#1 of 30 Things To Do in Birmingham
16th Street Baptist Church
Birmingham AL
~0.20 miles from Birmingham city center
Hotels Close to 16th Street Baptist Church
September 15, 1963, Ku Klux Klan member, Robert Edward Chambliss stood a few blocks away from the Sixteenth Street Baptist Church in Birmingham, Alabama.
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#2 of 30 Things To Do in Birmingham
Kelly Ingram Park
Birmingham AL
~0.21 miles from Birmingham city center
Hotels Close to Kelly Ingram Park
Kelly Ingram Park is a four acre (16,000 m²) park located in Birmingham, Alabama. It is bounded by 16th and 17th Streets and 5th and 6th Avenues North in the Birmingham Civil Rights District. The park, just outside the doors of the 16th Street Baptist Church, served as a central staging ground for large-scale demonstrations during the American Civil Rights Movement of the 1960s.
Reverends Martin Luther King, Jr. and Fred Shuttlesworth of the Southern Christian Leadership Conference directed the organized boycotts and protests of 1963 which centered on Kelly Ingram Park. It was here, during the first week of May 1963, that Birmingham police and firemen, under orders from Public Safety Commissioner Eugene "Bull" Connor, confronted demonstrators, many of them children, first with mass arrests and then with police dogs and firehoses. Images from those confrontations, broadcast nationwide, spurred a public outcry which turned the nation's attention to the struggle for racial equality. The demonstrations in Birmingham brought city leaders to agree to an end of public segregation. In addition, they helped ensure the passage of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 and Civil Rights laws.
The park was named in 1932 for local firefighter Osmond Kelly Ingram, who was the first sailor in the United States Navy to be killed in World War I. In 1992 it was completely renovated and rededicated as "A Place of Revolution and Reconciliation" to coincide with the opening of the Birmingham Civil Rights Institute, an interpretive museum and research center, which adjoins the park to the west.
The park is the setting for several pieces of sculpture related to the Civil Rights Movement. Besides a central fountain and commemorative statues of Dr. King, Rev. Shuttlesworth and other heroes of the movement, there are three installations by artist James Drake which flank a circular "Freedom Walk". They bring the visitor inside the portrayals of terror and sorrow of the 1963 confrontations. One corner of the park remembers other "unsung heroes"' of Birmingham's underrepresented.
The park hosts several local family festivals and cultural and entertainment events throughout the year. The Civil Rights Institute provides audio-tour guides for the park which feature remembrances by many of the figures directly involved in the confrontations. Urban Impact, Inc. also provides guided tours by appointment.
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#3 of 30 Things To Do in Birmingham
Birmingham Civil Rights Inst
520 16th St N Birmingham AL - 205-328-9696
~0.27 miles from Birmingham city center
Hotels Close to Birmingham Civil Rights Inst
Birmingham Civil Rights Institute is a large interpretive museum and research center in Birmingham, Alabama that depicts the struggles of the American Civil Rights Movement in the 1950s and 1960s. The Institute is located in the Civil Rights District, which includes the historic 16th Street Baptist Church, Kelly Ingram Park, Fourth Avenue Business District, and the Alabama Jazz Hall of Fame located in the Carver Theatre. The Institute opened in November 1992, and had more than 25,000 visitors during its first week. The Institute shows Birmingham's pride in its history and its dedication to progress and unity for the future.
The Institute showcases a walking journey through the "living institution", which displays the lessons of the past as a positive way to chart new directions for the future. The permanent exhibitions are a self-directed journey through Birmingham's contributions to the Civil Rights Movement and human rights struggles. Multimedia exhibitions focus on the history of African-American life and the struggle for civil rights. The Oral History Project, one of the museum's multimedia exhibits, documents Birmingham's role in the Civil Rights Movement through the voices of movement participants.
The archives of the Institute serve as a national resource for educators and researchers. They are a repository for the collection and preservation of civil rights documents and artifacts. The archival information system is computer-linked to the Birmingham Public Library and is a vital component of the Archives Division.
