The Gamer Group | Martial Traditions and Culture | How war defines a people. |

By way of Introduction People and their culture can very accurately be identified by how they wage war. Every culture that has survived the pages of history has had some sort of military tradition—and no two cultures fight their wars in the same way. In this paper, we hope to explore some well known countries and how their martial traditions describe their culture.
Great Britain The first country that comes to mind when we think of sophistication is Britain, with their rules of engagement and their ways of acting as if to say “I’m better than you.” They resemble snobbish aristocrats with their pinkies in the air when they drink tea, or only marry other people of substantial worth. But their actions of sophistication extend beyond their everyday day lives and proceed into their ways of battle and fighting wars. When a man is offended by another man, or feels threatened, it was customary to approach that man, and openly challenge him to a duel that would most often lead to the other man’s death. These duels were scheduled, place and time where established, and honor was defended, rather than simply striking the man down where he stood. Soldiers during war would stand in open fields opposite their opponent and the two would take turns firing on one another rather than the obvious tactics of hiding from the enemy and at least seeking shelter. But this was the sophisticated way of doing things.
Vikings
The Viking longship or drakkar also known as the dragon ship is the most recognizable ship when people think of the Vikings. These ships were used as war ships that carried the Viking’s fierce warriors in addition to any loot they gained from a raid. Most of the longships were around twenty eight meters in length and the largest ever found were around seventy meters long. It was