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F. Buchanan's Account of the Battle of Hampton Roads: Excerpts From the Official Action Report
Confederate Flag Officer Franklin Buchanan (1800 to 1874) is best known as the commander of the CSS Virginia on the first day of the Battle of Hampton Roads (8-9 March 1862) and the commander of the fleet (as full admiral) at the Battle of Mobile Bay (5 August 1864), facing Union Rear Admiral David…
Battle of Hampton Roads: Clash of the Ironclads
The Battle of Hampton Roads (8-9 March 1862), also known as the Battle of the Monitor and the Merrimack, Battle of Ironclads, or Clash of the Ironclads, was a naval engagement at the roadstead of Hampton Roads, Virginia, during the American Civil War, during which the USS Monitor met the CSS…
The USSR's Great Famine of 1932-3
was caused by a combination of aggressive requisitioning of foodstuffs by the state, the sale of grain abroad, persecution of farmers, and the general mismanagement of the countryside following Joseph Stalin's collectivisation of agriculture from 1929. Historians…
Federalist No. 10: James Madison's Antidote to the Dangers of Factionalism
Federalist No. 10 was an essay written by James Madison, under the pseudonym Publius, and originally published in the New York Daily Advisor on 22 November 1787. It was the tenth essay in the Federalist Papers, a collection of 85 essays written by Madison, Alexander Hamilton, and John Jay arguing…
Stalin's Collectivisation of Agriculture
Joseph Stalin's policy to collect private farms into cooperatives and wholly state-owned farms across the USSR began in 1928. Stalin hoped the process of collectivisation would modernise Soviet agriculture, provide a surplus of foodstuffs that could fuel the industrialisation of towns and cities…
James Longstreet's Account of the Battle of Gettysburg: Excerpts From the Official Action Report
At the Battle of Gettysburg (1-3 July 1863) Confederate Lieutenant General James Longstreet urged his commanding officer, General Robert E. Lee, to reposition their forces on the evening of Day 1. Lee refused, as the Union Army was before him and he had never retreated from a battle once engaged.
Gilgamesh and Huwawa: The Epic Battle of the Cedar Forest
Gilgamesh and Huwawa is a Sumerian poem relating the expedition of Gilgamesh and Enkidu to the Cedar Forest and the slaying of the monster-demon Huwawa. The work predates and informs The Epic of Gilgamesh in which the death of the monster leads to Enkidu's own as his actions are condemned by the…
Stalin's Five-Year Plans: Collectivising Agriculture & Industrialising the USSR
Joseph Stalin's Five-Year Plans (1928-50) were a series of state-led initiatives which aimed to grow the economy of the USSR, rapidly industrialise what was still a largely agricultural state, and collectivise farms to both increase productivity and reduce anti-Communist elements in the…
AP World History Unit 6: Consequences of Industrialization (c. 1750–1900)
With industrialization, a small number of states gained the ability to project power across the globe. Steamships, railroads, machine guns, and anti-malaria drugs allowed European powers, along with the United States and Japan, to seize territory in places they had previously traded with…
Gilgamesh, Enkidu, and the Netherworld: Messages From the Afterlife
Gilgamesh, Enkidu, and the Netherworld is a Sumerian poem pre-dating The Epic of Gilgamesh and featuring its central characters. It is sometimes included in modern-day translations as Book 12 but is usually omitted as it does not fit the narrative form of the epic's storyline. It is famous for its…
Army of Northern Virginia: General Lee's Army
The Army of Northern Virginia was the main field army of the Confederate States in the eastern theater of the American Civil War (1861-1865). Famously led by General Robert E. Lee for most of its existence, the army numbered 90,000 men at its peak in 1862, and fought in some of the bloodiest, most…
Maximilian I, Holy Roman Emperor: The Great Matchmaker
Maximilian I, Holy Roman Emperor (1459-1519), belonged to the imperial House of Habsburg, and the imperial electors made him King of the Romans in 1486 during his father's lifetime, thus establishing him as his successor. He jointly ruled with his father until the latter's death in 1493, then…
James Longstreet: Civil War Hero and Lost Cause Villain
James Longstreet (1821-1904) was a Confederate general in the American Civil War, serving chiefly under Robert E. Lee in the Eastern theater. He was regarded as one of the most effective commanders in the Confederate Army, was severely wounded by friendly fire in 1864, but returned to active duty…
First 16 US Presidents: From Washington to Lincoln
Since the founding of the United States, the office of the presidency – and the men who have occupied it – have had a profound impact on the hearts, minds, and fortunes of American citizens. When George Washington was inaugurated as the first president in 1789, no one knew what kind of position it…
Seven Years' War: The 18th-Century World War
The Seven Years' War (1756-1763) was a global conflict fought between the great powers of Europe in the mid-18th century. The culmination of several decades of conflict, it was caused both by colonial rivalries abroad as well as territorial disputes within Europe itself. It pitted Great Britain…
Top 10 Roman Sites in Bulgaria
Roman Bulgaria occupied an important position in the heart of the Balkans, between the Black Sea, the Aegean, and Asia Minor. In the north, the Danube River formed a heavily defended military frontier, lined with auxiliary camps and fortresses. Further south were the cities of Thrace, while older…
Millard Fillmore: The Forgotten US President
Millard Fillmore (1800-1874) was the thirteenth president of the United States. A member of the Whig Party, he was elected vice president in 1849 and assumed the presidency the following year after the death of his predecessor, Zachary Taylor. Fillmore is primarily remembered for presiding over the…
The Eternal Life of Gilgamesh: Literary Immortality
The Epic of Gilgamesh is among the most popular works of literature in the present day and has influenced countless readers, but for the greater part of its history, it was lost. The Assyrian Empire fell to a coalition of Babylonians and Medes in 612 BCE, who sacked and burned the Assyrian cities…
The Ideal of Christendom in the Middle Ages & Beyond
The ideal of Christendom in antiquity joined separate nations into one single community carrying out the precepts of the God of Israel. Constantine's conversion to Christianity resulted in the merging of state and church, with a creed of what all Christians should believe and practice. As Roman…
Gilgamesh: The Historical and Mythical King
Gilgamesh is the semi-mythic King of Uruk, best known as the hero of The Epic of Gilgamesh (circa 2100 to circa 1200 BCE), the great Babylonian poem that predates Homer's Iliad and Odyssey by 1500 years and, therefore, stands as the oldest piece of epic world literature. Gilgamesh features in…
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