This page contains links to articles relating to historical events such as wars, battles, murders, assassinations, plots, political developments, strange goings-on and anything else like that. These kind of articles tend to take up the bulk of my time and the finished products tend to be quite long-winded so if you are intending to read them then I'd highly recommend grabbing a cup of tea and a packet of chocolate biscuits first.
Wars and Battles
Henry V and the Agincourt Campaign - In 1415 Henry V, the young, idealistic and headstrong King of England heads off to France with an army to claim what he believes to be rightfully his. What happens next becomes the stuff of legend......
Marston Moor and the Siege of York - In 1644 the English Civil War hangs on a knife-edge with both the Royalists and Parliamentarians each holding key regions of the country. Both sides make their way to Yorkshire for a decisive confrontation that will decide not only who has control of northern England but also potentially the outcome of the conflict......
Cromwell in Ireland: The Forgotten Campaign - Following the Parliamentarian victory in the Civil War and the execution of Charles I, Oliver Cromwell leads the New Model Army to Ireland in order to take care of some unfinished business......
The War of the Spanish Succession - After nearly two centuries of rule in Madrid, the Spanish branch of the House of Habsburg dies out in 1700. The last Habsburg King leaves behind a vacant throne for the great royal dynasties of Europe to fight over, triggering a conflict which drags on for almost two decades......
The War of the Austrian Succession - In 1740 the Austrian Habsburg Emperor dies without a male heir, leaving everything to his daughter and her husband. This turn of events inevitably causes a great deal of opposition and the other great powers of continental Europe seize the opportunity to challenge Habsburg power......
The Farce of the Light Brigade - During the Crimean War in the mid-19th Century, a serious breakdown of communication between feuding British officers leads to an enormous and regretfully preventable loss of life among the men of the Light Brigade......
The Sinking of the Gustloff - In the last months of the Second World War, a Soviet offensive into the eastern provinces of the Third Reich sends thousands of Germans fleeing for the ships they believe will take them to safety in the west. At the same time, a Soviet submarine is on the prowl near the evacuation routes and its commander is keen to score a big kill that will salvage his tarnished reputation......
Marston Moor and the Siege of York - In 1644 the English Civil War hangs on a knife-edge with both the Royalists and Parliamentarians each holding key regions of the country. Both sides make their way to Yorkshire for a decisive confrontation that will decide not only who has control of northern England but also potentially the outcome of the conflict......
Cromwell in Ireland: The Forgotten Campaign - Following the Parliamentarian victory in the Civil War and the execution of Charles I, Oliver Cromwell leads the New Model Army to Ireland in order to take care of some unfinished business......
The War of the Spanish Succession - After nearly two centuries of rule in Madrid, the Spanish branch of the House of Habsburg dies out in 1700. The last Habsburg King leaves behind a vacant throne for the great royal dynasties of Europe to fight over, triggering a conflict which drags on for almost two decades......
The War of the Austrian Succession - In 1740 the Austrian Habsburg Emperor dies without a male heir, leaving everything to his daughter and her husband. This turn of events inevitably causes a great deal of opposition and the other great powers of continental Europe seize the opportunity to challenge Habsburg power......
The Farce of the Light Brigade - During the Crimean War in the mid-19th Century, a serious breakdown of communication between feuding British officers leads to an enormous and regretfully preventable loss of life among the men of the Light Brigade......
The Sinking of the Gustloff - In the last months of the Second World War, a Soviet offensive into the eastern provinces of the Third Reich sends thousands of Germans fleeing for the ships they believe will take them to safety in the west. At the same time, a Soviet submarine is on the prowl near the evacuation routes and its commander is keen to score a big kill that will salvage his tarnished reputation......
Political Events
The Fall of the Knights Templar - A once-great order of Medieval crusader knights, once untouchable at the height of their power, look set to fall victim to the machinations of a ruthless and jealous King......
The Peasants are Revolting! - England truly is a horrible place to live in the 14th Century, that is of course if you are not one of the great ruling magnates who are abusing their control over a child monarch to line their own pockets with gold. After decades of continuous war, plague outbreaks and mistreatment by their bosses, it is the levying of an unfair poll tax that finally snaps the people's patience and triggers an open revolt against the government......
Reconstructing the British Parliament - By the early 19th Century the British Parliament is in a bit of a mess and could do with copious amounts of reform and restructuring. The buildings that it occupies are not looking too good either......
The Struggle for Italian Unification - Nationalism and revolution are running rampant in mid-19th Century Europe and both are set to play a major role in the upcoming effort to unite the various states of the Italian Peninsula into a single sovereign nation......
The Wansee Conference: Planning Genocide - Top Nazi leaders and bureaucrats get together in a lakeside villa outside Berlin to discuss the fate of Europe's Jews......
The Revolutions of 1989 - It is the late 1980s and Europe has been divided into two opposing alliance blocs for over forty years. The winds of change are blowing in the east, however, and questions are being tentatively asked as to just how much longer this Cold War can go on......
