Military, Knowledge, Technology

Technology has been and remains a central driving force behind military transformation. For a long time, however, research focused solely on armaments, research, and development. This book takes a different approach—it places the category of knowledge at the center: knowledge about technology and the techniques of knowledge in a military context.

Under the guiding concepts of technical knowledge and techniques of knowledge, the contributions in this volume examine forms of knowledge in military technology and their interconnections within the German armed forces since the late 19th century. The book offers a new understanding of how the military not only uses technology but also actively produces systems of knowledge. This opens up new sociological and historical perspectives on the interrelationship between technology, knowledge, the military, and war.

The book

Edited by Christian Kehrt, Markus Pöhlmann, and Frank Reichherzer, this volume brings together 15 essays that illuminate a broad field across different eras and themes: from warship construction in the mid-19th century to “Big Bertha” in World War I, to the use of computers in intelligence services in the 1970s, and from cartography in the German Empire to technical espionage in World War II, to visions of cybernetics in NATO. A selected bibliography provides an introduction to the field of knowledge, technology, and the military.

Technikwissen und Wissenstechniken. Konstellationen von Militär, Wissen und Technik seit der Hochmoderne. (Technical Knowledge and Knowledge Techniques. Constellations of the Military, Knowledge, and Technology since the High Modern Era.) Edited on behalf of the Technical University of Braunschweig and the Center for Military History and Social Sciences of the Bundeswehr by Christian Kehrt, Markus Pöhlmann, and Frank Reichherzer. Berlin/Boston: De Gruyter Oldenbourg 2026 (= Contributions to Military History, 85), 310 pages, 39.95 EUR, ISBN 978-3-11-138052-0; E-book in EPUB format: 39.95 EUR, ISBN 978-3-11-138116-9 – German language. 

Further information about the book is available on the ZMSBw website.