Go to stage 3

You couldn't issue this declaration of war on twitter

Source: National Archives of Australia MP279/6 22/401/317

I was doing some research on the National Archives of Australia website when I came across a copy of the British declaration of war against the Empire of Japan from the Second Worlds War. Major western powers have generally not declared war since the Second World War meaning that this tool of state power is rarely seen despite the number of wars that those countries have fought since 1945. The wording of this declaration is slightly archaic to our ears in this world of twitter and sound bites. Some people may also find it strange that Britain had to declare war given that its territories of Malaya, Singapore and Hong Kong had already been attacked by the Japanese. The simplicity of this document also belies the hard fighting that stemmed from it. In reading the words we also know that the author, as well as the eventual messenger, would have had no idea about how the war would unfold. Britain was already fighting Germany so did not want another front. This copy is from the Australian archives as Australia also had vital concerns about Japan's entry into the war as a country hostile to the British Empire.

The poem "Mates" by Duncan Butler

The railway track monument at Hellfire Pass Memorial Museum (Source: Photo by DAVID ILIFF. License: CC-BY-SA 3.0 Wikipedia)

I know that this poem has been around on the web for a while but I only heard it last week at the Australian War Memorial when I attended the talk by Dr Karl James. It is a sentimental poem written by a former prisoner of war under the Japanese in the Second World War, Duncan Butler of the 2/12 Field Ambulance, part of the ill-fated 8th AIF Division that surrendered at Singapore. I enjoyed listening to the poem while also thinking about what it must have meant to have a mate in that situation to help you get through.

Mates

I’ve travelled down some lonely roads,

Both crooked tracks and straight.

An’ I’ve learned life’s noblest creed,

Summed up in one word … “Mate”.

 

Karl James talking about his book Kokoda - Beyond the Legend

Karl James delivering his talk on Kokoda beyond the legend - Kokoda's enduring legacy at the Australian War Memorial  

On Wednesday, 30 August 2017, I attended a lecture given by Dr Karl James at the Australian War Memorial in connection to the recently published book that he edited, Kokoda, Beyond the Legend. The book contains a number of chapters by a wide range of historians both international and Australian. It examines the Kokoda Campaign from a number of angles including looking at how Australians remember the fighting in contemporary times. Dr James' talk was mainly focused on linking Gallipoli to Kokoda so as to understand how Kokoda has entered the collective memory of Australians, including those who were not alive at the time.

 

Great Russo-Japanese War Stereoscopic Views on-line at Monash University

 

An example from the collection, including the information written on the back of each view (Source)

My last post was also about a Monash University digital collection where many of the terrain studies competed by the Allied Geographical Section in the South-West Pacific Area during the Second World War are available on-line. While looking at that collection I also came across a similarly digitalised collection of stereoscopic views of the Russo-Japanese War 1904-05. These views were once all the rage in the late 1800s and early 1900s as a way for people to see photos in 3D. It was very basic technology that allowed a photographer to take two photos simultaneously but at a slightly different angle so that when the images were seen by a human's pair of eyes through a special viewer they were tricked by the angle variation into seeing depth in the combined photo. The photos do not really show any action as the cameras still used slow exposure methods that were too slow to effectively capture movement. The collection is from the Japanese perspective as most of the British observers were accompanying Japanese forces due to the poor relations that existed between Britain and Russia at that time. The Russo-Japanese War is described as a "modern war" because many of the elements of the battlefield that were to become so connected with the First World War were also present in the Russo-Japanese War. That said, the war was also a transition war in some respects. As can be seen because these images are colourised and show that the Japanese had not yet adopted their late greenish-brown uniform just as some countries started the First World War in bright coloured uniforms. 

