bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
The Lute in Consort
Authors: Spring Matthew
Published: November 2023

The great majority of surviving lute pieces from England are for the solo lute, yet this may not reflect the lute’s common use, and its role as a consort and accompaniment instrument may be no less significant. During the Middle Ages it was mainly used to play single lines, and combination with another instrument or instruments, or a voice or voices, may have been the norm. Once technique had changed to allow a single player to add a harmonic support to the melody line, the lute became a leading solo instrument. Solo music apart, the instrument’s new capacity to play chords and polyphonic lines enhanced its suitability as an accompaniment instrument. Indeed the lute, in the form of the theorbo or archlute, was still in use for this purpose until the eighteenth century, long after solo music had ceased to be composed in Britain.
The Decline of the Lute in England after 1660
Authors: Spring Matthew
Published: November 2023

Old Dowland he is Dead; R. Johnson too; Two Famous Men; Great Masters in My Art; In each ofThem I had more than One Part, Or Two, or Three; They were not Single-Soul’d, As most our* Upstarts are, and too too Bold. Soon after Them, that Famous man Gotiere Did make me Gratefull in each Noble Ear; He’s likewise gone: / fear me much that I am not Long-liv’d, but shortly too shall Dye.
Postscript
Authors: Spring Matthew
Published: November 2023

This book was written in the last decade of the twentieth century, a century which witnessed a gradual revival of interest in and understanding of the lute, in contrast to its obsolescence in the century before. This took place in the context of a revival of early music in general. Since the 1960s there has been a successful revival of the lute with centres of activity established across the globe. New technology has meant that the real costs of printing short-run editions in the form of new tablature or facsimile has plummeted such that even more obscure lute music can be made available to those who are interested. There are now significant organizations and even internet sites and e-mail discussion groups dedicated to the lute and its music, and it is fair to say that it has reclaimed an identity that was almost completely lost in the nineteenth century. Britain’s part in this renaissance has been considerable. The south of England in particular has as high a concentration of lute players and makers as anywhere in the world, and London is arguably the performance capital of the lute world. England can boast some two dozen fully professional lute makers, and there is now in place a younger generation of players who developed their skills on dedicated courses at London conservatories, many without ever having studied the classical guitar. Indeed if the guitar was their starting point, it is as likely to have been electric or folk guitar. British composers as diverse as Alan Ridout, James Erber, Stephen Dodgson, and Howard Skempton have also produced a number of new lute works, inspired or commissioned by today’s professional players. The break with the past is that these composers arc not themselves lute players, as was the norm for lute composers of old.
The Poverty Bomb
Authors: Dowbiggin Ian
Published: November 2023

As the 1950s dawned, the sterilization movement in America faced a grim future. The death of Robert Latou Dickinson, in 1950, was a blow to the movement, but its members remained intent on attracting respected health-care professionals with a view toward greater medical acceptance of sterilization in the coming years. The mainstreaming of Birthright, mirrored in its 1950 name change to the Human Betterment Association of America (HBAA), gave movement members hope that partnerships could be formed with other, less controversial birth control organizations.
Jericho
Authors: Davis Paul K
Published: November 2023

Like the siege of Troy, the siege of Jericho is the subject of much speculation over the recorded source (which was written after a significant amount of time had elapsed) and the archaeological evidence. Although the details of the biblical account of the fall of Jericho are much sketchier than the extended srory of Troy told by Homer, modern evidence unearthed at Teles Sultan (the modern site of ancient Jericho) gives a greater substantiation to the Hebrew-Canaanite battle. According to the Holy Bible, the Hebrews left Egypt in a massive exodus, probably around 1446/1445 B.C. (The exodus, too, is a matter of great debate, but not precisely relevant to the events at Jericho.) After a forty-year tour of the Arabian desert to weed out those deemed unfit for entrance into Canaan (the Hebrews’ Holy Land), the people of the twelve tribes of Israel approached their target. Their first battle was with the Amorite kings Sihon and Og, whose forces they obliterated. That victory gave them clear access to the Jordan River north of the Dead Sea for their crossing. They easily crossed the Jordan owing to an earthquake that blocked the riverbed upstream. (Similar blockages have been recorded in later accounts, as in 1267 during Sultan Baybars’ campaign against the crusaders and in 1927 when archaeologist John Garstang was excavating in the region.) The timing of the earthquake certainly must have had a positive psychological effect on the invading Hebrews.
Syracuse
Authors: Davis Paul K
Published: November 2023

Early in the third century B.C. the reigning power in the western Mediterranean was References: Brian Caven, The Punic Wttrs (London: Weidenfeld and Nicolson, 1980); T. A. Dorey, and D. R. Dudley, Rome against Carthage (Garden City, NY: Doubleday, 1972); Gilbert Charles Picard, The Life and Death of Carthage (New York: Taplinger, 1969); Plutarch, Makers of Rome, trans. Ian ScottKilvert (New York: Penguin, 1965).
Alesia
Authors: Davis Paul K
Published: November 2023

