ABSTRACT
Historians and social scientists approach the study of warfare from a number of different perspectives. One popular framework examines the history of human conflict from the vantage point of the soldiers, or a particular side engaged in battle. Another approach is to analyze how the fighting influenced the various peoples and nations involved in the battle. It is misleading, however, to assess a war merely on the basis of its impact on a particular country or group of people. A social history of war must treat soldiers and civilians as integral components of the societies from which they come. We also need to look at how societies shape the context in which war was fought, for the cultural, political, and social goals of countries engaged in armed conflict establish the groundwork upon which wars are conducted, experienced, and managed.