WW2 Allied Geographical Section Terrain Studies on-line at Monash University

While searching for some sources about Australia's military intelligence activities in the South-West Pacific Area during the Second World War I came across the Monash University digitalised collection of the work done by the Allied Geographical Section in the South-West Pacific Area during the war. It is a fantastic collection of maps and terrain handbooks. Sometimes these handbooks come up for sale at second hand book stores at almost throw away prices while at antiquarian book stores they sometimes command prices over $100. If you are interested in military history or even just history and want to get a feel how an area was in the 1940s then these books are what you need. War-gamers may also find these studies useful as they try to plan out maps for gaming scenarios. These books look at the physical structure of a location as well as demographics. They cover an area from Papua New Guinea through to Japan, essentially anywhere troops under General MacArthur fought or planned to fight. For researchers this is a very useful resource and it means that books that are becoming rare and brittle are now easily available to anybody with an internet connection. This link will open a PDF version of a power point presentation that provides more information on the project. Well done and many thanks to Monash University.

Siege warfare during the Albigensian Crusade

Expulsion of the Cathars from Carcassonne in 1209 (Source: Wikipedia)

I have been writing about warfare in the Middle Ages recently because I am back playing Medieval II Total War now that it is on Mac. A few years ago I was fighting my way through a campaign on my PC when Windows started playing up and finally my laptop gave up even though it was not that old. As part of this interest in the age of knights I have been reading a series of random articles that I came across during a search through my library's online journal subscriptions. The most recent article that I read was by Laurence Marvin who has written a very interesting article about the Albigensian Crusade of the early 13th century, War in the South: A First Look at Siege Warfare in the Albigensian Crusade, 1209-1218. By itself it stands as a detailed introduction to the fighting that characterised so much of the fighting in that very unholy war. Beyond the details it provides about the military techniques of that conflict it also contributes to the historiographical debate about whether war in the medieval era was characterised by open battles with charging knights or were sieges the most common form of fighting.

The article opens with a discussion about this debate over siege versus open battle fighting and how the paradigm on viewing medieval warfare shifted to siege warfare being the most common form of the knightly clash of arms. Ironically, the besieged often had the advantage during a siege before gunpowder cannons became common place with medieval armies.

Laurence Marvin writes about the period of 1209 to 1218 when there were 45 sieges compared to only four field battles out in the open, with 10 of the sieges bing able to be classified as major sieges. 39 sieges were instigated by the crusaders against the Cathars and most of the sieges were resolved by negotiation rather than assault. Siege weapons were not always vital although their presence did assist even they were only used as a threat. The article contains a very useful table that lists the key sieges with their outcomes. He sees the four basic grouping for the topographical problems faced by the crusaders: large cities, fortified middle-sized villages, nominally fortified or unfortified villages and obscure mountain fortresses of little strategic value. He then describes a number of these of sieges to give the reader context for the points that Marvin is writing about. These sieges include:

• Beziers - July 1209
• Carcassonne - August 1209
• Minerve - 1210
• Lavaur - March to May 1211
• Montgey - May 1211
• St Antonin Noble-Val - 1212

Most of these sieges were conducted by Simon de Montfort. I found Beziers to be a very unique siege because it was all over in one day, rather uncommon for a siege given that sieges conjure up in the popular impression an activity that lasts a long time. The city of Beziers with its mighty walls was enveloped by the crusaders on 21 July 1209. The next day the citizens of the besieged city abused and harassed the army camped outside their walls. The citizens of Beziers felt safe behind their walls so were happy to antagonise their enemy with words and weapons. The common soldiers and camp followers in the crusading army grew increasingly angry about these taunts and attacks until they spontaneously surged forward, crossed the dry moat, smashed down a gate and rampaged through the city. The defending militia were not prepared as they thought that the besieging force would settle in for a lengthy siege.

The article does include details of some of the atrocities that were conducted during the crusade. By way off example after taking Lavaur in early May 1211 Montfort decided to hang the town's lord and the 80 remaining knights who defended the castle. They were to be hanged but the gallows broke so they were put to the sword. (Marvin does not write if anybody considered the failure of the gallows as a divine indication of displeasure about the fate of the defenders.) The lord's sister, the lady of the village, was thrown down a well and then followed by stones to cover her while 400 Cathars were burnt to death. In this war chivalry was often forgotten and the usual ransoming of prisoners was not common.

