Military History
By Michael E. Haskew
For three centuries, feudal Japan remained comfortably isolated from the rest of the world. By order of the Tokugawa Shogunate, foreigners landing on Japanese shores risked immediate execution. Read more
Military History
In March 1953, a battle-scarred United Nations outpost called “Old Baldy” was attacked by elements of the Chinese Army and captured from the Colombian soldiers occupying it. Read more
Military History
Like bees guarding their hive, the royal host of King Richard III swarmed atop 400-foot-high Ambion Hill near the Leicestershire village of Market Bosworth on the morning of August 22, 1485. Read more
Military History
On August 4, 1790, at the urging of Secretary of the Treasury Alexander Hamilton, the United States Congress authorized the construction of 10 armed revenue cutters. Read more
Military History
A major dilemma confronted Alexander the Great and his 35,000-man Macedonian army in the summer of 334 bc, as they moved to secure the northwestern corner of Asia Minor. Read more
Military History
To millions of people, the name Dracula is synonymous with horror. The mere mention of Dracula invokes terrifying images of bats, Gothic castles and, of course, vampires. Read more
Military History
On December 5, 1757, Prussian King Frederick II crushed the Austrian Army at Leuthen, Silesia, a masterpiece of military skill and maneuver that established Fredrick’s reputation as one of the great commanders of the 18th century. Read more
Military History
In the late 1970s, it became clear to the international community that Iraq, under the despotic leadership of Saddam Hussein, was attempting to acquire nuclear weapons through the guise of buying nuclear reactors for power generators. Read more
Military History
The world’s first combat submarine was something of an afterthought on the part of its creator. The revolutionary craft, known as the Turtle for its odd profile, was the progeny of David Bushnell, who was born in 1742 in West Saybrook, Conn. Read more
Military History
By the middle of the 4th century bc, the Roman Empire had steadily expanded its reach into the southern half of Italy. Read more
Military History
With the exception of the French Foreign Legion, the concept of the mercenary, or soldier of fortune, seemed extinct after World War II. Read more
Military History
On November 8, 1861, two distinguished diplomats from the newly established Confederate States of America were arrested and removed from the British mail steamer Trent by the American ship San Jacinto in the Bahama Channel near Havana, Cuba. Read more
Military History
In the spring of 1918, World War I was well into its fourth year, and still the armies struggled and died in the glutinous mud of Flanders. Read more
Military History
By the late 15th Century, early firearm designers were already looking at ideas for semi-automatic weapons. The matchlock had been the first mechanism to make a shoulder-aimed firearm, the arquebus, possible. Read more
Military History
From the moment he was crowned King of France in 1514, Francis I shared the same obsession with the rich Italian territories of Milan and Naples that his predecessors, Charles VIII and Louis XII, had shown during their time on the throne. Read more
Military History
World War I evokes dreary images of trench warfare, where both sides’ strategy was simply to feed more and more troops into the mincing machine. Read more
Military History
Perhaps the most primal and profound fear of men and animals alike is the fear of fire. With that in mind, fire has been a mainstay of combat for thousands of years, from burning arrows to scalding cauldrons of oil. Read more
Military History
Lieutenant Colonel George Monro of the 35th Regiment of Foot was a tough Scotsman, a career soldier who had served in the British Army for many years. Read more
Military History
Along with the news of the American battleship Maine’s suspicious sinking in Havana harbor in February 1898 came the unmistakable scent of war. Read more
Military History
On October 11, 1899, Great Britain officially went to war with the Republic of Transvaal and the Orange Free State. Read more
