December 30: the death of Rasputin and the beginning of the Russian Revolution

January 20, 2017

December 30th is the centennial of the death of Rasputin.  This is the story that you are most likely to remember from Russian history; years from now  you will be able to recount to your friends the death scene in minute detail, and you will be able to provide all of...

Bulgaria enters the war, October 1915

October 26, 2016

Nearly 102 years ago, the Bulgarians entered the Great War on the side of the Central Powers.  While it began the 20th century as a client state of Russia it had become increasingly alienated from its patron.  As a member of the Balkan League it found itself in an...

Mess – o – potamia (homage to Jon Stewart) in World War I

October 17, 2016

World War I took place on may different fronts, but the focus tends to be on the Western front and a few key battles here and there.   This post will focus on the Mesopotamian campaigns. As you read through this, consider the following question: How did the...

Japanese military participation in World War I

October 7, 2016

Most IBDP students have a clear understanding of Japanese participation in the peace talks after World War I.  Margaret Macmillan’s Paris 1919 very effectively illustrates Japanese goals of racial equality and great power status, and many historians look at...

First World War centennial – Africa

September 5, 2016

While most of us spend time on the role of colonialism, and the 19th century Scramble for Africa as a cause of the war, we rarely spend much time on the continent after the outbreak of war.  There is some mention of North Africa vis-à-vis the Ottoman Empire but there...

The Battle of the Somme

July 18, 2016

The 7th July marked the 100th anniversary of the beginning of the Battle of the Somme.  The British launched an attack on the German forces hoping yet again for a break through and an end to the stalemate brought on by trench warfare.  Instead, the battle lasted into...