B5165 - STORIA DEGLI ORDINAMENTI MILITARI (1) (LM)

Learning outcomes

By the end of the course, students will have mastered methods and content of an inherently interdisciplinary nature relating to military regulations from the early modern period to the present day. They will be able to assess the links between military history and other disciplinary approaches, in particular legal, social and economic, and to work in interdisciplinary contexts. They will be able to approach texts and data critically, to analyse different types of sources, including material culture, and to evaluate their different uses for the scholarly study of military orders. They will be able to work consciously in the production of scientific content and also to use for professional purposes (communication, teaching, dissemination, conservation) different knowledge about military orders in relation to mentalities, society, territory, evaluating the implications inherent in the different means of communication, dissemination and didactics. Finally, they will be aware of the value of communication between different disciplines and of the specific contribution of the historian in promoting a critical and scientific approach to subjects of interest in different contexts.

Course contents

The course covers the history of military institutions in modern and contemporary eras, exploring their interaction with contemporary political, social, economic and cultural institutions on a global scale.

Among the thematic nuclei that will be tackled are: the role of military institutions in the construction of the modern State and in the global diffusion of that institutional model; the political-institutional, social and cultural role played by professional officer corps within States and societies; the different organisational models adopted by military institutions and which political, social and cultural visions underlie them.

During the course, the drafting of a handbook on the history of military institutions on a global scale, a teaching aid that does not currently exist in Italian, will also be discussed.

 

Lesson plan:

Lesson 1: The modern state and military institutions: an introduction

Lesson 2: The military institutions of the 17th century.

Lesson 3: The theory of military revolution: class discussion on selected texts

Lesson 4: State building and military institutions in the global scenario

Lesson 5: Military institutions of the 18th century

Lesson 6: The bellicist theory of state formation: class discussion on selected texts

Lesson 7: Military institutions in the age of revolutions.

Lesson 8: Between Napoleon and Clausewitz: the militarisation of the state

Lesson 9: Militarism and militarisation of the state: class discussion on chosen texts

Lesson 10: Military institutions of the 19th century.

Lesson 11: Military institutions and the age of imperialism.

Lesson 12: European or global military institutions? Class discussion on selected texts

Lesson 13: Military institutions in the age of total war.

Lesson 14: Military institutions in the age of the Cold War.

Lesson 15: Between the end of history and the return of war: class discussion on chosen texts

Readings/Bibliography

1) J. Gooch, Soldati e borghesi nell’Europa moderna, Laterza, 1982.

 

2) One text of your choice from the following:

H. Joas, W. Knobl, War in Social Thought: Hobbes to the Present, Princeton, 2012.

J. Hutchinson, Nationalism and War, Oxford, 2017.

D. Parrott, The business of war. Military Enterprise and Military Revolution in Early Modern Europe, Cambridge, 2012.

G. Caforio, P. Del Negro, Ufficiali e società. Interpretazioni e modelli, FrancoAngeli, 1988 (limitatamente alle parti I e II)

I. Beckett, Modern Insurgencies and Counter-Insurgencies. Guerrillas and their Opponents since 1750, Routledge, 2002.

C. Pichichero, The Military Enlightenment: War and Culture in the French Empire from Louis XIV to Napoleon, Cornell UP, 2017.

T. Andrade, The Gunpowder Age: China, Military Innovation, and the Rise of the West in World History, Princeton UP, 2016.

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3) One text of your choice from the following:

N. Labanca (a cura di), Guerre ed eserciti nell'età contemporanea, Il Mulino, 2022.

P. Bianchi, P. Del Negro (a cura di), Guerre ed eserciti nell'età moderna, Il Mulino, 2018.

M.A. Centeno, Blood and Debt. War and the Nation-State in Latin America, Penn State UP, 2002.

R.R. Reese, The Soviet Military Experience. A History of the Soviet Army, 1917-1991, Routledge, 2000.

J.J.L. Gommans, Mughal Warfare. Indian Frontiers and Highroads to Empire 1500–1700, Routledge, 2003.

