As we begin the site for this reorganized group, it seems appropriate to answer the basic question that dogs historians: “so what?”. Why a group on war? First, war has been an important force in human history. Learning about war and the mistakes that led to it and occurred during it can aid in promoting peace. When we understand the mistakes those that came before us made that led to some of the worst atrocities in history, we can strive to avert making the same mistakes. While the concept of everlasting peace is often left to the faithful and idealists, the potential for prolonged peace is within the reach of humankind and has been experienced to varying degrees over the centuries.
Military history has long been a popular field within the larger discipline. Some of the best scholars have been military historians. Given that some of the best selling history books are on military topics, it is easy to understand that people want to know about their martial past. That is where this group comes in.
Seeking to reach a wider audience and to draw upon the diverse historical backgrounds of our members, we chose to create the War Studies Group to further the discussion on the broader field of military history. It is our hope that with a diversity of topics that we will engage the community and foster a desire to learn history among the general population of the Red River Valley in North Dakota and Minnesota. In addition to meetings at the Campbell Library, we will also engage in some social activities, such as barbequing at local parks and trips to regional museums that deal with military history. We invite anyone with a desire to learn to come and check us out. This section of our site will be used to post information about our meetings and other activities, as well as articles from blogs and other websites that are of a historical focus. We thank you for checking out our site and hope to see you at a future meeting.
The War Studies Group 