The Birmingham Civil Rights Institute is also a community resource for meetings, seminars and workshops. A Community Meeting Room is available to local organizations.
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#4 of 30 Things To Do in Birmingham
Birmingham Museum of Art
Birmingham AL
~0.28 miles from Birmingham city center
Hotels Close to Birmingham Museum of Art
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#5 of 30 Things To Do in Birmingham
Downtown Birmingham (Neighborhood)
Birmingham AL
~0.34 miles from Birmingham city center
Hotels Close to Downtown Birmingham
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#6 of 30 Things To Do in Birmingham
Alabama Jazz Hall of Fame
Birmingham AL
~0.36 miles from Birmingham city center
Hotels Close to Alabama Jazz Hall of Fame
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#7 of 30 Things To Do in Birmingham
Alabama Theater
Birmingham AL
~0.44 miles from Birmingham city center
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#8 of 30 Things To Do in Birmingham
Birmingham Jefferson Convention Complex
Birmingham AL
~0.45 miles from Birmingham city center
Hotels Close to Birmingham Jefferson Convention Complex
The Birmingham-Jefferson Convention Complex (formerly Birmingham-Jefferson Civic Center) is a sports, convention and entertainment complex located in Birmingham, Alabama. It consists of a 17,000 seat arena, a 3,000 seat concert hall, a 220,000 square foot (20,440 m²) exhibition hall, a 1,000 seat theater and various banquet and meeting rooms and other facilities.
The Birmingham-Jefferson Civic Center was designed by Geddes Brecher Qualls Cunningham, the winner of what was, at the time, the largest open architectural competition ever organized by the American Institute of Architects. The original facility was built between 1974 and 1976 for approximately $104 million USD.
A critical component of the competition program was making a viable connection across the elevated I-59/I-20 highway from the Civic Center facility to the existing administrative and cultural facilities surrounding Linn Park to the south. No satisfactory solution to that problem has ever been carried out.
Part of Birmingham's "City Center Master Plan" envisions replacing the existing elevated highway with a below-grade corridor which would simplify interstate access to the downtown area, mitigate the noise and visual effects of highway traffic, and allow for a landscaped plaza to bridge over the highway. If carried out, this plan would finally create the connection between the BJCC and Linn Park.
A major expansion of the BJCC is currently underway. Ground breaking was held on July 21,2009 for a new multi-purpose convention facility/stadium. On December 17, 2008 the Civic Center Authority Board unanimously chose Populous (formerly HOK Sport Venue Event) to design the city's $550 million facility. The stadium is tentatively scheduled for a 2014 opening.Groundbreaking for Birmingham's dome facility
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#9 of 30 Things To Do in Birmingham
Us Defense Contract Mgmt
1910 3rd Ave N # 201 Birmingham AL - 205-716-7402
~0.46 miles from Birmingham city center
Hotels Close to Us Defense Contract Mgmt
The United States Department of Defense (USDOD, DOD or DoD, initially briefly referred to as the National Military Establishment or NME) is the U.S. federal department charged with coordinating and supervising all agencies and functions of the government relating directly to national security and the United States armed forces. The Department of Defense is an evolution of the Department of War. The organization and functions of the DoD are set forth in Title 10 of the United States Code.
The DoD is the major tenant of The Pentagon building near Washington, D.C., and has three major components – the Departments of the Army, Navy, and Air Force. Among the many DoD agencies are the Missile Defense Agency, the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA), the Pentagon Force Protection Agency (PFPA), the Defense Intelligence Agency (DIA), the National Geospatial-Intelligence Agency (NGA), and the National Security Agency (NSA). The department also operates several joint service schools, including the National War College.
During 1945, specific plans for the proposed DoD were put forth by the Army, the Navy, and the Joint Chiefs of Staff. In a special message to Congress on 19 December 1945, President Harry Truman proposed creation of a unified department of state defense. A proposal went to Congress in April 1946, but was held up by the Naval Affairs Committee hearings in July 1946, which raised objections to the concentration of power in a single department. Truman eventually sent new legislation to Congress in February 1947, where it was debated and amended for several months.
