On the eve of his invasion of Russia in 1812, the French military commander and emperor Napoleon was notionally at the height of his power, presiding over an empire of 130 departments and... Read More
Eastward settlement (Ostsiedlung) by Germans gathered momentum in medieval times, and was often through invitation of local rulers who valued the settlers’ industry, skills and martial... Read More
The Vikings were Norse seafarers who originated from Scandinavia and launched a series of sea-borne raids from the late 8th century onwards. Their reputation as fearsome warriors preceded... Read More
After cooperating in the defeat of Nazi Germany in World War II, the United States and the Soviet Union became antagonists. Immediately after the Potsdam and Yalta agreements in 1945, Stalin demanded... Read More
On 14 November 1940 German bombers pulverized the city of Coventry; the verb ‘Koventrieren’ comes to mean ‘devastate’ or ‘reduce to rubble’. This was one of the worst nights in... Read More
The Black Death, which is believed to have originated on the Mongolian steppes, was a catastrophic outbreak of bubonic plague that resulted in an estimated 25 million deaths across Europe alone.... Read More
The Battle of the Somme (1 July–18 November 1916) was a joint British-French action to break the stalemate on the western front and achieve a decisive victory. Following a successful recruiting... Read More
On 21 March 1918, the Germans launched a devastating effective offensive on the western front, driving as deep as 37 miles (60 km) into the Allied lines in some places. French and American forces... Read More
On 30 November 1700 Charles XII of Sweden won a famous victory at the Battle of Narva, an early encounter in the Great Northern War. Peter the Great of Russia sought access to the Baltic Sea, which... Read More
The Japanese aerial attack on US shipping at Pearl Harbor on the island of Oahu, Hawaii, was launched at 7.55am on Sunday 7 December. Devastatingly efficient, and apparently unexpected, it was... Read More