The Avignon papacy (1305–77) was a period, initiated by Pope Clement V, when the papal capital moved to Avignon in southern France. The seven Avignon popes were all French, as were most of the cardinals. The Avignon papacy gained a reputation for corruption and subordination to the French monarchy. The... More
The powerful Wettin dynasty had been active warriors, instrumental in pushing Germany frontiers east into Slavic lands in the 11th century. When six-year old Henry the Illustrious succeeded as Margrave in 1221, he commanded extensive lands, including the March of Meissen. As a reward for supporting the Hohenstaufen Holy Roman... More
The Wilderness was a tangled thicket in northern Virginia. As Ulysses S. Grant’s Union army moved towards the Confederate capital, Richmond, Confederate Commander Robert E. Lee decided to confront them in the Wilderness, where the dense scrub would negate Grant’s huge advantage in manpower and artillery. After crossing the Rapidan... More
William of Orange had achieved a bloodless ‘Glorious Revolution’ in England, when James II fled to France upon William’s landing at Brixham in Devon. However, James saw Catholic Ireland as a route to regaining his throne, and William pursued him there. After landing in Kinsale with 6,000 French troops courtesy... More
In early 1915 the Central Powers had a grand design: a coordinated attack through East Prussia by Germany and in Galicia by Austro-Hungary to meet east of the Vistula, enveloping the Russian armies on the eastern front. On 7 February in severe winter conditions the German 8th and 10th Armies... More
Having subdued Austria and created the Confederation of the Rhine, Napoleon was determined to crush the remnants of the Prussian army, most of whom had been killed or captured in autumn 1806. Napoleon followed the Prussians as they moved eastwards, punching his way through Prussia in less than three weeks.... More
Also known as the Russo-Finnish War, the Winter War came about after Finland refused to negotiate with the Soviets over the acquisition of land on the Karelian Isthmus and a naval base at Hanko. The Soviets attacked on several fronts, yet made few gains. The Finns made some failed counterattacks,... More
Encrypted communications were used by all major military powers by World War II, so the ability to crack methods of encryption was vital to maintaining the upper hand in strategic decisions. The Germans used the Enigma machine and its successors, the much more powerful Lorenz SZ40 and SZ42, to encrypt... More
While Rome was pre-eminent at the dawn of the Christian era, its expansionist momentum was beginning to stall. The Parthians inflicted a crushing defeat in 53 BCE, the German tribes in 9 CE and Cush would prove too troublesome to subdue. The Han in China were also suffering from imperial... More
The second millennium dawned with few dominant imperial powers; the last pan-Muslim caliphate, the Abbasids, had long since fragmented into multiple dynasties, from the Zirids of Northwest Africa to the Qarakhanids of Central Asia. In China, the Khitan Empire, with its capital in Beijing, threatened prosperous Song dynasty. In Southeast... More
The Battle of Kadesh in 1274 BCE between the Egypt of Rameses II and the Hittites was a clash to determine supremacy in the Near East between the primary regional powers of the time. The result was inconclusive and over the next century the two rivals would increasingly be overshadowed... More
After the expulsion of the Mongols in 1368, the Ming Empire in China, with a standing army of a million troops and a population nearing 100 million, was probably the wealthiest and most powerful dominion worldwide. To the west, the empire of Timur was nearing the peak. In 1402, Timur... More