DoD was created in 1947 as a national military establishment with a single secretary as its head to preside over the former Department of War (founded in 1789) and Department of the Navy (founded in 1798; formerly the Board of Admiralty, founded in 1780). The Department of the Air Force was also created as a new service (previously under the War Department as the Army Air Forces). DoD was created in order to reduce interservice rivalry, which was believed to have reduced military effectiveness during World War II.
On July 26, 1947, Truman signed the National Security Act of 1947, which set up the "National Military Establishment" to begin operations on September 18, 1947, the day after the Senate confirmed James V. Forrestal as the first Secretary of Defense. The Establishment had the unfortunate abbreviation "NME" (with a pronunciation virtually identical to "enemy"), and was renamed the "Department of Defense" (also described in the Act under "Title II - The Department of Defense", and later abbreviated as "DoD") on August 10, 1949.
The name-shift from "Department of War" to "Department of Defense" has been seen as an acceptance of Carl von Clausewitz's second maxim from his famous work On War. Clausewitz states: "The aggressor always pretends to be peace-loving because he would like to achieve his conquests without bloodshed . . . Therefore, aggression must be presented as a defensive reaction by the aggressor nation." Hugh Nibley comments: "Nobody ever attacks. You're always just on the defensive. After World War I, the German War Office, Kriegsamt, changed its name to Wehrmacht, "defense power." We changed our War Office to the Department of Defense. We're just defensive now, that's all. Both sides must take the defensive position, whether they are aggressors or not."
In addition, the Secretary of Defense was given greater authority over three of the branches of the military (Army, Navy, and Air Force). Prior to the creation of the National Military Establishment / Department of Defense, the Armed Forces of the U.S. were separated into different cabinet-level departments without much central authority. The Marine Corps remained as a separate service under the Department of the Navy, and the Coast Guard is under Department of Homeland Security, ready to be shifted to the Navy Department during time of declared war (as it was in both world wars).
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#10 of 30 Things To Do in Birmingham
Alabama Sports Hall of Fame
Birmingham AL
~0.48 miles from Birmingham city center
Hotels Close to Alabama Sports Hall of Fame
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#11 of 30 Things To Do in Birmingham
McWane Science Center
Birmingham al
~0.49 miles from Birmingham city center
Hotels Close to McWane Science Center
The McWane Science Center, a non-profit 501(c)(3) organization, is a science museum and research archive located in downtown Birmingham, Alabama (USA). The state-of-the-art science center, aquarium and 280-seat IMAX Dome Theater is housed in the historic and refurbished Loveman's department store building. It opened to the public on July 11, 1998.
Inside are more than 9,000 square feet (800 m2) of interactive exhibits, including the Challenger Learning Center of Alabama, created in memory of the Space Shuttle Challenger Flight 51-L crew. The World of Water exhibit showcases more than 50 species of marine and freshwater aquatic life.
The Alabama Collections Center is the home for more than 500,000 artifacts from the former Red Mountain Museum. The center houses precious minerals, fossils and Native American artifacts. Highlights in the collection include the world's fourth-largest collection of mosasaurs; the Appalachiosaurus (similar to Tyrannosaurus); and the state fossil of Alabama, the Basilosaurus cetoides (an 80-foot (24 m) fossil whale).
The McWane Science Center is named after the McWane family and McWane, Inc. both of which helped fund the center.
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#12 of 30 Things To Do in Birmingham
Space One Eleven
2409 2nd Ave N Birmingham AL - 205-328-0533
~0.82 miles from Birmingham city center
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#13 of 30 Things To Do in Birmingham
Alabama Museum of Health Sciences
Birmingham AL
~1.33 miles from Birmingham city center
Hotels Close to Alabama Museum of Health Sciences
The Alabama Museum of the Health Sciences was opened and dedicated at the University of Alabama at Birmingham in 1975. It houses a combined collection of rare and important medical books and manuscripts—dating to the Middle Ages—and equipment, instruments, and objects from the health sciences. http://www.uab.edu/historical/museum.htm
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#14 of 30 Things To Do in Birmingham
University of Alabama Birmingham
Birmingham AL
~1.34 miles from Birmingham city center
Hotels Close to University of Alabama Birmingham
The University of Alabama is a student-centered research university and an academic community united in its commitment to enhancing the quality of life for all Alabamians.
