Military History

Discover how conflict has shaped nations, societies and ideology throughout history. Explore what drives nations to go to war and people to fight them, understand how technology and propaganda has changed not only warfare, but societies as a whole.

Study war and its effects in the inspiring location of historic Canterbury, with Roman forts and Cold War nuclear bunkers on your doorstep, as well as the battlefields of the First and Second World Wars close by.

Cover hundreds of years of history, or focus on particular eras that fascinate you. Military History is so much more than just battle tactics; you'll delve into history from the fifth century to present day, and develop an understanding of the wider social, ethical and political contexts of warfare, and how these shape our world today.

Year 2

The following modules are what students typically study, but this may change year to year in response to new developments and innovations:

Compulsory modules currently include the following:

• The Modern World: Revolution and Crisis

  How was our modern political, cultural and social system made? How does it function and what historical forces are still actively at play? This module will examine the formation of modern political culture, democracy, party politics, ideological divides, enlightenment, and secularisation between 1700 and 1990. These are all hallmarks of the pluralist and inclusive world we prize today.

  The world between the eighteenth and twentieth centuries was beset by crises. People sensed that they lived in an exceptional moment in time when change and hope could free people from tradition, superstition, and economic exploitation. There was a sense of dissatisfaction with existing systems of power, exclusion, capitalism and injustice. Revolution, reform and the Cold War all became key themes in humanity’s struggle to exit the crisis of the Ancien Régime and create a better world.

• Undergraduate Dissertation: Design and Planning

  How do you identify a workable dissertation topic? How do you formulate your research questions, define your structure, locate your sources, and identify a potential supervisor? These are all common questions, and we are here to help walk you through all the key elements you’ll need to produce a fully-fledged dissertation proposal, which will prepare you to tackle your first major research project with confidence.

• Armies at War, 1914-1918

  How do armies, states and societies fight wars? How are they mobilised, physically, psychologically, and politically for the struggle ahead? By introducing cutting-edge interpretations within the field of First World War Studies, this module will help you understand, compare, and critically assess how the Great Powers fared when faced with the challenges of the world’s first modern, industrialised, total war.

  Through a ‘war and society’ approach, you’ll analyse the social composition of the armies concerned and evaluate how this impacted combat performance, discipline, and morale. You’ll critique civil-military relations and the higher strategic direction of the war, and assess the influence of technology on the battlefield and how this translated into appalling casualty rates that stretched manpower resources to breaking point.

Optional modules may include the following:

• A History of Eastern Europe in 10 Objects

• Armies at War, 1792-1815

• Blitzkrieg to Baghdad: Armoured Warfare in the Theory, Practice and Imagery, 1916-2003

• Cholera to Climate Change: Environment and Society in Modern Britain

• Churchill’s Armies: The Armies of the British Empire and the Second World War

• Civil War America, 1848-1877

• Conquest and Resistance in Southern Africa, 1750-1918

• Europe in Extremes: Communism, Fascism and Nazism, 1917-1939

• From Crisis to Revolution: France 1774-1799

• How the West was Won (or Lost): The American West in the 19th Century

• Marvels, Monsters and Freaks 1780-1920

• Modern German History since 1918

• Surgery, Science and Society since 1750

• Telegraph to Television: War and the British Media, 1853-1945

• The Art of Death: Representations, Rituals & Records in Medieval Europe

• The Cold War

• The Crusades

• The German Wars of Unification, c.1813-1871

• The Imperial Presidency: U.S. Foreign Policy from Franklin Roosevelt to Barack Obama

• ‘The Jewel in the Crown’: India and the Making of Imperial Britain

• Vikings: A Global Saga

• Violence and Justice in Medieval Europe (c.500-c.1400).

• War and Modern Medicine 1850-1950

• Warriors, Myths and Migrants: the Early Medieval Kingdoms

Please see the course page on our website for full module details.

Year In Industry (optional)

Year in Industry

The Year in Industry gives you the opportunity to spend a year in the workplace as part of your degree. It takes place between your second and final years of study, giving you work experience and the chance to acquire new skills and develop your confidence. The Year in Industry can be added during your studies at Kent.

Year 3

The following modules are what students typically study, but this may change year to year in response to new developments and innovations:

Compulsory modules currently include the following:

• Undergraduate History Dissertation

  What does a research project look like? Why is it so integral to the discipline of History? This module is designed to for you to engage in exciting independent research on a historical topic, as part of your final years of study.

  This module focuses on in-depth scrutiny of a subject through primary and secondary research. You’ll also engage in primary research, in archives or online, explore the rich historiography of your chosen topic, and learn how to integrate these findings into a long-form written piece. You’ll be supervised by a subject specialist and have the chance to discuss your ideas with peers and supervisors in lectures, workshops, and one-to-one settings.

