When we think about the Crusades, our normal thought is of armoured Christian knights fighting on horseback against the Muslim Turks. It is often forgotten that there were masses of ordinary people, including women and children, who went on these journeys and fought alongside the soldiers and upper classes. In the First Crusade, the military … More Peasants on Crusade
The Crusades are arguably known for their brutality and violence during the middle ages, however this violence is usually pictured during the horrendous battles and sieges. Whereas, the Crusaders actually faced many of their difficulties whilst travelling to Jerusalem, whether they travelling to the Holy Land by foot or by ship. These issues included controlling … More How did the Crusaders ever make it to the Holy Land?
The First World War was the first use of compulsory military service in Britain, when in January 1916 the Military Service Bill was passed, and all men aged 18-41, later increased to 50 – apart from those in certain professions such as ministers of a religion, or medically unfit – were expected to be involved in … More First World War and Conscription: The Conscientious Objector
Not some much in the geological or pop culture sense as much as the explosive reverberations which you will come to feel yourself. Yes it’s that time of the month again for our centenary regression to the Great War and more explicitly the 7th of June 1917. That day alone saw two years of allied … More Messines Ridge mining: Why underground warfare rocks!
The Northern Crusades, otherwise known as the Baltic Crusades, were religious wars that took place in the 12th and 13th centuries in order to subjugate and forcibly baptize the indigenous peoples of various parts of Northern Europe such as Finland and North and Eastern Germany, but most significantly the areas of modern day Estonia, Latvia … More The Livonian Crusade – The Beginning of The End of Paganism in Europe
Philippe Pétain was 58 years old and a colonel when World War One broke out, and he had never seen active service. Yet within months he was a national hero and a commanding General and would soon command the entire French army and become known as ‘The Lion of Verdun’. He was later discredited as he … More Philippe Pétain – The Lion of Verdun
One of this month’s World War One topics is a review of the film Paths of Glory (1957), which depicts a fictionalized battle between the French and the Germans. This battle shows the French attempt to take a German stronghold, named the Anthill. Paths of Glory is set in the third year of the First … More Paths of Glory – A Film Review
In the election of November 1916 Woodrow Wilson stood firm behind the idea of America staying out of the war, at least in terms of physical troops on the ground. This notion was supported by much of the public and as a result he won the election of 1916. America was certainly not against helping … More America Enters World War One- April 1917
Nikolai Aleksandrovich, known as Tsar Nicholas II, was the last Russian Emperor and a member of the illustrious Romanov dynasty that had sat on the imperial throne since the early seventeenth century. Born on the 18th of May in Tsarskoye Selo, now Pushkin, Nicholas was born to rule only to die in a bloody revolution … More Political Unrest in Russia: The Abdication of Nicholas II
As historian Ben-Yehuda states 1915 was the year in which the concept of unrestricted submarine warfare was first applied. Despite it not being a formal policy until two years later the shift towards this type of warfare was to have a profound effect on World War One and beyond. On the 18th February 1915 Germany … More Unrestricted Submarine Warfare and Famous Sinking’s in WW1