Founded in 1831 as Alabama's first public college, The University of Alabama is dedicated to excellence in teaching, research and service. We provide a creative, nurturing campus environment where our students can become the best individuals possible, can learn from the best and brightest faculty, and can make a positive difference in the community, the state and the world.
The University of Alabama family has always expected great things.
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#15 of 30 Things To Do in Birmingham
Sloss Furnaces
Birmingham AL
~1.35 miles from Birmingham city center
Hotels Close to Sloss Furnaces
Sloss Furnaces is a National Historic Landmark in Birmingham, Alabama in the United States. It was operated as a pig iron-producing blast furnace from 1882 to 1971. After closing it became one of the first industrial sites (and the only blast furnace) in the U.S. to be preserved for public use. In 1981 the furnaces were designated a National Historic Landmark by the United States Department of the Interior.
The site currently serves as an interpretive museum of industry and hosts a nationally-recognized metal arts program. It also serves as a concert and festival venue. Current plans call for a $10 million program of accelerated restoration and construction of a new, larger visitor's center. The furnace site, along a wide strip of land reserved in Birmingham's original city plan for railroads and industry, is also part of a proposed linear park through downtown Birmingham. An annual Halloween haunted attraction called "Sloss Fright Furnace" is held at the site
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#16 of 30 Things To Do in Birmingham
Motorsports Museum
Birmingham al
~1.50 miles from Birmingham city center
Hotels Close to Motorsports Museum
The Barber Motorsports Park is a large multi-purpose racing facility on a 740-acre (300 ha) site in Birmingham, Alabama, USA, located on the eastern fringes of the city, near Leeds. In July 2009 officials announced that Barber will be the site of the IRL IndyCar Series Grand Prix of Alabama beginning in the 2010 season.
The park, which opened in 2003, features a 16-turn 2.3-mile (3.7 km) road course, designed by Alan Wilson, viewable from several naturally wooded or grass-covered banks.
The track has hosted numerous motorsport races including Grand-Am, Vintage Racing Series events, and AMA Superbike. It serves as the home of the "Porsche Driving Experience" and the Kevin Schwantz Suzuki School. It also hosts the Keith Code California Superbike School and the Jamie James Yamaha Champions Riding School.
On October 12, 2007, the IRL's IndyCar Series conducted an open test at Barber. In March 2009, the IRL again conducted testing at the track, one of only two preseason test sites prior to the 2009 season. It has been confirmed that a three year contract has been signed for an early season race beginning in 2010. The race will be held in lieu of the Detroit race on April 11th, 2009.
The track has also been nominated by FIA as the official test track for US F1 Team.
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#17 of 30 Things To Do in Birmingham
Barber Vintage Motorsports Museum
Birmingham AL
~1.50 miles from Birmingham city center
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#18 of 30 Things To Do in Birmingham
Alys Robinson Stephens Performing Arts Center
Birmingham AL
~1.63 miles from Birmingham city center
Hotels Close to Alys Robinson Stephens Performing Arts Center
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#19 of 30 Things To Do in Birmingham
Legion Field
400 Graymont Avenue Birmingham AL
~1.74 miles from Birmingham city center
Hotels Close to Legion Field
Legion Field is a large stadium in Birmingham, Alabama primarily designed to be used as a venue for American football, but is occasionally used for other large outdoor events.
Legion Field is a large stadium in Birmingham, Alabama primarily designed to be used as a venue for American football, but is occasionally used for other large outdoor events. The stadium is named in honor of the American Legion, a U.S. organization of military veterans. At its peak it seated 83,091 people for football. Today, after the removal of the upper deck, Legion Field seats approximately 71,594 spectators.
