ABSTRACT
Play is mostly regarded as a matter of pleasure, friendly leisure, and free fun, as creative and harmless activity mainly related to children and their positive development and innocent laughter. Seen empirically and analytically, however, the innocent fun nature of play is only one part of the story. Hazard games may produce ludomania, a dependency on destructive power. This chapter explores the connection between play and war. A larger field in the history of play and games unfolds between children's playing at soldiers, war games, military training, and military action. At the turn of the eighteenth to the nineteenth century, the image of war changed fundamentally. Scouting-like activities and military games developed a special dynamic in the political context of paramilitary corps, which was formed in the interwar period. Military service can be seen as a dangerous play, anticipating hypothetical war situations by game-like scenarios.
