Military Honour And The Conduct Of War

This study presents the first examination of the influence of ideas of honour on the causes, conduct and ending of wars from Ancient Greece to the present day. Paul Robinson begins with a theoretical examination of the concept of honour, to clearly explain the many contradictions and tensions inherent within honour systems. He then shows how honour has often contradictory and paradoxical effects on the conduct of war and illustrates this through seven case studies: Classical Greece; Ancient Rome; mediaeval Chivalry; Elizabethan England; the American Civil War; the British Empire; and the Western world after World War II (including the Vietnam War and the current conflict in Iraq). Key topics covered include: honour and virtue honour and the causes of war honour as a motivation for fighting honours and rewards death and honour honour and the conduct of war honour and the enemy honour and the ending of wars women and honour This book reveals that the often contradictory behaviour of soldiers during war is a product of the contradictions inherent in the concept of honour. This book will be of great interest to all students of military ethics, military history, politics, international relations, anthropology, sociology, philosophy and the history of ideas.

"To Serve With Honor should be required reading for all members of the officer corps of the United States military. Beyond that, it should be made required reading for all United States military academies, ROTC and officer candidate programs. This treatise on military ethics goes a long way in bridging the gap between the military and society's understanding of the military's ethical dilemma. It is a must for the student of military affairs." International Social Science Review

The history of surrender is one of the most neglected in the history of war, and yet it is vital to understanding not only how wars end but also how they are contained. This is a book with a chronological sweep that runs from the Stone Age to the present day, written by a team of truly distinguished scholars.

This book examines the role of military virtues in today's armed forces. Although long-established military virtues, such as honor, courage and loyalty, are what most armed forces today still use as guiding principles in an effort to enhance the moral behavior of soldiers, much depends on whether the military virtues adhered to by these militaries suit a particular mission or military operation. Clearly, the beneficiaries of these military virtues are the soldiers themselves, fellow-soldiers, and military organizations, yet there is little that regulates the behavior of soldiers towards civilian populations. As a result, troops trained for combat in today's missions sometimes experience difficulty in adjusting to the less aggressive ways of working needed to win the hearts and minds of local populations after major combat is over. It can be argued that today's missions call for virtues that are more inclusive than the traditional ones, which are mainly about enhancing military effectiveness, but a convincing case can be made that a lot can already be won by interpreting these traditional virtues in different ways. This volume offers an integrated approach to the main traditional virtues, exploring their possible relevance and proposing new ways of interpretation that are more in line with the military tasks of the 21st century. The book will be of much interest to students of military ethics, philosophy, and war and conflict in general.

Drunken disorderliness. Cowardice in battle. Writing bad cheques. Vulgarity. Sexual indecency. Adultery. Following courts martial for such disgraceful behaviour, hundreds of Canadian officers lost their commissions during the First and Second World Wars. Scandalous Conduct investigates the changing definitions that shaped the quintessential honour crime known as “conduct unbecoming an officer and a gentleman.” The dishonour represented a direct challenge to the discredited officer’s prestige, livelihood, and sense of manhood. Drawing on fascinating court cases never before studied, Scandalous Conduct concludes that military honour was not a stable concept; instead it depended on social circumstances and disciplinary requirements.

In this new edition of the classic book on the moral conduct of war, Sidney Axinn provides a full-length treatment of the military conventions from a philosophical point of view. Axinn considers these basic ethical questions within the context of the laws of warfare: Should a good soldier ever disobey a direct military order? Are there restrictions on how we fight a war? What is meant by “military honor,” and does it really affect the contemporary soldier? Is human dignity possible under battlefield conditions? Axinn answers “yes” to these questions. His objective in A Moral Military is to establish a basic framework for moral military action and to assist in analyzing military professional ethics. He argues for the seriousness of the concept of military honor but limits honorable military activity by a strict interpretation of the notion of war crime. With revisions and expansions throughout, including a new chapter on torture, A Moral Military is an essential guide on the nature of war during a time when the limits of acceptable behavior are being stretched in new directions.

The army of Frederick the Great of Prussia is generally known as an efficient fighting machine based on brutal and strict drill procedures that led to broken but fearless soldiers as well as glorious battle victories. In analysing the mentalities of the men who established Prussia's great power status, Prussian Army Soldiers and the Seven Years' War fundamentally challenges this interpretation. Drawing on a vast array of primary sources (including the writing of regimental chaplain Küster, who could probably be called the first modern military psychologist) and presenting the first English translation of 12 letters of common Prussian soldiers from the Seven Years' War, this book shows that the soldiers were feeling individuals. They were loving husbands, vulnerable little brothers, deeply religious preachers, and sometimes even bold adventurers. All these individuals, however, were united by one idea which made them fight efficiently: honour. In Prussian Army Soldiers and the Seven Years' War, the different elements of the Prussian soldiers' concept of such honour are expertly analysed. The result is a nuanced, sophisticated, and much-needed psychological history of Frederick the Great's army.