This subject arouses all kinds of passions in men’s hearts. Historians are right when they say that subjecting leaders defeated in a war or wars to a tribunal…
The Double Negative – Articulate or Annoying?
The double negative is a peculiarly English device very much used in what might be called ‘literary’ English. It is designed to give more emphasis to a phrase….
Right, Left or Centre?
In the course of publishing nearly two hundred short histories for General-History.com we have received many comments. They are a mixed bag indeed; some commentators have difficulty with…
The Crusades in brief
They were a series of military expeditions ranging from the 11th to the 14th centuries, meant to secure Christian rule over the holy places of Palestine controlled by…
Figures in a Revolution: Joseph Fouché – survivor
The French politician was born at Nantes in 1759. As a very young man he was an ardent admirer of Robespierre (q.v.), touring the provinces in 1792/93 shouting…
De Gaulle, a great Frenchman
Charles A.J.M. de Gaulle was born in Lille in 1890. An average schoolboy (apart from his great height), he graduated from the Military Academy at St. Cyr in…
Conscription may not be a relic of the past
Conscription means compulsory enlisting for military service. With several countries engaged in sabe-rattling at the moment, compulsory enlistment may be revived in the present. China, India and Russia…
The Communist Parties
The word itself – ‘Communist’ – was certainly first heard as long ago as the 1840s. Both Karl Marx (q.v.) and his promoter Engels used the word, but…
The Battenbergs and Mountbattens
With Prince Philip heading for his century, the Battenberg/Mountbatten dynasty is well worth examining. Who were they? Why were they related to everybody? How did a penniless, sharp-witted…
The Ausgleich or Compromise of 1867
Essential knowledge for students of European history, this was the agreement between the Austrian government in Vienna, led by Beust, and two moderate Hungarian politicians, Deák and Andrassy,…