New military history research: Sudan 1924 rebellion and the 2nd civil war, The Irish Civil War

Northeast African Studies presents two studies related to military history.

Elena Vezzadini explores the 1924 revolution in colonial Sudan.  Vezzadini focuses on the oral histories of the revolution and says that despite this being a very well-documented colonial revolution with a multitude of oral histories recorded about it, the histories may have left much of the event unrecorded. In addition, many of the people who spoke about the event were called spies and may have contributed to the ultimate failure of the revolution.

Clemence Pinaud writes about the second civil war of South Sudan (1983-2005).  Pinaud examines how the South Sudan is celebrating the women’s battalion of the Sudan People’s Liberation Army while at the same time disregarding the history of the camp followers.  Pinaud writes that by censoring a large segment of the participants of the war, the history of the civil war and South Sudan is incomplete.

 2001 Sudan - Congolese soldier adjusting automatic weapon. (PK machine gun)

New Hibernia Review presents an article by Gavin Wilk about the Irish Civil War.  Wilk examines the difficult conditions endured by Irish Republican Army member’s during the civil war and the health care they received while in custody or when they left for the United States.     

 July 22, 1922 - A prisoner under escort at the South Western Front during the Irish Civil War

New military history research: Burma and WWII, Zionists in Palestine, and the 1921 Darfur rebellion

The Journal of Imperial and Commonwealth History has three articles of interest.

Pum Khan Pau takes on the Second World War in Burma.  He looks at British influences in the Indo-Burma frontier and how those affected Burmese participation against the Japanese during WWII.  However, despite the aid given to the British, Pau argues that for the sake of geo-political relations between the Japanese and British, Burmese needs were sacrificed.

 WWII - Two British soldiers on patrol in the ruins of the Burmese town of Bahe during the advance on Mandalay.

Steven Wagner writes about Zionist terrorism against Britain from 1944-1947.  Wagner refutes the idea that Britain’s failures in Palestine were a result of intelligence failures.  He pins the blame at the policy level.  Wagner states that problems arose from a lack of understanding of the Zionist movement and from poor interactions with the Jewish Agency.    

 October 1948 - Zionist mortar team outside Zafzaf

Chris Vaughn writes about the rebellion in southern Darfur in 1921.  Vaughn states that the colonial power in Darfur tried to control the rebellion through engagement and accommodation with local societies that affected the rebellion.  However, instead of helping alleviate tensions, colonial involvement in the region added additional actors which further exacerbated the situation.

New military history research: The Turkish civil war of the 1970s and Turkey in the Iraq War

Turkish Studies has two articles of interest.

Meral Ugur Cinar discusses the Turkish civil war of the 1970s.  Cinar focuses on the threat narratives used by groups to mobilize their group against the enemy.  The narratives were expanded in such a way as to make the enemy a greater danger than it was and to leave no room for moderation.

Kevin Smets focuses on media portrayals of the Iraq war.  Smets studied the Turkish diaspora in Belgium and reactions to the movie Valley of the Wolves.  The movie is about an incident during the Iraq War where Turkish soldiers were briefly detained and interrogated in a seemingly demeaning manner by US troops.  Smets finds that reactions to this Turkish movie are very polarized among Turks living in Belgium.

 2008 - Parade of Turkish soldiers wearing uniforms of the Turkish Brigade, 

at the ceremony of the October 29 Republic Day

New military history research: The modern Russian military, The 1948 Arab-Israeli War and Syria during WWI

The Journal of Slavic Military Studies provides a number of articles on recent Russian military history.

Dmitry Adamsky tackles the problem of regional nuclear deterrence.   Adamsky argues that Russian policy, thinking and actual capabilities about its nuclear forces have not meshed well over the last two decades.  He believes several nuclear initiatives have been completely disconnected from official Russian policy.

Roger N. McDermott discusses Russia’s military transformation over the last 20 years.  McDermott argues that Russia has done a poor job of defining what its force structure should be and pursuing its goals.

 January 3, 1992 - Three soldiers from the Soviet army's Tamanskaya Division, an Azerbaijani, a Mongolian and a Russian, stand beside one another to show the ethnic diversity of their army.

McDermott also addresses the development of Russian armed forces in a second article, arguing that secrecy and corruption within the Russian state has helped to cripple any effective transformation and development of the Russian military.

The Journal of Israeli History provides an analysis by Kobi Peled of the historical records of the 1948 Arab-Israeli War.  Peled examines how oral history can support or contradict written documents.  Peled focuses on the Arab village Fassuta that was occupied by Jewish forces.  Peled examines the Israeli documentation of the occupation and compares that to collected Palestinian oral histories of the occupation to determine why that village was not badly damaged when so many others were.

 

1948 - Volunteers in combat during the Arab-Israeli War of 1948. From left to right: Mohammad Attura, Abdel Hamid Sarraj, and Abdel Salam al-Ujayli.

