France
Mary, Queen of Scots and Cryptoanalysis
by David Allan JohnsonMention Elizabethan England to most people, and they usually think of William Shakespeare, the Globe Theatre and Sir Francis Drake. Read more
France
“Viva El Cinco de Mayo!” The Battle of Puebla
By Ron GilliamA hard, late-afternoon rain was falling on May 5, 1862, and the slopes at the foot of Puebla, Mexico’s twin forts were too slippery for another assault. Read more
France
Miracle in the Mud: The Hundred Years’ War’s Battle of Agincourt
By Robert L. SwainYoung and ambitious, recently crowned English king Henry V had a dynastic point to make, one that would relieve him of the taint of royal illegitimacy born of the fact that his father had usurped the English throne a mere decade before. Read more
France
Solferino: Birth of a Nation
By Eric NiderostLong columns of blue-clad French troops marched east though the sun-baked plains of northern Italy in late June 1859. Read more
France
Death at the Hawthorn Hedge: Poitiers, 1356
By William E. WelshThe Black Death that ravaged England and France for a half-dozen years in the mid-14th century served merely as a brief intermission between the first and second acts of the painfully protracted struggle known as the Hundred Years’ War. Read more
France
Soldier in the French Royal Regiment
By William E. WelshFrench King Louis XIV first standardized uniforms in 1657 when the king gave the companies of Masion du Roy blue uniforms. Read more
France
WWII Ordnance: The Boys Anti-tank Rifle
By Bob CashnerWhen the first tanks appeared in World War I, they were relatively lightly armored and protected the crews only against small-arms fire. Read more
France
The Fairey Swordfish Torpedo Bomber
By Phil ZimmerRadar, atomic bombs, jet engines and early cruise missiles were among the numerous technological advances of World War II. Read more
France
The Siege of Paris
By Louis CiotolaThe final outcome of the Franco-Prussian War was decided on September 2, 1870. On that day, more than 100,000 French troops, including Emperor Napoleon III, surrendered to the Prussian Army at Sedan. Read more
France
Commodore John Barry: Naval Hero of the American Revolution
By Neil CosgroveMost histories of the American Revolution give the fledgling Patriot navy only one hero: John Paul Jones. While not begrudging Jones’s recognition, it seems unfair to represent the Continental Navy with a single fighting captain. Read more
France
Napoleon’s Last Great Victory: The Battle of Dresden
By Eric NiderostMarshal Gouvion Saint-Cyr was in a tight spot, and he knew it. It was the morning of August 26, 1813, and Saint-Cyr and his French XIV Corps were defending Dresden, the capital of Saxony, from a large and menacing Allied army that outnumbered his own by at least four to one. Read more
France
Death of the Fox: Battle of Ravenna (1512)
By William E. WelshAs the first rays of sunlight chased away the shadows from the base of the high walls surrounding the village of Ravenna in northern Italy on Easter Sunday, April 11, 1512, the French army besieging the town began to form into columns. Read more
France
King Pepin the Short
By William E. WelshAn event of great significance in early medieval Europe occurred in 753, when newly ensconced Pope Stephen II decided to journey north to Metz to confer with Frankish King Pepin III (known as “The Short”). Read more
France
The 1903 Springfield Rifle’s Storied Military History
By Christopher MiskimonOn November 17, 1915, Major Smedley Butler and a small force of U.S. Marines approached the old French bastion of Fort Riviere in Haiti. Read more
France
Jacobite Victory at Prestonpans
By David A. NorrisBefore dawn on September 21, 1745, the dragoons and infantry of King George II stood in line of battle in a freshly harvested wheat field. Read more
France
How Winston Churchill Prolonged the Defense of Antwerp in World War I
By Eric NiderostJoseph Mary Nagle Jefferies, a correspondent for Britain’s Daily Mail, was assigned to cover the opening phases of World War I in Belgium in October 1914. Read more
France
The USS England and the Invasion of the South Pacific
By William LunderbergFrom his naval base at Tawi Tawi in the southern Philippines, Japanese Admiral Soemu Toyoda anxiously perused intelligence reports that might provide a clue to the objective of the next seaborne South Pacific invasion by American military in the spring of 1944. Read more
France
Operation Crusader: Erwin Rommel Learns His Lesson
By Robert HaymesBy the time of the Crusader battles in late 1941, the German panzer forces in North Africa had developed a sophisticated combined-arms doctrine. Read more
France
Benjamin Franklin in the American Revolution
by Mike HaskewBy the time the American colonies declared their independence from Great Britain on July 4, 1776, Benjamin Franklin was 70 years old. Read more
France
World War II Summary and Synopsis
by Mike HaskewWorld War II spanned six long years from 1939 to 1945. The Allied powers, principally The United States, Great Britain, and the Soviet Union, defeated the Axis powers, led by Nazi Germany, Imperial Japan, and Fascist Italy. Read more
