The Military History Working Group was founded in 1995. Wilhelm Deist, chief historian at the MilitaryHistory Research Office was one of the founding members and, from 1995 to 2002, its chairman of the association. From 2002 to 2003, he was the honorary chairman of the association. Its intention, according to Jörg Echternkamp, is to "contribute to the development of this current and important field of historical science, which is hardly represented at universities in German-speaking universities". The Group's scientific work integrates several areas of historical science are such as politics, government, economics, and social, cultural and gender history. In addition to the Working Group on Historical Peace Research and the, it is one of the most important workplaces for military history in the German-speaking world. The association currently has over 500 members, including historians such as,,, Alaric Searle and Jens Westemeier. As of 2016, the organisation's chairman was. With 500 historians, it's one of the largest associations of this kind.
The Wilhelm Deist Prize for Military History, awarded by the association, recognises the research of young scientists in the field of military history. Established in 2006, it was named after Wilhelm Deist in his honour. The prize is awarded annually for outstanding contributions to historical sciences. Its recipients included and . Jury members include Stig Förster from the University of Bern and Sönke Neitzel from the University of Potsdam.
The Military History Working Group, in cooperation with Verlag Ferdinand Schöningh, publishes War in History . The series is edited by historians of the University of Bern, of the University of Potsdam, and Bernd Wegner of the Helmut Schmidt University. Select publications in the series include:
Rüdiger Overmans : In der Hand des Feindes. Kriegsgefangenschaft von der Antike bis zum Zweiten Weltkrieg. Böhlau, Köln u.a. 1999,.
,, : Besatzung. Funktion und Gestalt militärischer Fremdherrschaft von der Antike bis zum 20. Jahrhundert. Schöningh, Paderborn 2006,.
Sönke Neitzel, : Kriegsgreuel. Die Entgrenzung der Gewalt in kriegerischen Konflikten vom Mittelalter bis ins 20. Jahrhundert. Schöningh, Paderborn 2008,.
Markus Pöhlmann, Ulrike Ludwig, : Ehre und Pflichterfüllung als Codes militärischer Tugenden. Schöningh, Paderborn 2014,.
Kerstin von Lingen, Klaus Gestwa : Zwangsarbeit als Kriegsressource in Europa und Asien. Schöningh, Paderborn u.a. 2014,.
Jens Westemeier: Himmlers Krieger. Joachim Peiper und die Waffen-SS in Krieg und Nachkriegszeit. 2014,.
