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

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WAR IN FOCUS

BOER WARS • Conflict erupts between the descendants of Dutch settlers in South Africa and the British

1880 BOER REBELLION • To secure routes for its global empire, Britain sought to dominate the Transvaal Republic – first through coercion, then brute force

WAR RENEWED • The Second Boer War began with a series of military disasters for the British, with their grip on the region rapidly loosening

THE BRITISH STRIKE BACK • Following the horrors of Black Week, it was the turn of the Boers to suffer repeated defeats, when General Roberts’ forces relieved Kimberley, Ladysmith and Mafeking

GUERRILLA WAR • British victory was seemingly assured but the Boers refused to give up. Set-piece battles gave way to improvised hit-and-run tactics, and Lord Kitchener resorted to brutal methods of his own

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BATTLE OF BERLIN • During the final days of the Third Reich, the heart of its capital became ‘Objective 105’ for the Red Army, and the fight to take it saw some of the fiercest clashes in the wider struggle for the city

FORTRESS REICHSTAG

STORMING THE REICHSTAG

MUKDEN 1905 • This two-week clash was the largest engagement of the Russo-Japanese War and the biggest land battle ever fought up until that point

Battle of Mukden • 20 February - 10 Marck 1905

THE KILLING MACHINE • It’s 80 years since this young Danish officer was killed during an SBS raid. Receiving a Victoria Cross for his actions, he became the only special forces member to have been bestowed with Britain’s highest honour during WWII. Brave? Absolutely. Inspiring? Unquestionably. But was he also reckless?

PADDY MAYNE’S VICTORIA CROSS

CHURCHILL’S CUT-THROATS

POWHATAN BEATY • On 29 September 1864, this sergeant retrieved the colours and took command of his company at the Battle of Chaffin’s Farm, inspiring a second assault against strong Confederate entrenchments

AC-47D ‘SPOOKY’ GUNSHIP • Once the workhorse of WWII, in Vietnam this cargo plane became the world’s first operational fixed-wing gunship

BLOOD & BROTHERHOOD UNDERSTANDING THE GERMAN PEASANTS’ WAR • Long before the French Revolution, a massive popular revolt set ablaze the German-speaking world as vast warbands of peasants made a bloody, heroic stand against their feudal lords

LEADERS OF THE REVOLUTION • The German Peasants’ War came shortly after the Protestant Reformation, which espoused religious freedom. The peasants took this a step further to seek far broader freedom, influenced directly and indirectly by three people: Martin Luther, Andreas Karlstadt and Thomas Müntzer. “They’re three figures without whom you can’t understand what’s going on, but by the same token, it wasn’t a story of just great men. These men’s ideas inspired the peasants, who took them in different directions,” explains Roper.

THE GERMAN PEASANTS’ WAR • The uprising sprawled across vast swathes of territory and a concerted campaign was required to crush it

HOME FRONT

THE MAN WHO SAVED PRIMO LEVI • Lorenzo Perrone, a starving civilian labourer, refused to be a bystander in Auschwitz and risked everything to keep Levi alive

PRIMO LEVI AND IF THIS IS A MAN • How an Italian chemist became one of the best-known Holocaust witnesses

THE CIVILIANS THAT HELPED AUSCHWITZ INMATES • How much is known about people like...