A thread has recently blown up on Reddit which asked the question: Germans, Japanese, and Italians of Reddit, What did you learn about WW2 in School? The questioner was specific to the axis countri…
battles
The Pros and Cons of Ancient War Elephants
Elephants are generally peaceful and majestic creatures but throughout history their size and power were used with devastating results on the battlefield. With the adoption of gunpowder elephants faded from the front lines (though they were used in vital logistical roles as late as WWII). In the ancient period with spears and arrows, however, war elephants were a fearsome force to be reckoned with, though not without some serious disadvantages. First, a look at some of the pros of utilizing elephants in battle:
Elephants were absolutely huge compared to anything else in the known world. Considering that the average height of people in the ancient period was several inches shorter than today and horses were not especially large by this time, elephants were quite simply towering imposing figures akin to…
History News Network | Infographic of the Week: The planet’s history of violence over 4,000 years in one simple map
Are you surprised or is it as you would have expected?
A new ‘geography of violence’ map reveals where in the world major battles in the past 4,000 years have taken place.
The interactive journey through ‘every battle’ has been created not from historical records but from entries to Wikipedia.
It was created by a Dutch company LAB1100, a research and development firm established by Pim van Bree and Geert Kessels. Explore the map here.
They used Wikidata and DBpedia, which extracts…
Operation Mincemeat: The Biggest Bluff of WWII
The Second World War is the setting for some of history’s greatest espionage tales. Public imagination is frequently captured by the image of a suave and intelligent agent undertaking covert missions for Queen and country. This post will detail one of the more unusual of these espionage stories – ‘Operation Mincemeat. A plan which was masterminded by Ewen Montagu and targeted the German intelligence orginisation, Abwehr.
The agent used in Operation Mincemeat was worlds away from the charming and sophisticated agent popular culture often likes to depict – he was a semi-literate tramp from Aberbargoed, Wales. This agent’s name was Glyndwr Michael. Whats more is that Michael was already dead when he successfully carried out his mission.
Michael’s personal history is one of sadness and tragedy. His father committed suicide when he was just fifteen years old and his mother died sixteen years later. He was left penniless, homeless, and depressed. Shortly after the death…
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First Night History 