The History Network

In the last episode we heard of Dracula's rise to power in Wallachia and how in 1459 he refused to pay tribute to the Ottoman's. His failure to do so forced Sultan Mehmed II to raise a huge army to march on Wallachia. Dracula had prepared Wallachia for such a fight. Not only did he order the construction or repair of border castles, and hire mercenaries for the army, but he also prepared his peopl...

"The First Punic War (264 to 241 BC ) was the longest uninterrupted war in antiquity and the beginning of a series of military conflicts between Carthage and Rome. During the struggle, these ancient powers fought for the control of Sicily, a strategic point in the central Mediterranean. In the end, Rome was victorious and Carthage lost Sicily." In this episode we look at  Volume 9, issue 4 "The Fi...

In December 1476, two monks from the monastery of Snagov, about forty kilometers north of Bucharest, stumbled upon a bloody, mangled, headless corpse. Recognizing the clothing, the monks secretly interred the body in the monastery's crypt. The head, meanwhile, made its way to Constantinople where it was put on display. The body belonged to the newly returned prince, Vlad, who was at the time known...

The threat to Britain's supply lines during the second world war is a story of U-Boat Wolf Packs, preying on the merchant shipping as they brought vital goods to Britain across the Atlantic. But in other seas and oceans there was another threat, much akin to latter-day day pirates, at sea for months at a time in converted cargo ships. With their guns hidden, masquerading as other merchantmen they...

The Second Punic War was already in its twelfth year with neither side in a strong enough position to claim supremacy. The Roman general Scipio had been campaigning successfully in the contested province of Spain for over three years but now the Carthaginians had gathered a huge army and marched out to destroy him. Significantly outnumbered, yet eager to draw his enemies into a decisive battle, Sc...

Angus is joined by Josho Brouwers, Murray Dahm, Mark McCaffery, Steven Weingartner and Sean Manning. They discuss Ancient Warfare Magazine volume IX, issue 3 " The Hittites and their Successors ". "Anatolia juts out from Asia and forms an important gateway to Europe. Essentially a large peninsula, it borders Syria in the south, Mesopotamia in the east, and the Aegean in the west. Over the course o...

During the hiatus between seasons we thought you might be running a bit short of military history? So we thought we'd put out this episode from Angus's new WW2 Podcast (sorry if you already subscribe and have heard it). The WW2 podcast is a regular podcast looking at all aspects of the Second World War. You can subscribe on iTunes, for more information have a look at WW2Podcast.com. In this episod...

In this episode Angus is joined Josho Browers, Murray Dahm, Mark MacCaffery, Owen Rees and Roel Konijnendijk. We look at  Ancient Warfare Magazine IX.2 The ascendancy of Thebes . "The women of Sparta screamed at the sight of the flames that raged just across from the bridge over the Eurotas. Their men were in a panic, rushing to prepare and defend the unwalled city. Fighting had broken out in the...

During the 15th Century Swiss Pikemen dominated the battlefield. Fighting as mercenaries these well drilled, professional soldiers, would provide the backbone to many European armies. The Spanish introduction of the Arquebusiers into their armies would prove to be their achilles heel to pike units and ushered in the era of "Pike and Shot". Dur: 25mins File: .mp3

By the outbreak of the first world war the railways had become key to any military deployment. Troops could be rapidly moved en masse with all their equipment. The early hotch-potch of railway lines had become politicised as governments saw their use for both offensive and defensive reasons. It's not unfair to say in certain situations the laying of a new lines was done more for military reasons t...

As peace descended on Europe in 1945, The Colt Manufacturing company had no intention of reinvigorating production of a weapon, who's design it now considered to be obselete - after all it had first become the standard United States Army revolver over 70 years prior - However, the post World war two years saw the burgeoning of television, and with that came Western themed movies, which in turn cre...

In this episode of the Ancient Warfare Magazine podcast Angus, Josho, Lindsay and Mark discuss volume 9, issue 1 " The end of empire: the fall of Rome " "On 4 September AD 476, the Western Roman Empire came to an end. No great battle was fought, no great foreign invasion force marched upon the capital, nor was there an iconic enemy in the shape of a second Hannibal who annihilated Rome's armies an...

When Alexander the Great requested ships from an unwilling Athens, the Senate asked the incorruptible Phocion for his opinion. He responded that "you should either have the sharpest sword, or keep upon good terms with those who have". In the Pact of London, signed on 5th September 1914, Britain, France and Russia agreed that none would make a separate peace with the Central Powers, deliberately ma...

