World War I

  • It should come as little surprise that away from the carnage of the Western Front, soldiers sought solace in whatever pleasures they could find. Amid the chaos of the First World War, the harsh realities of trench warfare often fueled desires as primal as the will to survive. During the bloodiest phases of the war,…

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  • The Flensburg Government refers to a short-lived, provisional government of Nazi Germany that existed in the final days of World War II, from May 2 to May 23, 1945. Named after the town of Flensburg in northern Germany, near the Danish border, where it was headquartered, this government represented the last vestiges of the Third…

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  • Despite her exotic name Mata Hari was a Dutch woman. Her real name was Margaretha (Gretha)Zelle and was born in Leeuwarden, in the province of Friesland in the North West of  the Netherlands.. Today marks her 150th birthday. At 18, Zelle answered an advertisement in a Dutch newspaper placed by Dutch Colonial Army Captain Rudolf MacLeod (1 March 1856 – 9 January 1928),…

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  • The German assault on Liège, which commenced on August 5, 1914, and lasted until August 16, 1914, stands as the inaugural battle of World War I. This significant early confrontation set the stage for the brutal and protracted conflict that would engulf Europe for the next four years. The Battle of Liège exemplifies the strategic,…

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  • As the Nazis did in Europe, the Japanese Imperial Army had concentration camps in the Pacific. The Asian camps weren’t nearly as horrific as the European ones, but the conditions were inhumane, nonetheless. This is just a side note, but I did notice, while researching, none of the Pacific camps were referred to as camps…

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  • The Netherlands remained neutral during the First World War. However, that did not mean the country was unaffected by the conflict. In the course of 1916, for instance, food shortages began to emerge. In Amsterdam, this led to the so-called Potato Riot in the summer of 1917. Potatoes were the staple food of the common…

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  • In Memory of….

    Last weekend I spent in Liverpool. The weather was fantastic and there was a great atmosphere. While I was walking around the docks, I came across these memorials, of service men of several countries, merchants sailors, and civilians who died in World War 2 and 1. I would like to share those memorials with you.

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  • Les Morts Dansant

    Les Morts Dansant is a 1984 song by Magnum. from their classic album “On a Storytellers night” The song was initially called “Cannon”, this Tony Clarkin composition is about one of the horrors of war. In World War I, a surprising – some would say disgraceful – number of British soldiers were executed by firing…

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  • Henry Tandey-What if?

    Henry Tandey (1891–1977) was a British soldier best known for an incident during World War I that became a subject of enduring historical debate. He is often remembered not only for his service but also for his association with Adolf Hitler, a moment that was later mythologized into an iconic and controversial story. Tandey was…

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  • Nowadays, it is easy to blame social media for the widespread distribution of fake news through memes and other formats. However, this phenomenon is far from new. About 100 years ago, propaganda postcards and cartoons served the same purpose (after all, a meme is essentially a digital version of a propaganda or satirical postcard or…

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