The Kornilov Affair reminds us that military coups can often have unexpected consequences. — It was Karl Marx who once proclaimed that “Hegel remarks somewhere that all great world-historic facts and personages appear, so to speak, twice. He forgot to add: the first time as tragedy, the second time as farce.” In a period of turmoil in Russia, this maxim seems more accurate than…

The Peterloo Massacre was a violent crackdown on public protest, but after 200 years its legacy is still up for debate — Britain in the early nineteenth century was a nation facing turbulent times. A combination of economic depression, soaring food prices and the costly burden of financing the Napoleonic Wars had left the country in dire straits — and popular agitation constantly simmered close to the surface. …

In the midst of the Great Depression, one British industrial town brought the fight to Parliament — When attempting to understand the triumphs and tragedies of twentieth century history, the Great Depression immediately stands out as a defining moment of this turbulent era. The shockwaves of the 1929 Wall Street Crash would reverberate across the globe, leading to the rise of fascism in Europe and plunging the…

The history of ‘America First’ is deeply rooted in U.S. foreign policy — The term ‘America First’ has dominated the lexicon of U.S. politics in recent years, quickly becoming one of the most frequently used phrases of the Trump era. The notion of ‘America First’ was a core element of President Donald Trump’s foreign policy rhetoric, which he underlined in his inaugural speech…

How a false flag incident launched World War Two — The days leading up to the outbreak of the Second World War were marked across Europe by a strange mixture of fear, anticipation and anger. The war would prove to be the deadliest conflict in human history and would have a devastating impact on Europe and the world, but in…

In 1918, a few hundred Ukrainian students fought gallantly against a 4000-strong Bolshevik army in defense of Kyiv — In the aftermath of the Russian Revolution and the ongoing chaos of the First World War, a scramble to control the former Russian Empire began. …

With the Nazi Party growing in strength, 1933 would bring about book burnings on an unprecedented scale — The large-scale book burning ceremonies that swept through Germany in 1933, which began to ramp up soon after Hitler was appointed Chancellor in January, has in the post-war years become one of the defining acts of the Nazi regime. …

As war broke out in 1914, Britain began its race to destroy the Goeben and the Breslau — At the outbreak of the First World War in July-August 1914, the enormous scale of the coming conflict quickly became apparent. With great land armies massing in both Western and Eastern Europe, military preparations across the great European empires began to pick up at pace as the shadow of war…

Operation Typhoon and the Battle for Moscow — When Hitler launched Operation Barbarossa in June 1941, the threat to Moscow became almost immediately clear. Despite several warnings of an impending invasion, the German assault against the Soviet Union caught Stalin by surprise and the initial Soviet defensive effort was marred by scenes of chaos and disorder. …