Middle Eastern Studies presents an article by Andrew Patrick about the First World War.  Patrick examines the very positive attitude that the elites of Greater Syria had for American forces during the war.  These Syrians expressed gratitude for the global good the US was doing, however, Patrick believes that these strong expressions were exaggerated in the historical record and looks to correct the historical record about Middle Eastern attitudes during the war.  

 WWI - Seaplanes Bombing the Customs House, Beyrout
  Four Royal Naval Air Service seaplanes are in the sky in the upper right, having dropped bombs that are exploding in the lower right, damaging wooden buildings. There are ships in the harbor, including one that has partially sunk.

New military history research: Swedish warfare and politics in the 17th and 18th centuries

The Scandinavian Journal of History presents four articles of interest to the military historian.

Sari Nauman studies the use of oaths of allegiance.  Nauman states that in the Early Modern period of warfare, territories were won and lost, treaties made and broken.  Having the people of a captured territory swear allegiance to the conquering king helped alleviate some of the problems associated with these back and forth circumstances.  Nauman focuses on Sweden and its rival Denmark-Norway and looks out how these oaths worked during wars and what effect they had after a war was concluded.

 1862-1915 by Jozef Brandt - The March of Swedes for Kiejdany  

(during the 17th century Polish-Swedish War)

Hugo Nordland studies the Covenant of Anjala of 1788-1790 which tried to distinguish citizen duties from military duties.  The document tried to restrict what a person serving in the military could do but some military personnel saw this as restrictive of their duties as citizens of the country they were serving.  Nordland analyzes how persons navigated this dilemma and the effects such decisions had on their political activities.

Erik Petersson writes on the development of the veterans’ home in Sweden.  In 1620, Swedish King Gustavus Adolphus reorganized his army so that the majority of his soldiers were conscripted peasants rather than mercenaries.  Most European armies at the time were made up of mercenaries so Adolphus was developing a new type of military system.  As such, in 1622 the King started a fund for wounded soldiers and by 1640 had opened a home where his wounded soldiers could be taken care of.  Adolphus felt more responsible for his veteran’s than other kings since his army was made up of his subjects.   Wounded soldiers were thus a category of poor that 17^th century Sweden decided to care for.

 1893-1895 - Scottish soldiers in service of Gustavus Adolphus, c.1631

Anna Maria Forssberg writes on the politics of Swedish warfare in the 17^th century.  Forssberg writes that Swedish kings in the 16^th and 17^th centuries raised taxes and conscription demands more and more, arguing that these were necessary for the people to protect themselves.  However, Swedish warfare became more offensive in nature which reduced civilian support for these measures.  Forssberg focuses on Charles X Gustav and analyzes the negotiations that occurred between Swedish kings and their subjects concerning these demands, arguments made and the political effects of these discussions.            

 

about 1655 - Triumph of Charles X Gustavus over the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth

(allegorical showing Mars and Minerva alongside the king) 

Military history research: Assyrian military history, 7th Century BC

I don't have any new research for you today but if you are interested in four scholarly studies on various aspects of Assyrian military history, here are some links to interesting pdfs:

Elamite Wars of 7th Century BC

Assyrian Chariotry and Cavalry

Arab Campaigns of Assurbanipal

The Revolt of 746 BC

 Assyrian horsemen pursue defeated Arabs

New military history research: 17th century Scandinavia and modern memory of the Battle of Waterloo

The Scandinavian Journal of History presents an article by Christopher Collstedt.  Collstedt writes on how the knowledge, thoughts, politics and ethics of military violence against civilians is written about, studied and explained in various contexts.  For his analysis, he focuses on contemporary Swedish discourse and traces it back to intellectual and political conflicts of the 17^th century.

 
History & Memory presents an essay by Jasper Heinzen on how the Battle of Waterloo has been remembered by European nations since World War Two.

1815 by George Jones - A Highlander, Black Watch attending a General of Hussars, possibly Lord Uxbridge: a study for 'The Battle of Waterloo'

 Charge of the Royal Scots Greys at battle of Waterloo

New military history and archaeology research: WWI and Flanders Fields, shell fragments, Seven Years War, Florentine native militia, Battle of Lewes, British Imperial troops

A multitude of interesting articles today.

The Journal of Conflict Archaeology has three items of interest. 

Sigrid Van der Auwera and Annick Schramme write on national celebrations of the First World War in general and on Flanders Fields in particular.  Their research indicates that the level of celebrations is based on extent of involvement in the war, the effects the war had on participants, the level of civil society involvement and so on.  Some nations stress a peace message whereas some celebrate the event.  Ultimately the celebrations are determined by the social and historic constructs that are in place in the particular nations.      

