Called by some ‘colonialism’ – a mistake – imperialism is a term frequently abused by being used pejoratively by politicians and journalists. For historians, the word can be…
England: The fall and rise of Socialism
England’s Labour Party has elected the new party leader, Ed Miliband. This unsurprising event was described in this column in our last edition. It must have been a…
All American Presidents
Early United States history may be conveniently studied by reference to the 32 Presidents of the period 1789 – 1945: (I) George Washington, Federalist 1789 – 97; (II)…
The Congress of Vienna (1814/15)
This international assembly could be said to have established the system of diplomacy that lasted throughout the 19th century, and a long way beyond. It set out to…
The abdication of Edward VIII (1936)
The crisis arose from the expressed desire of King Edward VIII of England to marry a twice-divorced American woman. While his father George V was ill, struggling through…
Spanish Civil War (1936-39)
These three years saw a conflict that really was a civil war, just as the Wars of the Roses in England were not. A real civil war splits…
Treaty of Versailles: Facts, Causes and Effects
One of the chief contributing causes of the Second World War was the Treaty of Versailles (June, 1919), that officially ended the First World War. Its main…
English Civil War (1642 – 49) (updated in 2012)
The history of Great Britain can produce only one genuine civil war. Those students who think that the Wars of the Roses (see also in Toda Historia) was…
Wars of the Roses: Chicago in 15th century
Historians cannot refer to the Wars of the Roses as a ‘civil war’. They were a series of private battles fought between private armies financed by soldierly aristocrats,…
British Monarchy: Kings and Queens
The English philosopher Bertrand Russell memorably said that the greatest of the British Kings were the Queens. Setting aside the waspishness of the double meaning, it must be…