The Peasants are Revolting! - England truly is a horrible place to live in the 14th Century, that is of course if you are not one of the great ruling magnates who are abusing their control over a child monarch to line their own pockets with gold. After decades of continuous war, plague outbreaks and mistreatment by their bosses, it is the levying of an unfair poll tax that finally snaps the people's patience and triggers an open revolt against the government......
Reconstructing the British Parliament - By the early 19th Century the British Parliament is in a bit of a mess and could do with copious amounts of reform and restructuring. The buildings that it occupies are not looking too good either......
The Struggle for Italian Unification - Nationalism and revolution are running rampant in mid-19th Century Europe and both are set to play a major role in the upcoming effort to unite the various states of the Italian Peninsula into a single sovereign nation......
The Wansee Conference: Planning Genocide - Top Nazi leaders and bureaucrats get together in a lakeside villa outside Berlin to discuss the fate of Europe's Jews......
The Revolutions of 1989 - It is the late 1980s and Europe has been divided into two opposing alliance blocs for over forty years. The winds of change are blowing in the east, however, and questions are being tentatively asked as to just how much longer this Cold War can go on......
Disasters
A Bad Year for London (Part 1): Plague - In the mid-1660s England is riding high on the crest of a post-Restoration wave as the people put the hardships of the Civil War and Interregnum behind them. London, the prosperous and bustling capital city, is at the heart of it all but something very nasty indeed is about to arrive and threaten to spoil everybody's fun......
A Bad Year for London (Part 2): Fire - Just when the surviving population of London is starting to come to terms with their enormous loss, an even greater disaster occurs, on which could threaten the very existence of the city itself. The Great Fire of London does indeed turn out to be a tragedy but it is a tragedy that also presents a unique opportunity to transform the old Medieval city into the finest metropolis in the world......
The Great Fire of Newcastle and Gateshead - In the mid-19th Century Newcastle and Gateshead are truly cities on the make. Facing each-other across the mighty River Tyne, they are the beating heart of the Industrial Revolution in the northeast of England. Unfortunately, however, some of those all-important goods stored and produced there do have a habit of catching fire......
The Great Fire of Newcastle and Gateshead - In the mid-19th Century Newcastle and Gateshead are truly cities on the make. Facing each-other across the mighty River Tyne, they are the beating heart of the Industrial Revolution in the northeast of England. Unfortunately, however, some of those all-important goods stored and produced there do have a habit of catching fire......
Assassinations, Conspiracies and Plots
When Friendship Turns Sour: The Murder of Thomas Becket - The spectacular falling-out of a King of England with his Archbishop of Canterbury ends in tears when four of the King's knights do what they perceive to be the right thing......
Gunpowder, Treason and Plot - In the early days of Jacobean England, Catholics who refuse to conform to the established Protestant faith are vigorously harrassed and even persecuted by the authorities. This all gets too much for one group of provincial Catholic gentlemen, who respond by concocting the mother of all terrorist plots......
The Assassination of Reinhard Heydrich - The 1942 assassination of the Nazi regime's golden boy by Czech resistance fighters leads to bloody German reprisals against the local population......
Adolf Eichmann: A Nation's Vengeance - The discovery of a notorious Nazi war criminal living on the run in Argentina prompts a secret Israeli effort to nab him and bring him to justice......
Gunpowder, Treason and Plot - In the early days of Jacobean England, Catholics who refuse to conform to the established Protestant faith are vigorously harrassed and even persecuted by the authorities. This all gets too much for one group of provincial Catholic gentlemen, who respond by concocting the mother of all terrorist plots......
The Assassination of Reinhard Heydrich - The 1942 assassination of the Nazi regime's golden boy by Czech resistance fighters leads to bloody German reprisals against the local population......
Adolf Eichmann: A Nation's Vengeance - The discovery of a notorious Nazi war criminal living on the run in Argentina prompts a secret Israeli effort to nab him and bring him to justice......
Mysteries and Strange Occurrances
Dude, Where's My Colony? - Towards the end of the 16th Century, Elizabethan England decides to cash in on the Age of Discovery by founding their own colony on the east coast of North America. This first English colony, established on Roanoke Island off the coast of present-day North Carolina mysteriously vanishes off the face of the earth while the governor is absent, prompting a whole host of speculation over what might have happened to it......
Other Events
The Harrying of the North - The Normans have conquered England but many of the native English are refusing to go down without a fight. With the people of northern England refusing to play ball with his new regime, William the Conqueror resorts to more drastic measures......
The Liverpool and Manchester Railway - It is 1830 and the northwest of England has caught an early case of railway-fever brought on by the opening of the Liverpool and Manchester Railway, the world's first steam-hauled inter-city passenger railway. The celebrations do not go according to plan, however, as a man dies after being struck by train and the Prime Minister gets a less than enthusiastic greeting from the people of Manchester......
The Liverpool and Manchester Railway - It is 1830 and the northwest of England has caught an early case of railway-fever brought on by the opening of the Liverpool and Manchester Railway, the world's first steam-hauled inter-city passenger railway. The celebrations do not go according to plan, however, as a man dies after being struck by train and the Prime Minister gets a less than enthusiastic greeting from the people of Manchester......
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