In 60 B.C. Julius Caesar entered into a political alliance with the two most powerful men in Rome, Crassus and Pompey, forming the “Triumvirate.” The three ruled the Roman Republic together while at the same time each tried to maneuver himself into a position of dominance. In order to do this, wealth and political influence were necessary, but military experience and army support were vital. Crassus had experience, making himself famous by crushing the Spartacus slave uprising. He then assumed the governorship of Syria so he could gain more laurels and wealth in a war against the Parthians. He died trying. Caesar took the position of governor of Cisalpine and Transalpine Gaul (northern Italy and southern France), where he hoped to gain the military and financial power he needed. References: Julius Caesar, War Commentaries of Caesar, trans. Rex Warner (New York: New American Library, 1960); Will Durant, Caesar and Christ (New York: Simon and Schuster, 1944); Christian Meier, Caesar, trans. David McLintock (New York: HarperCollins, 1995 [1982]); Donald O’Reilly, “Besiegers Besieged,” Military History 9, no. 6, February 1993.
Masada
Authors: Davis Paul K
Published: November 2023

Conflict between imperial Rome and Palestine was probably inevitable, given the Jewish belief in a single God versus the polytheism of Rome. though Roman practice was to allow fairly wide autonomy in conquered provinces, the rise of the emperor cults flew in the face of Jewish beliefs. Disbelieving in Juno, Hera, Apollo, and the rest could be allowed, but not rejection of the divinity of the emperors such as Caligula and Vespasian. The placing of idols in sacred areas of Jerusalem, along with the appointment of less-than-tolerant procurators, provoked a rebellion among the Jewish population of Palestine. This grew stronger when an ambush of Roman legions in the Beth Horan Pass northwest of Jerusalem gave the Jews an overly optimistic view of their chances against Rome’s might. Just as Jews around the world for centuries dreamed of “next year in Jerusalem,” so did Masada take on special meaning once the State of lsrael was created in 1948. It came to represent to Israelis not a symbol of suicide and futility, but of resistance at all costs to anyone who would again occupy their land. In impressive ceremonies on the mountain stronghold, members of the Israeli Defense Forces today swear to defend their homeland, to experience death before dishonor.
Constantinople
Authors: Davis Paul K
Published: November 2023

Constantine the Great established the city of Constantinople as his capital in 323. In doing so, he occupied the former city of Byzantium, which for centuries had controlled the straits separating Asia and Europe. The Sea of Marmara is flanked northeast and southwest by the Bosphorus and the Dardanelles, two narrow straits linking the Mediterranean and the Black seas. Unless one goes completely around the Black Sea, the passage from Europe into Asia Minor is across one of those straits. Therefore, Byzantium/Constantinople/Istanbul has been an extremely strategic possession for both land and naval warfare, as well as over-land and maritime trade. As Rome faded and Constantinople rose in power, it became the seat of the Eastern Roman, or Byzantine, Empire. Muhammad the Prophet founded Islam in Arabia in the seventh century. Claiming his divinely inspired teachings, the Koran, to be the successor to the Bible and the fulfillment of God’s plan for humanity, he spread his faith by both ptoselytization and warfare.
Hsiang-Yang
Authors: Davis Paul K
Published: November 2023

The Sung dynasty in China succeeded the T’ang dynasty in 960. They came to control territory stretching from modern Manchuria to the northern borders of Vietnam and westward a thousand miles from the China Sea. In 1127 the Jurchen Mongols conquered the northern lands, so the Sung dynasty concentrated their authority in richer southern China, building a new capital city at Hangchow, at the mouth of the Yangtze River. The southern Sung dynasty was something of a golden age in China, as expanding trade routes brought immense wealth. They reintroduced Confucianism, which had been losing popularity to Buddhism and Taoism. That led to a new form of bureaucracy, with examinations on Confucian principles being the basis of gaining a position in the civil service, a practice maintained until the twentieth century. Hsiang-yang; in 1271 he declared the beginning of the Yuan dynasty. Although it proved relatively short-lived, Kubilai’s government was not without positive accomplishments. Realizing the superiority of Chinese administration over that of the traditional Mongol state, he adapted his government to that of the conquered. The efficient civil service remained in place and the trade routes that they had used were reopened. Kubilai’s dynasty permitted the uninterrupted flow of Chinese culture and bureaucracy, and gave to it a unified empire larger than it had ever encompassed. Kubilai’s successors ruled badly and quarreled among themselves. A rebellion in 1368 chased the Mongols westward past the Great Wall and founded the Ming dynasty. The enlarged territory that Kubilai left to China remained for the most part the China that exists to this day.
Calais
Authors: Davis Paul K
Published: November 2023

The Anglo-French conflict that came to be called the Hundred Years War was based on rival claims to land and leadership. The death of Charles VI of France in 1328 left a void in the French monarchy. The Capetian dynasty had ruled most of France since 987, but there was now no direct male heir. The best legal claim came from Edward III of England, grandson of Philip the Fair (1285-1314), but the French nobility could not conceive of a foreigner as king. Instead, they chose Philip VI Valois, ending the Capetian dynasty. Edward resisted this choice, not only because he wanted the throne for himself, but also because he was technically a vassal of the French king. Since he controlled some territory in France, he might be called on to obey his liege lord with actions detrimental to England. Further, the French had supported the Bruces of Scotland in their struggle for independence from the English. Finally, England coveted Flanders, nominally under French control but tied to England via the wool trade. Add to all this the traditional dislike the French and English have always harbored for each other, and war seemed inevitable.
Orleans
Authors: Davis Paul K
Published: November 2023

