Military History

On September 7, 1940, shortly after 17:00 hours, nearly 300 German bombers, escorted by twice as many fighters, launched an attack on London's East End. They bombed Woolwich Arsenal, a power station, a gas plant, the docks, and the city. Two hours later, a further 200 bombers appeared. The bombing continued throughout the night, with the final a...

From Erwin Rommel's point of view, things did go “all fine.” Four days later, thanks to his daring leadership, his division pushed past the French positions on the River Meuse. In the days that followed, his tanks - and a host of tanks from other panzer divisions - surged into northern France, heading for the English Channel. By June 1940, Franc...

At 08:00 hours on August 31, 1939, a contingent of German soldiers masquerading as Poles “assaulted” a German customs facility on the Polish-German border and temporarily seized a German radio station. The “Poles” subsequently withdrew, leaving numerous corpses as evidence of the confrontation. The corpses, attired in German uniforms, were victi...

The Ordnungspolizei (Order Police or Orpo) served as a primary force for the security of Nazi Germany. In the 1930s, Heinrich Himmler, leader of the SS, and Kurt Daluege, commander-in-chief of the Order Police, completely restructured the police force of the Weimar Republic into several robust militarized units.

Hitler favored Walther Model, the youngest Generalfeldmarschall (Generalfeldmarschall) in the Wehrmacht during World War II, as a commander. He was a formidable and resolute leader, especially in defensive situations, and received significant recognition during his illustrious career.

Erich von Manstein was among the most accomplished German commanders of World War II. An advocate of the German doctrine of Bewegungskrieg (maneuver warfare), he devised the operational strategy for the German incursion in the Ardennes Forest, which resulted in the swift capture of France in 1940.

One of the 20th century's most iconic characters was Thomas Edward Lawrence (1888–1935), known as "Lawrence of Arabia" or T.E. Lawrence. Though not a career soldier, his World War I achievements changed the outcome. In fact, this amateur soldier helped create the contemporary Middle East.

For the people of Arabia and the Syrian provinces, the implosion of Ottoman power following the war had profound effects. Few who became involved in the revolt could have imagined that the final dispensation would turn out as it did. The Middle Eastern region had been changed entirely.