Being a defender had an advantage but it did nor guarantee victory for the besieged. Montfort was often outnumbered and hence why sieges were preferable where could  isolate an enemy force in a castle rather than allow a combined force of the heretics and their supporters to meet his inferior numbers in an open battle. Although Montfort was helped by siege weapons but his victories were a combination of reasons summed up by Marvin as "luck, resolve, aggressiveness and Montfort's military reputation..." If you want to know more about the Albigensian Crusade then I recommend the podcast on the History of the Crusades that is just completing a series on this European-based crusade that starts at episode 109 in the podcast back catalogue, or you could just listen from the start of this fascinating podcast.

An article on Mongolian siege warfare

A Mongolian siege (Source: Mongolian Empire)

While it has been published for a while Kate Raphael's Mongol Siege Warfare on the Banks of the Euphrates and the Question of Gunpowder (1260-1312) gives a very good primer on Mongolian siege warfare, a subject that normally receives much less attention compared to Mongolian steppe tactics. The Mongols are rightly known for their steppe warfare but they did not create the world's largest land empire without capturing cities. I found this article useful because it looked at how the Mongols conducted sieges and why they also failed sometimes.

Dr Raphael notes the importance of the technology that the Mongols gained when they captured trained Chinese military experts but she also makes it clear that the Mongols used experts from Persia and the Middle East. She also describes how Mongol armies modified the land to assist the siege. This could be a trench dug around the city as part of circumvallation to something far larger like diverting a river to cut off a city. (This tactic gets cinematic treatment in a 2012 Japanese movie, The Floating Castle, that is based on the real siege of Oshi Castle that occurred during the Warring States period.) She also pointed out that these sieges were conducted with large numbers of troops. At the siege of Baghdad in 1258 the Mongol army probably numbered the best part of 200 000. The Mongols were also prepared to continue offensive action at night so that the besieged never had a chance to have a good rest. She steers cleat of the trope that Mongols cast diseased bodies into cities under siege and instead gives the subject a thorough study.

Interesting article about English crossbows, correct, crossbows not longbows

English Crossbow c.1690 (Source: Lodge Trail Media)

I have just been reading an interesting article written by Professor David Bachrach titled The Crossbow in English Warfare from King John to Edward I - An Administrative Perspective. The article was not trying to say that the crossbow was more important than the longbow only to place the use of the crossbow in England back into the historical record. Most of the evidence for the paper, as the title suggested, came from administrative documents. To be fair the time period for the article was before the high period of the English longbow but the role of the crossbow has been overshadowed in writing about English medieval warfare by the longbow. The article included some interesting details such as that during Henry III's reign the manufacturing of crossbows was restricted to two locations, the Tower of London and Corfe Castle in Dorset. Despite the attempt by English monarchs to limit production to official locations Professor Bachrach uncovered information that indicated that some nobles were building crossbows in their own facilities and even sold them to the crown when the king was desperate to obtain crossbows. My favourite incident from the article concerned King Edward I's need for crossbows and how the problem was solved:

"On 20 May 1304, for example, Edward issued an order to the sheriffs of London instructing them to send crossbows, bows, and bolts to the army at Stirling castle. The king specifically insisted that the sheriffs find all of the crossbows and bolts that were available for sale within their bailiwick and that they purchase them without delay. After receiving this order, the two sheriffs of London, named William and John de Omeford, used the same parchment, on which the king had sent his directive to record their expenses in carrying out Edward's commands. According to their notes, the sheriffs purchased 85 crossbows in June of 1304 for just over £9, which provides a glimpse at the number of crossbows that were in stock in the workshops of private manufacturers at a particular moment in the city of London."

 

A visit to the former Cowra POW camp

At approximately 2AM on Saturday, 5 August 1944 the Japanese prisoners of war (POWs) held at the Number 12 POW Camp at Cowra, NSW, Australia launched the largest mass breakout by Japanese during the Pacific War. The objective of the escape was not to return to Japan but it was an attempt to allow the soldiers of the emperor to die at their own hands. Tragically there were indications from non-Japanese prisoners such as Koreans and Taiwanese who were held in the same camp that an escape was being planned. Once an operation was launched to recapture the prisoners it was marred by a poor decision not to arm the Australian soldiers pursuing the escapers that arguably led to at least one officer's death.

