Germany
Holy Roman Empire and Feudalism
Italy around 1000, short after Otto II’s death in 983. The distinctions between domains, benefices and allodial property remained fluid into the thirteenth century, because it was often not clear how individuals had acquired particular manors and other assets. The greater use of written documentation to record possession inevitably encouraged sharper distinctions and more coherent and exclusive concepts of personal…
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The Prussian army and the armed forces of revolutionary France
The inadequacies of the Prussian army had been exposed in the period 1792–95 when, as part of the first coalition, it encountered the then pre-Napoleonic French revolutionary army of mostly untrained volunteers and lost. Valmy 1792 France was fortunate that her enemies were slow in reacting, the more so since…
Leipzig: Battle of the Nations
Johann Peter Krafft (1780-1856)-‘victory declaration after the battle of Leipzig, 1813’-oil on canvas-1813 Berlin-Deutsches Historiches Museum. The Battle of Leipzig, also known as the Battle of the Nations, was fought between Napoleon and the three Allied armies that had been approaching the city for several days: the Army of Bohemia…
Battle of Lechfeld, 9 August 955
In the year 896 the Hungarians (also known as Magyars) crossed the Carpathian Mountains from the steppes adjacent to the Black Sea. They were primarily warriors, horse archers, when they settled on the plains of the middle Danube, whence they made periodic incursions into western Europe. Their invasions came to…
The Bayerns
The III. Sqn henceforth comprised the Königs, plus Bayern, which was finally fully operational. She was joined in the fleet by her sister Baden early in 1917, which, once fully worked-up, replaced Friedrich der Große as fleet flagship on 14 March. Friedrich der Große then joined her sisters in the…
Air Battle over Lys
During the Battle of the Lys, the German ground support tactics were further refined. All was overshadowed by the death of Richthofen, however. Ten squadrons from I Brigade, five of them corps observation units, plus two from V Brigade augmented the efforts of Freeman’s wing and III Brigade. Major-General John…
The Independent State of Croatia
Soldiers of the Black Legion at Koševo, Sarajevo. The Independent State of Croatia (NDH) was created from the territory of Croatia and Bosnia-Herzegovina. After the attempt failed to get the popular peasant leader Vladko Maček to take over the reins of government under German protection, the SS-Standartenführer Edmund Veesenmayer put…