  The research project is your chance to engage in real historical research, just as a professional historian would, and to put the research skills and training you developed earlier in your degree into practice. It will also help foster transferable skills such as organisation, independence, and project management as well as being a fantastic example of your skills to show employers.

Optional modules may include the following:

• Fight the Power: African American History from Jim Crow to Black Lives Matter

• From Buffalo Bill to Bison Burgers: The American West in the 20th Century

• Global Insurgency and Counterinsurgency in the Modern Era

• Gothic Art: Image and Imagination in Europe

• Head, Shoulders, Knees, and Toes: A History of the Modern Body (1800-1950)

• To Do No Harm: Medical Ethics and Patient Rights in the Modern World, 1800-2000

• From ‘Madness’ to Mindfulness: Mental Health since 1850.

• Terror, Murder and Bloodshed: The Renaissance in Italy and beyond, c.1400-c.1550

• The American Revolution

• Cultural History of the Great War: Britain, France, and Germany in Comparison

• The Hundred Years’ War, c.1337-1453

• The Nature of Command

• Capitalism: Classes, Cultures & Conflicts

• Conquests, Cultures and Identities: England AD 800-1100

• From Mercenaries to Freedom Fighters: Transnational Soldiering, c.1700-2020

• Ireland: A Military History since 1689

• Liberation Struggles in Southern Africa

• Loyalists: The Wrong Side of the American Independence

• Making Room for Medicine: Medical Space, Environment and Health

• Napoleon and the World, 1799-1815

• Saints, Relics & Churches in Medieval Europe, c.500-1500

• Sex, Health and Deviance in Britain since 1800

• The Carolingians and the Invention of Order

• The Eternal Nazi: Global Legacies of the Third Reich

• The International History of the Vietnam Wars

• The Legacy of the Second World War

• The Renaissance: Nature, Magic and Knowledge

• The Spanish Second Republic and Civil War, 1931-1939

• War, Peace and Diplomacy in the Late Middle Ages, c.1200 – c.1450

Please see the course page on our website for full module details.

Year Abroad (optional)

Go Abroad

Going abroad as part of your degree is an amazing experience and a chance to develop personally, academically and professionally.  You experience a different culture, gain a new academic perspective, establish international contacts and enhance your employability. The Year Abroad can be added during your studies at Kent.

You spend your year abroad at one of our partner universities. Places and destination are subject to availability, language and degree programme.

To be eligible for the year abroad, you need to adhere to any progression requirements in Stage 1 and Stage 2. The year abroad is assessed on a pass/fail basis and does not count towards your final degree classification.

Year 1

The following modules are what students typically study, but this may change year to year in response to new developments and innovations:

Compulsory modules currently include the following:

• Understanding Military History In-demand skills

  What is military history? How has it developed and grown as an important subfield of historical enquiry? This module introduces you to the key themes and historiographical debates that have shaped – and continue to shape – the study of war. It will introduce the ‘war and society’ approach to military history, which considers the nature of armies as institutions and the degree to which they reflect their parent societies.

• Battles in Military History

  What is a decisive battle? Have there been any truly decisive battles in world history? How did the nature of battle change in the age of total war? This module explores the concept of battle as the defining characteristic of military history.

  It begins with a study of Agincourt (1415), one of the most famous medieval battles and progresses through early modern and modern examples (including Waterloo, 1815 and D-Day, Normandy 1944). This is a global history and we’ll consider battles in America, Africa (Isandlwana and Rorke’s Drift 1879) and Asia (Tsushima, 1905), along with European examples. In focusing on each battle, we’ll carefully consider the nature of the armies or navies involved. Some were regular forces, others were made up of conscripts and others were based on feudal or tribal levies.

• Redcoats: The British Army and Society c.1660-1902

  How has the British Army been shaped as an institution? What was its role in domestic, foreign, and imperial policy up to the 20th century? This module will examine various aspects of the British army since its formation in 1660.

  We’ve used the term ‘Army and Society’ in the title of the module to emphasise that the central focus will be a ‘new military history’ of the British army during this period. You’ll therefore explore how the army recruited soldiers, the composition of the officer corps (pre and post-purchase), political interventions made by the army, and the role of the army in shaping the British state.

• The British Army in the Age of Total War

  How did the British Army withstand the challenges of total war? This module will explore the evolving composition, role, and performance of the British Army in the 20th and early 21st centuries. Focusing on key historiographical debates surrounding civil-military relations, generalship, technology, discipline and morale, the role of women, and combat motivation and performance, this module will enable you to analyse the British Army’s contribution to both world wars.

Optional modules may include the following:

• A Global History of Empire

• Histories of Health and Medicine since 1800

• Renaissance to the Enlightenment Tackles big questions

• War and Society in Europe, c.1789-1945

Please see the course page on our website for full module details.