Tom Roberts' painting of 'A' Battery Field Artillery, New South Wales

'A' Battery Field Artillery, New South Wales (Source: Australian War Memorial)

The National Gallery of Australia was running a special exhibition about Tom Roberts, one of Australia's greatest artists. He was one of pioneers of Australia's impressionist movement and was accomplished at portraiture, landscapes, printing and even sculpture. The painting above was included in the retrospective and is one of my favourites, as it shows an Australian landscape as well as the colourful uniforms of Australia's colonial era militaries.

Movie Review of the Danish Movie 9.April

 

I had the pleasure of watching the Danish war movie 9.April last night. I had not heard about it but as we had visited Denmark in 2014 I wanted to view it as a way to further understand the Danish experience in the Second World War. The movie did not disappoint and held my attention the whole way through. The film is limited in its scope which gives it a greater realism by staying with the squad that form the key characters of the story. The whole film only encapsulates two days yet builds the right level of tension and develops the characters enough for the viewer to sympathise with their plight.

An article from Singapore's RSIS on the 1832 US initiated Battle of Quallah Battoo in Aceh

I came across this monograph from Singapore's RSIS discussing the 1832 Battle of Quallah Battoo when the US Navy attacked a town in Aceh due to an attack on a US merchant vessel the year before. The abstract is copied below:

Today, there is much talk about the „American pivot‟ back to Southeast Asia, and the role that America continues to play in terms of the geo-strategic relations between the countries in the region. That America has been a player in Southeast Asian affairs is well-known, as America‟s presence in countries like Indonesia, Thailand, the Philippines and Vietnam has been well documented since the Cold War. However, there has been less scholarship devoted to America‟s role in Southeast Asia prior to the 20th century, lending the impression that the United States is a latecomer as far as Southeast Asian affairs is concerned.

This paper looks at a particular incident – the First Sumatran expedition of 1832 – where America played a visible role in the policing of the waters off Sumatra. Though the event has been largely forgotten today, and is not even mentioned in Indonesian history books, it was important for it marked America‟s arrival – first as a trading nation, and later as a policing power – to the region. Drawing upon contemporary sources, the paper looks at how and why the expedition was launched, and the response of the American public in its wake. It tells us something about American public perception then, and how Americans were then divided over the role that America should play in Asian affairs. 

 

Australia and Japan agree to cooperate on military technology

JMSDF Soryu Class SS (Source Wikipedia)

I just read this announcement that Japan and Australia are working towards an agreement to cooperate on military technology, ostensibly to help Australia with future submarine development.

"Ministers confirmed the substantial conclusion of negotiations on an agreement for cooperation in the field of defence equipment and technology..." 

This statement was made in the context of the 2+2 talks that are happening between Australia and Japan in Japan at the moment.

Book Review - Moltke and the German Wars, 1864-1871 by Arden Bucholz

This book has two aims, first to explain the role of Helmuth von Moltke not only in the German wars of the late 1800s but also in the development of the Prussian military. The second aim is to try to look at German military history without it being seen through the filter of the chaos that engulfed Europe from 1914 and led to the rise of the Nazis. This is not a long book but the author packs a lot of material into it but generally it is material chosen because it links to von Moltke. Battles are mentioned and their course is described not in blow by blow detail but more how von Moltke was involved.

Book Review - Bali Chronicles by Willard Hanna

It is indicative of the challenges of researching history in Southeast Asia that in a 280+ page book describing Bali’s history, the pre-1800 period is concluded by page 49, indeed the history before the arrival of Europeans is over by chapter two that starts on page 35. This is not meant as a criticism but an observation that original, verifiable sources are very hard to find for Bali before the arrival of the record obsessed European trading companies. Where records were written down they were done so often on materials made from plants that have not survived the ravages of time nor are easily translated.

