The development of a military command system is a complex and lengthy process that involves the interplay of many different factors. With that being said, I argue that the single most important factor in the development of a modern military command structure in western democratic states is social political. The impact of technology is ever-present, however, social political factors limit, check, and control the use of technology in warfare. Take for instance the use of chemical weapons, society and international law has banned its use, even if militarily it is quite effective. In this paper, I use the American Civil War and the European Theater of World War Two as case studies to demonstrate the impacts that social political factors and technology has upon the development of a modern command structur
