World History Archive And Compendium

World History Archive and Compendium tells the story of the human civilization.

[Military History Now @MilHistNow]

On this day in 1798, Revolutionary France enacts military conscription. The Jourdan Law requires all males between 20 and 25 to serve in the army. "Every Frenchman is a soldier and owes himself to the defence of the nation."

[Archaeo - Histories @archeohistories]

The 'Triumph of Shapur I' over the Roman emperors Valerian and Philip the Arab, Naqsh-e Rostam....

Valerian (Publius Licinius Valerianus) was Roman emperor from 253 to spring 260 AD. He was taken captive by Sassanid Persian 'King of Kings' Shapur I after the Battle of Edessa, becoming the first Roman emperor to be captured as a prisoner of war, causing shock and instability throughout the Roman Empire. The captivity and death of Valerian has been frequently debated by historians without any definitive conclusion.

Naqsh-e Rostam is an ancient archeological site and necropolis located about 12 km northwest of Persepolis (Iran) 🇮🇷. A collection of ancient Iranian rock reliefs are cut into the face of the mountain and the mountain contains the final resting place of four Achaemenid kings notably king Darius the Great and his son, Xerxes. This site contains various archeological sites carved into the rock wall through time for more than a millennium from Elamites and Achaemenids to Sassanians. It lies a few hundred meters from Naqsh-e Rajab, with a further four Sassanid rock reliefs, three celebrating kings and one a high priest.

The Sassanian or Sassanid Empire, officially known as the Empire of Iranians and also referred to by historians as the Neo-Persian Empire, was the last Iranian empire before the early Muslim conquests of the 7th–8th Centuries AD.

#archaeohistories

[Brilliant Maps @BrilliantMaps]

Areas of Europe Still Occupied By Nazi Germany On The Day Of Their Official Surrender On 8 May 1945

Situation 5 months earlier: https://t.co/shZ7isMYnU

[Echoes of War @EchoesofWarYT]

On this day in 1776, about 400 men from Maryland threw themselves, again and again, at an entire British army that outnumbered them roughly twenty to one, knowing they would die, so that the rest of the American army could live. It is one of the greatest acts of sacrifice in American history, and most people have never heard of it.

Set the scene, because it followed straight from the trap sprung the night before. The British had marched around the American flank in the dark through the Jamaica Pass, and at dawn on August 27 they came crashing in from front and side at once. The Battle of Long Island, the largest battle of the entire Revolution, turned instantly into a rout. The American lines buckled and broke, and thousands of men began running for the safety of the fortifications at Brooklyn, with the East River at their backs. If the British caught that fleeing mob in the open, the war was over.

The one thing that could save the army was time, and time had to be bought with blood. On the American right, near a stone farmhouse by the marshy Gowanus Creek, stood General Lord Stirling and a body of Continentals that included the 1st Maryland Regiment, tough, well-drilled young men, many from prominent families. Stirling saw the whole army streaming past behind him toward the one narrow crossing to safety, and he understood what had to happen. Someone had to hold the British long enough for those men to get across. The Marylanders volunteered to be that someone.

What followed was almost beyond belief. Roughly 400 Marylanders turned and charged directly into the teeth of a British force of thousands, backed by artillery, dug in around the Old Stone House. They should have been swept away in a single volley. Instead they hit so hard they actually drove the British back and seized the house. Then they were thrown out. So they charged again. And again. Six times these men attacked, into cannon and musket fire, buying minutes with their lives, twice fighting all the way back into the stone house itself before being repulsed.

From a hill across the creek, George Washington watched it happen, watched a few hundred men deliberately sacrifice themselves to save his army, and he could not stop it and could not look away. He is said to have wrung his hands and cried out, "Good God, what brave fellows I must this day lose!"

And lose them he did. Of the roughly 400 Marylanders who made that stand, only a small fraction came back. Something like 256 were killed, wounded, or captured. Many of the dead were buried where they fell, in a mass grave somewhere under what is now the streets of Brooklyn, its exact location lost to this day. But their sacrifice worked. The minutes they bought with their bodies let the bulk of the American army escape the killing ground and reach the Brooklyn defenses, where, two nights later, John Glover's fishermen would row them all to safety.

Maryland has never forgotten. The state's old nickname, the Old Line State, is said to honor these men, the Maryland Line who held the line when holding it meant dying. Four hundred young men who looked at a hopeless charge and made it anyway, six times over, so that the army, and the Revolution, could survive to fight another day. Say their name. The Maryland 400.

