Askerî tarih

Askerî tarih, insanlık tarihi boyunca süregelen ve çatışma kategorisine giren olaylardan oluşur. Bunlar iki kabile arasındaki küçük çaplı dövüşmeden yeryüzündeki birey nüfusunun çoğunluğunu etkileyen düzenli ordular arasında geçen bir dünya savaşına kadar sıralanırlar. Bu olayları yazarak ya da diğer yollardan kaydeden kişilere de askerî tarihçi denir.

Askerî etkinlikler binlerce yıldır süregelmiş ve tarih boyunca temel taktikler, stratejiler ve askerî harekâtların ana amacı çok fazla değişmemiştir. Merkeze hücum eden düşmanı her iki kanattan da çevirerek kuşatmaya almak için uygulanan kanatlardan kuşatma taktiği mükemmel bir askerî manevra olarak sayılmaktadır ve 2.200 yıl önce MÖ 216 yılında Cannae Savaşında Hannibal tarafından uygulanmıştır. Roma İmparatorluğu'nun kuruluş yıllarında ünlü kitabını yazan Çinli askerî teorisyen Sun Tzu'da Savaş sanatı'nda aynı manevradan sözetmiştir. Geçmişte yapılmış hatalara düşmemek, çarpışma esnasında tarihteki benzerlerini hatırlayarak komutanların performansını iyileştirebilmek ve yaşanan deneyimlerden dersler çıkarabilmek için askerî kuvvetlerde askerî tarihin öğrenilmesi çok önemlidir. Askerî tarihin ana bölümleri savaşların, çarpışmaların ve vuruşmaların tarihi, askerlik sanatı tarihi ve her silahlı kuvvetin kendi özel tarihinden oluşmaktadır.

Savaş sanatını bölümlere ayırmanın değişik yolları vardır. Bunlardan bir tanesi konvansiyonel ya da konvansiyonel olmayan savaş diye ikiye ayrılır. Konvansiyonel savaşta, düzenli ordular, birbirleriyle kitle imha silahları kullanmadan görece doğrudan savaşırlar. Konvansiyonel olmayan savaş tanımı ise diğer tüm tip çatışmaları tanımlamak için kullanılır: Baskın, Gerilla savaşı, ayaklanma ve terörizm gibi taktikler. Aynı zamanda nükleer, kimyasal veya biyolojik silahların kullanması da konvansiyonel olmayan savaş sayılmaktadır.

Bu kategorilerin tamamı daha geniş iki kategoride de değerlendirilir: Yüksek yoğunluklu ya da düşük yoğunluklu savaş. İki süpergüç ya da büyük ülkeler arasındaki siyasi nedenlerle yapılan çarpışmalar yüksek yoğunluklu, ayaklanmaları bastırmak, gerilla savaşı ya da devrimcilere karşı özel birliklerle çarpışmak düşük yoğunluklu savaş sayılmaktadır.

Bu kadar geniş bir konuyu bölmenin bir yolu tarihsel dönemlere ayırmaktır. Bu yöntem yararlı olduğu kadar bazen hatalı da olabilmektedir çünkü tarihsel ayrım farklı coğrafyalarda farklı zamanlara rastlamaktadır. Antik çağlarda savaş diye tanımlanan yöntemler hala dünyanın bazı bölgelerinde kullanılmaktadır. Orta Çağ Avrupa için oldukça ayırdedici bir bölümleme olsa da Doğu Asya için bir anlam ifade etmemektedir.

Tarih öncesi savaşların başlangıcı antropologlar ve tarihçiler arasında bir tartışma konusudur. Avcı-toplayıcı ilk toplumlarda sosyal roller yoktu ve sınıflar bulunmuyordu (yaş ve cinsiyet farklılıkları dışında.) Dolayısıyla bölgeyi korumak için ya da saldırıda bulunmak için her yetkin birey katkıda bulunabiliyordu.

Tarımın ortaya çıkması tarımla uğraşan toplumlarla avcı-toplayıcı toplumlar arasında büyük farklılıklar yaratmıştır. Büyük bir olasılıkla, kıtlık zamanlarında avcılar, tarımla uğraşanların köylerine yoğun saldırılar düzenleyerek belki de ilk düzenli savaşı başlatmışlardır. Görece daha ileri aşamadaki tarımla uğraşan toplumlarda sosyal rollerin ayrımı mümkündü ve ayrı organize birimler olarak profesyonel askerler ilk defa ortaya çıkıyordu.