Jeanne led an attack on Paris, also held by Burgundian forces, although she heard no voices directing her to do so. She was wounded in the leg during the fighting and Charles ordered a retreat. After the disbanding of his army, only a few hundred men of Jeanne’s personal unit campaigned with her in 1430, and their numbers were too few to accomplish the heavenly directives she received. She fell prisoner to the Burgundians and Charles refused to ransom her. Sold to the English, she was tried as a witch. The trial was a sham that resulted in her execution at the stake on 30 May 1431. In spite of the stacked deck against her, the prosecution could find not one witness to speak against her. Jeanne d’Arc is better known outside France by her English appellation Joan of Arc. Much about her short life and career, although well-documented, remains mysterious. What caused the voices she heard and the bright lights that accompanied them, which only she could hear and see? Whatever may be the actual cause, the heavenly explanation is the only one that matters. Everyone in France knew of her voices, but in a time of religious intolerance of anything uncommon, she convinced experts and lay people alike that she indeed was blessed. A population newly emerged from the horror of the Black Death and intent on following God’s will saw her as a divine emissary. Clad in a white-enameled suit of armor, riding a white horse, carrying a white and blue banner emblazoned with two angels and the words “Jhesus Maria,” called La Pucelle (the Virgin) by her troops-everything about her spoke of holiness. For a citizenry that had believed only a miracle could rescue France, she filled the bill. Nothing else explains why hardened veterans would not only follow her into combat, but also accept without complaint her demands that they neither curse nor whore.
Vienna
Authors: Davis Paul K
Published: November 2023

Just as the weakened condition caused by Byzantine-Persian hostility had opened the door for Islam to break out of Arabia in the seventh century, Europe in the 1520s presented to a potential outside aggressor a wonderful opportunity. It was political rivalry in Europe that made the Continent susceptible. King Francis I of France and Charles V, Holy Roman Emperor, argued and fought over land that today is the Franco-German frontier, as well as control over northern Italy. France had a powerful military based on artillery and heavy cavalry. Charles, as head of the Habsburg family, controlled not only the Holy Roman Empire (which consisted of Austria and parts of whatever countries bordered it) but also Spain, whose military power was based on the tercio, a phalanx of pikemen supported by smaller contingents of soldiers each armed with the arquebus, a matchlock musket. Against these formations cavalry made no impression, as France discovered when the two armies met at Pavia in northern Italy in 1525. Francis not only was defeated, he was taken prisoner. During and after his captivity he plotted revenge and pondered on possible allies. Charles was enjoying his military success, but was bothered by Pope Clement VII. Although technically the Holy Roman Empire was the defender of the Catholic Church, just who was the senior partner had been a point of contention since Charlemagne took on the job in 800. Clement resented Charles controlling so much of Italy, since before his accession to the papacy Clement had been the wealthy and powerful Giulio de Medici. Thus, Clement’s attitude toward Charles translated into a lack of political and religious support in dealing with the rise of the Protestant Reformation. Thus, Charles had his hands full with rivals in Rome and France, and in his own backyard.
Boulogne
Authors: Davis Paul K
Published: November 2023

Henry VIII ascended the English throne in 1509 and within two years began making war against France. The continental gains made by previous kings had gradually slipped away until England controlled nothing more than the port city of Calais. Henry made war against France irregularly over the course of his reign, usually because the French gave support to Scottish independence movements. In 1513 Henry crushed the French at the battle of the Spurs outside Therouanne just as his subordinate, the earl of Surrey, similarly routed a major Scottish army in northern England at Flodden Field. That double victory allowed Henry to spend some time dealing with domestic matters, but in 1522 he was back in France. Little was accomplished other than ravaging the countryside, and in 1523 a sick and demoralized army returned to England.
Chitorgath
Authors: Davis Paul K
Published: November 2023

In 1192 the forces of Islam under the leadership of Muhammad of Ghor established the Mogul dynasty in the wake of their victory at the second battle of Taraori (Tarain). The Hindus had dominated India since the days of the Gupta Empire after Alexander the Great’s failed invasion in the fourth century B.C., and they still maintained a strong presence on the subcontinent. The strongest, numerically and militarily, were the Rajputs, of modern Rajasthan. The were what later came to be called one of the “martial races” of India, with a strong military aspect to their entire society. Their military prowess had made them for a time the dominant group in northern India, but that came to an end after Taraori. The strongest cities in Rajputana were at Chitor and Ranthambhor, where the most imposing fortifications were built. Chitor GaTh (a fort) for centuries was considered the most impregnable fortress in India, and in the sixteenth century it was under the control of the powerful Sesodian clan. Unfortunately for the Rajputs, the Sesodians were at midcentury ruled by a weak raja (king), Udai Singh II.
Antwerp
Authors: Davis Paul K
Published: November 2023