The Mitrailleuse - an early machine-gun

So often we read about new military inventions being used in the wrong way during their first outing on a battlefield because the military mind was not flexible enough to recognise the best way to use them. This theme is emphasised when we read about the ineffective first use of a technology that later on becomes a key military technology. I had long heard about the French Mitrailleuse that saw service during the 1870-71 Franco-Prussian War that we call a machine gun but was deployed by the French Artillery. I was very excited when I saw one of these controversial weapons in the German Military Museum last year. It is one thing to read about a weapon but to actually see it is another thing. I also recently read a very good article from the archives of Wargames Illustrated that sought to explain some of the myths about the weapon.

New video lectures from the National WWII Museum

In November last year the National WWII Museum in the US held a conference on 1943: Victory in the Balance and they have placed a number of the presentations on their YouTube Channel.

 

 

 

 

 

The 1930s loss of HMS Poseidon and its raising by the Chinese in the 1970s

(Source: SCMP)

I was listening to one of my favourite podcasts over the weekend, the Sinica Popup Chinese Podcast and they had a segment about a British submarine that sunk in the 1930s off China. While the podcast covers a wide range of subjects it was not a topic that I expected to hear. HMS Poseidon was a Parthian Class submarine that was launched just under two years prior to its loss on 9 June 1931. There was nothing particularly suspicious about its loss, it struck a Chinese freighter while training off Weihai in China where the Royal Navy still had a presence through a leasing arrangement with China. While tragic, the accident was marked as probably the first use of the Davis Submerged Escape Apparatus.

RIP Tom Clancy

(Source: Tom Clancy Wiki)

This seems to becoming a theme of this blog but the marking of famous people passing away continues with the sad news that the popular techno thriller author, Tom Clancy, passed away during the week. Growing up during the 1980s when there was still the Cold War fear of a nuclear war his books hit the right chord with so many people. They were page turners with a great grasp of the technology emerging at the time. They may not eventually stand the time as classics to be read in 100 years but they were a great way to kill days without knowing. As an author he did not limit himself to books for entertaining his readers. He probably picked up quicker than most that beyond movies and videos there were video games. His books became tie-ins for video games, several of which became successful series like Ghost Recon and Rainbow Six.

Was he a visionary? Shortly after the tragic attacks on September 11, 2001 it did not take some commentators too long to recall the climatic attack on the Capitol Building by a Japanese Air Lines jumbo jet in Debt of Honor. In addition, the series he created called Netforce seemed to predate many of the discussions that emerged later about 'cyber attacks' and 'cyber crime.'

Hunt for Red October was his first novel and the first Tom Clancy book that I read. It was a page turner and I think the later movie with Sean Connery did a good job of bringing it to the screen. However, there was no way the complexities of the plot and sub-plots could have been fully made into a film that an audience could follow.

We will miss him.

Vale Vo Nguyen Giap

(Source: ABC.net.au)

This post marks the passing of a true military legend, the Vietnamese general, Vo Nguyen Giap. In a number of books about great commanders Giap was listed there alongside generals like Napoleon, Rommel and Alexander. Whether that comparison is true will be debated for years but there is no doubting his leadership of the Viet Minh and then the Viet Cong forces fighting first the French and then the US during Vietnam's long struggle for independence.

His generalship is a good topic for discussion. The French placed themselves in a very vulnerable position at Dien Bien Phu in 1954 but Giap's victory came at a major cost to his forces. It was however a battlefield victory that lead to a negotiated settlement. His victories often came at a high cost in personnel and in a less autocratic society probably would not have been tolerated by the people.

The whole struggle for Vietnam's independence seemed to have been conducted with little regard for the losses by the North Vietnamese side. It was a total war with only one outcome being pursued. The true cost of the war to the people of North Vietnam only came out slowly well after the war. (A novel as one example and a memoir from a senior defector.)

No matter how he is viewed now or in the future by historians his passing is a sad day.

