The EEC as we know it today bears no resemblance to this first attempt, but at least enough initiative was shown by its inventors to make it last…
Category: French History
The Viking Longship
The Vikings (q.v.) were seafarers, leaving the majestic beauty of their fjords to navigate the freezing waters of the North Sea to assault the northern coasts of Britain…
Ludovico, the most significant member of the Sforza family
The Sforzas were an Italian family prominent in the 15th and 16th centuries. They stem from one Muzio Attendolo (1369 – 1424), a forceful condottiere of the period,…
The Stuart Dynasty
Stuart, originally Stewart, is the family name of Scottish kings and queens from nearly the end of the fourteenth century until 1714 – English monarchs as well from…
Russians versus the Japanese (1904) & the Turks (4 times in the 19th century)
The fight between the Japanese and Russia was (and is) significant because it was all about control of both Manchuria and Korea. The Japanese launched an unexpected and…
Lancastrians and Yorkists
There is more to the intense rivalry between Yorkshire and Lancashire than mere cricket, though one has to admit that these two large northern English counties seem to…
Post-War poverty in Socialist Britain (1945 – 51)
It was a surrealist time to be British. Six years of total war had left the people with their men and womenfolk dead, wounded and crippled as…
The Peninsula War (1807-14)
Napoleon Bonaparte decided he would imitate the Roman emperors. Instead of listening to his better senses, he invaded the Peninsula of Spain and Portugal, causing one of the…
The Nine Years War
Of all the wars known by duration in years, the least well-known is the Nine Years War (1688 – 97). Nevertheless this conflict has its important side,…
Archers and Archery
An archer was a soldier, usually professional, armed with a bow and a quiver full of arrows. It would be difficult to estimate how long this lethal weapon…