About International Commission of Military History – ICMH

The International Commission of Military History – ICMH (Commission Internationale d'Histoire Militaire – CIHM) was established during the 8th Congress of the International Committee of Historians (CISH) in Zurich, in 1938, as the ICCMH (International Commission of Comparative Military History).

The International Commission of Military History (ICMH) was founded in 1938 as a non-profit and non-governmental international organization affiliated with the International Committee of Historical Sciences. Its aim is to promote and coordinate studies and research in the field of military history in the broadest sense, so that military scientists and historians can meet in the spirit of international friendship, collaborate, and share the results of their work. (ICMH Statutes, Article 2a)

ICMH actively supports research, publication, and education in the field of military history on a global scale, actively organizing scientific discussions and expert conferences. The intellectual focus of the organization covers a broad range of topics, including not only the history of wars, military campaigns, and armed forces but also military thinking, diplomatic aspects of conflicts, causes and consequences of wars, defence economics, civil-military cooperation, the role of war leadership, relationships between civilian and military sectors, military technologies, military leadership, and demographic aspects of military forces.

ICMH is based on structured governing bodies, national commissions, and specialized committees (archives, bibliography, education), which together coordinate its activities and support the exchange of knowledge and research in the field of military history. Each national commission is self-governing and independent, actively supporting military historical activities and research in its own country. In some countries, national commissions are part of the Ministry of Defence, while in others they function as independent organizations of scholars. In both cases, national commissions help strengthen cooperation between the civilian and military sectors.

ICMH Activities

  • Annual International Congresses and publication of the collected proceedings from the conference presentations.
  • Publishing the "International Journal of Military History and Historiography" – since 1978; since 2012, the journal has been published in cooperation with the renowned Dutch international academic publisher Brill Academic Publishers. Since 2010, it also has an online version, "IBMH On Line."
  • Publishing the "International Review of Military History" – (since 1939), with each issue entrusted to a national commission, which publishes it. More than 100 volumes have been published to date.
  • Awarding the André Corvisier Prize for PhD theses in military history (an award established in 2017).
  • Online publication of updated information on ICMH activities and national commissions in the "Newsletter" (established in 2003), published twice a year.

The ICMH Board aims to increase the number of national commissions (currently 41, across more than 4 continents) and thus extend the reach of the organization. Unlike CISH, whose congresses are held every five years and which ICMH regularly attends, ICMH has been organizing its own congresses since 1969, and these have been held annually since 1980.

ICMH is currently presided over by Italian history professor Prof. Dr. Massimo de Leonardis, who was elected president of the Commission at the 41st Congress in Beijing in 2015. At the 43rd Congress in Douala, Cameroon, in September 2017, the General Assembly of national commission representatives approved the new Statutes of the International Commission of Military History. The next election congress for the 2020-2025 term was supposed to take place in 2020 in Poznań, Poland, but due to the global COVID-19 pandemic, the congress was canceled, and new leadership members of ICMH – including the re-elected president – were chosen by acclamation. The composition of the new ICMH Board can be found here.

Related Links:

International Commission of Military History

Vademecum of National Commissions of Military History

Statutes of the International Commission of Military History

Congress Acta (Collected Proceedings from Congresses)

International Committee of Historical Sciences (ICHS)