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Ministry of defence

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"Minister of War" redirects here. For specific countries' Ministers of War, seeMinister of War (disambiguation).For Ministry of War (disambiguation), seeMinister of War (disambiguation).

The building of theMinistry of Defense (Kazakhstan)

Aministry of defenceordefense(seespelling differences), also known as adepartment of defenceordefense,is the part of agovernmentresponsible for matters of defence andmilitary forces,found instateswhere the government is divided intoministriesor departments. Such a department usually includes allbranchesof the military, and is usually controlled by adefence ministerorsecretary of defense.

The role of a defence minister varies considerably from country to country; in some theministeris only in charge of general budget matters and procurement of equipment, while in others they are also an integral part of the operational militarychain of command.

Historically, such departments were referred to as aministry of warordepartment of war,although they generally had authority only over the army of a country, with a separate department governing other military branches. Prior toWorld War II,most "ministries of war" were army ministries, while the navy and the air force, if it existed as a separate branch, had their own departments.[1]As late as 1953, for example, theSoviet Unionhad a "ministry of war" alongside a "ministry of the navy".

The tendency to consolidate and rename these departments, and to coordinate until then mostly separate components of defence (air, land, navy) arose after World War II.

Current ministries by country[edit]

Historical[edit]

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References[edit]

Wikimedia Commons has media related toMinistries of Defence.
  1. ^Ministry of Defence, UK (10 December 2012)."History of the Ministry of Defence and the Old War Office".GOV.UK.Archivedfrom the original on 28 January 2024.Retrieved11 February2024.
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