By the end of the four-year grace period Parma allowed the Protestants, almost all of them had left for the northern states. Primarily merchants, they left when the blockade strangled the city’s trade, as well as to exercise their own religion. Antwerp’s loss proved Holland’s gain. “The peace and order which Parma gave to [the states of] Flanders and Brabant very much resembled the stiffening of death. On the other hand all the best vital forces of the Netherlands people drew together in the small area north of the rivers” (Gey!, The Revolt of the Netherlands, p. 201).
Kinsale
Authors: Davis Paul K
Published: November 2023

The roots of Anglo-Irish rivalry go back, according to mythology, to prehistory. In historical times, it began in the twelfth century with the Norman invasion of Ireland after the heirs of William the Conqueror had established firm control over England. Ireland remained a vassal state of sorts until 1541, when Henry VIII named himself king of Ireland as well as England. Over the next five decades an English administration slowly tried to exert its control over a population that it at once despised and feared. Strict English control was limited to an area known as the Pale along the eastern coast, but “beyond the Pale” the remainder of the island was deemed savage. In the 1570s the English began to spread from the Pale into the remainder of the country and to meet resistance when the earl of Essex began pacifying Ulster with extreme brutality. Not until the 1590s, however, was any effective and organized resistance mounted. The primary leader of the Irish was Hugh O’Neill, earl of Tyrone in the northern province of Ulster. He had been raised in England and brought up Protestant, as a member of the English army he had campaigned in Ireland. In 1585 he acceded to the earldom and maintained fairly close relations with Queen Elizabeth’s government, but in 1595 began a guerrilla campaign against the English forces in Ireland and in 1598 was declared a traitor when he led Irish forces to a victory over the English at the battle of Yellow Ford. His chief ally was “Red Hugh” O’Donnell, earl of Tyrconnel on Ulster’s western coast.
Osaka
Authors: Davis Paul K
Published: November 2023

Tokugawa had attempted to curb the power of the nobles, called daimyo, by obliging them to leave their castles and spend half the year in residence at the capital city of Edo, modern Tokyo. This allowed him to keep an eye on any possible resistance movement while forcing the daimyo to spend so much money on two residences that they would be unable to afford to raise troops in revolt. The strategy was only partially successful. In 1614 young Toyotomi Hideyoshi began renovations to both his castle and to a badly damaged shrine. The Great Buddha had been partially destroyed by an earth-quake in 1596, and when Hideyori completed the restoration he installed a large bell at the accompanying temple. On it were written two phrases: “May the state be peaceful and prosperous” and “In the East it greets the pale moon, and in the West bids farewell to the setting sun.” In the first phrase, the ideograms for ie and yasu appear. The second phrase seems to indicate that Tokugawa’s residence, in the east at Edo, was of less importance than the eastern Toyotomi residence at Osaka Castle. Tokugawa viewed both of these as insulting and tension began to grow. The daimyo who had been on the losing side at Sekigahara began to gather forces at Osaka. Also, ronin (masterless samurai, or what would be called in the European feudal system “free lances”) began to join the coalition against the shogun. Among these ronin were many who had converted to Christianity, a religion Tokugawa despised. By November 1614, over 113,000 men were gathered at Osaka Castle, and Tokugawa was not about to let their number expand any further. He gathered together a reported 194,000 troops and marched for Osaka.
Turin
Authors: Davis Paul K
Published: November 2023

The world of European politics is rarely so confusing as when a succession struggle arises. In 1700 Charles II of Spain died without issue, and the scramble to succeed him attracted candidates from across western Europe. Charles had named as his successor Phillipe, the duke of Anjou, but nobles with equally valid claims to the throne included Holy Roman Emperor Leopold I and Victor Amadeus, duke of Savoy. Leopold and Victor, although with legitimate claims, were mainly afraid that if Phillipe assumed the throne Spain would come directly under the control of France, for France’s King Louis XIV was Phillipe’s uncle. Everyone in Europe had cause to fear any action that increased Louis’ authority, for he was one of the most brilliant and ambitious monarchs in all of European history. Emperor Leopold organized a coalition to combat Phillipe’s claim, joining Great Britain, the Netherlands, Prussia, and Hanover to his own Holy Roman Empire. Louis responded by gathering together allies of his own: Bavaria, Mantua, Piedmont, and, initially, Savoy, which had long been aligned with France.
Fort Niagara
Authors: Davis Paul K
Published: November 2023

