HIST 159 Technology, Policy and War
Taught as schedule allows (consult the Course Directory)
This course looks at the development of the technology of force, broadly construed. Topics include hoplite warfare and the development of Mediterranean warships; mounted warfare, the stirrup, and cavalry; fortification and the invention of gunpowder; the French levee en masse and the emergence of citizen armies and wars of nations; steel-clad warships, modern artillery, and air power theory; armored warfare and the blitzkrieg; chemical and biological warfare; the US marines and the development of amphibious tactics; terrorism, and post-nuclear strategy. The approach is chronological, using case studies from the ancient world and Asia, as well as the west, including the Punic War the fall of Constantinople, the American Civil War, the Russo-Japanese War, and aspects of German military technology in the twentieth century.
Course Syllabus (PDF)