Legion Field currently serves as the home field of the UAB Blazers, who compete in Conference USA.
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#20 of 30 Things To Do in Birmingham
Arlington Antebellum Home and Gardens
Birmingham AL
~1.88 miles from Birmingham city center
Hotels Close to Arlington Antebellum Home and Gardens
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#21 of 30 Things To Do in Birmingham
Samuel Ullman Museum
2150 15th Ave S Birmingham AL - 205-934-5634
~2.03 miles from Birmingham city center
Hotels Close to Samuel Ullman Museum
In 1994, the University of Alabama at Birmingham and the Japan-America Society of Alabama opened the Samuel Ullman Museum in Birmingham's Southside neighborhood. The museum is located in the former Ullman residence and is operated by the University of Alabama at Birmingham.
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#22 of 30 Things To Do in Birmingham
Birmingham Southern College
900 Arkadelphia Rd Birmingham AL - 800-523-5793
~2.05 miles from Birmingham city center
Hotels Close to Birmingham Southern College
http://www.bsc.edu
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#23 of 30 Things To Do in Birmingham
Vulcan Statue
Birmingham AL
~2.22 miles from Birmingham city center
Hotels Close to Vulcan Statue
The Vulcan statue is the largest cast iron statue in the world, and is the city symbol of Birmingham, Alabama, reflecting its roots in the iron and steel industry. The 56-foot (17 m) tall statue depicts the Roman god Vulcan, god of the fire and forge. It was created as Birmingham's entry for the Louisiana Purchase Exposition (1904 World's Fair) in St. Louis, Missouri. It is the seventh-tallest free-standing statue in the United States.
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#24 of 30 Things To Do in Birmingham
Us Army Dept
1900 Green Springs Hwy S Birmingham AL - 205-226-8522
~2.28 miles from Birmingham city center
Hotels Close to Us Army Dept
The United States Army is the branch of the United States armed forces responsible for land-based military operations. It is the largest and oldest established branch of the U.S. military, and is one of seven uniformed services. The modern Army has its roots in the Continental Army which was formed on 14 June 1775, before the establishment of the United States, to meet the demands of the American Revolutionary War. Congress officially created the United States Army on 3 June 1784 after the end of the war to replace the disbanded Continental Army. The Army considers itself to be descended from the Continental Army and thus dates its inception from the origins of that force.
The primary mission of the Army is to "provide necessary forces and capabilities ... in support of the National Security and Defense Strategies." Control and operation is administered by the Department of the Army, one of the three military departments of the Department of Defense. The civilian head is the Secretary of the Army and the highest ranking military officer in the department is the Chief of Staff, unless the Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff or Vice Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff are Army officers. In fiscal year 2009, the Regular Army reported a strength of 549,015 soldiers; the Army National Guard (ARNG) reported 358,391 and the United States Army Reserve (USAR) reported 205,297 putting the combined component strength total at 1,112,703 soldiers.
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#25 of 30 Things To Do in Birmingham
Rickwood Field
Birmingham AL
~2.65 miles from Birmingham city center
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#26 of 30 Things To Do in Birmingham
Birmingham Botanical Gardens
Birmingham AL
~2.97 miles from Birmingham city center
Hotels Close to Birmingham Botanical Gardens
The Birmingham Botanical Gardens is a 67.5 acre (273,000 m²) botanical garden located inside of Lane Park at the southern foot of Red Mountain in Birmingham, Alabama. It is home to some 3,000 different types of plants in 20 different gardens that includes a Japanese garden. With more than 300,000 annual visitors, the Birmingham Botanical Gardens is Alabama's top free-admittance attraction.