When both England and France began colonizing the eastern part of North America in the seventeenth century, it was inevitable that their centuries-old European rivalry would manifest itself in the western hemisphere as well. The French in Canada and the English along the east coast of North America remained isolated from each other for about a century, but in the early 1750s the English colonists pushing west confronted French forces moving south into the area just below the Great Lakes Ontario and Erie. At the junction of the Allegheny and Monongahela rivers English colonists from Virginia began claiming land by constructing a fort. Before it was completed it was captured and strengthened by French and Indian forces who named it Fort Duquesne. A Virginia militia attempt to retake the fort in 1754 (led by George Washington in his first command) failed in its mission. After some 150 years of salutary neglect, the London government committed troops to the colonies in an attempt to beat back the French incursion. Major General Edward Braddock’s they had been abandoned by their Indian allies and numbered but 600 soldiers, marines, and Canadian militia. They rushed the English position but were blasted by seven volleys of English fire, then harried on their retreat by the hidden Iroquois.
Quebec
Authors: Davis Paul K
Published: November 2023

British victory gave them control of the St. Lawrence River, stopping any further French reinforcement or resupply of their personnel in Canada during the French and Indian War. After the defeat of the Spanish Armada m 1588, England began pursuing a policy of colonization in North America. Unlike the Spanish, who went to the western hemisphere The death of General Wolfe during the battle of Quebec in 1759. (Library of Congress) north of the Great Lakes. The remainder of their claims west of the Mississippi they ceded to Spain. Thus, the loss of Canada ended France’s hope for a western hemisphere empire. References: Lawrence H. Gipson, The Great War for Empire, vol. 7 (New York: Knopf, 1936); Francis Parkman, Montcalm and Wolfe (Toronto: Ryerson, 1964); Page Smith, A New Age Now Begins, vol. 1 (New York: McGrawHill, 1976); C. P. Stacey, Quebec, 1159 (Toronto: Macmillan, 1959).
Boston
Authors: Davis Paul K
Published: November 2023

The British should never have lost Boston. Any serious attempt to keep the garrison supplied would have made the defense too strong for Washington ever to have successfully assaulted. Conversely, the besieging force (although large in number) was poorly organized and trained. Although Washington did wonders once he took command, any time before that point a vigorous British sortie would probably have collapsed the entire colonial effort. Gage, whose twenty years’ residence in the colonies had softened him to effective action, was succeeded by Howe, whose shocking experience on the slopes of Breed’s Hill ruined him for any future aggressive action. Their inactivity was made worse by their snobbery. Many Bostonians remained loyal to the Crown and volunteered to fight, but as would happen so many times throughout the American Revolution the British officers sneered at colonial assistance. In Boston, as in so many other regions throughout the war, the British succeeded in making enemies out of friends.
Badajoz
Authors: Davis Paul K
Published: November 2023

After Napoleon took control of Spain in 1808 and enthroned his brother Joseph in Madrid, French designs on Portugal intensified. Great Britain responded by sending troops to Portugal’s aid. The British commander, General Sir Arthur Wellesley, Viscount Wellington, beat back every French invasion attempt for three years, then readied his own invasion out of Portugal into Spain. To do this he had but two viable paths into the country: Ciudad Rodrigo in the north and Badajoz in the south, both of which he needed to control in order to secure his rear from any possible French encircling attack. Both cities were strongly walled and manned and both had French armies in support: General Auguste Marmont behind Ciudad Rodrigo, Marshal Nicolas Soult at Badajoz. In May and June 1811, while probing the French defenses around Ciudad Rodrigo, Wellington had sent his chief subordinate, General William Beresford, to relieve a French siege of the Portuguese defenders in Badajoz. By the time he arrived, the French had taken the city and Beresford was obliged to begin his own attack. Lacking sufficient engineers and without any siege guns, the effort proved futile. Wellington, famous for his attention to supply, failed in this instance to provide for his men and the French held on to the city.
Cuautla
Authors: Davis Paul K
Published: November 2023

Since the days of the conquistador Hernan Cortes in the 1520s, Mexico had been a Spanish possession, a source of immense riches for the Spanish monarchy. By the early 1800s, however, Spain’s wealth and power had long since dissipated. Napoleon Bonaparte, the new power in Europe, forced Spain to bow to his will. When the Spanish King Charles refused to follow directions, Napoleon deposed him and placed his own brother, Joseph Bonaparte, on the Spanish throne in 1808. A popular rising against the foreign king soon swept Spain. The French occupation and the resulting rebellion had effects in Spain’s colonies. The deposed King Charles wanted to maintain his empire bur had no power to wield. In Spanish Mexico, liberal forces began to agitate for independence in the face of the empire’s weakness. Conservative, powerful factions, including the Catholic Church and the military, did their best to maintain Spanish authority, but their long history of abusing the Mexican population, especially the Indians, proved too strong a motivation for the Mexican peasantry to resist. Under the leadership of Father Miguel Hidalgo they began a rebellion in 181O, more against the abuses of the upper classes than directly against Spanish authority.
Rome
Authors: Davis Paul K
Published: November 2023

