This Week in History (2024)

26/06/2020

The first units of the American Expeditionary Forces arrived in France on 26th June, 1917. Although until October 1917 only small forces engaged the enemy, by the end of the war in 1918 about 2 million US soldiers were in Europe, making the United States a major participant on the Western Front.

When President Woodrow Wilson decided to enter the war against the Central Powers in April 1917, the US military was far smaller than most armed forces active in the war. This was the main reason behind only limited American presence in France for long months to come. After a very slow buildup, US forces saw more and more action in greater and greater numbers.

While US forces were far from winning the war alone, the millions of fresh soldiers, and more importantly the massive industrial capacity of the United States was a decisive factor in an Allied victory. This help was especially important after the complete defeat of the Allies on the Eastern Front with Russia signing the treaty of Brest-Litovsk in March 1918.

The experiences gained by the Americans during World War I also came in handy during the mass mobilisation roughly two decades later during World War II: they didn't have to invent methods to restructure the economy to wartime production from thin air, as they had done it once during The Great War.

Today's picture depicts US forces marching in front of Buckingham Palace before being shipped off to France in June 1917.

25/06/2020

70 years ago a war started that lasts to this day. On 25 June 1950 North Korean forces launched a large-scale attack on South Korea. The attack caught South Korea and the small US forces present in the region off-guard and almost led to the reunification of Korea under communist rule.

After World War II Korea was liberated from Japanese occupation, but placed under the protection (and control) of Soviet forces in the north and US forces in the south, with the 38th parallel serving as the line dividing the two parts. As it happened with all other countries divided in such a manner, North Korea became a communist regime under Kim Il Sung, while the South became a presidential republic with Syngman Rhee as its leader.

Mounting tensions over the eventual reunification of Korea led to all-out war in late June 1950. In the first months the South Korean forces, aided by the slowly arriving forces of a UN-authorized and US-led intervention were entirely on the defensive, were pushed back until only the port city of Pusan remained under their control. There the constant stream of reinforcements and heavy weapons made it possible to stop the North Korean advance.

19/06/2020

One of the most important events in the history of Christianity was the First Council of Nicaea, a series of theological debates that led to the adoption of the Nicene Creed, which continues to be accepted by all major branches of the religion - including Catholics, Orthodox and Coptic Christians, Lutherans and Calvinists.

Roman emperor Constantine the Great convened the Council to decide upon a number of questions that led to increasing divisions in the rapidly spreading Christian faith. Negotiations and debates lasted from May until August of 325, the Nicene Creed was only the first of several decisions reached. The most important part of the Creed was the proclamation of Jesus Christ as a divine being and the true son of God.

This went against the beliefs of the A***n denomination of Christianity, who treated Jesus as a human being and denied the existence of the Holy Trinity. The Council of Nicaea declared this branch heretics and went on to reach a number of agreements throughout the summer of 325, the most important of which was the canon law, a set of rules that survives to this day with minor modifications.

18/06/2020

205 years ago in the fields outside Waterloo the French army led by Napoleon Bonaparte and the British-Belgian forces led by Arthur Wellesley, the Duke of Wellington fought a desperate battle to decide the future of France - and perhaps all of Europe.

After his abdication in 1814, Napoleon couldn't stay in exile for long. In March 1815 he escaped the island of Elba with his small personal guard and arrived in Paris with the vast majority of the French public supporting him, but the Seventh (and final) Coalition declared war about as soon as Napoleon entered Paris. The French army was almost hopelessly outnumbered by the forces of the Coalition. Being outnumbered on a strategic scale was nothing new for Bonaparte though, as long as he could keep his enemies separated, he could win.

Things started off well for the French, Napoleon beat Blücher at Ligny and Ney forced Wellington to retreat at Quatre Bras and Napoleon had a chance at destroying Wellington's army and moving on to capture Brussels. He attempted to do this at Waterloo, but the heavy rain before the battle slowed down his advance, so the French attack didn't start until late in the morning - around 11:30 a.m.

As Wellington knew Blücher's forces were closing in, he did everything he and his troops were capable of to hold the battlefield until the Prussian army arrived. The English and their Belgian and Dutch allies managed to do this thanks to a number of factors. First, Wellington placed most of his troops behind a ridge, so that Napoleon's famous and feared Grand Battery could only do minimal damage before the infantry's advance. Second, the muddy ground delayed the French attack and also meant that cannonballs didn't bounce off the ground - therefore they inflicted less damage. Third, the French wasted time and men attacking the fortified Hougoumont manor on the right flank of Wellington's allied army and led a number of fruitless cavalry charges supported by neither infantry nor artillery.

