Interservice Competition and the Political Roles of the Armed Services

1961 ◽  
Vol 55 (1) ◽  
pp. 40-52 ◽  
Author(s):  
Samuel P. Huntington
Keyword(s):  
World War Ii ◽  
World War I ◽  
Military Service ◽  
Political Action ◽  
Conventional Wisdom ◽  
Civilian Control ◽  
World War ◽  
Military Establishment ◽  
Shipbuilding Industry ◽  
The Military

“Conventional wisdom” (to purloin a phrase from Galbraith) holds that interservice competition necessarily undermines economy, efficiency, and effective central control in the military establishment. The remedy is further unification, possibly even the merger of the services into a single uniform. The conventional wisdom also holds that political action by military groups necessarily threatens civilian control. The remedy is to “keep the military out of politics.” The pattern of American military politics and interservice rivalry since World War II, however, suggests that the conventional wisdom may err in its analysis of their results and falter in its prescription of remedies.Service political controversy between the world wars had two distinguishing characteristics. First, on most issues, a military service, supported, perhaps, by a few satellite groups, struggled against civilian isolationists, pacifists, and economizers. The Navy and the shipbuilding industry fought a lonely battle with the dominant forces in both political parties over naval disarmament. The Army lost its fight for universal service after World War I, and throughout the Twenties clashed with educational, labor, and religious groups over ROTC and with other groups over industrial mobilization preparation. In the annual budget encounters the issue usually was clearly drawn between service supporters who stressed preparedness and their opponents who decried the necessity and the legitimacy of substantial military expenditures. To the extent that the services were in politics, they were involved in conflicts with civilian groups.

Jews and the Military

2013 ◽  
Author(s):  
Derek J. Penslar
Keyword(s):  
World War Ii ◽  
World War I ◽  
Jewish Community ◽  
Military Service ◽  
Spanish Civil War ◽  
World War ◽  
War Of Independence ◽  
Attitudes Toward War ◽  
Jewish Involvement ◽  
The Military

This book is the first comprehensive and comparative look at Jewish involvement in the military and their attitudes toward war from the 1600s until the creation of the state of Israel in 1948. The book shows that although Jews have often been described as people who shun the army, in fact they have frequently been willing, even eager, to do military service, and only a minuscule minority have been pacifists. The book demonstrates that Israel's military ethos did not emerge from a vacuum and that long before the state's establishment, Jews had a vested interest in military affairs. Spanning Europe, North America, and the Middle East, the book discusses the myths and realities of Jewish draft dodging, how Jews reacted to facing their coreligionists in battle, the careers of Jewish officers and their reception in the Jewish community, the effects of World War I on Jewish veterans, and Jewish participation in the Spanish Civil War and World War II. The book culminates with a study of Israel's War of Independence as a Jewish world war, which drew on the military expertise and financial support of a mobilized, global Jewish community. The book considers how military service was a central issue in debates about Jewish emancipation and a primary indicator of the position of Jews in any given society. Deconstructing old stereotypes, the book radically transforms our understanding of Jews' historic relationship to war and military power.

Cinema's Military Industrial Complex

2018 ◽  
Keyword(s):  
World War Ii ◽  
World War I ◽  
Mobile Technologies ◽  
Industrial Complex ◽  
Physical And Mental Health ◽  
World War ◽  
Film Exhibition ◽  
Record Keeping ◽  
Military Industrial Complex ◽  
The Military

Cinema’s Military Industrial Complex examines how the American military has used cinema and related visual, sonic, and mobile technologies to further its varied aims. The essays in this book address the way cinema was put to work for purposes of training, orientation, record keeping, internal and external communication, propaganda, research and development, tactical analysis, surveillance, physical and mental health, recreation, and morale. The contributors examine the technologies and types of films that were produced and used in collaboration among the military, film industry, and technology manufacturers. The essays also explore the goals of the American state, which deployed the military and its unique modes of filmmaking, film exhibition, and film viewing to various ends. Together, the essays reveal the military’s deep investment in cinema, which began around World War I, expanded during World War II, continued during the Cold War (including wars in Korea and Vietnam), and still continues in the ongoing War on Terror.

Black Soldiers in World War II America

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Robert F. Jefferson
Keyword(s):  
African American ◽  
World War Ii ◽  
Civil Rights ◽  
Military Training ◽  
World War ◽  
Military Establishment ◽  
Black Soldiers ◽  
American Military ◽  
The Military ◽  
American Racism

