Military History

From the foundation of the Order of St John in 11th century Syria as a community of lay brethren intent on providing shelter, care and assistance to pilgrims visiting the Holy Land, the destiny of the Hospitaller Knights was irremediably moulded for most of the next millennium. Geography, circumstance, religious ideology, and the pursuit of wealth all conspired to transform the future of the Hospitallers into a violent one, in keeping with the surrounding environment of the Middle East and the rest of the Mediterranean. The Order’s attitude to conflict changed, however, when the theatre of war shifted from the Mediterranean to mainland Europe. The acquisition of property in Latin Syria helped chart the course of the Order’s history, rendering the Hospitallers sensitive to events on the continent. Any land property in Europe was at risk of intrusion, occupation or exploitation by armies on the move, and the Hospital’s property was no exception. This study is an analysis of the Order of St John’s contrasting attitudes to violence, and the geographical, political, religious and historical situations that generated such an approach.

The rise, fall and expansion of most kingdoms in pre-colonial Africa were credited to the activities of warfare. To sustain war efforts, various societies and warlords in pre-colonial Africa evolved unique military complexes, strategies and tactics, which they deployed during war times. The blacksmith was the fulcrum of pre-colonial war armory and strategy. The knowledge of iron metallurgy was the exclusive domain of the blacksmith. The knowledge of metallurgy made the blacksmith indispensable in actual execution of wars, hence he fashioned the weapon, went with the army to the battlefield to ensure adequate supply of weapons and repair of worn-out weapons for the reinforcement of the armies in the battleground. All these functions combined, made the blacksmiths an invaluable party in the preparation and actual execution of wars in pre-colonial Africa.

LEGISLATIVE RESOLUTION honoring Colonel Thomas J. Kelly posthumously upon the occasion of his designation as recipient of a Liberty Medal, the highest honor bestowed upon an individual by the New York State Senate.

WHEREAS, It is incumbent upon the people of the State of New York to recognize and acknowledge those within our midst who have made significant contributions to the quality of life therein; and
WHEREAS, Members of the Armed Services from the State of New York, who have served so valiantly and honorably in wars in which this country's freedom was at stake, as well as in the preservation of peace in peacetime, deserve a special salute from this Legislative Body; and
WHEREAS, This Legislative Body is justly proud to honor Colonel Thomas J. Kelly posthumously upon the occasion of his designation as recipient of a Liberty Medal, the highest honor bestowed upon an individual by the New York State Senate; and
WHEREAS, The New York State Senate Liberty Medal was established by resolution and is awarded to individuals who have merited special commendation for exceptional, heroic, or humanitarian acts on behalf of their fellow New Yorkers.

As historians are becoming more aware of the diversity of the Australian prisoner of war experience during the Second World War, increasing numbers of Indigenous Australians' stories are being identified. Through the combined hard work of researchers, families, and communities, a more complete picture of Aboriginal prisoner-of-war experiences is emerging.

Procopius's Secret History has attracted the attention of a generation of social historians. Yet, the significant, albeit subtler ways, in which gender colors Procopius’s most significant work, the Wars, has received far less notice. Seeking to address this imbalance, the present study examines how gender shapes Procopius’s presentation of the Goths, East Romans, and Italo-Romans in his Wars. Rather than uncovering the Goths, East Romans, and Italians “as they really were,” this paper seeks to unearth some of the purpose and reasoning behind Procopius’s gendered depictions and ethnicizing worldview. A careful investigation of Procopius’s discussions about the manly and unmanly provides crucial insights into not just the larger narrative but also the historian’s knotty authorial agenda. Despite the Gothic War’s reliance on classical ethnic and gender patterns, Procopius did not compose his history in a vacuum. Indeed, the gendered discourse, which undergirds much of the Wars, must be understood within the broader context of the political debates reverberating around the late antique Mediterranean at a time when control of Italy from Constantinople was contested.