Marking the passing of Chin Peng

Chin Peng (Source: Loyarburok)

Chin Peng, the leader of the Communist party of Malaya that launched a rebellion against the British authorities in that country from the late 1940s passed away on 16 September 2013 in Thailand. He was decorated by the British in World War Two for his efforts in fighting against the Japanese. He then led a predominantly ethic Chinese movement that struggled to overthrow the British-established order in Malaya. The conflict was reputedly described as an 'emergency' so as not to lead to higher insurance premiums in Malaya. The battles were often fought in the depths of the jungle although the 'key terrain' were the people. The methods used by the British led to the popularisation of the term 'hearts and minds.' The US attempted to learn from these techniques when it found itself bogged down in Vietnam. Chin Peng was never allowed to return to Malaysia despite the surrender of the CPM in the later 1980s. Fortunately his story has been left for history in two books (1, 2). It is not whether his cause was right or wrong, although his defeat probably shows that the people did not support him. What is important is that his view of the conflict has been recorded for future generations to study so as to understand all sides in the conflict. If you want to read a good analysis about his legacy then this commentary from Singapore's RSIS is worth a read. The key point is:

Chin Peng may have passed on, but the Maoist precepts of insurgency that have inspired the CPM’s own and others will remain a wellspring of ideas for insurgents well beyond the classical insurgency era. For the counterinsurgent, to ignore these time-honed principles, particularly the human and psychological dimensions that drive people’s wars, is to risk defeat.

Vale Donald Featherstone

I am a bit late on this but I only just caught up on this news as I was late listening to the relevant Wargaming Recon Podcast. I was very sad to hear of the passing of Donald Featherstone on 3 September this year. Donald Featherstone was an accomplished author of numerous books on military history and wargaming. I had recently picked up a copy of his Solo Wargaming, while I already had his Victorian Colonial Warfare: India: From the Conquest of Sind to the Indian Mutiny as well as At Them with the Bayonet: the First Anglo-Sikh War 1845 - 1846. He was an engaging author who had seen war first hand during World War Two as a member of the Royal Armoured Corps. I have been late coming to formal wargaming although I have been exposed to it through my work. He had been active as an author and had inspired many wargamers. Although I never met him, it is truly a pity to say farewell to him. RIP Donald Featherstone.

Don't forget the Fulda Gap

(Source: Wikimapia)

Having just returned from Germany a month or so ago I am still very attuned to things German. So as I was reading through Twitter this morning I came across this article by Kyle Mizokami about the Fulda Gap. (I am familiar with his writing mainly from his co-founding of Japan Security Watch as well as his blogging at War is Boring.) This article struck a chord with me as I remember reading a lot about the Fulda Gap during the Cold War. It was going to be the site of the ultimate modern battle between the Warsaw Pact and NATO. While my family did not visit the area during our trip to Germany we did pass signs indicating roads to Fulda. Everytime I saw those signs I immediatley thought about the Fulda Gap. The article is well worth a read, especially if you lived through the Cold War and ever wondered what the Fulda Gap actually was. If you cannot get enough of the Fulda gap then I can recommend Wargame European Escalation to fulfil your Cold war needs.

Back from a holiday in Germany

We recently returned from a few weeks in Germany, including a side trip for a day into Vienna. It was a highly rewarding holiday, ticking off a number of sites and museums that I had wanted to see for a very long time. We completed a circle around Germany using cars and trains so we really had the chance to see a lot of the countryside. Because I was planning the trip there was a very large focus on military history. Of course, with Germany that can cover a lot of themes and topics. While it was hard to escape World War Two I did not want that to dominate the sites that we saw. Like many countries in Europe, Germany and the territory now encompassed by Germany have a rich tapestry of history to choose from. Our time was limited so we could not see everything that I would have liked. If I get a chance I will blog about a number of the places that we saw, but for now I have just included a list below in the chronological order that we visited them.