Hala ilk olup olmadığı tartışılan ilk arkeolojik savaş kaydı Mısır'da Nil nehri bölgesinde bulunan ve 117 nci Mezarlık diye bilinen bölgedeki yedi bin yıllık savaş hakkındadır. İskeletlerinde okbaşı bulunan birçok vücut bir savaş sonucu ölenler olabilir.

Antik tarih hakkında bildiklerimizin çoğu aslında orduların tarihidir: Hangi fetihlerde bulundukları, hareketleri ve teknolojik icatları. Bunun böyle olmasının birçok sebebi vardır. antik çağlarda idari birim olarak bulunan krallık ve imparatorluklar ancak askerî güç ile kontrol altında tutulabiliyordu. Sınırlı sayıda yapılan tarım nedeniyle büyük topluluklara destek olabilen çok az yer vardı ve sık sık savaşılıyordu.

Silahlar ve zırhlar dayanaklı olmak için tasarlanmışlardı dolayısıyla diğer nesnelerden daha uzun süre dayanıyorlardı. Bu nedenle ortaya çıkarılan nesnelerin büyük çoğunluğu bu iki sınıfa girmektedir. Silahlar ve zırhlar aynı zamanda tarih boyunca oldukça yüksek sayılarda üretilmişlerdir ve bu da arkeolojik kazılarda bunların bulunma olasılığını artırmaktadır. Bu tarz nesneler aynı zamanda gelecek kuşaklar için bir erdem simgesi de sayılıyordu ve önde gelen savaşçıların mezarlarına ya da anıtlarına konulması en olası nesnelerdi. Ve yazı bulunduktan sonra sık sık kralların askerî fetihlerini ve zaferlerini övmek için kullanılmıştır.

Yazı, sade vatandaş tarafından kullanılsa bile yazmaya değer böyle olayları kaydetmek için de kullanılmıştır. Savaşlar da ister Homer'in Truva Savaşı'nı anlattığı destanlarında olsun, ister kişisel yazışmalarda olsun her zaman için kaydedilen konular olmuştur. Gerçekten de ilk yazılı eserler savaş üzerinde dönmektedirler. Savaş yaşamın hem çok yaygın hem de dramatik bir bölümünü oluşturmaktaydı. Bugün bile binlerce askerin katıldığı çarpışmalara tanık olmak bunun hem sanat yoluyla hem de gerçekçi tarihî yazılarla kayıt altına alınması için yeteri kadar önemlidir. Daha sonraları ulus-devletler gelişip imparatorluklar büyüdükçe, düzen ve verimlilik gereksiniminin artması, yazılı kayıtların da artmasını getirmiştir. Sun Tzu'nun sözleriyle "devlet için hayatî derecede önem taşıyan bir konu" olan savaşlarla ilgili kayıtların tutulması ordular ve devlet görevlileri için büyük önem taşıyordu. Bütün bu nedenlerden ötürü, antik tarihin büyük bir bölümünü askerî tarih oluşturmaktadır.

Bu uygarlıklar Antik yeryüzündeki dikkate değer askerî güçlere sahipti :Başta Xiongnu(Hunlar) olmak üzere Mısırlılar, Babil, Pers İmparatorluğu, Yunanlar, Çinliler, Makedonlar, Romalılar, Hintler, Gandhara, Qin.

Yunanistan'da Atina ve Sparta gibi çeşitli şehir-devletler güç kazanmışlardır. The Greeks successfully stopped two Persian invasions, at the Battle of Marathon, where the Persians were led by I. Darius, and Battle of Salamis, a naval battle where the Greek ships were deployed by orders of Themistocles and the Persians were under Xerxes I. The Peloponnesian War then erupted between the two Greek powers Atina and Sparta. Athens built a long wall to protect is inhabitants, but the wall helped to facilitate the spread of a plague that killed about 30.000 Atheninans, including Pericles. After a disastrous campaign against Syracuse, the Athenian navy was decisively defeated by Lysander at the Battle of Aegospotami.

The Macedonians, underneath Philip II of Macedon and Alexander the Great, invaded Persia and won several major victories, establishing Macedonia as a major power. However, following Alexander's death at an early age, the empire quickly fell apart.

