Message from Dr. Richard W. Stewart: President, U.S. Commission on Military History
The United States Commission on Military History (USCMH) provides an important link between the U.S. military historical community and military historians from other nations around the world.
Composed of academic, public, and service historians, museum professionals, and other interested parties, the USCMH is affiliated with the International Commission of Military History (ICMH) and takes part in its projects and programs. It is also an affiliated organization with the American Historical Association. Involvement in the ICMH entails service on its important committees, contributions to its publications program, contacts with some of the leading professionals in military history worldwide, and participation in the annual meetings of the ICMH.
The USCMH is part of the International Commission of Military History (ICMH) which was set up in 1938 as a working group within the International Committee of Historical Sciences (ICHS), which itself is part of the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO). In July 1972, the ICMH was granted the status of Affiliated International Organization, a status it still holds today. The aims of the ICMH can be summarized in a nutshell as the furthering and coordination of military historical research throughout the world. The ICMH wants to be a platform for the exchange of ideas by and for military historians. The ICMH comprises a great many National Commissions in which the military historians of the various member states are represented. The number of National Commissions has expanded in recent years to include over forty nations from around the world.
The ICMH tries to achieve its objectives in the following ways:
1) Organizing seminars and conferences in interesting international venues such as Italy, France, Bulgaria, Brazil, Portugal the Netherlands, Morocco, and the United States.
2) Publishing books and organizing lectures to be presented at the military historical conferences.
3) Editing the International Review of Military History, each issue of which is intended to increase readers’ familiarity with certain aspects of military history of particular countries or regions. The first issue was published in Paris in 1939.
4) Editing the International Bibliography of Military History (since 1978), thereby making the main body of military historical literature accessible to a large public. There have been 24 issues of this bibliography, edited under the final responsibility of the Bibliography Committee, acting collectively as the editor-in-chief.
5) Promoting consultation among the coordinators of the main military historical archives and their main users, military history researchers.
I would like to encourage all military historians in the United States to join and support the U.S. Commission on Military History as it pursues the goal of greater sharing with the international community of publications, principles, and knowledge of military history. It will be professionally rewarding and personally enjoyable at the same time!
To join the U.S. Commission on Military History:
Send a $40 (Forty U.S. Dollar) check made out to the “U.S. Commission on Military History,” along with the information below. If you are a graduate student, the fee is reduced to $30 (Thirty U.S. Dollars).
Name:
Organization or Affiliation:
Specialty:
E-Mail and Mailing addresses and Phone Number:
By regular mail addressed to:
Don Bittner, Secretary-general USCMH
P.O. Box 129
Quantico, VA 22134-0129.
Thanks for your interest in the United States Commission and I hope to welcome you as
a member soon!
Richard W. Stewart
President, U.S. Commission
August 2013