CARTHAGINIAN ARMIES

Hannibal and his staff at the battle of Zama – art by Giuseppe Rava The Carthaginian army has a mix of all kinds of troops, because of his high proportion of, Spanish and African allies. The Carthaginians relied heavily on mercenaries. Polybius (6.52.4) believed the Roman army was superior to the Carthaginian because Rome fielded […]

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British Seven Years’ War in Germany

The 12th (Suffolk Regiment) at the Battle of Minden. 1st August 1759 by Brian Palmer. The Battle of Minden, 1st August 1759 by David Rowlands. Initially, in large part due to the political sensitivity of appearing to use British resources to assist the unpopular Electorate of Hanover, the British government refused to get involved in […]

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Islamic Jihad in Sudan

Headlong charge to destruction. Warriors of the Ansar erupt from ambush, shields and swords adding to the terror created by bristling hairstyles and wailing battle cries. In 1881, Muhammad Ahmad Ibn As-sayyid ‘abd Allah (1844-1885), a Sudanese religious thinker, announced that Allah had appointed him to purify Islam and to strike down any government that […]

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First Day Somme Part I

On 1 July 1916 the barrage swelled up to a crescendo at 06.30 and the men got ready to advance across No Man’s Land. This is the moment that has come to symbolise the whole of the Great War. The ‘lions led by donkeys’ school see it as a savage indictment of the stupidity of […]

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First Day Somme Part II

Without the benefit of hindsight, rightly or wrongly, Haig was determined to resist tactical interference from Joffre and decided to reinforce the relative degree of success attained in the south. To this end he reorganised his forces, directing the Fourth Army under Rawlinson to push on in the southern sector, while Gough’s Reserve Army (later […]

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Minorca

25th Regiment of Foot. A lengthy period of service in Minorca (1768-80) was followed in 1782 by an expedition to Gibraltar, which was under attack by Spain. In the same year the Regiment was retitled ‘The 25th (Sussex) Regiment of Foot’. It was thought that the addition of an English county name would stimulate recruiting! […]

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Modern British Army

Lord Guthrie Britain was the last of the great powers to introduce conscription and the first to abandon it. For all but twenty-four years of the British army’s continuous existence since 1660 it has relied on volunteers. Unlike that of any other major power during those three and a half centuries, however, the British army […]

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Army of Japan

Rise of militarism The military had a strong influence on Japanese society from the Meiji Restoration. Almost all leaders in Japanese society during the Meiji period (whether in the military, politics or business) were ex-samurai or descendants of samurai, and shared a set of values and outlooks. The early Meiji government viewed Japan as threatened […]

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IMPERIAL JAPANESE ARMY Part I

The Japanese Army that waged World War II emerged in the 1870s and 1880s during the rapid modernizing period of the Meiji Restoration. Into World War II it retained some pre”C20th-century ideas and a unique military culture that had roots in bushidō and in other samurai and premodern traditions and views of honor and death […]

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