OVERVIEW

War marks the history of mankind with endemic recurrence. In the course will be provided the tools to know the shapes, explain the dynamics and decipher the meanings

AIMS AND CONTENT

LEARNING OUTCOMES

The course offers a basic introduction to the history of the many forms of war (conventional war, total war, civil war, guerrilla, etc.) from Ancient Age to the 20th century. The course will focus on the relation between war, society and culture by analyzing and discussing specific cases. The aim is to provide students with tools to understand how State, the army, the navy, politics, economy, strategic thinking and collective mentality are connected to one other and how they jointly influenced the long-run military dynamics in European history.

AIMS AND LEARNING OUTCOMES

The course has three main objectives:

1. To understand the structural aspects of military history, across its various domains and issues

2. To acquire a foundational knowledge of military history, from Ancient Greece to the Second World War

3. To master the historiographical terminology and methodological tools needed to analyze and interpret sources

PREREQUISITES

General knowledge of ancient, medieval, modern and contemporary history

TEACHING METHODS

The course will be organized through in-person lectures delivered simultaneously both on-site and remotely via Teams (Teams class code: 32x7b62).

The exam syllabus will vary depending on attendance in in-person lectures. All students must prepare for the exam the content of the slides from the 30 course lectures. Non-attending students will also need to bring the additional text listed under the "Texts/Bibliography" section to the exam.

Students will be considered as attending if they attend at least 20 out of 30 lectures in person, that is, in the classroom.

Lectures followed remotely via Teams will not count towards the minimum required to be considered attending students.

SYLLABUS/CONTENT

30 lectures dedicated to specific themes in military history from the 8th century BC to the Second World War

Four topics will be examined in greater depth: warfare in the Mediterranean during the 16th century, the American Civil War, and the Second World War

The topics to be addressed in each lecture are listed below:

1. The ideal battle in Ancient Greece

2. Warfare in Ancient Greece: contrasting interpretations

3. Classical Greece, Macedonia, the Hellenistic kingdoms, and early Rome

4. Rome at war between the 4th and 3rd centuries BCE

5. Rome from Republic to Empire (2nd–1st centuries BCE)

6. Imperial Rome (1st–3rd centuries CE)

7. From Rome to Constantinople (4th–6th centuries CE)

8. Warfare in the Middle Ages: raids, sieges, and battles

9. From the Middle Ages to the “Military Revolution”

10. The early modern period (16th–17th centuries)

11. Naval warfare from the Middle Ages to the early modern era

12. Warfare in the Mediterranean in the 16th century (1)

13. Warfare in the Mediterranean in the 16th century (2)

14. The Battle of Lepanto: narrative, historiography, and history

15. The war against the Barbary corsairs

16. The modern era (17th–18th centuries)

17. From the French Revolution to Napoleon

18. Genoa: from walled city to fortress (16th–19th centuries)

19. Technology and tactics in the 19th century

20. The American Civil War (1)

21. The American Civil War (2)

22. The American Civil War (3)

23. The American Civil War (4)

24. The war for Southern Italy (1860–1870)

25. Total war and the First World War

26. From the First to the Second World War

27. The Second World War: themes and issues

28. The Second World War in the Pacific (1)

29. The Second World War in the Pacific (2)

30. The Second World War in the Pacific (3)

RECOMMENDED READING/BIBLIOGRAPHY

Teaching materials for attending students: lecture handouts (30 slide files, one corresponding to each lecture).

Teaching materials for non-attending students: lecture handouts (30 slide files, one corresponding to each lecture) and E. Beri, Lezioni di Storia militare. Dalla Grecia antica alla Seconda guerra mondiale. Vol. I. Antichità e Medioevo, Agorà, Sarzana–Lugano, 2024.

The slide files will be made available both on the course's Aulaweb platform and in the “Files” section, under the “Course Materials” folder, within the corresponding Teams class.

TEACHERS AND EXAM BOARD

LESSONS

LESSONS START

September 2025

Class schedule

The timetable for this course is available here: Portale EasyAcademy

EXAMS

EXAM DESCRIPTION

Oral examination, generally lasting no more than approximately 30 minutes, conducted as an ongoing dialogue between the candidate and the examiner. Questions will cover factual, conceptual, terminological, methodological, and interpretative aspects, including references to the history of historiography.

Examination format for attending students: one topic chosen by the candidate and at least two topics selected by the examiner.

Examination format for non-attending students: one topic chosen by the candidate and at least two topics selected by the examiner, including one related to the additional required text for non-attending students (Lezioni di Storia militare).

For students taking the 9 cfu exam, topics will be drawn from the content covered in all 30 lectures of the course. For students taking the 6 cfu exam, topics will be selected from 20 out of the 30 lectures; in this case, the student must choose the 20 lectures to be examined and present the list to the examiner at the time of the exam.

ASSESSMENT METHODS

The objective of the examination is to assess the student’s ability to engage with the subject matter with competence, appropriate language, clarity of expression, and critical thinking. Evaluation will focus on both the student's knowledge of the foundational content of the course and their methodological and interpretative skills.

Knowledge of content and methodological-interpretative abilities will each account for 40% of the final grade. The remaining 20% will be based on the student’s ability to use appropriate language, both in terms of form and the correct use of disciplinary terminology.

FURTHER INFORMATION

The wide range of topics and chronology covered by the course, and the need to contain the teaching load, make it impossible to use the reference bibliography as an examination program. The lecture notes are the exam program. Attendance at lessons is therefore strongly recommended