Military

The First Highland Charge

During the Highland rebellions from the mid-seventeenth century, explains David Stevenson, the fighting highlanders developed a remarkable military tactic which terrified their enemies.

Fighting For The Falklands in 1770

The Falkland Islands were at the centre of dispute in 1770 – but was the conflict really over those far-away islands, or was it the political future of the French Secretary of State, Choiseul, that was at stake?

Military Influence on European Town Planning

This article by Heather Norris and Roger Kain illustrates some of the ways in which increasingly elaborate methods of town fortification affected the nature of urban development in European towns, and how the eventual removal of anachronistic defences provided opportunities for large scale urban redevelopment, extension and embellishment.

Britain's Arctic Gamble: The Russo-Finnish War 1939-40

In the winter of 1939-40, whilst already waging war against the might of Nazi Germany, Britain, together with France, was preparing to send a military expedition to Finland to fight against the Soviet Union. Had this expedition materialised, argues B.D.P. Conduit, the course of the Second World War might well have been disastrously altered.

Prince Rupert, 1619-82

1982 marks the tercentenary of the death of Prince Rupert, the most brilliant of Charles I's generals. As Hugh Trevor-Roper here documents, he was single-minded in his chosen craft of war, but Rupert was never able to grasp the complexities of the contemporary situation.