When Napoleon Bonaparte established French domination in Italy in the 1790s, he brought with him the principles of the French Revolution and thus the seeds of his own destruction. Nationalism and republican government became the catchwords of post-Napoleonic Europe, even while monarchs scrambled to reestablish their own authority. In Italy, revolts in 1820 and 1830 attempted to set up an Italian Republic by overthrowing the Austrians and Spanish, to which the Concert of Europe had granted authority in the northern and southern parts of the peninsula after 1815. The difficulty of establishing a republic was compounded by the fact that the Italian peninsula was divided into a number of smaller states, each vying for either independence or hegemony. One of those entities was the Vatican, which ruled what were called the Papal States in the region immediately around Rome. To further complicate the international interest in Italy, Pope Pius IX was able to secure a guarantee from France that her soldiers would maintain his authority. All of this came to a boil in 1848, when nationalist movements rose up around the Continent. Many European monarchies were threatened, and in France the Second Republic came into being. Italian nationalists seized the opportunity to break away from Austria, for Vienna had its hands full with revolutionary movements at home. On 22 November 1848, Pope Pius, disguised as a common priest, stole out of the Vatican and fled to the coastal city of Gaeta, from where he appealed for French aid to restore him to power. In February 1849 a newly elected parliament announced the formation of the Roman Republic with Giuseppe Mazzini as chief minister.
Puebla
Authors: Davis Paul K
Published: November 2023

After the Mexican-American War of 1846-1848, Mexico entered a period of national crisis. The government of Antonio Lopez de Santa Anna had fallen in late 1847, bringing about the end of the war. The government that succeeded it was unpopular for signing the Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo, which ceded vast stretches of northern Mexico to the United States, although the nation was compensated with a $15 million indemnity. The money was insufficient to pay the debt incurred by the war or to save the government. After years of political wrangling and a civil war, Benito Juarez was elected president of the United States of Mexico in 1858, with the mandate of enforcing the newly passed constitution. Juarez, a full-blooded Zapotec Indian who was trained for the priesthood but became a lawyer, was dedicated to democratic reforms and extending rights to the bulk of the Mexican people. To improve their lot in life through schools, hospitals, and the like was an expensive task. The government had been paying its bills primarily through the use of foreign loans, mainly from Spain, England, and France. Reelected in 1861, Juarez announced a two-year suspension of debt payments in order for him to straighten out his nation’s finances and get his reforms started. The European countries refused to accept the delay, deciding instead to send troops to Mexico to force payment.
Petersburg
Authors: Davis Paul K
Published: November 2023

Although Robert E. Lee and his Army of Northern Virginia had blunted every Union attempt to reach the Confederacy’s capital of Richmond, Virginia, his two attacks on Northern territory had proved his undoing. His failure to operate in the North at will in September 1862 meant a lack of foreign recognition and direct military aid. His army’s defeat at Gettysburg in July 1863 forced him to retreat into Virginia, where he could only win the war by a successful defense that would lengthen the war sufficiently to bring to the fore a growing peace movement in the Union. Between July 1863 and May 1864, little fighting took place in Virginia, and Lee was able to rebuild his ragged force to 50,000 to 60,000 men. After a string of unsuccessful generals, U.S. President Abraham Lincoln transferred Ulysses Grant from the western theater of the war over to Virginia. Grant’s persistent nature contrasted sharply with the timidity of most References: Shelby Foote, The Civil Wtir: A Narrative, vol. 3 (New York: Random House, 1974); Jeff Kinard, The Battle of the Crater (Abilene, TX: McWhiney Foundation, 1998); Noah Trudeau, The Last Citadel (Boston: Little, Brown, 1991).
Fort Fisher
Authors: Davis Paul K
Published: November 2023

When America’s Civil War broke out in April 1861, the newly created Confederate States of America embarked on an almost impossible task. Far outmatched by the Northern states in all materiels of war, the Confederacy’s only hope was to trade her one advantage, cotton, for weaponry and support from overseas. This proved a daunting task as well, for although a large percentage of the soldiers of the United States Army resigned their positions and joined the Southern cause, virtually none of the United States Navy did. This disparity in shipping was immediately put to good use when Abraham Lincoln ordered a blockade of Southern ports. Early in the conflict, the senior commander in the United States Army, Major General Winfield Scott, developed a grand strategy to defeat the Confederacy. The Anaconda Plan, as its name implies, was designed to squeeze the South to death. The first phase of that plan was to cut them off from the rest of the world, and Lincoln’s blockade did that within a matter of weeks. The United States Navy was stationed off every Southern port to keep cotton in and foreign aid out. To counter this, Confederate agents in Europe (primarily in England) purchased or commissioned the construction of fast ships to run the blockade. These ships had some success, but unfortunately for the Confederate cause, many cargoes were full of scarce trade goods instead of scarce weaponry. Still, enough supplies got through to give some aid to the Southern armies.
Humaita
Authors: Davis Paul K
Published: November 2023

