History France War

During the 17th century, the Netherlands, despite having only 1.5 million people in 1600, became a global maritime and trading power. By contrast, France at the time had 20 million people, Spain had eight million, and England had five million. Nevertheless, Amsterdam became one of the most important urban centers in the world and the location of the world’s first stock market, and Dutch merchant ships and pirates plied the Atlantic Ocean, the Indian Ocean, and the Pacific Ocean.

After the first year of the Civil War, the Confederacy was faced with a serious problem. While the South had enjoyed some stunning victories on land, they had been all but cut off from the world at sea. The more industrialized North had realized that in case of an extended war, the best way to defeat the Confederacy was to starve it of supplies. The rebels started the war with no real navy to speak of, and so the federal government quickly set up a blockade of all southern ports and river mouths.

The Marquis de Lafayette may be a name that sounds vaguely familiar. If you've studied even a little American history, you'll recall Lafayette as George Washington's right-hand man during the American Revolution. This remarkable man was just a teenager when he ventured across the seas from France to fight in a conflict that he was in no way obligated to participate in. Yet, here he was, this young man full of idealistic thoughts, ready to help a country set their path on the road to independence. Little did Lafayette know that this would be just the first ride among many he would take.

My father's notebook, kept carefully throughout his World War One service, is a treasured family keepsake. It was, however, rarely actually read, much less consulted for its first-hand account of his experiences on the Western Front. We all knew the basics, that he had been on the front lines on Armistice Day, November 11, 1918, and had recorded that fact. I transcribed that day's moving entry a few years back, and sent it to each of his grandchildren.

In 1494, there were five sovereign regional powers in Italy: Milan, Venice, Florence, the Papal States and Naples. In 1536, only one remained: Venice. These decades of conflict precipitated great anxiety among Western thinkers, and Italians responded to the fragmentation of Latin Christendom, the end of self-governance for Italians, and the beginning of the early modern era in various ways. They were always heavily influenced by the lived experience of warfare between large Christian armies on the peninsula.

When historians are asked to list the most influential people of the last 200 years, a handful of names might vary, but there is no question that the list will include Napoleon Bonaparte (1769-1821), the most successful French leader since Charlemagne and widely acknowledged one of the greatest generals ever.

While some might think of the war as being a continuation of the feudal tradition of knights and peasants, the Hundred Years’ War revolutionized Western European warfare, and it truly helped to usher in the concept of nationalism on the continent. In England, it is remembered as a period of grandeur and success, even though the English lost the war and huge swathes of territory with it, while the French remember it as a strategic victory that ensured the continued independence of France and the denial of English hegemony.

Nous sommes à l'aube du 6 juin 1944. Il est six heures du matin lorsque les forces alliées débarquent sur les plages de Normandie. L'enjeu est de taille : il s'agit de porter un coup fatal au IIIe Reich d'Adolf Hitler et de libérer les territoires occupés. Le jour le plus long vient tout juste de se lever. Ce livre audio vous permettra d'en savoir plus sur : le contexte politique et social de l'époque ; les acteurs majeurs du conflit ; le déroulement du débarquement et sa chronologie ; les raisons de la victoire alliée.

While D-Day is one of the most famous events of the war, it is widely overlooked that about two months after the landings in Normandy, there was a second Allied landing in France. On August 15, 1944, a combined US-French force landed in southern France on the beaches of the Côte d'Azur as part of Operation Dragoon. In just over four weeks of fighting, the Allied landing led to the liberation of most of southern France and to one of the most audacious and successful Allied operations of World War II. What followed remains a controversial part of the end of the war in Europe.

El 14 de junio de 1940, Alemania había conquistado Francia. Hitler, ebrio de felicidad, no podía creer lo alcanzado. Había conquistado la mitad de Europa en tiempo récord. Sin embargo, la II Guerra Mundial tomaría en el futuro, un nuevo curso. En las secretas calles de la ciudad, se organizaba, secreta, una gran resistencia. Muy pronto el Reich sabría de lo que son capaces.

The painting of her on the battlefield with only one breast covered and holding a flag is probably one of the most famous paintings from European history. Many people have heard of Joan of Arc, but only a few know what she did or how her life was. Joan of Arc is a French heroine who was venerated as a saint for her role in the Lancastrian part of the Hundred Years' War. Joan said she saw visions of archangels and saints telling her to support Charles VII and free France from English supremacy late in the Hundred Years' War. She is one of France's nine secondary tutelary saints.