Attrition · Guerilla · Maneuver Siege · Total war · Trench
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Formations · Ranks · Units
Equipment · Materiel · Supply line
Military history is composed of the events in the history of humanity that fall within the category of conflict. This may range from a melee between two tribes to conflicts between proper militaries to a world war affecting the majority of the human population. Military historians record (in writing or otherwise) the events of military history.
Military activity has been a constant process over thousands of years. However, there is little agreement about when it began (Otterbein 2004). Some believe it has always been with us; others stress the lack of clear evidence for it in our prehistoric past, and the fact that many peaceful, non-military societies have and still do exist (See Otterbein, Fry and Kelly in bibliography below).
The essential tactics, strategy, and goals of military operations have been unchanging throughout the past 5,000 years of our 90,000-year human history. As an example one notable maneuver is the double envelopment, considered to be the consummate military maneuver, executed by Hannibal at the Battle of Cannae in 216 BC, over 2,200 years ago. This maneuver was also later effectively used by Khalid ibn al-Walid at the Battle of Walaja in 633 AD, and was earlier described by the Chinese military theorist Sun Tzu, who wrote at roughly the same time as the founding of Rome. By the study of history, the military seeks to not repeat past mistakes, and improve upon its current performance by instilling an ability in commanders to perceive historical parallels during battle, so as to capitalize on the lessons learned. The main areas military history includes are the history of wars, battles, and combats, history of the military art, and history of each specific military service.
There are a number of ways to categorize warfare. One categorization is conventional versus unconventional, where conventional warfare involves well-identified, armed forces fighting one another in a relatively open and straightforward way without weapons of mass destruction. "Unconventional" refers to other types of war which can involve raiding, guerrilla, insurgency, and terrorist tactics or alternatively can include nuclear, chemical, or biological warfare.
All of these categories usually fall into one of two broader categories: High intensity and low intensity warfare. High intensity warfare is between two superpowers or large countries fighting for political reasons. Low intensity warfare involves counterinsurgency, guerilla warfare and specialized types of troops fighting revolutionaries.

Periods

For more details on this topic, see Prehistoric warfare. Prehistoric warfare

For more details on this topic, see Ancient warfare. Ancient warfare

For more details on this topic, see Medieval warfare. Gunpowder warfare

For more details on this topic, see Industrial warfare. Industrial warfare

For more details on this topic, see Modern warfare. Modern warfare
New weapons development can dramatically alter the face of war.
In prehistoric times, fighting occurred by usage of clubs and spears, as early as 35,000 BC.
World War II gave rise to even more technology. The worth of the aircraft carrier was proved in the battles between the United States and Japan 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 United States and Russia- 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 Nazi Germany during World War II in the form of the V-1.

Slinger
Hoplite
Auxiliaries
Hastati
Principes
Triarii
Velites
Artillery
Cataphract
Condottieri
Fyrd
Janissary
Knight (see also: Chivalry)
Crossbow
Pikeman
Samurai
Sipahi
Drebbel's submarine (1620)
Turtle (1775)
Brandtaucher (1850)
Plongeur (1863)
Ictineu II (1864)
Submarino Peral (1888)
Gymnote (1888)
USS Holland (1897)
Type XXI Elektroboote (1943)
USS Albacore (AGSS-569) (1953)
USS Nautilus (SSN-571) (1954)
Zulu-class SSB (1955)
USS Narwhal (1967)
Alfa-class SSN (1977)
Type 212 submarine (1998) Technological evolution
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".
Xenophon (430 BC - 355 BC) is most known for Anabasis, in which he records the expedition of Cyrus the Younger into Turkey. 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.
Some other more recent prominent military historians include:

Hans Delbrück (1848-1929)
Charles Oman (1860-1946)
Basil Liddell Hart (1895-1970)
Martin van Creveld (1946)
John Keegan (1934)
William Ledyard Rodgers (d. 1944)
Lynn Montross (d. 1961)
Cornelius Ryan
R. Ernest & Trevor N. Dupuy (a.k.a. Dupuy & Dupuy)
John Terraine (1921-2003)
George F.G. Stanley (1907-2002)
Victor Davis Hanson Historiography

Colonialism
Historical reenactment
Manuel de Landa's War in the Age of Intelligent Machines (1991)
Military science
Imperialism
Prisoner of war
Prisoner-of-war camp
Battledress
Militaria
War
Wargaming
Weapon See also
 Only recognised by Turkey.

By region

Fry, Douglas P., 2005, The Human Potential for Peace: An Anthropological Challenge to Assumptions about War and Violence, Oxford University Press.
Kelly, Raymond C., 2000, Warless Societies and the Origin of War, University of Michigan Press.
Otterbein, Keith, 2004, How War Began. Texas A&M University Press. Other