History of War

From the conquering legions of Ancient Rome to the thunderous tank battles of World War II and beyond, History of War takes you deeper inside the minds of history’s fighting men, further under the bonnets of some of the world’s most devastating war machines, and higher above the battlefield to see the broad sweep of conflict as it happened.

Welcome

CONTRIBUTORS

OKINAWA UNDER FIRE • 31 May 1945

MASKS ON • 9 September 1990

‘MIG ALLEY’ • June 1951

TIMELINE OF THE BLACK SEA FLEET • Since its founding in 1783, Russia’s prized, powerful and instrumental naval force has remained an ominous presence in Eastern Europe

BUILDING THE FLEET • For more than two centuries Russia jealously guarded its only warm-water port, located in south-eastern Europe

THREE AGAINST ONE • Fears of an emboldened Russia trampling over Europe made France and Britain form a coalition to help the Turks seize Crimea

FROM POTEMKIN TO STALIN • The collapse of the Russian Empire and the emergence of the Soviet Union did not lessen the Black Sea’s importance in two World Wars

SOVIET DOMINION • Triumph in World War II settled any argument over who controlled the Black Sea, and with NATO at Russia’s doorstep there was a powerful incentive to militarise the whole region

FROM SLAVA TO MOSKVA • The original Project 1164 warships were designed for maximum firepower in the Black Sea and the eastern Mediterranean

THE MIGHTY EIGHTH OVER EUROPE • Sometimes called the ‘masters of the air’, American bomber crews faced terrible conditions to win the air war over occupied Europe

THE BLOODY 100TH

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SIEGE OF MADRID • At the outbreak of the Spanish Civil War, the Nationalist rebels marched on the capital. When the local Madrileños rose up to defend their city, they could not have imagined that their brave defence would last two-and-a-half years

MUTTERKREUZ MOTHER’S CROSS • This unusual award was introduced to boost the Third Reich’s population, as well as to imprint the warped ideals of National Socialism onto the role of motherhood. Its origins can be found in the Führer’s relationship with his own mother

DESIGN

THE PERFECT FAMILY FOR THE STATE

DAVID LORD • His aircraft ablaze, this pilot’s decision to make a second approach to a drop zone near Arnhem earned him the RAF Transport Command’s only VC

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BUFFALO SOLDIERS AMERICA’S FORGOTTEN FRONTIER FORCE • History once erased the role of Black servicemen in the westward and overseas expansion of the United States, but in recent years stories of their heroism have been revived and their contribution to their nation’s history recognised

COUNTY CLASS CRUISER • The Royal Navy’s interwar heavy cruisers were designed to protect Britain’s trade routes and fight independently across the globe

WHAT IF… CHARLES LINDBERGH HAD RUN FOR PRESIDENT? • Could a fascist really have run for the presidency of the United States in 1940 and won?

THE PAST

THE POSSIBILITY

HITLER'S DREAM OF POWER REQUIRED LOYAL COMMANDERS AND KILLER MACHINES • If Hitler's fantasy of a Germanic empire was to be realised he would need to rely on the courage and competence of military leaders and highly trained units and their cutting-edge equipment. Discover the troops and tools that made Nazi Germany such a formidable foe.

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CHANGING OF THE GUARD • In their new history of the Household Division, co-authors Simon Doughty and Paul de Zulueta cover over five decades of the British Army’s oldest and among its most prestigious regiments. Here they discuss what inspired them to...