Military Influence on Politics Military involvement in the country's politics has become a common feature of modern states. This history of government-military relationships traces its roots back hundreds of years during the Wars of Freedom and Independence. In some countries, the military is heavily involved in political affairs, while others keep politics out of the military. Differences in this relationship between states arise from historical factors underlying modern states. This article considers two states, Germany and Nigeria, where the military is heavily involved in politics due to a long history of political warfare fueled by ethnic pressures and economic challenges. These states are used as a reference point for military involvement in politics and the conditions under which this occurs. These examples show that historical and recent conditions make the relationship between government and military very different in the African and European contexts. In the first case, weak governments are unable to control military power, while in the second, even in countries with a strong military, political leadership places limits on military power. MotivationI selected these two countries in particular for research based on their history of military involvement in state affairs. The history of Germany's military involvement in political affairs dates back to the early periods when it went to war with the Roman Empire. Before the formation of the German state, in the period from 1618 to 1648, the smaller states in the area that would become Germany fought with France, with the Catholics and faced an attack from the Lutheran king of Sweden (Finer and Jay , 2004:9). . The conflict also led to the unity of the German state... at the center of the card... a relationship between leader and army. In European countries such as Germany, military forces developed for the sake of political expansion and national security, but unlike Nigeria, the government controls the military and limits its power. Reference ListFiner, Samuel E and Jay, Stanley. 2004. The Man on Horseback: The Role of the Military in Politics. NewBrunswick: Transaction Pub.Huntington, Samuel P. 1964. The Soldier and the State: The Theory and Politics of Civil-Military Relations. Cambridge: Belknap Press of Harvard University Press.Inamete, Ufot B. 2001. Foreign Policy Decision Making in Nigeria. Selinsgrove: Susquehanna Univ. Press.Macgregor, Douglas A. 1989. The Soviet-East German Military Alliance. Cambridge, England: Cambridge University Press.Peters, Jimi. 1997. The Nigerian Army and the State. London: Tauris Academic Studies.