“La educación militar en la transición democrática argentina. Tensiones entre concepciones tradicionales y reformistas en el contexto de crisis profesional e institucional del Ejército. 1984-1986”. En: Páginas. Revista Digital de la Escuela de Historia de la Universidad Nacional de Rosario. Año 9, Nº19. Enero-abril de 2017. pp.98-121. ISSN 1851-992X.

Clausewitz è celeberrimo per la sua opera Vom Kriege (Della Guerra), unanimemente considerato uno dei classici imprescindibili dell'arte militare, ma pochi sanno che il Vom Kriege raccoglie solo i primi tre volumi dei lavori incompiuti del generale prussiano (Hinterlassene Werke über Krieg und Kriegführung), gli altri, secondo il principio, caro all'autore, che gli historische Beispiele machen Alles klar (gli esempi storici rendono tutto chiaro), essendone il complemento ed il sussidio. Infatti, nei volumi successivi, il riferimento corre continuamente alle enunciazioni dei primi tre volumi, per dimostrarne la validità e discutere i rischi della mancata applicazione dei princìpi, talvolta per emendarli, migliorarli ed adattarli alle situazioni specifiche, senza in ogni caso mai discostarsene. Questa opera, il primo dei restanti volumi, il quarto in generale, dunque non è solo il resoconto talvolta impietoso degli accadimenti militari e politici, ma una dettagliata ed acuta analisi dei processi decisionali e delle opzioni tattiche, degli errori e delle scelte corrette di entrambi i contendenti della prima Campagna d'Italia (1796-97). È anche un riconoscimento, spesso intriso di spunti polemici e malcelato odio, delle capacità del giovane generale Bonaparte, che al suo primo comando indipendente, trasformò un esercito di straccioni, indisciplinati e demotivati, privi di vestiario, vettovaglie e armamento, in un formidabile strumento di guerra, che non solo inflisse continue e ripetute sconfitte a due eserciti alleati, ma impose trattati di pace - qui riprodotti - con pesanti condizioni in termini economici, politici e territoriali a tutti gli altri stati italiani, cancellandone persino uno dalla mappa geografica. Nomi come Montenotte, Millesimo, Dego, Lodi, Lonato, Castiglione, Rovereto, Bassano, La Favorita, San Giorgio, Arcole, Rivoli, Mantova, non furono altro che le principali tappe di una delle campagne più decisive della storia e sancirono il mito di Napoleone come generale abilissimo, fortunato ed invincibile e l'inizio della sua parabola stupefacente, mossa da un'ambizione senza più limiti che portò guerra e distruzione, ma anche il fuoco inestinguibile dei valori rivoluzionari, in tutta l'Europa nel corso dei successivi vent'anni. In appendice, ad opera del curatore, una esaustiva cronologia, dieci ordini di battaglia, un dizionario dei principali protagonisti della campagna, una raccolta di trattati e armistizi, una corposa bibliografia.

"By Fire and Sword:  Bellum Hostile and 'Civilians' in the Hundred Years War,” in Civilians in the Path of War, ed. Mark Grimsley and Clifford J. Rogers (Lincoln: University of Nebraska Press, 2002): 33-78.  Examines the nature of and reasons for the use of violence against civilians during the Hundred Years War.

NAIEVE AND QUIXOTIC GOVERNOR GENERAL HARDINGE HAD SEEN NO MILITARY ACTION SINCE 30 YEARS AND WAS A TOTAL NOVICE AS FAR AS INDIAN WARFARE WAS CONCERNED- HIS DECISION TO WAIT FOR LITTLER’S DIVISION WAS A MASSIVE BLUNDER –BECAUSE LITTLER’S DIVISION AFTER A FEW MINUTES OF DRUBBING BY SIKH ARTILLERY FLED TO MISRIWALA AND PLAYED ABSOLUTELY NO ROLE IN THE FIRST DAYS BATTLE
June 2022
DOI: 10.13140/RG.2.2.25276.92805
Project: incompetence
Agha H Amin