After the removal of Spanish rule in South America in the 1820s, Paraguay resisted Argentine domination by declaring its independence from the former viceroyalty of Rio de la Plata. Under two successive dictators, Dr. Jose Francia and Carlos Antonio Lopez, Paraguay became a progressive and prosperous nation. They established economic and cultural ties with Europe, and phased out slavery yet had little feudalism or peonage. Paraguay had one of the highest literacy rates on the continent. In 1864, Lopez felt threatened by Brazil’s interference in a civil war in neighboring Uruguay, through which land-locked Paraguay had access to the port city of Montevideo at the mouth of the Uruguay River. If a hostile government were to come to power there, Paraguay would have to depend on the good will of Argentina to allow sea access through Buenos Aires. Lopez’s protests concerning Brazilian interference in Uruguay fell on deaf ears, so he decided to apply direct pressure on them by attacking the Brazilian province of Mato Grosso. This being a rugged and uninhabited territory, the attack had no effect. Lopez, attempting to assist Uruguay, then asked permission of Bartolome Mitre, Argentina’s leader, for access through his country, a request he refused. Feeling this to be an unfriendly act, Paraguay declared war on Argentina in March 1865 and launched an invasion.
Chitral
Authors: Davis Paul K
Published: November 2023

All the physical obstacles were overcome by January 1885. The advance force had fought the elements as well as the dervishes at Abu Klea and Abu Kru to be within striking distance of Khartoum, when the force commander Sir Charles Wilson stopped three days to rest and tend his wounded. When ships arrived on the Nile at his camp, he boarded his men and steamed four days to Khartoum, there to find the Mahdi in control, as he had been for the previous two days. Hearing of the approach of the relief force, the Mahdi decided to storm Khartoum. He had hesitated to do this, but demands by some of his advisers forced his hand. He did not want to capture the city and then find himself besieged by the British, but neither could he stand to have Gordon’s religion defeat his own. One last call for surrender was again rejected, so the assault began at dawn on 26 January. The Mahdi ordered his men to take Gordon alive, for apparently he had come to respect the Briton’s religious zeal. Although Gordon ordered every male from eight to eighty to man the defenses, few had the strength or will to do so. The popular story of Gordon’s death is that he stood atop the staircase at the governor’s palace unarmed, there to be speared and beheaded. Eyewitnesses, however, claimed that he went down fighting so ferociously that he seemed possessed.
Mafeking
Authors: Davis Paul K
Published: November 2023

The South African Boers had for years watched the British expansion from the southern Cape Colony with great apprehension and caution. The lure of vast deposits of gold and diamonds along with the strategic potential of the Cape of South Africa drew the British to the region like iron to a magnet. In 1895, a British freebooter, Leander Jameson, organized a raid out of Mafeking into the Transvaal to spark a revolt of the English residents of Johannesburg. The Uitlanders (Outlanders, mainly British) were denied citizenship and the franchise while being required to pay taxes and otherwise support the Boer establishment. The expected uprising did not occur. Boer commandoes quickly rounded up the Jameson Expedition like so many cattle. Jameson and his cohorts were turned over to British authorities, who tried them under the Foreign Enlistment Act, slapped them on the wrist, and released them. Boer-British relations sank to a record low. A series of conferences between the Boer and British governments finally caused the Transvaal Volksraad to pass a Franchise Bill in an attempt meet the demands of the Uitlanders. The bill was withdrawn after the British rejected it. The Boers rebuffed further invitations to negotiate a settlement to the Outlander problem.
Port Arthur
Authors: Davis Paul K
Published: November 2023

The negotiations dragged on for months and ultimately the Chinese government was forced to pay an indemnity of $333 million to the offended nations. Of this the United States received $25 million, of which they accepted only half. They dedicated the remainder to establishing a fund for Chinese students to study in America. This gesture may have had the longest-lasting effect of the entire incident. High damage claims and looting the Chinese expected from foreigners, but to have one of the invaders invest in the future of China was shocking. From that point the United States enjoyed a much closer relationship with China than any other Western power, one that lasted through World War II and until the victory of communism in 1949. The Chinese for the most part became no less xenophobic, but the organized resistance to foreign influence that the Boxers symbolized had only a brief life.
Madrid
Authors: Davis Paul K
Published: November 2023

Additional. German and Italian money, manpower, and equipment were vital to Franco’s success, and Soviet aid via weapons, advisers, and sponsorship of the international brigades was also a major factor in delaying the Nationalist victory. Franco, who had been named head of state just before the siege of Madrid began, ruled as dictator until 1975. His originally stated intention, to restore the monarchy, fell by the wayside and that restoration did not occur until after his death. Long after fascism and Nazism collapsed, Franco’s ultraconservative rule remained in Spain. References: Jack Gibbs, The Spanish Civil War (London: Ernest Benn, 1973); Gabriel Jackson, A Concise History of the Spanish Civil War (New York: John Day, 1974); Hugh Thomas, The Spanish Civil War (New York: Harper & Row, 1963 [1961]).
Bilbao
Authors: Davis Paul K
Published: November 2023

