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Military History Carnival #27 is posted, and I have an entry

Military History Carnival #27 is posted over at the History News Network Blog. I finally got around to writing a submission which was included, so I am very happy.

Fittingly, this marks my 100th post for this blog. I know, its not climbing Mount Everest or winning an Olympic Gold but it is a milestone for my blog. Many thanks for those who pop by here regularly and for those who have left comments. It is nice to see the page view total continue to grow.

A new site about the Dutch War in Aceh

Atchin is a new site, in Dutch, about the 1873-1914 Dutch War in Aceh. The site is still limited in its content but it does have some interesting pcitures, incluidng of the Acehnese weapons along with some information about them. I used the Google translation bar and received some very interesting takes on what the Dutch text supposedly meant. Still, it looks like it will grow and it is a new site about a little known war in an area that has seen a lot of bloodshed even up to only a few years ago. Atchin is certainly worth a visit.

The Army of the Yogyakarta Kraton

Yogyakarta on the island of Java in Indonesia is not known for its military tradition and yet it is a city that was founded by war. The Sultanate of Yogyakarta grew out of the disintegration of the Mataram Sultanate when two princes quarrelled over the accommodation of the Dutch by the Sultanate of Mataram. One of the princes, who later became the first Sultan of Yogyakarta, created an army that exists until today despite being reduced as the result of treaties and disbanded once. It is an Army founded in a form of feudalism but which embraced gunpowder weapons in the mid-18th century on its founding.

 Patangpuluh Soldiers from this Flickr account

 

Book Review - Between Dreams and Reality

Hardcover: 275 pages

Publisher: Harvard University Asia Center 

ISBN-10: 0674025024

It may sound a bad way to open the review but I was surprised at how much I enjoyed reading this book. I had not picked it up for reading pleasure but to try and understand more about the Choson military structure. It is a well written book and while it covers a lot of academic ground it managed to do so with surprising interest.

Choson Dynasty Military Officials

I recently read Eugene Y. Park's Between Dreams and Reality about the military examination in the late Choson Dynasty in Korea. It started me thinking about the differences that emerge between a feudal society and a centrally organised society in regards to military control. The Romans had a centrally organised military but this gave way in Western Europe to feudalism with the military being raised by the aristocracy. In Korea's Choson Dynasty, as in China, the military was a centrally organised system. While there were professional soldiers and even officers there was a 'civil servant' structure that organised the military. These civil servants for military affairs were called muban. To be a muban meant having passed the military examination. Like the civil examination there was an emphasis on Confucian texts but there was also a practical military skills test. The practical test was part of the initial testing done at the regional level, with two further tests of both martial skills and Confucian knowledge conducted in the capital before a candidate could be termed a muban.

A Choson Muban with sword (note the Leopard rank badge on his chest) 
Note: I pulled this picture off a forum but lost the link. I am happy to acknowledge the source if provided.

Book Review - Kwanjangnim Original Haidong Gumdo

Paperback: 144 pages

Publisher: Outskirts Press 

ISBN-10: 9781432735531

Kwanjangnim Original Haidong Gumdo is a unique book as it discussed a martial art that does not receive much coverage, Haidong Gumdo. However, this book is not the definitive guide to the martial art and is indeed a very basic book that could have been a magazine article. The actual English part of the book is about 60 pages in big type. I read the book in about half an hour, not because I could not put it down but because there was not much content.

Vale Richard Holmes

 (From http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/nova/lostempires/trebuchet/castle.html)

I awoke this morning to the sad tweet from Adrian Murdoch, of the superb Bread and Circuses, that the distinguished British military Historian Richard Holmes passed away on Saturday, 30 April 2011. The Telegraph's obituary is here (Hat Tip to Adrian Murdoch's Tweet) and there are tributes to be found here.

If you have even a passing interest in military history then you have probably read, listened to or watched Richard Holmes. I remember his fascinating narration of the documentary of Rebels and Redcoats. He talked you through the war as a friend and a mentor. His engaging style complemented the actual locations where the history occurred.

One of the strengths in his work was letting the participants tell their stories. I read his book Sahib enjoying the way that he was able to join the narratives by the actual people, stepping back to let them tell their story, returning to guide the reader to the next original tale. I bought Redcoat based on Sahib and was planning to read it soon.

He was a prolific author, a wonderful historian and a captive narrator. Military history has lost one of its true masters and the world has lost one of the last real gentlemen. It is a sadder day knowing that Richard Holmes will not be producing any more work. Condolences to his family and friends; vale Richard Holmes.

200-year old cannonballs found in Vietnam

The Southeast Asian Archaeology Newsblog has an interesting story about a number of cannonballs being found on the bank of the An Cuu River in Hue. They are believed to be from the Nguyen Dynasty. There is not much more on the find but I am sure that the very readable and useful Southeast Asian Archaeology Newsblog will have updates as they appear.