COMMONWEALTH MILITARY RANKS
Welcome to my website, Commonwealth Military Ranks. I have put together this site after many years of personal research revolving around not just my interest as a military historian, but to bring together a text on an unusual piece of military history, seldomly seen, that of the study of Military Ranks, Insignia and their Origin.
Throughout history, (more so within the past 100 years) only a handful of researchers and writers have a specific interest in military ranks. More or less, however, these authors have covered every type of rank, from the Russian Empire to the Ottoman Empire, and from Imperial Japan in the 1600s to the Roman Empire specifying as far back as 300 BCE. Along with these types of text, there are countless articles, papers, textbooks, and reference data available that covers every single aspect of military knowledge and science to date. So specific is this type of data that exists, that one can locate a single book relating to World War One - Central Powers - Cuisine from 1915 to 1917. The literature out there that is available is astounding. Everything is covered from German Coastal Artillery to Canadian Corps vehicles pre-WWI, from Anglo-Prussian Wars to the Holy Wars throughout the Middle East. You name it, it can be found. There's just one catch to the whole thing. Speaking from a researcher's point of view, there are certain types of books or magazines that are still quite difficult to locate, especially anything remotely relating to the First World War. Some websites are so detailed that by the time an individual locates what they are looking for, they've either lost interest or didn't find what they were looking for in the first place. The reason for this website.... There are numerous other webpages, blogs, and other creative postings dedicated to providing either a false set of literature available to too much of one type of information that few people care of. Such as, I find it worthy to read about most all types of military historical literature, however, I can't bear to hear forever about Russian or Nazi warfare. Sometimes, too much of one thing can be bad. This goes without saying for just about everything. I will explain to you, the reader, the many and varied military ranks and insignia the world over and those that have come and gone, and I will also tell you right now, this website is dedicated specifically to commonwealth nations, which include the (United States, Canada, United Kingdom, Australia, South Africa, Germany, France, Spain) and some other misc. nations not often seen or mentioned elsewhere. |
If you're the type of reader, military historian, or enthusiast that is seeking high action or adventure, I'm sorry, this website is probably not going to be that entertaining to you. However, like with all military research, not everything is about action and adrenaline. The greatest thing about military history and science is not just the historical aspect, but the research of Tactics and Strategy. These finely-detailed chords of the military are universal when it comes to winning and losing a war. I, like the next historian do enjoy watching a movie or playing a computer game with all the hub-bub action-packed settings and graphics, but there's still more to the military than that.
With this being said, here, in Commonwealth Military Ranks you will learn the origins of the ranks, their usage from their home country to their voyage across the seas where they were used elsewhere for other armies and navies alike. Many fellow military historians are quite familiar with such ranks as the common grades such as; colonel, lieutenant, sergeant first class, captain, admiral, brigadier, commandant, brigade major and many others. However, there are certain ranks not just American with British roots that exist, but the origin from other such civilizations as Spanish, Italian, French and even Portuguese. In Commonwealth Military Ranks, we will cover ranks that have been used for the majority of existance, representing the time frame of 1000 CE to Present Day. Most of these histories worldwide, although, are represented within the past 700 years, well into the early Medieval period. Most people who ask me about ranks, ask me about the most common ones, such as colonel or captain, but little do most people realize there's a whole other side to this avenue of military history, such as the many varied combinations that have been used throughout the world, most being used within the European Union. The great principle as well is that NATO and the United Nations also use these common ranks of field, staff and general officers within their ranking and command structure all the same as other nations. So, with all of the above mentioned and the endless amounts of other material and research that I would like to share with you, I hope you will continue to read on and enjoy the work that has taken me since I was seventeen to put together. It's not a book, but it is close to it. Also, please, if you would like to copy or use any literature or text within this website that you will contact me. Putting this text together has taken me a long time. I answer my emails very quickly, so have a heart and contact me. Thank you. |