[World History Archive And Compendium @MB53903245]

Kuwait was a part of Iraq, but was broken off in 1918 under the mandate system. This was the policy of the British Empire. An attempt was made to take Kuwait again in 1961, but was halted by the UK.

[Military History Now @MilHistNow]

On this day in 1990, a defiant Saddam Hussein ignores demands from the international community to withdraw from Kuwait. Instead he declares that the tiny Gulf state is now Iraq's 19th province.

[Archaeo - Histories @archeohistories]

In April 1945, during the closing days of WWII, the rare Lipizzaner horses of Austria’s historic Spanish Riding School, along with hundreds of other thoroughbreds, were trapped in Hostau, Czechoslovakia. Nazi Germany had confiscated the horses to build an experimental "Aryan" equine breed, but as the war drew to an end, the stud farm found itself stranded between the retreating German Army and the advancing Soviet Red Army. Fearing that incoming troops or starving local refugees would slaughter the priceless herd for meat, the farm's German caretakers secretly reached out to American forces to arrange a surrender and rescue.

Recognizing the immense cultural value of the 400-year-old breed, General George S. Patton, a former Olympic equestrian, authorized a high-stakes, covert rescue mission designated Operation Cowboy. He tasked a small unit from the U.S. 2nd Cavalry Group with pushing 20 miles behind enemy lines into Soviet-assigned territory to seize the farm. Given their limited manpower, the American unit took the extraordinary step of enlisting surrendered German Wehrmacht soldiers, as well as liberated Allied POWs, to secure the area and handle the animals.

When fanatical Waffen-SS units launched counterattacks to retake the installation, American GIs and Wehrmacht soldiers stood shoulder-to-shoulder, firing side-by-side to defend the farm. The joint force successfully repelled the attacks, rounded up over 1,200 horses, including 375 Lipizzaners, and safely herded and trucked them past American lines just hours before Soviet forces arrived. Operation Cowboy remains one of only two documented instances in World War II where American and German Wehrmacht soldiers fought as allies against Nazi SS troops.

To secure the surrender before the Soviets arrived, U.S. Captain Thomas Stewart had to engage in a bizarre piece of military theater. When he crossed into enemy lines to negotiate, the commanding German general refused to surrender his garrison to a lone American captain, claiming it would dishonor his men. Capt. Stewart agreed to the general’s terms: he promised to return the following day with a fleet of U.S. tanks. When Stewart rolled back into town with two light tanks and an armored task force, the German general formally surrendered with full dignity, instantly transforming his Wehrmacht troops, liberated Cossack riders, and Polish POWs into a unified defense force to herd the Lipizzaners to safety.

#archaeohistories

[Brilliant Maps @BrilliantMaps]

Declassified 1945 Korea & Manchuria Map Created By The CIA 

In 1945, Korea and Manchuria were major centers of conflict during the final months of World War II.

Korea had been under Japanese rule since 1910, while Manchuria was controlled by Japan through the puppet state of Manchukuo.

In August 1945, the Soviet Union invaded Manchuria in a massive offensive against Japanese forces, quickly defeating the Japanese Kwantung Army and helping force Japan toward surrender.

After Japan’s defeat, Korea was divided at the 38th parallel, with Soviet forces occupying the north and American forces occupying the south.

More 1940s Declassified CIA Maps: https://t.co/hXVumnSZkX

[Generals and Napoleon @AndNapoleon]

“Hats off, gentlemen. If he were still alive, we would not be here.” -Napoleon visiting the tomb of Frederick the Great. 🎖️

In 1806, fresh off his decisive victory crushing the Prussian army, Napoleon did something that would become one of the most chillingly symbolic moments in military history. He marched to Potsdam and descended into the dark, bare crypt to look upon the tomb of Frederick the Great.Napoleon didn't go as an arrogant conqueror looking to gloat. He went as a devout student of warfare paying homage to his idol.🕯️

According to historical accounts from his aides, including General Ségur, the scene was profoundly eerie. Escorted by a church sacristan holding a single lantern, Napoleon stood face-to-face with the copper-enclosed coffin of the legendary Prussian king.Napoleon stood in absolute silence, completely frozen in deep thought for nearly ten minutes. When he noticed some of his marshals and generals acting casual or whispering, the French Emperor snapped. He removed his bicorne hat, demanded they do the same, and uttered that legendary line. 🫡

#napoleon #andhismarshals #frederickthegreat #prussia #Respect

[Voices of WW2 @VoicesofWW2]

US Major General Leonard Gerow with German General Dietrich von Choltitz after his surrender during the Liberation of Paris - August 1944

Dietrich Hugo Hermann von Choltitz (November 9, 1894 – November 5, 1966) is sometimes referred to as the “Saviour of Paris” for refusing to obey orders to destroy the city.