NAIEVE AND QUIXOTIC GOVERNOR GENERAL HARDINGE HAD SEEN NO MILITARY ACTION SINCE 30 YEARS AND WAS A TOTAL NOVICE AS FAR AS INDIAN WARFARE WAS CONCERNED- HIS DECISION TO WAIT FOR LITTLER’S DIVISION WAS A MASSIVE BLUNDER –BECAUSE LITTLER’S DIVISION AFTER A FEW MINUTES OF DRUBBING BY SIKH ARTILLERY FLED TO MISRIWALA AND PLAYED ABSOLUTELY NO ROLE IN THE FIRST DAYS BATTLE
• June 2022
• DOI:
• 10.13140/RG.2.2.25276.92805
• Project:
• incompetence
• Agha H Amin




The initial plan of Gough was to attack the Sikh entrenchment at FerozShah from the east without waiting for Littler who was ordered to march from Ferozpur and join Gough.
Instead of honestly assessing this plan J.W Fortescue made fun of it and subjected it to ridicule , finally being totally non committal about the plan , having chances of success or failure.
Eminent British military historian Rait brilliantly summarised Hardinge as “a brave man ; but he had seen no fighting from the Waterloo campaign to the date of battle of Moodke .He had been secretary of state for war but he had never known the responsibility of high command in the sight of an enemy .   

Another direct participant described Hardinge’s pathetic naievette as “The Indian army knows right well that it was Lord Gough’s earnest wish to fight the battle at 11 o clock in the morning, but he was overruled by the governor general (not the  second in command ) who insisted upon waiting for Littler. His assistance was purchased at the frightful expenditure of 4 hours of daylight and a vast expenditure of strength , energy etc on part of our men .” 
•
•
Major Agha.H.Amin was commissioned in the old PAVO Cavalry in March 1983.
He was educated at Saint Marys Academy Lalazar and Forman Christian College Lahore.
He served in various command, staff, research, logistics and instructional positions in his military career, including mechanical transport officer of an armoured brigade headquarter, mechanical transport officer of an armouredregiment , general staff officer research trial and publications at School of Armour , Instructor Class C at Tactical Wing School of Armour and finally independent command directly under a major general as Officer Commanding 5 Independent Armoured Squadron.
In his civilian career performed projects like Uzbekistan Kabul Transmission lines concrete foundations, CASA 1000 Line survey as sub contractor of SNC Lavalin Canada and Turkmenistan Mazar transmission line as sub contractor of FichtnerGmbh Germany.
Also served as Assistant Editor Defence Journal Karachi , Executive Editor Globe Karachi , Editor Journal of Afghanistan Studies financed by Danish foreign ministry , Editor Intelligence Review , Editor Pakistan Military Review , Editor Journal of Book Reviews, Editor Indian Military Review etc.
Authored over 120 books and journals. Articles published in Pakistan Army Journal and Citadel Journal of Command and Staff College Quetta.
Established unprecedented and todate unbroken record of an independent tank squadron defeating 7 tank regiments in a corps level firing competition.
Recommended creation of army commands in Pakistan Army command and staff college Citadel Journal issue 2/98 in 1998 which was adopted by the Pakistan Army in 2005-7.

Has advised various states and international companies on security matters as sub contractor of Spanish , USA and Hongkong based companies.
Contact e mail :--- mazen@csio-ops.com and pavocavalry@gmail.com
•

NOW OUT OF PRINT 

Title: Prussian Napoleonic Landwehr Infantry and Cavalry 1813-15: Landsturm, Volunteer Cavalry and Streifkorps
Publisher: Partizan Press
Pages: 224 pages and over 380 colour illustrations.

This is the companion volume to the successful two volumes on the Prussian Infantry 1808-1840.

