France
FRANCO-SPANISH WARS (1526-1559)Â II
The Chevalier de Villegagnon Nicolas Durand de Villegagnon was born at Provins in the Seine-et-Marne region of France sometime in 1510. His father was a local magistrate, who was ennobled a few years later. He died when Nicolas was only 11 years old. Nicolas was already adept at Latin, and his mother sent the young boy that same year to…
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Elizabeth towards War I
European matchlock musketeers of the Elizabethan period. By the early 1570s the Puritans had grown significantly in numbers and in economic and political clout. They were not only unsatisfied, however, but increasingly discontented. At the same time that they were trying and failing to pressure the government into killing Mary…
Elizabeth towards War II
What is often depicted as the apotheosis of the Elizabethan Age, the turning point at which the wisdom of everything the queen had done was made manifest and the way was cleared for England’s emergence as the greatest of world powers, came in the third week of July 1588. It…
The War of Austrian Succession: 1740-1748 – In Italy
The death of the Chevalier de Belle-Isle, Battle of Assietta. In October 1740, Emperor Charles VI died. In his youth he had held title as the Archduke Charles, claimant to the Spanish crown and for whom the Habsburgs waged the War for the Spanish Succession. He left a single heir,…
Battle of Novi (15 August 1799)
Battle of Novi by Alexander Kotzebue A major battle between French and Austro-Russian armies near the town of Novi in the Italian Piedmont. As the Allies liberated Lombardy and Piedmont, the French Directory made a new effort to turn the tide of the war by appointing a new commander in…
Battle of Eylau (7–8 February 1807)
“Napoleon on the field of Eylau” by Antoine-Jean Gros The Battle of Eylau, 1807 – Situation Early, 8 February The Battle of Eylau, 1807 – Situation About 1600, 8 February Eylau has the dubious distinction of being one of the bloodiest and most futile battles of the Napoleonic Wars. Some…
French lessons of the Great War
A group of 13.2 mm-armed AMR 35s, belonging to 4e RDP, 1re DLM; the vehicle in front, N° 87347, is the second produced and shows the large rosettes typical of this unit from 1938. The French believed that they had mastered the lessons of the Great War. They, of course,…