On the eve of Spanish Civil War, neither the government nor the rebels could be sure which side the Basques of northern Spain would take. On the one hand the Basque Nationalists had been solidly supporting the reformers in government the previous few years, but they also were a staunchly Catholic population and the Church was solidly on the side of General Francisco Franco. The opening of the conflict on 18 July 1936 found the Basque military men in the north seizing rebellious soldiers and declaring their loyalty. Unfortunately for the government, it was questionable just how loyal the mainly conservative Basques would be to an administration that rapidly turned socialist. Unfortunately for the rebellious Nationalists, the Basques disliked anything resembling a military dictatorship, since the Republic had just recently granted them autonomy. There was hardly political unanimity in the northern provinces, however. The Basque Nationalists were dominant in the eastern provinces of Vizcaya and Guipozcoa. The province of Santander in the center was more socialist in its outlook, the labor movement Union General def Trabajadores (UGT) being the strongest party. The westernmost province of Asturias had an outlook that was almost completely communist, but was unwilling to take direction from any outside authority, including the government they fought for. This political strife was reflected in the region’s military performance, which was haphazard at best since rival units often refused to take orders from anyone else.
Tobruk
Authors: Davis Paul K
Published: November 2023

World War II was nine months old when combat began in North Africa. Italy officially entered the war on 10 June and the following day suffered casualties inflicted by British raids striking out of Egypt. Italian dictator Benito Mussolini’s long-term dream was to reestablish the Roman Empire, making the Mediterranean Sea “an Italian lake.” Italy had controlled Libya since 1912, and that was the base from which Mussolini hoped to seize the Suez Canal and the Middle Eastern oil fields for the Axis. With France under German attack simul­taneously, the British were in no position to commit any more troops to Egypt than were already stationed there. As it turned out, that would be sufficient in the short run. For the first few weeks the British raided regularly up the coast road into the Libyan province of Cyrenaica, shooting up enemy facilities and capturing prisoners. Italian Marshal Rodolpho Graziani responded on 13 September by sending his 10th Army slowly but successfully into Egypt. When it halted to bring up road building equipment, two British divisions struck and proceeded to annihilate the Italian force. By 9 February 1941 Major General Richard O’Connor’s British troops controlled Cyrenaica and had inflicted 130,000 casualties on the Italians.
Sevastopol
Authors: Davis Paul K
Published: November 2023

When Nazi forces invaded the Soviet Union in June 1941, three army groups aimed at specific targets: Army Group North to capture Leningrad, Army Group Center to capture Moscow, and Army Group South to drive for the oil fields of the Caucasus. As German forces drove toward the Black Sea in the south, the Soviet naval base at Sevastopol, on the Crimean peninsula, became a prime target. Possession of Sevastopol would deprive the Soviets of their only warm water port. It did not take the Germans long to expel the bulk of Soviet forces from the Crimean peninsula, accomplishing that task in the autumn of 1941. Occupation of the Crimea and capture of the port of Sevastopol fell to General Erich von Manstein, commanding XI Army. The opening assault began on 30 October and lasted until 21 November, but the Germans made little headway against the three defensive lines. Ships of the Black Sea Navy gave fire support to the defenders and played a key role in beating back the attacks. A second major assault began on 17 December and went on for two weeks; the Germans made more progress during this attempt with gains on the northern and eastern perimeters. Manstein was forced to seal off the city with five divisions, however, when the Soviets launched a counteroffensive in late December 1941. In one of the largest Soviet amphibious operations of World War II, 40,000 troops landed on the Kerch peninsula, extending off the eastern coast of the Crimea. The Soviets enjoyed early success, capturing the city of Feodosia, where they found their first evidence of Nazi atrocities: thousands of Jews were buried in trenches just outside town. The arrival of these Russian forces threatened to encircle Manstein, so he was obliged to leave a holding force at Sevastopol and turn to meet the menace to his rear.
Monte Cassino
Authors: Davis Paul K
Published: November 2023

January they were running out of food and wounded were lying untended in the streets. On 10 January the final Soviet push began and by the end of the month the German forces in Stalingrad had been divided in two. The Germans did better on the defensive than they had on the offensive, but too many tanks and men were coming at them to hold out for long. The southern half of the force was eliminated piece by piece while the northern group, around Paulus’s headquarters, held out a bit longer. When contacted by Soviet commanders and asked to surrender, Paulus radioed Hitler for permission. Hitler responded by promoting him to field marshal and reminding him that no German field marshal in history had ever been taken prisoner. Friedrich von Paulus was the first. On 2 February he gave up the defense.
Dien Bien Phu
Authors: Davis Paul K
Published: November 2023

The timing of the victory was all-important. Viet Minh and French representatives met in Geneva in mid-May to discuss Indochina’s future, and the French entered the talks on the defensive. The war had become increasingly unpopular in France and few wanted to continue it. The French agreed to grant independence to Vietnam, Cambodia, and Laos. Within two years her personnel would be removed and elections held. In the meantime, the French-sponsored administration based in Saigon was to oversee the area of Vietnam below latitude 17 degrees, while Ho Chi Minh’s administration would control the area above that line. Each was to remove their troops from the other’s territory, and free elections in 1956 would determine the new government. France’s empire, such as it was, began its collapse in Southeast Asia. France had lost most of her overseas possessions after the Napoleonic wars; the colonies that she had acquired in the latter nineteenth century now began to break away. Algeria was next to try for independence, staging its own guerrilla war, but the French applied military lessons learned fighting the Viet Minh. Unfortunately for both France and Algeria, political lessons were not learned. The final result was a bloodbath in North Africa and political turmoil in the French government and army before Algeria gained her independence anyway.