The Landwehr and volunteers were essential in the success of the Prussian Army during the Wars of Liberation (1813-1815) against Napoleon. Their participation permitted the army to quadruple in size by August 1813 and become the cutting edge of the Allied Armies.

This unique work is the companion to the author’s two volume reference on the Prussian Infantry 1808-1840. It documents the campaign history, organisation, uniforms, horse furniture and their commanders, whether Landwehr (infantry and cavalry), Landsturm, Civil Guard, National Cavalry or Volunteers (Freiwilliger Jäger, Freikorps, and Streifkorps). For the first time in one volume the great diversity of their uniforms are lavishly illustrated and explored in detail, not previously attempted even in German.

The work draws upon all the essential sources on Prussian uniforms, including the contemporary works of Elberfeld and Genty. The 380+ colour illustrations include 331 of uniforms after Hans, Brauer, Woldemar Friedrich, Herbert Knötel, Richard Knötel, Bob Marrion, Carl Röchling and Moritz Ruhl plus 18 tables, 12 order of battles, 110 uniform details, saddlecloths and lance pennants.

La Russie est indéniablement la grande oubliée, en France, du centenaire de la Première Guerre mondiale et plus encore lorsqu’il s’agit de l’histoire des brigades venues combattre sur le front d’Orient. Cet article tend à montrer qu’il y a pourtant là un terrain particulièrement fertile, tant du point de vue de l’histoire diplomatique que de l’expérience combattante proprement dite.
Plan :
I - Entente et fronts périphériques en 1915
II - Les brigades russes au combat en Macédoine, 1916-1917
III - 1917 : Révolution macédoniennes
IV - Le démantèlement des brigades russes en Macédoine

To affirm his political regime, Pandolfo Petrucci (1452-1512) took advantage of the potentialities
given by the Camera del Comune. It had been the arsenal of the city of Siena for a long time, but
Pandolfo changed its organization and widened its assignments. The maintenance and production
of weapons was still the principal purpose of this institution of the city. Under Pandolfo the production
of artilleries, ammunitions and the fortification activity was increased, thanks to specialists
like Francesco di Giorgio, Giacomo Cozzarelli and Vannoccio Biringucci, personalities who deeply
influenced the technical and military culture of all Europe. The Camera del Comune also managed
the military intelligence, useful tool to the dissembling politics of the Petrucci, and to the management
of the army. The Army of Siena was composed by a Condotta in Aspetto, which Pandolfo used
to create alliances. But the most important troops were the Provvisionati di Piazza, a professional
infantry faithful to the political regime and depending, both economically and for the supply of
weapons, on the Chamber of the town and the leadership of Pandolfo. The military politics of Pandolfo
Petrucci brought Siena among the greatest European powers of that time but its purposes,
mainly finalized to the maintenance of his own personal power, obstructed a true modernization
of the war apparatus of Siena, which in the following years had been inferior than its adversaries.

Throughout the Second World War, a wide variety of methods were used to promote the actions and characters of the aviators in the Royal Air Force in Britain. In particular, flying clothing was repeatedly included in visual representations of these aviators to encourage their recognition and appreciation by the British public. This article examines visual representations of Royal Air Force aviators and their flying clothing in material including posters and films produced for domestic consumption in Britain during the Second World War (1939 1945). It is argued that the symbolic use of flying clothing in visual material produced and circulated during this period can be divided into three categories of use as propaganda: as a symbol to aid audiences' identification of aviators; as a means to invite interest and fascination with the Royal Air Force; and as a visual representation to characterise and contextualise depictions of aviators and their surroundings. This usage served to promote Royal Air Force aviators in a manner that encouraged recruitment as well as enhanced popular support for the Royal Air Force and its contribution to Britain's war effort.