The gardens includes a garden center that has a library, auditorium, Linn-Henley Lecture Hall, Blount Education Center, Gerlach Plant Information Center, Alabama Cooperative Extension System office, Arrington Children’s Plant Adventure Zone, and a restaurant named "Cafe' de France"
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#27 of 30 Things To Do in Birmingham
Downtown Homewood (Neighborhood)
Homewood AL
~3.11 miles from Birmingham city center
Hotels Close to Downtown Homewood
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#28 of 30 Things To Do in Birmingham
Birmingham Zoo
Birmingham AL
~3.33 miles from Birmingham city center
Hotels Close to Birmingham Zoo
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#29 of 30 Things To Do in Birmingham
Birmingham Ski Club
242 W Valley Ave Birmingham AL - 205-942-9040
~3.85 miles from Birmingham city center
Hotels Close to Birmingham Ski Club
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#30 of 30 Things To Do in Birmingham
Us Defense Dept
1943 50th St N Birmingham AL - 205-510-4100
~3.90 miles from Birmingham city center
Hotels Close to Us Defense Dept
The United States Department of Defense (USDOD, DOD or DoD, initially briefly referred to as the National Military Establishment or NME) is the U.S. federal department charged with coordinating and supervising all agencies and functions of the government relating directly to national security and the United States armed forces. The Department of Defense is an evolution of the Department of War. The organization and functions of the DoD are set forth in Title 10 of the United States Code.
The DoD is the major tenant of The Pentagon building near Washington, D.C., and has three major components – the Departments of the Army, Navy, and Air Force. Among the many DoD agencies are the Missile Defense Agency, the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA), the Pentagon Force Protection Agency (PFPA), the Defense Intelligence Agency (DIA), the National Geospatial-Intelligence Agency (NGA), and the National Security Agency (NSA). The department also operates several joint service schools, including the National War College.
During 1945, specific plans for the proposed DoD were put forth by the Army, the Navy, and the Joint Chiefs of Staff. In a special message to Congress on 19 December 1945, President Harry Truman proposed creation of a unified department of state defense. A proposal went to Congress in April 1946, but was held up by the Naval Affairs Committee hearings in July 1946, which raised objections to the concentration of power in a single department. Truman eventually sent new legislation to Congress in February 1947, where it was debated and amended for several months.
DoD was created in 1947 as a national military establishment with a single secretary as its head to preside over the former Department of War (founded in 1789) and Department of the Navy (founded in 1798; formerly the Board of Admiralty, founded in 1780). The Department of the Air Force was also created as a new service (previously under the War Department as the Army Air Forces). DoD was created in order to reduce interservice rivalry, which was believed to have reduced military effectiveness during World War II.
On July 26, 1947, Truman signed the National Security Act of 1947, which set up the "National Military Establishment" to begin operations on September 18, 1947, the day after the Senate confirmed James V. Forrestal as the first Secretary of Defense. The Establishment had the unfortunate abbreviation "NME" (with a pronunciation virtually identical to "enemy"), and was renamed the "Department of Defense" (also described in the Act under "Title II - The Department of Defense", and later abbreviated as "DoD") on August 10, 1949.
The name-shift from "Department of War" to "Department of Defense" has been seen as an acceptance of Carl von Clausewitz's second maxim from his famous work On War. Clausewitz states: "The aggressor always pretends to be peace-loving because he would like to achieve his conquests without bloodshed . . . Therefore, aggression must be presented as a defensive reaction by the aggressor nation." Hugh Nibley comments: "Nobody ever attacks. You're always just on the defensive. After World War I, the German War Office, Kriegsamt, changed its name to Wehrmacht, "defense power." We changed our War Office to the Department of Defense. We're just defensive now, that's all. Both sides must take the defensive position, whether they are aggressors or not."
In addition, the Secretary of Defense was given greater authority over three of the branches of the military (Army, Navy, and Air Force). Prior to the creation of the National Military Establishment / Department of Defense, the Armed Forces of the U.S. were separated into different cabinet-level departments without much central authority. The Marine Corps remained as a separate service under the Department of the Navy, and the Coast Guard is under Department of Homeland Security, ready to be shifted to the Navy Department during time of declared war (as it was in both world wars).
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