Examining the development of civil-military relations from the end of the Civil War until the start of the First World War, this volume demonstrates how the tradition of civilian control ensured the military's transformation from a small, poorly funded force to a larger, prestigious international power.
CHARLES A. BYLER is Associate Professor of History at Carroll College.
Studies of peacetime military history seem to center around the
dichotomy of a wartime force dealing with peacetime existence, and
Byler's book is no exception. His thorough examination of the
post-Civil War military centers on the opposite demands and desires
of the US military and those charged with its political oversight.
Byler does an excellent job of summarizing the bewildering variety
of tasks that Congress thrust upon the military after the Civil
War, while also detailing the mutually suspicious relationship
between the military and that same Congress. He describes a
military that existed in an uncertain environment. On one hand,
Congress and the president considered the military necessary to
defend against enemies, both foreign and domestic; on the other
hand, they stymied the professional development that kept the
military viable in a rapidly changing world. Added to this was an
officer class that increasingly felt justified in resisting
political controls, battling a Congress holding the traditional
belief that the officer class represented an elite threat to
democracy. Although brief (161 pages of text), Byler's work
provides an outstanding history of the civil-military relationship.
Highly recommended. All academic levels/libraries.
*Choice*
In this useful broad overview of the major developments in
civil-military relations during the period, Charles A. Byler
outlines the concerns of civilians, soldiers, sailors, and
politicians that accompanied this transformation, recounts the
major debates in which those concerns manifested, and describes the
compromises made and reforms adopted that preserved civilian
control of a larger and more professional U.S. military….[t]his
well-written and wide-ranging survey provides an excellent
introduction to American civil-military relations during an
important period.
*The Journal of American History*
Blending secondary and printed primary sources, Byler succeeds
admirably in compiling a useful synthesis of existing scholarship
regarding civil-military relations in the United States between
1865 and 1917. Non-military historians of the period will find
Byler's work a convienent introduction into the American armed
forces, thus making easier the reintegration of the army and navy
into more general academic studies. A useful chronology and eleven
primary source documents illustrate the complexities of the
civil-military relationships also support the work's broad
appeal….[h]is willingness to deal with both the army and navy
should encourage students ot these respective branches to step out
of their narrow fields and adopt more expansive approaches to their
own scholarship….[a] careful and sound overview, stressing the
fitful and uneven changes wrought by evolution, not revolution.
*The Journal of Military History*
The period between the Civil War and World War I was one of major
transformation and growth for the US military. In this work, Byler
provides a broad overview of changes and continuities in
civil-military relations during this period in the form of thematic
chapters discussing public views of the military,
military-congressional relations, the experiences of officers and
enlisted men (in particular looking at desertion, officer
promotions, and the role of African Americans in the military), the
military's acceptance of the principle of civilian supremacy,
military lobbying for the creation of a general staff for the army
and the navy, and discontent within the military regarding the
political system and other aspects of civil society.
*Reference & Research Book News*
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