6 Military Campaigns of Frederick Barbarossa
Frederick Hohenstaufen, also known as Frederick Barbarossa, became Emperor Frederick I of the Holy Roman Empire in 1152, succeeding his uncle Conrad III. With a…
Operation Sealion: Hitler’s Plan to Invade Britain
Great Britain’s success in holding out against Nazi Germany has become the stuff of national legend. The only country in Western Europe to successfully stand…
Making Magna Carta: King John’s Civil War
The very foundation of the English constitution is based in conflict. Magna Carta, the basis of much English law, was written in a failed attempt…
Three Medieval Crusades in North Africa
The word “crusade” normally evokes images of war in the Middle East, with European crusaders fighting Muslim Arabs. But crusades took place all over Europe…
Reinhard Heydrich, Head of the Gestapo, Who Hitler Called “The Man with the Iron Heart”
Few men in all of human history have been responsible for such monstrous acts as Reinhard Heydrich. The head of the Gestapo, the Nazi secret police,…
How Mass Warfare Transformed Nations: Europe’s Military Revolution
Warfare has changed dramatically over the centuries. From small bands defending local communities, it has turned into the clash of vast armies on an industrial…
Charles the Bold, Burgundy’s Flawed Reforming Warlord
Charles the Bold was a man who could have changed the face of Europe. Inheriting the Valois duchy of Burgundy in 1467, he was one…
Circling the 15th Century Wagons: The Hussite Wars
One of the strangest military formations ever seen in Europe, Hussite war wagons struck fear into their opponents during the early 15th century. Fighting under…
A Bridge Too Far: The Battle for Arnhem – At A Glance
Operation Market Garden was one of the boldest moves by Allied forces in the Second World War. The ambition shown in this plan proved greater…
The Brutal Reality of Naval Warfare in the Hundred Years War
War at sea in the Middle Ages could be a terrible business. Rather than a firefight between ships, it consisted of fierce boarding actions with…
How Medieval Crusaders Thought and Felt About Their Wars
A knight stands on the walls of Jerusalem, staring out at the parched land beyond the city. He is weary from weeks of travel and…
4 Reasons the Romans Went to War
Ruthless conquerors and efficient warriors, we remember the Roman legions as a force that swept across Europe and the Mediterranean, crushing everything in their path.…