 Soldiers of Belgium - probably early 1918

Jean-Loup Gassend points out that shells were the most destructive weapon used in the twentieth century with vast amounts produced and used on battlefields.  Gassend states that shell fragments are the most common artifacts found on modern battlefields and uses WWII shells as an example to illustrate how a battlefield archaeologist can use these fragments to find a wealth of information on the shell itself and about the battlefield being studied.  

Grzegorz Podruczny and Jakub Wrzosek provide details on an archaeological study of a Russian Observation Corps grenadier found during excavations of the site of the Battle of Kunersdorf which occurred on August 12, 1759.  They describe how they identified the grenadier, the context of the find and new details concerning the history of the battle.  

 19th century - Russian grenadiers and musketeers in 1762

Italian Studies presents an article by Robert Black discussing Machiavelli and his government’s appointment of don Miguel de Corella as head of the Florentine native militia.  There were apparent political ramifications to this appointment and the author provides information that there were political goals associated with this action. 

The English Historical Review provides two interesting articles on military history.

Ian Stone writes on the Rebel Barons of 1264 and their oath of mutual support.  In March 1264, the commune of London and twenty other rebels vowed to stand together,six weeks before the battle of Lewes .  The oath has not previously been translated and transcribed.  Stone compares the oath to others from this period and provides information on the sympathies and motivations of the oath takers.

Stephen Conway provides a detailed examination of British use of European troops to sustain the British Empire from 1756 to 1792.  Conway focuses on their use in North America, India, Gibraltar and Minorca.  Conway discusses why the British used Europeans rather than locals or even British and Irish troops.  Then he assesses the actual numbers and extent of use of these troops and finishes with an assessment on the quality of these troops.   

 1791 - Fanciful watercolor of Indian demons attacking British East India Company during the Third Mysore War (1790-1792)

New military history research: War in Crimea and Afghanistan during WWII

Middle Eastern Studies presents two studies related to military history.

Ibrahim Koremezli writes about espionage in the Balkan theater during the 1853 Crimea War.  The war erupted between Russia and the Ottoman Empire in October 1853 and the Danubian theater was an important location in regards to the war.  The cities of Dobruca and Bessarabia were heterogeneous and cosmopolitan and provided ample opportunity for both sides to collect military intelligence related to the war.  Wallachians, Cossacks, merchants and diplomats assisted the Ottomans and Orthodox Christian Greeks and Bulgarians helped the Russians.  Koremezli writes that both empires kept important historical records on this subject which has not before been carefully studied.

 The Russian Colossus - French caricature of Nicholas I and the Crimean War

 1854 - Photo at Scutari, officers and men of the 93rd Highland Regiment, shortly before their engagement in the Crimean War

Faridullah Bezhan writes on Afghanistan during World War II.  Though Afghanistan did not participate in the war, Bezhan writes that during this period, Afghani politics were shaped by political conflicts that arose between members of the royal family and among the country’s educated groups.   

Mohammed Zahir Shah - Ruler of Afghanistan from 1933 to 1973.  

This file is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 3.0 Unported license by ANBI.

New military history research and book review: The Maoist conflict in India, Scotland and England at war

In Small Wars & Insurgencies, an article by Srobana Bhattacharya on the recent history and current state of the Maoist conflict in India.  Bhattacharya argues that in the 1960s, the goal of the Maoists was to achieve land redistribution and the elimination of class enemies.  The current goal however is to affect caste identities and achieve political control of areas.  This has resulted in the Maoists becoming more involved in local crime and business networks.

 DPK Pillay critically wounded fighting insurgents in the north-east of India - date unknown

***

The International Review of Scottish Studies provides a review of England and Scotland at War, c.1296-c.1513 edited by Andy King and David Simpkin.  The reviewer examines a few of the essays which deal with some of the politics, political structures and logistics that Scottish lords faced during this period of warfare.  Overall, the reviewer was impressed by the quality of scholarship found in this volume. 

  A Franco-Scottish force led by Jean de Vienne attacks Wark Castle in 1385 - from Froissart's Chronicles

New military history research: Diplomacy during WWI

In Security Studies, an analysis on diplomacy during the First World War by Timothy W.  Crawford.  Crawford examines how nations coordinate diplomatic efforts to dissuade another from joining with a potential enemy.  Crawford uses as examples, the First World War’s Entente’s attempts to induce Ottoman neutrality and Italian intervention.  

Lord Kitchener and Joseph Joffre meet General Baratier.  

Kitchener was a British Field Marshal, diplomat and statesman and during World War I, commander in chief of United Kingdom forces.

New military history research: The Second Balkan War of 1913

In the latest First World War Studies, Frances Trix writes on the report published by the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace on the events and causes of the Second Balkan War of 1913.  Trix writes that thought the inquiry made by the Endowment was published too late in 1914 to be of interest to many, the research done was a strong early attempt at documenting war crimes and human rights abuses.  Trix also explains the worth and the deficiencies of the document as a historical record of the war.   

 1913 - Soldiers from Lesok, Macedonia