Lancaster University’s Centre for War and Diplomacy has joined forces with the University of Amsterdam, the University of Calgary, Sciences Po Aix, and Stellenbosch University to establish the Military History Consortium (MHC).

The MCH’s mission is to connect institutions, academics, and students engaged in the study of warfare and/or military organisations in the past. Its dual aim is to provide a forum for the exchange of ideas in order to strengthen international research cooperation, and a framework for joint teaching initiatives and programmes.

The MHC’s membership is international, and its scope is global. While the consortium’s teaching and research agendas focus on the past, it seeks to address contemporary security challenges and inform related policy debates. In line with the CWD’s research, teaching and engagement agenda, the MCH promotes the study of war and the military in the past to enable us to understand and contextualise the present and thus prepare for the future.

The CWD’s Director, Professor Marco Wyss, sees the MCH “as a fantastic opportunity for Lancaster University to be at the forefront of teaching and research in military history at an international level”.

Dr Samuël Kruizinga from the University of Amsterdam emphasises the international dimension of the MHC: “Bringing together scholars from all over the world, our collective aim is to bring about a more global understanding of military history.”

The MCH is also innovative and topical. For Dr Evert Kleynhans from Stellenbosch University, the “MHC provides a novel platform for academic engagement and international research cooperation, with the prospect of annual conferences, regular online research seminars, workshops and publication opportunities.”

This is important, because, as Professor Timothy Stapleton from the University of Calgary observes, “while many universities in North America and Western Europe have neglected the study of military history seeking it as unseemly and unfashionable, the recent Russian invasion of Ukraine illustrates the continued importance of understanding the causes, conduct and conclusion of wars. The founding of an international military history consortium is therefore timely.”

For more information, please visit the MHC page on the CWD's website.