Leonard Townsend Gerow (July 13, 1888 – October 12, 1972) was the first corps commander ashore in Normandy on DDay and was also the first US officer with the rank of major general to enter Paris after its liberation, for his part in the campaign he was awarded the Silver Star.

[Vintage Maps @vintagemapstore]

Global war in the Pacific (1944) - F. E. Manning (American, 20th century)

[WW2 The Eastern Front @ShoahUkraine]

Two Soviet soldiers taking a picture together. 1970

[📜Echoes of Empire📜 @EchoesofEmpire_]

Monsieur Ducel, a Mameluke of the imperial guard from 1813 to 1815, was one of the last surviving veterans of Napoleon's army. He is shown here in full dress uniform in 1858.

[Dr. M.F. Khan @Dr_TheHistories]

The grand stone basins located at the Sun Temple of King Niuserre in Abu Ghurab, Egypt 🇪🇬. Dating back to 5th Dynasty (around 2450 BC), yet their true function eludes understanding....

According to some archaeologists, they were used to collect blood during ritual animal sacrifices. As it is widely accepted that they were associated with purification practices or offerings to the sun deity Ra, the specifics of their circular shape and distinctive characteristics provoke further inquiry.

#drthehistories

[Historyland @HistorylandHQ]

Photo of a Rubber plantation worker of the Belgian Congo with sniper wound on his wrist. Taken by Anti-Slavery english missionary Alice Seeley Harris, circa 1898

[Typical African @Joe__Bassey]

Our ancestors were so good that they turned their hairstyles into art, identity, culture, and storytelling ✨

[Vintage Maps @vintagemapstore]

The Topography of Africa.

by eastofnowhere

[Voices of WW2 @VoicesofWW2]

A camouflaged SdKfz. 251 halftrack vehicle passing a column of German troops, France, Jun 1944

[Military History Now @MilHistNow]

Today in 1940, 55 Italian bombers strike Malta. For the next 891 days, the Axis will fly more than 3,000 missions to knock the strategically vital British-base on the island out of the war. They fail. "Without Malta," Rommel later predicts, "we will lose control of North Africa"

[Tank Archives @Tank_Archives]

The Vyborg Offensive Operation began #OTD in 1944. The success of this operation played a key part in Finland's decision to exit WW2. #tanks #history #WW2 #WWII

[Archaeo - Histories @archeohistories]

The Colchester Vase; one of the finest examples of ceramic art known from Roman Britain....

This Roman artifact, made of clay around the year 175 AD, is on display in Colchester Castle Museum. It was discovered in a Roman grave in West Lodge, Colchester, in 1848 AD.

It is known as “The Colchester Vase” but it was probably not used as a vase. Perhaps it was a drinking vessel. Its final use, however, was as a funerary urn.

The vase is decorated with three main scenes: two men fighting each other, two men baiting a bear and a dog chasing two deer and a hare. Thus the vase encapsulates the three types of entertainment that were commonly on display in the Roman amphitheatre: men fighting men, men fighting animals, and animals fighting animals.

The two men fighting each other are depicted in some detail and can be identified as two types of gladiator. The one with sword, shield and helmet was known to the Romans as a secutor. The other one, with bare chest and legs, arm and shoulder guard, has dropped his weapon (a trident) and is known as a retiarius. He is still holding his net (rete) in his left hand. The retiarius can be seen raising one finger. This is known as missio: the fighter appeals to the sponsor of the games, who has the power to decide whether he lives or dies. He will indicate this by turning his thumb up or down.

The vase is inscribed -there are four names, which seem to correspond to the four human participants in the show: Secundus and Mario are fighting the bear ; Memnon and Valentinus are the secutor and the retiarius. Next to the name Memnon is the abbreviation SAC and the Roman numeral VIIII, indicating that Memnon, a secutor, had fought and lived nine times. Next to Valentinus (the ‘s’ is omitted) is the word LEGIONIS and the number XXX. This indicates that Valentinus was attached to the 30th legion of the Roman army.

#archaeohistories