The history of the African American military experience in World War II tends to revolve around two central questions: How did World War II and American racism shape the black experience in the American military? And how did black GIs reshape the parameters of their wartime experiences? From the mid-1920s through the Great Depression years of the 1930s, military planners evaluated the performance of black soldiers in World War I while trying to ascertain their presence in future wars. However, quite often their discussions about African American servicemen in the military establishment were deeply moored in the traditions, customs, and practices of American racism, racist stereotypes, and innuendo. Simultaneously, African American leaders and their allies waged a relentless battle to secure the future presence of the uniformed men and women who would serve in the nation’s military. Through their exercise of voting rights, threats of protest demonstration, litigation, and White House lobbying from 1939 through 1942, civil rights advocates and their affiliates managed to obtain some minor concessions from the military establishment. But the military’s stubborn adherence to a policy barring black and white soldiers from serving in the same units continued through the rest of the war. Between 1943 and 1945, black GIs faced white officer hostility, civilian antagonism, and military police brutality while undergoing military training throughout the country. Similarly, African American servicewomen faced systemic racism and sexism in the military during the period. Throughout various stages of the American war effort, black civil rights groups, the press, and their allies mounted the opening salvoes in the battle to protect and defend the wellbeing of black soldiers in uniform. While serving on the battlefields of World War II, fighting African American GIs became foot soldiers in the wider struggles against tyranny abroad. After returning home in 1945, black World War II-era activists such as Daisy Lampkin and Ruby Hurley, and ex-servicemen and women, laid the groundwork for the Civil Rights Movement.

Spin-Offs: A Better World Through Military Psychology

Head Strong ◽  
2020 ◽  
pp. 260-277
Author(s):  
Michael D. Matthews
Keyword(s):  
World War Ii ◽  
World War I ◽  
Psychological Research ◽  
Leadership Strategies ◽  
Human Factors Engineering ◽  
World War ◽  
Aptitude Testing ◽  
Military Research ◽  
The Military ◽  
Cultural Skills

Military research routinely yields spin-offs that are useful in the civilian domain. In the hard sciences, World War I spun off advances in chemistry, and World War II produced advances in physics that changed the world. Military psychological science is no different. Aptitude testing sprung from the efforts of psychologists during World War I to help the military better select and classify incoming personnel. Clinical psychology and human factors engineering were boosted as a result of World War II. The Vietnam conflict led to a better understanding of combat stress and contributed to the including of posttraumatic stress disorder as a diagnostic label. All had direct application to the civilian sector. This chapter considers spin-offs from contemporary military psychological research that will benefit general society including better ways to treat stress and promote resilience, select and train employees, and enhance leadership strategies and cultural skills.

Factionalism Among Syrian Nationalists During the French Mandate

1981 ◽  
Vol 13 (4) ◽  
pp. 441-469 ◽  
Author(s):  
Philip S. Khoury
Keyword(s):  
World War Ii ◽  
World War I ◽  
Preliminary Investigation ◽  
Early Years ◽  
World War ◽  
Arab Nationalism ◽  
Independence Movement ◽  
French Mandate ◽  
The One ◽  
The Military

It is ironic and perhaps telling that the one national independence movement largely ignored by historians of the Arab Middle East is the Syrian nationalist movement. The irony, of course, is that the birthplace of Arab nationalism was Syria; it was to Damascus that Arab nationalists in Palestine, Iraq and elsewhere looked for inspiration, guidance, and moral support in the interwar period; and out of the Syrian movement sprang the radical nationalism of the Ba'thists. Intellectual histories of the precursors, birth, and content of Arab nationalism abound, and, insofar as these histories deal with the birthplace of Arab nationalism, they must discuss Damascus and Syria just prior to and during World War I. But once the intellectual birth of Arab nationalism has been discussed, interest in the history of Syria wanes to be revived only after World War II, with the emergence of Ba'thism and the military in politics. What follows is by no means a comprehensive analysis of the nature and organization of the Syrian national independence movement; rather, it is a preliminary investigation of some salient characteristics of the politics of Syrian-Arab nationalism in the early years of the French Mandate.

The Long-Term Impact of Military Service on Health: Evidence from World War II and Korean War Veterans

2006 ◽  
Vol 96 (1) ◽  
pp. 176-194 ◽  
Author(s):  
Kelly Bedard ◽  
Olivier Deschênes
Keyword(s):  
World War Ii ◽  
Military Service ◽  
Korean War ◽  
Low Cost ◽  
Large Fraction ◽  
Premature Mortality ◽  
World War ◽  
Tobacco Products ◽  
Long Term Impact ◽  
The Military

During the World War II and Korean War era, the U.S. military freely distributed cigarettes to overseas personnel and provided low-cost tobacco products on domestic military bases. In fact, even today the military continues to sell subsidized tobacco products on its bases. Using a variety of instrumental variables approaches to deal with nonrandom selection into the military and into smoking, we provide substantial evidence that cohorts with higher military participation rates subsequently suffered more premature mortality. More importantly, we show that a large fraction, 35 to 79 percent, of the excess veteran deaths due to heart disease and lung cancer are attributable to military-induced smoking.

