The Wittelsbach Dynasty
Hohenschwangau – one of the Wittelsbach homes / es-wikipedia.org The Wittelsbach Dynasty. This once-regal Bavarian family can trace their ancestry, like so many other grand families back to the Emperor Charlemagne, but more [...]
The end of the Terror and of Robespierre
The end comes for Robespierre / wikispaces.com The end of the Terror and of Robespierre. On 8 Thermidor (26 July) 1794, Robespierre the absolute leader of the French Revolution spoke in an unusually [...]
The Consulate
Bonaparte is welcomed as First Consul The Consulate. In this piece I am not writing about consulates – which are offices maintained by countries in other countries, where business is done and, occasionally, [...]
The 21 Demands (of Japan)
Yuan Shikai of China / es.wikipedia.org The 21 Demands (of Japan). In 1915 Japan came up with the odd idea of trying to make the whole of China a protectorate – a protectorate [...]
Name these kings
They are cousins; they all descend from Queen Victoria. Who are they? Here is something serious history students can get their teeth into. Can you name each one of the kings in this [...]
Munich
Maximilian, father of Ludwig II, looking for something to kill / unofficial royalty.com Munich is the capital of what was originally the largest principality (and later kingdom) in all Germany, Bavaria. In the [...]
George Washington
/ theguardian.com George Washington was born in the early part of the eighteenth century (1732), a son of a planter in Virginia, he was a Southerner. At 22 he was fighting for the [...]
The Myth of King Arthur
‘King Arthur’ at Camelot / wrl-inc.org The Myth of King Arthur. Thirteenth century Europe knew much of the legends of a possibly Welsh King called Arthur, who supposedly drove away Britain’s enemies, laid [...]
European anti-Semitism in the 13th century
Treacherous sands and a tidal bore / en-wikipedia.org European Anti-Semitism in the 13th century. There can be no doubt that the thirteenth century was the most violently anti-Semitic in all the Middle Ages. [...]
The Zimmerman Telegram
The Telegram published in the Washington Post March 1, 1917 / spotlights.fold3,com The Zimmerman Telegram. On 19 January, 1917, twenty-two months before the end of the Great War (1914 – 18), the United [...]
Samurai
/ wikipedia.org Samurai. This was the Japanese equivalent of the barons of England, feudal aristocrats in France and regional princes in Germany, who ruled the country while representing their king or emperor. They [...]
Nuri as Said, and what Iraq might have been
Nuri as Said / britasnnica.com Nuri as Said, and what Iraq might have been. Though we think of Iraq as a Middle Eastern country, it is really West Asian, bordering on Turkey to [...]
Is Spain democratic?
Is Spain democratic? April of the year 2014 is with us, and one cannot really face the headache of the news on television every evening, because the country seems to be splitting into a number [...]
News from Dean Swift
The book is taking up all my time and I am doing it alone. Thanks for your patience. I shall try to write a post for General-history this week. Very best wishes, Dean.
Who Said It? Edition No. 3
Dozens of webbers gave an answer to our last Who Said It quiz, but few got it right. The answer is Samuel Goldfish, better known as Samuel Goldwyn, the American independent film producer. Important clues [...]
Incident at sea, 30 October, 1942
Tommy Brown, 1926 – 1945 Incident at sea, 30 October, 1942 During the Second World War the British had been reading top-secret German codes messages sending orders to their Navy, Army and Airforce, [...]
Ireland’s neutrality during World War II
Eamon de Valera / es.wikipedia.org Ireland’s neutrality in World War II As the clouds of war deepened over Europe in 1939, certain countries declared their neutrality in the hope that they would not [...]
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