With the assassination of Archduke Franz Ferdinand of Austria-Hungary in Sarajevo, World War 1 rapidly engulfed the continent of Europe.

France

How World War 1 Reshaped The Course of Europe

by Mike Haskew

On June 28, 1914, Archduke Franz Ferdinand of Austria-Hungary and his wife, Sophie, Duchess of Hohenberg, visited the city of Sarajevo and were assassinated by Gavrilo Princip, a 20-year-old Yugoslav nationalist. Read more

France

The CSS Alabama’s Place in Naval History

By Roy Morris, Jr.

The CSS Alabama went to her watery grave on June 19, 1864, off the coast of France, but the lingering effects of her wartime successes made naval history: she continued to haunt the American and British governments for years to come, embroiling the two English-speaking nations in a legal test of wills that would last well into the next decade. Read more

In the October 2014 issue of WWII History Magazine, you'll see rare photographs of French children who struggled to cope with the hardships of war.

France

Taking Guam from Japan in 1944

Above all, the island was defendable.

From Ritidian Point in the north to the extreme southern coastline, Guam is 34 miles long, made in an irregular shape covering 228 square miles, the largest of all Pacific islands between Japan and New Guinea. Read more

A four-year-old French boy, his head in bandages, was treated by GIs behind the battle lines after he was wounded by German shrapnel.

France

Normandy’s Little Victims

By Kevin Hymel

War spared no one. As modern armies clashed in France’s Normandy countryside, French civilians found themselves in the crossfire or on the receiving end of bombs and heavy weapons. Read more

A crowned Duke William II of Normandy discovers the Saxon King Harold lying dead on the battlefield in this Victorian painting of the Battle of Hastings by Frank Wilkin. The actual encounter was some six miles from Hastings, at Senlac Hill, near the present-day town of Battle, East Sussex.

France

William, Duke of Normandy

By Mark Carlson

The final defeat of the Saxon King Harold at the Battle of Hastings on October 14, 1066, meant that England became forever Norman. Read more