The Impact of Military Service in World War I on Africans: the Nandi of Kenya

1978 ◽  
Vol 16 (3) ◽  
pp. 495-507 ◽  
Author(s):  
Lewis J. Greenstein
Keyword(s):  
World War Ii ◽  
World War I ◽  
Military Service ◽  
The United States ◽  
Veterans Administration ◽  
World War ◽  
Civilian Life ◽  
Popular Films ◽  
The Impact

It is widely believed that old soldiers are a problem. At least since the beginning of this century, western governments have been concerned with the issue of ‘helping’ veterans to readjust to civilian life upon their return from campaigning. It is assumed that these men would, if left to their own devices, find it difficult or impossible to ‘pick up from where they had left off’, and might, therefore, become a subversive element in the general population. Hence, one of the largest bureaucracies in the United States is the Veterans Administration which is charged with fitting ex-soldiers back into society. To a certain extent the concerns over whether they would be satisfied after their demobilisation have proved to be justified. The dislocations experienced by returned American servicemen after World War II were illustrated by popular films like ‘The Best Years of Our Lives’. More recently, the American press paid considerable attention to the rôle of the black veterans of Vietnam in the violence which destroyed much of Newark, Detroit, and Watts in the late 1960s.

scholarly journals Pacyfizm i antymilitaryzm w Europie Zachodniej w latach 1918–1939

2021 ◽  
Vol 148 (3) ◽  
pp. 535-558
Author(s):  
Remigiusz Kasprzycki
Keyword(s):  
World War Ii ◽  
Military Service ◽  
Spanish Civil War ◽  
Western Europe ◽  
European Countries ◽  
World Peace ◽  
World War ◽  
Political Views ◽  
The World ◽  
The Military

Pacifism and anti-militarism in Western Europe, 1918–1939 As the consequence of the events of 1914–1918, the pacifism was on the rise in Western Europe. Societies of England, France and Germany as well as other Western European countries, set themselves the goal of preventing another war from breaking out. International congresses and conventions were organized. They were attended by peace advocates representing various social and political views, which made cooperation difficult. These meetings did not prevent the Spanish Civil War, the aggression against Abyssinia and the outbreak of World War II. In addition to moderate pacifists, Western Europe was also home to radical anti-militarists who believed that way to the world peace led through the abolition of military service. The pacifists in Britain and France were satisfied with their politicians’ submissiveness and indecision toward Hitler during the 1930s. Pacifism and radical anti-militarism also fitted perfectly into the plans of the Comintern. With its help, the USSR weakened the military potential of Western Europe.

The War Against the New Deal: World War II and American Democracy By Brian Waddell. DeKalb, IL: Northern Illinois University Press, 2001. 236p. $39.00.

2002 ◽  
Vol 96 (3) ◽  
pp. 650-631
Author(s):  
Donald R. Brand
Keyword(s):  
World War Ii ◽  
World War I ◽  
New Deal ◽  
Trade Association ◽  
Marshall Plan ◽  
Industrial Complex ◽  
World War ◽  
State Apparatus ◽  
The Military ◽  
The New Deal

This book argues that the transition from the New Deal to a mobilized wartime economy during World War II restored corporate hegemony in collaboration with a state apparatus dominated by military elites. The purported losers in this transition were New Deal reformers committed to a planned economy and an extensive social welfare state, and groups like labor and small business whose interests were represented by reform elites. Organized chronologically, Waddell's account traces the development of the military-industrial complex from the War Industries Board in World War I to what Waddell asserts is a neocorporatist pattern of governance that had become established by the late 1940s and early 1950s. For the intervening years, he devotes attention to the trade association movement of the 1920s, the National Recovery Administration in the early 1930s, the New Deal turn to Keynesian economics, Harry Truman and the Marshall Plan, and the National Security Act of 1947; but the book focuses on the three periods associated with mobilization for World War II. These three periods are prewar mobilization from September, 1939 to December, 1941; the institutionalization of wartime mobilization from early 1942 through early 1943; and the battles over postwar reconversion that began in 1943 and continued into the immediate postwar era.

Occupational psychology in the UK Ministry of Defence

2018 ◽  
Vol 165 (2) ◽  
pp. 124-127
Author(s):  
Joanna Harvey
Keyword(s):  
World War Ii ◽  
World War I ◽  
Armed Forces ◽  
Early Years ◽  
World War ◽  
Current Application ◽  
Occupational Psychology ◽  
Military Systems ◽  
The Uk ◽  
The Military

Psychologists first became prominent within the Armed Forces largely as a result of their contributions to military systems, operations and personnel during the First and Second World Wars. In the early years of the 20th century, as psychology was becoming a profession in its own right, its association with the military arose within the emerging concept of ‘shellshock’ during World War I and supporting selection activities in World War II. There are approximately 25 occupational psychologists currently employed within the Ministry of Defence (MoD), operating across all branches of the MoD, within the department of the Chief of Defence Personnel, the UK Defence Academy and a small number at the Defence Science and Technology Laboratory. The aim of this paper is to discuss the history and current application of occupational psychology within the UK MoD.

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