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The US Department of Defense has had that name since 1949. From 1789 to 1947, we (USA) had a Department of War. “Defense” probably qualified as “new speak” at
by msgilligan 3y ago
The US Department of Defense has had that name since 1949. From 1789 to 1947, we (USA) had a Department of War. “Defense” probably qualified as “new speak” at the time, but after nearly 80 years almost everyone understands what it means.
- hotnfresh 3y agoIt’s also when we shifted to permanently having a large standing army. The generous reading of those events is that by the end of WWII it was clear that a “great power” wouldn’t have time to re-arm for the next big war, because the pace of war had increased so much and maneuver combined-arms warfare was both very effective and required far more training than older approaches, and “defense” reflects this shift to maintaining a large military apparatus even in peacetime. Less-generous readings of the events are obvious and common :-)