Bringing War to the Classroom: How Can Wargames be Utilized in Academia?

Abstract

Wargames have been present in various parts of the world in different forms since the early periods of history. The version used today emerged in the early 19th century in Prussia. Until the mid-20th century, wargames were primarily used in professional military education and training. However, with the widespread popularity of hobby games having military history themes, wargames began to make their presence felt in academia in the 1950s and academic wargames began to be played for educational and analytic purposes in the 1970s. Especially from the 2000s onwards, wargames have found a limited but growing place in academia and have become a subject of study in classrooms, moving towards becoming an independent academic discipline. These games are increasingly played for academic purposes, particularly in the fields of military history and international relations. However, Turkish academia has remained somewhat distant from wargames for various reasons. Nevertheless, positive outcomes have been obtained by experimenting with wargames in Turkish academia. This article evaluates the potential methods for Turkish academics to make use of wargames for academic purposes.

Keywords

• wargames
• kriegsspiel
• free kriegsspiel
• matrix wargames
• hobby wargames
• military history