B.A. Elleman, Modern Chinese Warfare, 1795-1989, Routledge, 2001.

R. Murphey, Ottoman Warfare, 1500-1700, Routledge, 1999.

H.M. Ward, The War for Independence and the Transformation of American Society. War and Society in the United States, 1775-83, Routledge, 1999.

P.H. Wilson, Iron and Blood. A Military History of the German-Speaking Peoples since 1500, Harvard, 2022.

J.K. Thornton, Warfare in Atlantic Africa, 1500-1800, Routledge, 1999.

I. Deak, Gli ufficiali della monarchia asburgica, LEG, 2003.

P.M. Beattie, The Tribute of Blood. Army, Honor, Race, and Nation in Brazil, 1864–1945, Duke UP, 2001.

D. French, Military Identities: The Regimental System, the British Army, and the British People c. 1870-2000, Oxford, 2008.

R.J. Reid, Warfare in African History, Cambridge, 2012.

G.E. Rothenberg, L'esercito di Francesco Giuseppe, LEG, 2004.

W. Serman, Les officiers français dans la nation, 1848-1914, Aubier, 1982.

C. Thibaud, Républiques en armes. Les armées de Bolívar dans les guerres d'indépendance du Venezuela et de la Colombie, PU Rennes, 2006.

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Attending students may replace the indicated bibliography with active participation in the seminar sessions, and a written paper (see Teaching methods and Assessment methods sections)

Teaching methods

Frontal lectures (lectures 1,2,4,5,7,8,10,11,13,14), students' presentations, class discussion, reading of sources (lectures 3,6,9,12,15).

For each of the lectures devoted to the reading and discussion of sources and texts, three short essays (journal articles or chapters in a volume) will be indicated, which must be read in advance by all the participants. Some of the latter will have to present their content to the rest of the class. The complete list of texts to be discussed will be provided at the first lecture of the course.

All teaching materials and texts discussed in class will be made available on Virtual, or will be present in the University's online collections.

Regular attendance is strongly encouraged. Participation in the exercise of presenting and commenting on the texts in class is a necessary condition for being considered "frequentante".

Assessment methods

The examination consists of an oral interview to assess the critical and methodological skills acquired by the student.

For non-attending students, the test is oral and is based on the reading of the books indicated in the Texts/Bibliography section.

Alternatively, attending students may write a thesis (maximum 30,000 characters) on the military institutions of a specific national case in modern or contemporary times, agreeing with the lecturer on an adequate bibliography. Individual work is also envisaged in seminar form: each student will be assigned a source (documentary, normative or historiographic) to be analysed in the light of the methodological indications provided during the lectures.

Students who attend at least 75% of the lectures and present at least one essay in class during the lectures devoted to the discussion of sources or texts are considered as attending students.

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In the assessment of the test, particular account will be taken of the student's ability to find his or her way around the sources and bibliographical material of the examination in order to draw out useful information that will enable him or her to illustrate themes and problems and to be able to link them together.

The following will therefore be assessed: - The mastery of the contents - The ability to synthesise and analyse themes and concepts - The ability to express oneself adequately and in language appropriate to the subject matter.

The student's attainment of an organic vision of the themes addressed in the lessons together with their critical use, a good mastery of expression and specific language will be assessed with marks of excellence.

A mnemonic knowledge of the subject, together with synthesis and analysis skills articulated in a correct but not always appropriate language, will lead to fair marks.

Formative deficiencies and/or inappropriate language - albeit in the context of minimal knowledge of the examination material - will lead to grades that do not exceed sufficiency.

Formative deficiencies, inappropriate language, lack of orientation within the bibliographical materials offered during the course will lead to negative marks.

Teaching tools

Students with disabilities and Specific Learning Disorders (SLD)

Students who require specific services and adaptations to teaching activities due to a disability or specific learning disorders (SLD), must first contact the appropriate office:

https://site.unibo.it/studenti-con-disabilita-e-dsa/en/for-students

Office hours

See the website of Jacopo Lorenzini