Meanwhile, Roma was gaining power, following a rebellion against the Etruscans. At the 3 Punic Wars, the Romans defeated the neighboring power of Carthage. The First Punic War centered around naval warfare over Sicily; after the Roman development of the corvus, the Romans were able to board Carthaginian ships. The Second Punic War started with Hannibal’s invasion of İtalya by crossing the Alps. He famously won the encirclement at the Battle of Cannae. However, after Scipio invaded Carthage, Hannibal was forced to follow and was defeated at the Battle of Zama, ending the role of Carthage as a power. The Third Punic War was a failed revolt against the Romans.

Rome quickly took over the Greeks and were expanding into Gaul, winning battles against the barbarians. By the time of Marcus Aurelius, the Romans had expanded to the Atlantic Ocean in the west to Mesopotamia in the east. However, Aurelius marked the end of the Five Good Emperors, and Rome quickly fell to decline. The Huns, Goths, and other barbaric groups invaded Rome, which continued to suffer from inflation and other internal strifes. Despite the attempts of Diocletian, Constantine I, and Theodosius I, western Rome collapsed. The Byzantine empire continued to prosper, however.

In Çin, the Shang Dynasty and Zhou Dynasty had risen and collapsed. This led to a Warring States Period, in which several states continued to fight with each other over territory.

Karanlık çağın bir yerinde üzengiler kullanılmaya başlandığında ordular tamamen değişecekti. Bu buluşla birlikte teknolojik, kültürel ve toplumsal gelişmeler askerî taktikleri ve süvari ile topçunun rolünü değiştirerek savaşların antik çağdaki tarzı dramatik bir şekilde değiştirilmiştir. Aynı savaş tarzı dünyanın diğer bölgelerinde de varolmuştur. Bozkırların göçmen savaşçılarını taklit eden Çin ordusu beşinci yüzyılda yoğun piyade kuvvetinden süvari ağırlıklı kuvvetlere dönüşmüştür. Orta Doğu ve Kuzey Afrika Avrupa'dakine benzer ve sıklıkla da daha gelişmiş teknolojiler kullanmıştır. Çoğu kişi tarafından Japonya'daki Orta Çağ savaş tarzının 19. yy. ortalarına kadar devam ettiği kabul edilmektedir. Afrika'da da Sahel boyunca ve sennar Krallığı ile Fulani İmparatorluğu gibi Sudan devletleri de Orta Çağ savaş taktiğini ve silahlarını, bunlar Avrupa'da kullanımdan kalktıktan sonra uzun süreler kullanmaya devam etmişlerdir.

İslam İmparatorluğu da genişlemekteydi ve Emeviler zamanında batıda İspanya'ya doğu da da İndus nehrine uzanmıştı. Daha sonra iktidara Abbasiler geçmiştir. Abbasilerde Selçuklu Hanedanı ve Moğollar tarafından yenilmişlerdir. Tours Savaşı'nda Charles Martel komutasındaki Franklar, müslümanların Avrupa içlerine doğru olan ilerlemesini durdurmuştur.

Çin'de Sui Hanedanı ve diğer hanedanlar yükselmişti ancak Cengiz Han ve Kubilay Han komutasındaki Moğollar Çinlileri yenerek toprakları işgal etmişlerdir. Genişlemeye devam eden Moğol İmparatorluğu Kubilay Han'ın ölümüyle parçalanmıştır.

16ncı yüzyılın başlarındaki İtalyan Savaşları sırasında Avrupa ordularının arkebüsü (arquebus) kullanmayı benimsemeleri savaşalanındaki zırhlı süvari üstünlüğüne son vermiştir. Feodal sistemin çökmesi ve Orta Çağ şehir devletlerinin daha büyük uluslar altında toplanması Orta Çağ'daki standart askerî bileşen olan paralı askerlerin ve feodallerin zorla topladığı orduların yerine profesyonel orduların kurulmasını sağlamıştır.

Silahların, özellikle de küçük silahların kullanımı kolaylaştıkça ülkeler profesyonel askerlerden oluşan ordulardan çok belirli süreli askerî hizmete almaya dönmüşlerdir. Teknolojik ilerlemeler giderek daha da önemli hale gelmeye başlamıştır. Önceki dönemlerde savaşan orduların benzer silahları olmasına rağmen Sanayi Çağı'nda Sadowa Çarpışması gibi daha ileri teknolojiye sahip olmanın çarpışmanın sonucunu belirlediği de görülmüştür.

Sanayi çağı'nda uygulanan askerî hizmet altına alma yöntemiyle çarpışma için gerekli olan askerlerin sayısında artış sağlanmıştır. Bu yöntem Napolyon Bonapart tarafından Napolyon Savaşları'nda kullanılmıştır.