Thanks to the leadership and tactical skills of Wellington, the weather and environment on the battlefield and the unlucky decisions of the French leadership, the line of the Coalition held until two Prussian corps arrived late in the afternoon and attacked Napoleon's right flank. This caused the already weakened and disorganised French army to collapse - not that Wellington's forces were in a much better shape by that time.

Following his defeat Bonaparte stepped down as Emperor of France - this time for good. He lived out his remaining life on the island of St. Ilona in the middle of the Atlantic Ocean.

14/06/2020

The Battle of Naseby, one of the most decisive battles of the English Civil War was fought on 14th June 1645. In the battle the much larger New Model Army of Oliver Cromwell and Sir Thomas Fairfax completely destroyed the opposing Royalist forces.

The victory of Sir Thomas Fairfax sealed the fate of Charles I's resistance against Parliament, as all that remained of the First English Civil War was Parliament forces clearing small pockets of Royalist resistance. Only a year later the conflict stemming from Charles I's attempts to govern without Parliament ended.

The King was executed in 1649 and for a brief period England was not a monarchy, with Cromwell adopting the title of Lord Protector until his death. His rule and the rule of his son was so unpopular, that in 1660 Parliament placed the Stuart dynasty back on the English throne.

The absolutistic attempts of the Stuarts in turn led to the Glorious Revolution of 1688-89, which saw England transformed into a parliamentary monarchy, where the monarch had less and less power in matters of state.

13/06/2020

Alexander the Great died 13th June, 323 BC in Babylon. Although only 32 years old, he was the ruler of the largest empire of the world until that point and ensured that Ancient Greek culture was spread throughout Asia and North Africa.

After coming to the throne in 336 BC, Alexander spent most of his years campaigning. First, he secured his rear by defeating Thracians in the Balkans, then crossed into Asia and conquered the whole of the Achamenid Persian Empire. During these conquests he heavily relied upon the disciplined and efficient Macedonian army created by his father, Philip II of Macedon, that was based on phalanxes of sarisa-wielding pikemen and heavy cavalry.

As Alexander grew more and more eccentric and marched further and further away from home, it was the mutiny of this army that finally forced him to turn back - he was already in India when this happened.

11/06/2020

Henry VIII is most famous for his six wives. It was on 11th June 1509 that he married the first of them, Catherine of Aragon. She was previously married to Arthur, Henry's brother, so papal consent was required for the wedding to take place (marrying the widow of a sibling was seen as in**st).

As the marriage of Catherine and Arthur was never consummated (according to Catherine), Pope Julius II allowed the new king of England and Catherine to marry. Of Henry VIII's six marriages, the one with Catherine was the longest, they stayed officially married until 1533.

Catherine's "mistake", the reason for the divorce was that all of her male children died shortly after childbirth. Although she had six pregnancies, only one of her children, Mary reached adulthood. Henry really wanted a male heir and fell in love with Anne Boleyn, which sealed Catherine's fate.

Ironically, a papal approval was also needed to end the marriage. As Pope Clement VIII forbade the divorce, Henry founded the Anglican Church and divorced Catherine, moving on to Anne Boleyn, his second wife of the six.

10/06/2020

The first ever Boat Race between the universities of Oxford and Cambridge was held on 10th June 1829. Two friends, one studying at Oxford, the other at Cambridge, had the idea first and it was the University of Cambridge that issued the challenge, only to be beaten soundly in the race.

The Boat Race wasn't intended as an annual tradition at the start, the second race wasn't held until 1836, but it soon became a major event in the life of the two universities. The challenge has been ritualized, with last year's loser challenging the winner for a rematch every year. The event holds such significance to the two universities, that they are world-famous not only for their high quality education, but their rowers, who train all year in hopes of getting on the Boat Race team for their university

Since 1856 the only times the event was cancelled were the World Wars and the Covid-19 pandemic, making it perhaps the most stable tradition in the life of any university.

09/06/2020

9th June, 1815 marked the end of the Congress of Vienna. Following the Napoleonic Wars and the turmoil caused by the Frenc revolution of 1789, all powers of Europe came together in Vienna to settle matters following two decades of war.

After almost a year of fierce negotiations and an abundance of parties - hence the name "The dancing congress" - the new international system of Europe was born. It restored the Bourbon monarchy in France and led to conservative forces regaining power in much of Europe.

The Congress cemented the division of Germany and Italy, founded the Holy Alliance that maintained conservative monarchies for decades to come throughout Europe. In addition to that, members of the last coalition against Napoleon could keep their conquests, but France was not humiliated and was accepted as an international player.

