Historical changes in the role of geographical factors in military decision making

Abstract

Military affairs as public activities and institutions are fundamentally connected to their geographical environment and landscape. While this close relationship has been a constant phenomenon in the cultural history of human societies, its manifestations have been different in each historical era. Nevertheless, this process can best be described by the tightening relationship between geographical factors and military affairs. The significance of the impact of geographical relations on military activities was realized from the beginning, but the development of this understanding - from empiricism to modem academic military geographical thinking - has been a special process of cultural history. The way military decisionmaking has considered geographical factors over time shows a tight correlation with the general geographical literacy and the standing of geography as a science in a given era, as well as with how developed management theory was at the time. The present study describes the main steps and some special features of the cultural history of this multifaceted development, which involves both management theory and strategic management.