back from the Western Front at the end of World War I held the key to the future of the newly-created republic that replaced the Kaiser's collapsed monarchy. To the radical Left, the orderly columns of front-line troops appeared to be the forces of the counterrevolution while to the conservative elements of society they seemed to be the Fatherland's salvation. However, in their efforts to get home as soon as possible, most soldiers were indifferent to the political struggles within the Reich, while the remnant that remained under arms proved powerless to defend the republic from its enemies. This book considers why these soldiers' response to the revolution was so different from the rest of the army and the implications this would have for the course of the German Revolution and, ultimately, for the fate of the Weimar Republic itself.
Perhaps the first celebrity chef, Alexis Soyer (1810-58) was a flamboyant, larger-than-life character who nonetheless took his profession very seriously. As the chef of the Reform Club, he modernised its kitchens, installing refrigerators and gas cookers. In 1851, during the Great Exhibition, he prepared spectacular (but financially ruinous) culinary extravaganzas at his restaurant, the Gastronomic Symposium of All Nations. In stark contrast, he organised soup kitchens during the Great Famine in Ireland and volunteered his services in the Crimea in 1855 to improve military catering. This work, first published in 1857, gives a vivid account of his efforts to prepare nutritious meals for the soldiers using a newly invented portable field stove, which remained in use until the Second World War. Also reissued in this series are Soyer's Gastronomic Regenerator (1846) and The Modern Housewife or Menagere (1849).
When the Tuskegee Veteran's Hospital opened in 1923, many in the Veteran's Bureau believed black physicians and nurses were not competent to staff the facility. With the exception of nurses' aides, orderlies, attendants and laborers, hospital personnel would be white. Recruiting and training black medical professionals was difficult given the obstacles facing blacks in obtaining education in medicine and gaining acceptance in the field. The history of the TVH reflects the struggle for racial equality in the United States. This book describes the effort to integrate the hospital and follows the careers of the small group of well trained, dedicated physicians who played significant roles in the hospital's development as a treatment center for black veterans. The hospital's contributions to research and medicine are documented, along with its involvement in one of the biggest scandals in medical research-the Tuskegee syphilis study.
On April 28, 1946, a small group of American wives and children arrived at the port of Bremerhaven, West Germany, the first of thousands of military family members to make the trans-Atlantic journey. They were the basis of a network of military communities-""Little Americas""-that would spread across the postwar German landscape. During a 45-year period which included some of the Cold War's tensest moments, their presence confirmed America's resolve to maintain Western democracy in the face of the Soviet threat. Drawing on archival sources and personal narratives, this book explores these enclaves of Americanism, from the U.S. government's perspective to the grassroots view of those who made their homes in Cold War Europe. These families faced many challenges in balancing their military missions with their daily lives during a period of dynamic global change. The author describes interaction in American communities that were sometimes separated, sometimes connected with their German neighbors.
Using data from more than 40,000 soldiers of the Union army, this book focuses on the experience of African Americans and immigrants with disabilities, investigating their decision to seek government assistance and their resulting treatment. Pension administrators treated these ex-soldiers differently from native-born whites, but the discrimination was far from seamless - biased evaluations of worthiness intensified in response to administrators' workload and nativists' late-nineteenth-century campaigns. This book finds a remarkable interplay of social concepts, historical context, bureaucratic expediency, and individual initiative. Examining how African Americans and immigrants weighed their circumstances in deciding when to request a pension, whether to employ a pension attorney, or if they should seek institutionalization, it contends that these veterans quietly asserted their right to benefits. Shedding new light on the long history of challenges faced by veterans with disabilities, the book underscores the persistence of these challenges in spite of the recent revolution in disability rights.
"This type of work would be especially valuable for assignment in
the classroom." "Understanding what convinced Civil War soldiers to lay down
their lives for "the cause," North AND South, is perhaps the
hardest part of teaching about making sense of the war. This
excellent collection of selections from leading scholars on who the
soldiers were, how they lived, and why they fought is a fine
introduction to years of research that seeks to answer that
question." "Presenting a variety of viewpoints, the book will be of
interest to all Civil War devotees." aThis is a fine collection which lends itself to classroom use
and to the edification of non-specialists.a "In The Civil War Soldier: A Historical Reader, Michael Barton
and Larry M. Logue present a valuable anthology of classic works
and recent scholarship on the rank and file." "This is a nice anthology, embodying much of the best available
work on the Civil War soldier. It is a fine addition to the
personal library, the university library, and to many a course
syllabus." "This Civil War sampler combines 19th-century battlefield accounts with past and contemporary scholoarship to offer a broad perspective on the historiographical issues scholars have raised concerning the soldiers' total experience."--"Library Journal" In 1943, Bell Wiley's groundbreaking book "Johnny Reb" launched a new area of study: the history of the common soldier in the U.S. Civil War. This anthology brings together landmarkscholarship on the subject, from a 19th century account of life as a soldier to contemporary work on women who, disguised as men, joined the army. One of the only available compilations on the subject, The Civil War Soldier answers a wide range of provocative questions: What were the differences between Union and Confederate soldiers? What were soldiers' motivations for joining the army--their "will to combat"? How can we evaluate the psychological impact of military service on individual morale? Is there a basis for comparison between the experiences of Civil War soldiers and those who fought in World War II or Vietnam? How did the experiences of black soldiers in the Union army differ from those of their white comrades? And why were southern soldiers especially drawn to evangelical preaching? Offering a host of diverse perspectives on these issues, The Civil War Soldier is the perfect introduction to the topic, for the student and the Civil War enthusiast alike. Contributors: Michael Barton, Eric T. Dean, David Donald, Drew Gilpin Faust, Joseph Allen Frank, James W. Geary, Joseph T. Glaatthaar, Paddy Griffith, Earl J. Hess, Thomas Wentworth Higginson, Perry D. Jamieson, Elizabeth D. Leonard, Gerald F. Linderman, Larry Logue, Pete Maslowski, Carlton McCarthy, James M. McPherson, Grady McWhiney, Reid Mitchell, George A. Reaves, Jr., James I. Robertson, Fred A. Shannon, Maris A. Vinovskis, and Bell Irvin Wiley. |
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