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The aftermath of the battle. (Wikimedia Commons) In the early 1400s, Anglo-French relations were in a pretty bad place. New English King Henry V - who succeeded his father Henry IV in 1413 - faced mounting pressure to stabilize his own kingdom and settle issues of succession with the French crown. Henry claimed ownership of…
Mary, Queen of Scots sails away from France to a tumultuous future. (New Historian) On this day in 1542, 6 day-old Mary Stuart became Mary, Queen of Scots with the passing of her father, King James V of Scotland. Mary spent most of her younger years in France and was married to the 12 year-old…
An IDF Chieftain tank rolles past destroyed Egyptian military vehicles. (Popular Historia.se) In the late 1960s and early 1970s, Israel was an emerging power player in Middle Eastern politics. Although surrounded by relatively unfriendly neighbours (Egypt, Syria, and Jordan), the small Mediterranean nation had held its own in local conflicts since 1948 with the aid…
The Graf Spee in Montevideo, heavily damaged and about to be scuttled. (Pinterest) On this day in 1939, the German Kriegsmarine (Navy) heavy cruiser Admiral Graf Spree was on a "commercial raiding mission" off the coast of Uruguay and Argentina. Before WWII's start, the Graf Spee had been authorized to sail around the South Atlantic…
Knights of a chivalric order engage in "friendly" competition. (Wikimedia Commons) On this day in 1408, Hungarian King Sigismund von Luxembourg founded the Order of the Dragon, a chivalric order dedicated to protecting Central Europe from foreign incursions. Knights and important figures from the Holy Roman Empire, Wallachia, Aragon, Moldova, Hungary and the Serbian Despotate…
Chechen militants with a Russian Hind they've shot down. (Wikimedia Commons) On this day in 1994, troops from the newfound Russian Federation entered Chechnya, a federal republic within Russia. The intervention - ordered by Boris Yeltsin, Russia's first president - came as a result of ongoing civil war and unrest emanating from the Chechen capital…
A copy of Raczyński's Note. (Polish Government) On this day in 1942, the Polish government-in-exile delivered Raczyński's Note - an official report on the Holocaust - to 26 Western governments engaged in WWII. Polish resistance member Jan Karski had smuggled secret information documenting Nazi war crimes to London, where it was reviewed by horrified Polish…
A Supermarine Spitfire (front) and Hawker Hurricane (rear). The two fighter plane variants were the RAF's main weapons during the Battle of Britain. (Wikimedia Commons) In the summer of 1940, things looked very, very bad for the Allies of WWII. Poland and most of Eastern Europe were in Axis hands; France had just capitulated; and…
Marguerite Durand. (Jules Cayron) On this day in 1897, French activist Marguerite Durand founded La Fronde, a feminist newspaper based in Paris. Unlike most publications of the time that targeted women, Durand's paper covered more "masculine" topics: politics, sports, philosophy. Referring to the 1648 Fronde (slingshot) uprisings against French monarchy, the paper was run entirely…
An Afrika Korps tank advances during the North African Campaign. (Pinterest) Some of the very first action in WWII took place in North Africa and the Middle East. By the 1930s, most European powers - predominantly the Allies - had economic interests in the region. The new fascist powers of the era wanted a piece…
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