Following the Congress of Vienna, Europe knew relative peace until World War I: wars on the scale of the Napoleonic Wars, the Seven Years' War or the War of Spanish Succession didn't break out before that. Besides territorial changes, the Congress, after a bit of British pressure, also moved to ban slavery in Europe.

07/06/2020

Louis XIV was crowned King of France on 7th June 1654, a moment that also meant the end of her mother's regency of 11 years. Also called the Sun King, Louis is one of the most well-known French monarchs, whose 72 year long reign (1643-1715) saw France rise as one of the dominant powers of Europe.

Although his rule is famous for his absolutistic practices, in his early years the rule of Louis XIV was anything but stable or absolute: the period of civil wars known as the Fronde between 1648 and 1653 even forced Louis to flee Paris. After the resolution of these civil conflicts and victory in the war against Spain, Louis could finally start the absolutistic rule he is most famous for.

By the time an old Louis XIV died in 1715, France was one of, if not the strongest power of Europe. During the War of Spanish Succession Louis managed to gain the throne of Spain (along with its vast colonial empire) for the Bourbon dynasty and achieved other small territorial gains along France's eastern borders.

The extreme costs of these wars put an impossible strain on the royal budget however, an expense the French treasury never recovered and the hardships caused by the debts incurred during the War of Spanish Succession were a major factor in the outbreak of the French revolution almost a century later.

06/06/2020

The day of 6th June is most iconic for D-Day (or Operation Overlord), the start of the Allied invasion of Normandy in World War II. The same day also marked an important day for US forces in World War I, however.

During the Battle of Belleau Wood in 1918, US Marines suffered the largest amount of casualties in a single day during their attack upon the opposing German forces. After halting the German offensive in the previous days, the Marines started their counterattack on 6th June. It took them no less than six attacks to push the Germans out of the woods and hold it.

The battle has become one of the proudest moments of the US Marine Corps' history, with General Pershing stating "The deadliest weapon in the world is a United States Marine and his rifle." The stubbornness of the Marines impressed all observers, including the Germans, and has no doubt played a role in cementing the legend of the USMC as a force of excellent fighting spirit and extreme determination.

05/06/2020

The Polish city of Krakow received its privileges on 5th June 1257. The settlement has long been the seat of the Polish government and continued to be the place for coronations long after Warsaw took over as the capital.

During the Mongol invasion of 1241 the city was destroyed, along with large areas of Poland and Hungary. The destruction caused by the Mongols was so great, that it wasn't until 1257 that the city was rebuilt. Along with this reconstruction, High Duke (the Polish didn't have kings at the time) Bolesłav V awarded privileges based on the Magdeburg Law used in Germany.

The new liberties included the right to self-government and several trade privileges: for example, merchants from outside the city couldn't sell goods directly in the city, they had to sell them through local merchants. The Jewish population, however, was exempt from city jurisdiction, having communal autonomy from the local ruler.

The spread of the Magdeburg Law throughout Eastern-Central Europe gave a major push to urbanization in the region: some of the cities that received privileges based on the Magdeburg Law in this period went on to be capitals and important cities (Kiev, Buda/Budapest, Bratislava, Krakow, Wrocław).

04/06/2020

100 years ago, on 4th June, 1920 the Treaty of Trianon was signed, officially ending World War I between the victorious Entente Powers and the Kingdom of Hungary. In addition to the military restrictions and the payment of war reparations, Hungary lost two thirds of its territory, with millions of ethnic Hungarians suddenly becoming residents of another country.

In addition to the immediate issues (refugees fleeing to Hungary, the difficulties of creating an administration in the newly acquired territories, etc.), the treaty pretty much set the course of these countries for the next two decades. The new borders and the situation of Hungarian minorities in the successor states of the Habsburg Empire almost entirely determined the foreign policy of these countries leading up to World War II and influences political discussions up to this day.

The states surrounding Hungary did everything to secure and keep their new territories, with some remaining close to France and some hoping the safeguarding of their territorial integrity from N**i Germany. The main foreign policy ambition for the Kingdom of Hungary became regaining lost territory - even at the price of slowly aligning themselves with Adolf Hi**er and getting dragged into World War II on the Axis side.

03/06/2020

On 3rd June, 1989 the People's Liberation Army of China began its attack against the protesters gathered at Tiananmen Square in Beijing. The protests were an attempt by tens of thousands of Chinese citizens, who demanded reforms similar to those enacted by Gorbachev in the Soviet Union.

By the time the military operations finished and the dust settled, anywhere between a few hundred (official Chinese figures) and several thousand protesters were dead. The brutality of the crackdown shocked most of the world, with several countries embargoing the People's Republic of China.

This Week in History