Sanayi Çağı'nda diğer bir ulusun savaşa girmesini engellemek amacıyla topyekün savaş kullanılmıştır. William Tecumseh Sherman'ın "March to the Sea" (Denize Yürüyüş'ü) ve Philip Sheridan'ın Shenandoah Vadisi'ni yakıp yıkması bu topyekûn savaşın örnekleridir.

Günümüzde savaş yüksek teknolojinin de yaygın olarak kullanıldığı oldukça karmaşık bir olaydır. Terim olarak elektronik çağında, birinci dünya ülkelerinden bir ya da birkaçının da katıldığı çatışmalar kastedilmektedir. Elbette, üçüncü dünya ülkeleri de savaş yapmaktadırlar ancak bu genellikle düşük teknolojili savaş ya da gerilla taktikleri olmaktadır.

In modern times, war has evolved from an activity steeped in tradition to a scientific enterprise where success is valued above methods. The notion of total war is the extreme of this trend. Militaries have developed technological advances rivalling the scientific accomplishments of any other field of study.

However, it should be noted that modern militaries benefit in the development of these technologies under the funding of the public, the leadership of national governments, and often in cooperation with large civilian groups, such as the General Dynamics and Lockheed Martin corporations, in the ABD. And as for "total war," it may be argued that it is not an exclusive practice of modern militaries, but in the tradition of genocidal conflict that marks even tribal warfare to this day. What distinguishes modern military organizations from those previous is not their willingness to prevail in conflict by any method, but rather the technological variety of tools and methods available to modern battlefield commanders, from submarines to satellites, from knives to nuclear warheads.

World War I was sparked by the assassination of Archduke Franz Ferdinand, leading to the mobilization of Avusturya and Sırbistan. The Germans joined the Austrians to form the Central powers; the French, British, and Russians formed the Allied powers. Following the Battle of the Marne and the outflanking attempt of both nations in the "race to the sea", trench warfare ensued, leaving the war in a great deadlock. Major operations by the Germans at the Battle of Verdun and by the British at the Battle of the Somme were carried out, and new technology like tanks and chlorine gas were used. Following the USA's entrance into the war, the Germans and their allies were eventually defeated.

World War II ensued after Almanya's invasion of Polonya, forcing Britain and Fransa to declare war. The Germans allied with İtalya, Japonya, and Rusya, and quickly defeated France and Belgium. A hasty evacuation occurred at Dunkirk to save the Allied army from complete disaster. The Germans then betrayed Russia and marched to take over the Russian resources, but were thwarted. Meanwhile, Japan had launched a surprise attack on Pearl Harbor, leading the ABD to join the Allied powers. In Europe, the Allies opened three fronts: in the west, after securing Normandy; in the east, aiding Russia; and in the south, through Italy. Germany eventually surrendered, upon which the Allies turned and focused troops to do island hopping. The dropping of the atom bombs on Hiroshima and Nagasaki led to the surrender of Japan and the end of the Second World War.

The Cold War then emerged, reaching the climax at the Cuban Missile Crisis. Hostilities never actually occurred, though the US did engage against communist states like in the Korean War and the Vietnam War.

In prehistoric times, fighting occurred by usage of clubs and spears, as early as 35.000 BC. Arrows, maces, and slings were developed around 12.000 BC. Chariots, pulled by animals like the onager, ox, donkey, and later the horse, originated around 2.000 BC. The chariot was an effective weapon for speed; while one man controlled the manuevering of the chariot, a second bowman could shoot arrows at enemy soldiers. These became crucial to the maintenance of several governments, including the New Egyptian Kingdom and the Shang dynasty.

The infantry would become the core of military action. The infantry started as opposing armed groups of soldiers underneath commanders. The Greeks used rigid, heavily-armed phalanxes, but the Romans used mobile legions that were easily manueverable.

Cavalry would become an important tool. In the Sicilian Expedition, led by Atina in an attempt to subdue Syracuse, the well-trained Syracusan cavalry became crucial to the success of the Syracusans. Macedonian Alexander the Great effectively deployed his cavalry forces to secure victories. In later battles, like the Battle of Cannae of the Second Punic War, the importance of the cavalry would be repeated. Hannibal was able to surround the Romans on three sides and encircled them by sending the cavalry to the rear of the army. There were also horse archers, who had the ability to shoot on horseback- the Mongols were especially fearsome with this tactic. In the Middle Ages, armored cataphracts continued to fight on horseback. Even in the First World War, cavarly was still considered important; the British mobilized 165.000 horses, the Austrians 600.000, the Germans 715.000, and the Russians more than a million.

