8 Tips for Writing Military History Articles

The Greek historian Herodotus wrote "The Histories" during the era of Ancient Greece. His pioneering account of the Greco-Persian Wars from the 5th century was one of the first systematic historical inquiries. Many consider Herodotus to be the father of history because "The Histories" laid a foundation for the study and recording of military history in Western literature. Herodotus established a foundational technique for historical literature.

(What Are the Different Types of Military History Articles?)

The military history genre, as a freelance article market, owes much to Herodotus. Today, there are many magazines and websites devoted to military history, covering wars from ancient times to modern world conflicts of the 20th century. Some of those printed and digital publications are open to freelance submissions for articles about the history of war, which typically cover battles, military operations, and historical figures (generals, admirals, or political leaders).

If you're considering diving into the nonfiction war genre, here are some tips for writing more effective military history articles.

The first thing you must do before writing, and perhaps even pitching, a military history article is to find some sources of reference for it. Herodotus was known to have used a diverse range of sources for his historical accounts, which included written and oral sources along with his observations. Most freelance writers will likely be largely restricted to written sources and images for researching military history articles.

The most important thing is that the sources you refer to are reasonably reliable. Try to avoid reading websites like Wikipedia and other wiki-style sites that allow for user editing and aren't stringently fact-checked. Content sites like Medium also include many historical articles without any editorial fact-checking. Such sites aren't wholly reliable sources for military history article research, even though they might include some well-researched pieces.

It's better to read the bigger, more reputable, historical websites for sources of reference. Websites like BBC, History.net, Imperial War Museums, Sky History, and History Today are some of the bigger historical sites with editorials that likely apply more rigorous fact-checking. You can also find primary sources, typically in the form of documents and images, on websites like the Library of Congress, National Archives, Digital Public Library of America, and IWM.

Beyond websites, consider reading through some published historical books. For example, Churchill's "Second World War" book is a good reference for WWII articles as a primary source from Britain's wartime prime minister. Books from people directly involved in wars, battles, and military operations are ideal sources for researching military history articles. If you prefer not to purchase new books for research, check out your local library to see what they have in stock.

Also, note that some magazines and websites might ask you to cite your sources in articles. In which case, it's a good idea to keep a list of sources you've looked at for researching an article. You can then add that source list to the bottom of an article if necessary.

Adding quotations from more famous politicians, generals, and other historical figures can help bring your military history articles to life. Or you can include quoted material directly from your source documents. However, don't stuff your articles with quotes just for the sake of it. Try to include relevant quotations that expand upon and support the content of your articles.

There are a few websites with extensive collections of military history-related quotes. For example, check out the BrainyQuote site to find some suitable quotations. There, you can find military history quotations by entering keywords for names in that site's search box.

History is all about dates, so include plenty of them in your military history articles to give your readers a clear overview of when important events happened. The most important dates should be full ones for month, day, and year. In U.S. English, the correct full date format is MM/DD/YYYY with a comma included to separate the day from the year. For example, December 7, 1941, was the date Japan bombed Pearl Harbor.

Or you can use the alternative DD/MM/YYYY U.K. date format in your military history articles if preferred. For that format, you don't need to include a comma between month and year in dates like 7 December 1941. Whichever you prefer, stick to a consistent date format for your articles.

Don't use ordinal numbers like 4th and 2nd in your military history dates. It's standard practice to write dates with cardinal numbers because they're clearer and more formal. Ordinal numbers are primarily for indicating positions in a series rather than dates.

A big reason why Herodotus shaped the field of historiography was his historical analysis. Herodotus didn't merely describe what happened during the Greco-Persian Wars with a chronological narrative. His "The Histories" went beyond that by examining the cause and effect of the Greco-Persian Wars, along with their broader cultural and geographical context, within his narrative. He applied a systematic inquiry approach to historiography that was very innovative for its time.

Thus, military history articles should be more than just a retelling of what happened. Try to inject historical analysis into your articles that discuss why things happened. For example, you can examine the causes, strategic context, and outcomes of battles within military articles. Address questions about the reasons why one side lost and the overall significance of a battle or operation to a war's outcome.

History articles should generally have a more formal, academic style. Do not use contractions like it's, didn't, wouldn't, and couldn't within your military history articles. Contractions like those are informal language that isn't suitable for academic papers or reports. The only exception we can make is for retaining contractions in quotations that include them.

Avoiding bias is a fundamental historical ethic, especially when it comes to military history. Biased historical articles can distort the truth about the past in many ways. Although some argue complete objectivity is almost impossible, particularly for interpretation, you should at least strive to minimize bias in your military history articles.

To minimize bias, you must objectively review your sources and base your analysis firmly on historical evidence rather than opinion. Try to remain neutral in your narrative and avoid including phrases like "in my view" or "I'm convinced." Military history articles should not include any first-person narrative more prevalent in opinion pieces.

Some military history magazines have style guidelines that you should pay attention to when submitting articles to them. For example, some magazines might prefer World War II to World War 2 in their articles. Others might have preferences for date formats used. Most magazines will probably have minimal length requirements. So, ask a magazine's editorial if it has a style guide for its military history articles (if no guidelines are available on its website) and stick to it if it does.

Adding images will considerably enhance the visual appeal of your military history articles on websites or in magazines. Although you'll be hard-pressed to find photos from any pre-20th-century wars, there are many good public domain images for modern-world conflicts available on Wiki Commons. Wiki Commons includes an extensive collection of photographic images from the world wars and other 20th-century conflicts, many of which are in the public domain.

If you're submitting a military history article to a magazine, it might not be essential to have images for it. However, it's good to provide some suitable, freely available pictures for it if possible. To do so, enter a keyword in the Wiki Commons search box to see what suitable images you can find there.

(How to Find Free-to-Use Images for Writing Projects)

Overall, an effective military history article will be well balanced, carefully researched, clearly structured (with a clear opening and conclusion), include an intriguing narrative, and provide some cause-and-effect historical analysis. The inclusion of quotations and images can also further enhance such articles, especially when effectively integrated with their narratives. A balanced weaving together of narrative, analysis, and evidence is what you must strive for in your military history articles.