Armour was not just protection for the wearer it was a status symbol, however impractical and uncomfortable, it was a sign of power and authority. From the 18th century its popularity waned, as that of gunpowder weapons rose. What was left in use was more symbolic than practical protection. The last vestige was the helmet, often retained by the Heavy Cavalry in the 19th Century. That was until the...

By 1936, the SS under Himmler was in charge of all police forces in Germany and with that came the duty to protect Hitler at all times. Yet apart from his personal escort Hitler preferred not to have local police or military involved. He believed that remaining inconspicuous, apart from appearances at official ceremonies, was an integral part of his safety. For that reason Hitler's transport, be i...

Starting officially in 1977, the U.S. Air Force implemented one of its most secretive, ambitious, and successful intelligence programs in its history, an amazing story that is still relatively unknown to this day. Through the ten-year life of its program, USAF personnel were able to acquire close to thirty Soviet MiG fighter, fighter-bomber, and interceptor aircraft for use in both evaluation and...

In this episode Angus is joined by regulars Josho, Murray, Lindsay, Mark and with special guest Owen Rees. Its a lively discussion looking at Ancient Warfare Magazine volume, VIII issue 6 " The Roman conquest of Greece " "From the northern rivers and plains of Macedon to the southern heart of the peninsula – amongst whose ragged mountains and plateaux nestled the venerable poleis of old Greece – c...

The 'July Crisis' refers to that month in 1914 when the various capitals in Europe played a continental game of brinkmanship, following the assassination on 28th June of the Archduke Franz Ferdinand, in Sarajevo. Franz Ferdinand was a nephew of the Emperor Franz Josef, and heir to the Habsburg throne. He was originally fourth in line, but those ahead of him all died or were killed between 1867 and...

By July 1918 the Australian Imperial Force or "AIF" was hardened by four bloody years of war – from the beaches and ravines of Gallipoli, to Fromelles, the Somme, Bullecourt, Messines, Passchendaele and Villers–Bretonneux - of the more than 295,000 Australians who served on the Western Front in the AIF - 46,000 would lose their lives and a further 132,000 would be wounded. Dur: 38mins File: .mp3

The Abwehr, the German intelligence service during the second world war was not known for its resounding successes. But in Nazi occupied Netherlands its Operation North Pole, or "the England Game" was a resounding success. Captured resistance agents tried to warn their British handlers, but to no avail. Agents were repeatedly inserted, captured and executed. Dur: 22mins File: .mp3

In August 1914 the airplane was seen as an interesting toy by the High commands of all the powers. The British Royal Flying Corps took five squadrons to France, consisting of some 60 planes of different varieties. The pilots being generally rich sportsmen, who had learned to fly in their own aircraft before the war. The planes were fragile, slow and very expensive ­an airplane cost over £1,000, at...

In this episode Angus is joined by Josh Brouwers, Lindsay Powell, Mark McCaffery and Joseph Hall. We look at Ancient Warfare Magazine volume VIII, issue 5 " Rebellion against the Empire: The Jewish-Roman wars " "It is well known that in the opening statement of his Jewish War, Flavius Josephus imitates the fifth-century BC Athenian Thucydides when he says that "the war of the Jews against the Roma...

In this episode Angus is joined by Josho Brouwers, Mark McCaffery and Marc DeSantis. We look at Ancient Warfare Magazine volume 8, issue 4 " The ancient world's fragile giant: the Seleucid Empire at war ". "Seleucus, who eventually acquired the epithet ‘Nicator’ was not a prime candidate to succeed to the largest share of Alexander the Great’s empire when the king died in Babylon in 323 BC. He cer...

From the time of Homer a small strait of water from the aegean to the black sea has proved both a strategic crossing point and a symbolic one, being the divide between Europe and Asia. It has provided a line from which invasions have started, and a channel when blocked that prevents access to the wider world from the Black sea. Dur: 23mins File: .mp3

"The battlefield is the place: where one toasts the divine liquor in war, Where are stained red the divine eagles, Where the tigers howl, Where all kinds of precious stones rain from ornaments, Where wave headdresses rich with fine plumes, Where princes are smashed to bits." The poet of these verses, the Aztec emperor Nezahualcoyotl, captures the spirit and pageantry of Aztec warfare. The empire k...