War elephants were often deployed for fighting in ancient warfare. They were used by both the Persians and Alexander the Great against one another. Hannibal, in the Second Punic War, also used elephants against the Romans.

There were also organizational changes, made possible by better training and intercommunication. Combined arms was the concept of using infantry, cavalry, and artillery in a coordinated way. The Romans, Swiss, and others made advances with this, which arguably led to them being unbeatable for centuries.

Naval warfare was often crucial to military success. Early navies used sailing ships without cannons; often the goal was to ram the enemy ships and cause them to sink. There was human oar power, often using slaves, built up to ramming speed. Galleys were used in the 3rd millennium BC by the Cretans. The Greeks later advanced these ships. In 1210 BC, the first recorded naval battle was fought between Suppiluliuma II, king of the Hittites, and Cyprus, which was defeated. In the Persian Wars, the navy became of increasing importance. Triremes were involved in more complicated sea-land operations. Themistocles helped to build up a stronger Greek navy, composed of 310 ships, and defeated the Persians at the Battle of Salamis, ending the Persian invasion of Greece. In the First Punic War, the war between Carthage and Roma started with an advantage to Carthage because of their naval experience. A Roman fleet was built in 261 BC, with the addition of the corvus that allowed Roman soldiers onboard the ships to board the enemy ships. The bridge would prove effective at the Battle of Mylae, resulting in a Roman victory. The Vikings, in the 8th century AD, invented a ship propelled by oars with a dragon decorating the prow, hence called the Drakkar.

Fortifications are important in warfare. Early hill-forts were used to protect inhabitants in the Iron Age. They were primitive forts surrounded by ditches filled with water. Forts were then built out of mud bricks, stones, wood, and other available materials. Romans used rectangular fortresses built out of wood and stone. As long as there have been fortifications, there have been contraptions to break in, dating back to the times of Romans and earlier. Siege warfare is often necessary to capture forts.

Bows and arrows were often used by combatants. Egyptians fired arrows from chariots effectively. The crossbow was developed around the 500 BC in Çin, and was used a lot in the Middle Ages. The English/Welsh longbow from the 12th century also became important in the Middle Ages. It helped to give the English a large early advantage in the Hundred Years' War, even though the English were eventually defeated. It dominated battlefields for over a century.

In the 10th century, the invention of gunpowder led to many new weapons that were improved over time. Blackpowder was used in Çin since the 4th Century, but it was not used as a weapon until the 11th century. Until the mid-15th century, guns were held in one hand, while the explosive charge was ignited by the other hand. Then came the matchlock, which was used widely until around the 1720s. Leonardo da Vinci made drawings of the wheel lock which made its own sparks. Eventually, the matchlock was replaced by the flintlock. Cannons were first used in Europe in the early 14th century, and played a vital role in the Hundred Years' War. The first cannons were simply welded metal bars in the form of a cylinder, and the first cannonballs were made of stone. By 1346, at the battle of Crécy, the cannon had been used; at the Battle of Agincourt they would be used again.

At the beginning of the 16th century, the first European fire ships were used. Ships were filled with flammable materials, set on fire, and sent to enemy lines. This tactic was successfully used by Francis Drake to scatter the Spanish Armada at the Battle of Gravelines, and would later be used by the Chinese, Russians, Greeks, and several other countries in naval battles. Naval mines were invented in the 17th century, though they were not used in great numbers until the American Civil War. They were used heavily in the First World War and Second World War.

The submarine was invented in 1624 by Cornelius Drebbel, which could go to depth of 15 feet (5 m). The Turtle was developed by David Bushnell during the American Revolution. Robert Fulton then improved the submarine design by creating the Nautilus (submarine).

The Howitzer, a type of field artillery, was developed in 17th century to fire high trajectory explosive shells at targets that could not be reached by flat trajectory projectiles.

Bayonets also became of wide usage to infantry soldiers. Bayonet is named after Bayonne, Fransa where it was first manufactured in the 16th century. It is used often in infantry charges to fight in hand-to-hand combat. General Jean Martinet introduced the bayonet to the French army. They were used a lot in the American Civil War, and continued to be used in modern wars like the Invasion of Iraq.

Balloons were first used in warfare at the end of the 18th century. It was first introduced in Paris of 1783; the first balloon traveled over 5 miles (8 km). Previously military scouts could only see from high points on the ground, or from the mast of a ship. Now they could be high in the sky, signalling to troops on the ground. This made it much more difficult for troop movements to go unobserved.