Dwight David Eisenhower won the 1952 presidential election with a mandate to end the bloody stalemate on the Korean peninsula. The country was frustrated with over two years of conflict with no end in sight. America was bogged down in its first “limited war” and turned to the former supreme commander and national hero who led American and British forces to victory against Nazi Germany less than a decade before. Eisenhower visited the Korean front in December of 1952 as promised during his election campaign and also kept his commitment to end the fighting in Korea seven months into his presidency. Both President Eisenhower and Secretary of State John Foster Dulles credited their use of nuclear weapons coercion to end the communist delay tactics at the negotiations at Panmunjom to bring about the July 1953 truce. This also validated their New Look approach to national defense threatening “massive retaliation” when U.S. national vital interests were at stake.

Scholars have been divided in the six decades since the truce in Korea ended the war, or “police action” using the Truman administration’s euphemism. The debate and historiography centers on cynicism regarding the effectiveness of “massive retaliation” as a defense policy in general, and specifically whether President Eisenhower’s hint of considering the utilization of nuclear weapons to break the deadlock in Korea produced the truce. Some scholars assert no such nuclear threat occurred; and as David Mayers contends it was the combination of Stalin’s death in March of 1953 with the new Soviet leadership wishing to reduce tensions with the U.S. to concentrate on political consolidation and economic development.  It is also asserted China and North Korea were weary of the war and also wanted to focus on domestic economic development as their primary motivation to end the fighting in Korea.

Questo lavoro si prefigge lo scopo di descrivere le reti di spionaggio e di sabotaggio, le missioni e gli agenti dei servizi segreti tedeschi e della RSI inviati nell’Italia centro-meridionale, tra il 1943 e il 1945, con l’obiettivo di contrastare l’avanzata Alleata nella Penisola. I due servizi segreti tedeschi, l’Abwehr e il Sicherheitsdienst, riorganizzati dopo l’Armistizio, reclutarono agenti italiani (provenienti dalla Milizia o dalle neonate Brigate Nere ma anche dalla Decima Mas di Borghese) per operazioni di spionaggio e sabotaggio oltre le linee Alleate. Anche gli stessi fascisti, tramite il neonato SID ed altri gruppi come quello del Principe Pignatelli o l’Ufficio Pucci-Del Massa, tentarono di pianificare reti spionistiche ma anche di porre le basi per la sopravvivenza del fascismo all’indomani della fine della guerra.

Shorter English Version: https://www.academia.edu/966274/The_Kingdom_of_Hungary_and_the_Habsburg_Monarchy_in_the_Sixteenth_Century._Translated_from_the_Hungarian_by_Thomas_J._and_Helen_D._DeKornfeld_Boulder_Colorado_Social_Science_Monographs_Wayne_New_Jersey_Center_for_Hungarian_Studies_and_Publications_Inc._New_York_Distributed_by_Columbia_University_Press_2009._East_European_Monographs_DCCXXXV._CHSP_Hungarian_Studies_Series_18._xviii_410_p

The Texas Rangers are an iconic symbol of both Texas and the American West. As citizen soldiers and lawmen the Rangers have left an indelible mark in the annals of history and American culture. This book offers a balanced and informative history of the Ranger corps. The author integrates both the traditionalist view of the Rangers as heroic defenders of Texan liberty and justice with the revisionist scholarship of more recent historians which has exposed a darker side to the corps including instances of brutality, corruption, racism and on occasion exceptionally high levels of violence. A Breed Apart: The History of the Texas Rangers explores the history, character and development of the Texas Rangers from their creation as an irregular frontier force to their current status as highly trained and well respected agents of law enforcement. The book provides an excellent resource for any reader wishing to understand why the Texas Rangers remain such powerful historical symbols and continue to exert such fascination in the public imagination.

The Drakkar was the Viking war ship, the Dromon that of the Byzantine world.  The Vikings and Byzantines collided, cooperated, fought for and against each other. 

Since the Dromon (and other galleys in the Med) was rowed standing up, perhaps a look at the Drakkar or other Viking style ship did also.

The Dromon went on as galleys up to the 1700's while the Drakkar got fat and short and became the head of long line of sailing ships.