William Dalrymple interviewed about Afghanistan in 1840s and now

William Dalrymple (Source: ABC Radio National)

This podcast has been up for a few days but I just thought that I would highlight it. British author William Dalrymple was interviewed on Australia's ABC Radio National as part of the Sydney Writers Festival about his new book detailing the First Anglo-Afghan War. The book is Return of a King. It is obviously risky to draw too much from a historical analogy but the discussion was interesting. He highlighted the tribal similarity between the leader of Afghanistan deposed by the British, Dost Mohammad, and the current President, Hamid Karzai. I think anybody who has read about the British intervention at that time cannot help but think of parallels between then and the current situation in that tragic country. This is not to criticise the current operations in Afghanistan but rather an observation. It was not a long podcast but really worth a listen to.

Off for a holiday to Germany mid-year

It has been a while since we, as a family, had a decent holiday but we will be having one mid this year. We have decided to visit Germany this time to experience all that the history there has to offer. We are also planning to briefly travel to Vienna to visit the famous Heeresgeschichtliches Museum. 

I am very much looking forward to the trip as we will be experiencing a grand narrative of history when we move through a wealth of military history from the Roman era Limes, Varus Battlefield and Mainz's ancient watercraft through the Thirty Years War to the horrors that befell Germany in World War 2. I am a believer in the grand narrative of history in that everything is connected. Not necessarily in a causational sense but it is not hard to draw lines through history connecting events. The simplest thread is of course the geographic thread in that an area influences and is influenced by its history.

Robert Kaplan has argued that we ignore geography at our own peril. I did not find his views revolutionary as, in my opinion, geography has always remained important. Historically speaking Germany was a collection of states with Prussia emerging in the 1700s as probably the most important. It was cursed by having an open geography that meant it was fearful of invasion. It became a continental power because it faced the major land powers of Austria, France and Russia. It needed to secure its existence on land before it could be concerned with conquering the seas.

Its history also shows the threads of military history, particularly from a European perspective. It experienced the "first armies" such as the Romans. It had barbarian warfare and then feudal warfare. It saw the rise of mercenaries leading to the creation of standing armies. From there came mass armies that fed into industrial age warfare.

I am reading several books at present trying to understand Germany before we visit there. The main reference is Iron Kingdom as the role of Prussia cannot be separated from the emergence of Germany.

This trip should be very interesting and help me understand how the grand narrative of history interweaves military history. I also hope that it will give me broader paradigms for what I read and see in Asia. 

The count down clock is ticking and I cannot wait.

WW2 emerges again thanks to a Japanese politician

Although 1939 is 74 years ago, the Second World War is not a subject for historians. Events during the war still make it into contemporary politics. The latest incident arose when the Mayor of the Japanese city of Osaka decided to justify the use of comfort women by the Imperial Japanese Army in World War Two. He said that the combat troops needed this type of outlet as a relief from their lives of constant danger. He also referred to other countries having similar operations. Of course the most famous were the French but I think that it would be a long stretch to equate what the Japanese did to what the French had. The issue is not so much the ethics of whether a state should supply and manage brothel services for its troops but the fact that the Imperial Japanese Army launched a concerted campaign of forced recruitment. This story will not die easily and there will be probably be another badly chosen comment from a prominent Japanese again in the near future.

Some quick links

- An article by Michael Vatikiotis arguing that the tensions are rising in Asia and that steps need to be taken to avoid armed conflict. 

- The Chinese don't seem to be paying attention with three government ships entering seas disputed with Japan.

Sabah - A problem here to stay for a while?

When the reports started to emerge about an armed group of Filipinos landing in Sabah to back up their traditional claim to Sabah with guns I thought that it was another sign of the times. East Asia is awash with territorial claims that have been dormant and are now rising as the countries of the region grow in strength. While this was a sub state or non-state actor from the Philippines there is no doubt that it has been a catalyst for adding tension to the relationship between Malaysia and the Philippines. The New Mandala has a great overview here.

I am still around, I have just been very busy

I am still around but this year has been much busier than I thought it would be. I knew that 2012 would be busy but I did not fully realise how busy it would become. I think that life will slow down now so I should be able to do some blogging. I have also noted while writing this blog that the internet here is incredibly slow. A slow connection will make blogging hard. Well, hopefully I will be able to put some posts up soon. I have done some travelling and have some interesting photos, well hopefully people will find them interesting. More soon...I hope.