At the end of the 18th century, iron-cased rockets were successfully used militarily in India against the British by Tipu Sultan of the Kingdom of Mysore during the Anglo-Mysore Wars. Rockets were generally inaccurate at that time, though William Hale, in 1844, was able to develop a better rocket. The new rocket no longer needed the rocket stick, and had a higher accuracy.

In the 1860s there were a series of advancements in rifles. The first repeating rifle was designed in 1860 by a company bought out by Winchester, which made new and improved versions. Springfield rifles arrived in the mid-19th century also. Machine guns arrived in the middle of the 19th century. Automatic rifles and light machine guns first arrived at the beginning of the 20th century.

At the start of the World Wars, various nations had developed weapons that were a surprise to their adversaries, leading to a need to learn from this, and alter how to combat them. Flame throwers were first used in the first world war. The French were the first to introduce the armored car in 1902. Then in 1918, the British produced the first armored troop carrier. Many early tanks were proof of concept but impractical until further development. In World War I, the British and French held a crucial advantage due to their superiority in tanks; the Germans had only a few dozen A7V tanks, as well as 170 captured tanks. The British and French both had over several hundred each. The French tanks included the 13 ton Schnedier-Creusot, with a 75 mm gun, and the British had the Mark IV and Mark V tanks.

On December 17, 1903, the Wright Brothers performed the first controlled, powered, heavier-than-air flight; it went 39 meters (120 ft). In 1907, the first helicopter flew, but it wasn't practical for usage. Aviation became important in World War I, in which several aces gained fame. In 1911 an aircraft took off from a warship for the first time. It was a cruiser. Take-offs were soon perfected, but deck landings on a cruiser were another matter. This led to the development of an aircraft carrier with a decent unobstructed flight deck.

Chemical warfare exploded into the public consciousness in World War I but may have been used in earlier wars without as much human attention. The Germans used gas-filled shells at the Battle of Bolimov on January 3, 1915. These were not lethal, however. In April 1915, the Germans developed a chlorine gas that was highly lethal, and used it to great effect at Second Battle of Ypres.

World War II gave rise to even more technology. The worth of the aircraft carrier was proved in the battles between the ABD and Japonya like the Battle of Midway. Radar was independently invented by the Allies and Axis powers. It used radio waves to detect nearby objects. Molotov cocktails were invented by the Finns in 1939, during the Winter War. The atomic bomb was developed by the Manhattan Project and launched at Hiroshima and Nagasaki in 1945, ultimately ending World War II.

During the Cold War, even though fighting did not actually occur, the superpowers- the ABD and Rusya- engaged in a race to develop and increase the level of technology available for military purposes. In the space race, both nations attempted to launch human beings into space to the moon. Other technological advances centered around intelligence (like the spy satellite) and missiles (ballistic missiles, cruise missiles). Nuclear submarine, invented in 1955. This meant submarines no longer had to surface as often, and could run more quietly. They evolved into becoming underwater missile platforms. Cruise missiles were invented in the USA in 1982.

Gaining an accurate assessment of past military encounters may prove difficult because of bias, even in ancient times, and systematic propaganda in more modern times. Descriptions of battles by leaders may be unreliable due to the inclination to minimize mention of failures and exaggerate when boasting of successes. Further, military secrets may prevent some salient facts from being reported at all; scholars still do not know the nature of Greek fire, for instance. Despite these limitations, wars are some of the most studied and detailed periods of human history.

Homer, in the Iliad, described the Trojan War. However, the historicity of the Iliad is doubtful, as many historians believe that the Iliad is essentially legendary. Others believe that it is partly historical.

Herodotus (484 BC - 425 BC) wrote the The Histories. He is, along with Thucydides, often known as the "father of history". Thucydides (460 BC - 395 BC) is regarded as the first scientific historian by dismissing the notions of deities taking active part in history. Despite being an Athenian, he remained an impartial historian, taking advantage of his exile to research the war from different perspectives. To do such, he carefully examined documents and interviewed eyewitnesses.

Xenophon (430 BC - 355 BC) is most known for Anabasis, in which he records the expedition of Cyrus the Younger into Türkiye. It was one of the first books centered around the analysis of a leader.

Julius Caesar (100 BC - 44 BC) authored several military books, such as Commentarii de Bello Gallico and Commentarii de Bello Civili, in which he comments upon his campaigns.