Having expanded his realm in the west, in 500 The Frankish King Clovis I led an army southwards to Dijon to confront the Burgundian armies led by Roman proxy Gundobad, who was forced to flee. Burgundy was not annexed, but was obliged to pay tribute to the Franks. Then, from... More
The French and Indian Wars were the colonial North American theatre of the Seven Years’ War (1756–63), which became the first global war. The conflict had arisen from issues left unresolved by the War of the Austrian succession 1740–48. The war broke out in Europe, with coalitions developing around Britain,... More
Historians refer to Napoleon’s empire as ‘the First French Empire’, despite France having colonial possessions from the 17th century onwards. At its peak in 1811, much of western Europe was ruled directly by Napoleon or by a Bonaparte family member. Several of Napoleon’s brothers and sisters were appointed as royalty... More
The French East India Company, Compagnie Francaise pour le Commerce des Indes Orientales, was founded in 1664 out of three earlier French trading companies created to operate in the orient. The sphere of operations ran from the Cape of Good Hope to the Straits of Magellan and the Company was... More
Initially, the European powers seemed content to spectate, with a mixture of horror and schadenfreude, as France succumbed to revolution. The seizure (and later execution) of the French king Louis XVI and Marie Antoinette transformed perceptions, spurred on by agitation from influential emigrés: this was now an existential threat to... More
After Napoleon’s escape from exile on the island of Elba and return to power in March 1815 the Seventh Coalition was immediately formed by states that opposed his return. There were two Coalition armies already formed and stationed on France’s northern border, the Anglo-allied and Prussian. With Austrian and Russian... More
A ceasefire was declared between the Allies and Germany on 11 November 1918 (Armistice Day), becoming effective at 11.00. On the final day of World War 1, 10,000 western front soldiers were killed, wounded or declared missing. Poor communication along the front line meant many units did not receive information... More
The American frontier began with the thirteen original colonies. By 1800 the frontier had pushed westwards towards the Appalachian Mountains and into the Ohio Territories, Kentucky, Tennessee, the Mississippi Territory and Indiana Territory. Land was sold to new settlers to help pay off the national debt. Many became farmers and... More
In 1890, the US Census Bureau announced the frontier closed: the wilderness, so potent in the American psyche, was officially broken, settled, tamed. In the same year, Yosemite became the first national park designated specifically to protect wilderness, and in 1889 Montana and Washington were incorporated as US states, followed... More
From 1610–1800 both the English and the colonial populations from Massachusetts to Georgia experienced rapid growth, with the colonial population doubling almost every 25 years in the 1700s. The thirteen colonies were dominated by English-speaking Protestants. While, the New England colonies stayed relatively homogenous, the middle colonies from New York... More
By the 1840s, the traffic of stagecoaches and wagon trains on the Santa Fé Trail had reached such a volume that buffalo migration was obstructed, causing great deprivation for the Southern Plains Comanche, Kiowa and Arapaho. Understandably, the Indians retaliated: raids became so frequent that a chain of forts was... More
The Galician campaign first demonstrated what the ensuing year would confirm: Austria-Hungary was a great power in name only, and its armed forces were by some margin the least effective of the major protagonists. In late August 1914, the Austro-Hungarian Chief of Staff von Hotzendorf ordered an advance into Poland,... More