Museums, Military

Military museums can be roughly divided into three categories. Governments operate museums of varying sizes to commemorate the accomplishments of their respective armed forces, and these can be considered to be national military museums. To commemorate particular engagements or locations, battlefield museums are located at, or near, particular historic sites. Finally, individual units such as regiments or batteries often maintain organizational museums. These might merely be collections of trophies located in the officers’ mess (a tradition already well established in the British army by the early 19th century), or can take the form of more formal museums. Many of these sites are nationally or state owned and operated, although numerous institutions are privately owned and operated. This entry discusses the origins and objectives of military ...