The International Commission of Military History (ICMH), founded in 1938, is a non- profit and non-governmental International Organization affiliated with the International Committee of Historical Sciences.
According to its 2027 Statutes, “[t]he aim of the ICMH is to foster and co-ordinate studies and researches in the field of military history in the broadest sense, in a spirit of international friendship, so that scholars can become better acquainted with each other, co-operate and share the results of their work.”
ICMH promotes military history research, publication, and education on a global basis. The intellectual focus of the ICMH is military history in the broadest sense. ICMH will continue to foster, promote, and coordinate:
- Research results and studies in the field of military history
- Research, publication, and education on a global basis
- Collaboration between civilian and official military historians
- Sharing of best historical practices and development of partner military history capacity and capability
ICMH governance is based on various representational bodies: the Executive Board, Full Board, and General Assembly. There are also three specialized committees (Archives, Bibliography, and Educational) operating nominally under the guidance of the Full Board. National Commissions are organized in and by interested countries (there are currently 41 on four continents). They are self-governing entities and also sponsor military history activities within their own nation. In some countries, National Commissions are elements of the local Ministry of Defense, while in others they may be private organizations of scholars. In both cases, National Commissions foster the collaboration between civilians and military and help execute the ICMH goals..
The main ICMH regular activities are:
- Annual International Congresses (held in different worldwide venues each year) and publication of their Acta.
- Ph.D. Candidates’ Workshops at Congresses
- Publication of the esteemed quarterly scholarly International Journal of Military History and Historiography (since 1978), and with Brill Publishers since 2012.
- Publication of the International Review of Military History (since 1939), each issue of which is entrusted by the ICMH Full Board to a National Commission for research, writing, and publication.
- An informative Newsletter for members (started in 2003), published twice a year.
- The André Corvisier Prize for Ph.D. theses on military history (started in 2017).
- The ICMH Fellowship for Research Projects on Military History (began in 2021)
- Affiliate Individual Scholars Program for historians whose nation does not have an ICMH National Commission.
Detailed information on all of these ICMH initiatives and programs can be found on their respective pages on the ICMH website.
The ICMH Executive and Full Boards are always eager to increase the number of National Commissions and by doing so to extend the organization’s outreach. For additional information, please see Section III of the ICMH Statutes.
Thank you for your interest in the International Commission of Military History!
Dr. Harold E. Raugh, Jr.
President, International Commission of Military History
