In the Battle of Waterloo (Sunday 18 June 1815[5] near Waterloo, Belgium) the French Empire under Napoleon Bonaparte defeated by the Prussian army and the Anglo-Allied army. The defeat at Waterloo put an end to Napoleon's rule as the French emperor. After the Battle
Napoleon surrendered to the British, and was exiled to Saint Helena, where he died in 1821.
The battlefield is in present-day Belgium, about eight miles (12 km) SSE of Brussels, and about a mile (1.6 km) from the town of Waterloo.
Portuguese Empire
The Portuguese Empire (Portuguese: "Império Português") was the first global empire in history. It spread from South America to Africa, India and South East Asia. It began with the Portuguese exploration of the world during the 15th century and it lasted longer than all the other modern European empires. It lasted almost five centuries. This is longer than the Spanish, British, and French Empires.
The Portuguese Empire had trade with the following areas:
The 1890 British Ultimatum was an ultimatum by the British government, delivered on 11 January 1890 to Portugal. The ultimatum forced the retreat of Portuguese military forces from areas in Africa which had been claimed by Portugal, but which the United Kingdom occupied.
The Portuguese Empire, like the British, French and German empires, was fatally damaged by the two world wars fought in the 20th century. These European powers were pressured by the Soviet Union and the United States and by independence movements inside the colonial territories. By the end of the 20th century these colonial empires were history.
The rise of Soviet influence in the working class, and the cost of the Portuguese Colonial War (1961–1974), led to the collapse of the Portuguese Second Republic (Estado Novo) in 1974. The National Salvation Junta (Junta de Salvação Nacional) - was to end the wars and take Portugal out of its African colonies. These events made thousands of Portuguese refugees from Portugal's African territories.
Civil wars soon broke out elsewhere. After years of fighting, Portgual gave Macau to China in 1999.
The seven former colonies of Portugal have Portuguese as their official language. They are members of the Community of Portuguese Language Countries with Portugal. Today Portuguese is one of the world's major languages. It is the language of Brazil, which is the largest country in South America.
Hundred Days
The Hundred Days, is the period between Napoleon Bonaparte's return from exile on Elba to Paris on 20 March 1815 and the second restoration of King Louis XVIII on 8 July 1815 (a period of 111 days). This period is also known as the War of the Seventh Coalition, and includes the Waterloo Campaign and the Neapolitan War.
Battle of the Teutoburg Forest
The Battle of the Teutoburg Forest was a military battle that took place in the year 9 AD. In the battle, an alliance of Germanic tribes won a major victory over three Roman legions. The Germanic tribes were led by Arminius; the Roman legions by Publius Quinctilius Varus.
This was more than a victory, it was the complete destruction of three Roman legions and all their commanders; the few men who survived were made slaves. It was one of the two greatest disasters in Roman military history (the other being at the Battle of Cannae). Apart from occasional raids and campaigns, the Romans never again held the Germanic land across the Rhine.
The battle began a seven-year war which ended with the Rhine as the boundary of the Roman Empire for the next four hundred years, until the decline of the Western Roman Empire.
The Roman commander, Varus, was about the fourth most important man in Rome. He was known and feared because of his ruthless actions and his crucifixion of defeated enemies. It is certain this was known to the Germans, and may have helped the tribes come together to resist him.
The German commander was Arminius, who had been given a Roman military education. He had spent his youth in Rome as a hostage. Therefore, he knew Roman military methods: this knowledge was to be crucial.
Later, Arminius returned to Germania with Varus, and became his trusted advisor. In secret, he forged an alliance of Germanic tribes that had traditionally been enemies. He was helped to do this by the anger over Varus' insolence and cruelty to the people he defeated.
"...Stratagem was, therefore, indispensable; and it was necessary to blind Varus to their schemes until a favorable opportunity should arrive for striking a decisive blow..." British historian Edward Shepherd Creasy (1812–1878)
While Varus was on his way from his summer camp, west of the Weser river, to the winter headquarters near the Rhine, he heard reports of a local rebellion. This was faked by Arminius.
"...This was represented to Varus as an occasion which required his prompt attendance at the spot; but he was kept in studied ignorance of its being part of a concerted national rising; and he still looked on Arminius as his submissive vassal..." Edward Shepherd Creasy
Recent archaeological finds place the battle at Kalkriese Hill in Osnabrück County, Lower Saxony. The Romans must at this time have been marching northwestward from the area that is now the city of Detmold, passing east of Osnabrück; they must then have camped in this area before being attacked.
Varus's forces included three legions, six cohorts of auxiliary troops (non-citizens or allied troops) and three squadrons of cavalry. Many of them had little combat experience with Germanic fighters under local conditions.
The Roman forces were not marching in combat formation, and there were also large numbers of camp-followers. As they entered the forest they found the track narrow and muddy; according to Dio Cassius a violent storm had also arisen. He also writes that Varus neglected to send out advance reconnaissance parties.
The line of march was dangerously stretched out – estimates are that it was more than 15 km (9 miles), and was perhaps as long as 20 km (12 miles). It was then suddenly attacked by Germanic warriors who were carrying some light swords, large lances and spears that came with short and narrow blades, so sharp and warrior friendly that they could be used as required. The Germanic warriors surrounded the entire Roman army and rained down javelins on the intruders.
The Romans were able to set up a fortified night camp, and the next morning broke out into open country, near the modern town of Ostercappeln. The break-out cost them heavy losses, as did a further attempt to escape by marching through another forest area, with heavy rains continuing. The rain stopped them from using their bows because sinew strings become slack when wet, and left them virtually defenseless as their shields also became waterlogged.
The Romans then began a night march to escape, but marched into another trap that Arminius had set, at the foot of a hill near Osnabrück. There, the sandy, open strip on which the Romans could march easily narrowed at the bottom of the hill. There was a gap of only about 100 m between the woods and the swampland at the edge of the Great Bog. The road was blocked by a trench, and, towards the forest, an earthen wall had been built along the roadside. This let the tribesmen to attack the Romans from cover.
The Romans made a desperate attempt to storm the wall, but failed. The Germanic warriors then stormed the field and slaughtered the Romans; Varus committed suicide.
Around 15,000–20,000 Roman soldiers must have died; not only Varus, but also many of his officers are said to have taken their own lives by falling on their swords in the approved manner. Tacitus wrote that many officers were sacrificed by the Germans as part of their indigenous religious ceremonies, cooked in pots and their bones used for rituals. However, others were ransomed, and some of the common soldiers were enslaved.