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The flag of the GDR. (Wikimedia Commons) Erich Honecker, head of the German Democratic Republic (GDR) from 1971 to 1989, once remarked that “Our GDR is a clean state. The standards for ethics […], decency and morality, are set in stone.” While he may have tried to apply this honourable standard to dealings in the public…
When: 1914 - 1918 Beginning in 1914, World War I was history's first truly global conflict. Kickstarted by the assassination of an Austro-Hungarian nobleman in Serbia, the conflict rapidly escalated because of a complex series of secret alliances that bound the European powers into mutual defence agreements. As the first waves of men began dying…
When: 1918 - 1939 Out of WWI came the Interbellum (or Interwar) period, beginning in 1918. Characterized by rising tensions between internationalist forces like the League of Nations (intent on making sure that a World War never happened again) and ultranationalists like the Axis powers (intent on growing their new empires through military means), the…
When: 1939 - 1945 Beginning at the end of the 1930s, WWII was really a series of interconnected regional conflicts. Every human being on earth was touched in some way by the unprecedented carnage of the war, whether on the front lines, at the home front, or in the concentration camps. More so than perhaps…
When: 1945 - 1989 Out of WWII came the Cold War in 1945. The Allies - aligned roughly along Western/Eastern geographic delineations - were ideologically at odds and tensions rose quickly. The newly-dominant Americans and Soviets were the primary aggressors during the "conflict", and the rest of the world was forced to choose sides. Economic…
When: 1989 – present day Defined as "post-history" by American political scientist Francis Fukuyama, this period began with the fall of the Berlin Wall - and the beginning of the end for the USSR - in 1989. Although many looked forward to world peace in the wake of the Cold War, the 1990s were an incredibly…
In the summer of 1969, long-standing tensions between Catholic republicans and Protestant loyalists broke out into open violence in Northern Ireland. Civil protests and heated dialogue turned to vandalism, riots and shootings. Out of this chaos emerged several militant groups, such as the loyalist Ulster Defence Force (UDF) and the anti-British Provisional Irish Republican Army…
Continue reading ➞ The Evolution of Counterterrorism in Northern Ireland
Pinkerton's incredibly detailed 1818 map of the East Indies. (Wikimedia Commons) The end of the 19th century was a tumultuous time in Southeast Asian history. Many colonial nations developed strong nationalist movements and, eventually, overthrew their colonial masters. Unlike Africa - recently colonized during the "Scramble for Africa" in the 1880s and 1890s - much…
Continue reading ➞ Indonesia – From Colonization to Independence
This article is a revised version of an essay submitted for academic credit at the University of Toronto. Belgian displaced-persons (or "DPs") after their escape from urban combat in 1945. (Time) Throughout history, military forces have usually avoided fighting in built-up areas for a variety of reasons. Street battles are difficult to control, harder to…
Continue reading ➞ European Urban Centres from West to East, 1940-44
"Saladin à Jérusalem", by Alexandre-Évarist Fragonard, 1830-50. (Wikimedia Commons) Towards the middle of the 12th century, much of the Holy Land was in the hands of European Christians. Beginning in 1095, the Catholic Church had sanctioned a number of religious expeditions known as the Crusades, efforts at capturing the Holy Lands and Christendom's most sacred…
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