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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.

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.

Two tales of networking social disturbances...separated by over 150 years

I sent out a quick tweet about this subject but I thought that I would follow that up with a post about what my point was. I listened to this really well produced and informative podcast on the 1848 revolutions in Europe from the always informative In Our Time hosted by Melvyn Bragg. During the podcast the distinguished academics discussed how the notion of revolution spread quickly across Europe carried by steam ships and telegraphs; the social networking tools of the day. By a serendipitous chance I was also reading an article in Wired about the new networked rioters that have appeared thanks to social networking tools. Neither of these 'events' claim that social networking started the disturbances only that they helped spread or enlarge the riots. The Wired article was very good at looking at how social networking like Twitter, BBM, etc can contribute to rioting and demonstrations; particularly how they can be used by malcontents to counter police tactics. The connections between the two stories really stood out and made an interesting comparison about about how social disturbances develop, how mobs take over, how problems spread, etc. The 1848 revolutions eventually lost impetus and failed in the short term. The recent disturbances in the UK, USA and Europe have had some short term impacts but have really not impacted politically in a major way like 1848. I can recommend both these articles as an interesting way to see how a historical event can still have parallels in modern times.

400 Gurkha positions to be cut in the British Army as part of cost cutting measures

(Source: Channel News Asia story)

As part of the most recent rounds of cost cutting in the British defence establishment the 3500-strong Gurkha presence in the British Army is to be reduced by 400 positions. The best quote is:

"When they needed troops for battle, the UK government recruited hundreds and thousands of Gurkhas for their service but they have decided to cut numbers in the name of reducing defence expenditure," said Gajendra Isbo, of the Kathmandu-based Gurkha Army Ex-Serviceman's Organisation.

Sorry for the lack of activity, I am also back in SE Asia

Sorry for the lack of blogging over the past few months, it has been very busy. I had a post written a while ago but the internet connection stopped working and I lost everything I had typed. It was a hectic time in my life and that simple loss of what I had taken time to 'pen' took the impetus out of my blogging. My old laptop and Windows 7 also 'conspired' against me to cause problems so I have done what I considered doing three years ago and I have bought a Mac (MacBook Pro actually). The Mac bug bit me big time; I now own an iPad2, a time machine, iTV as well as taking out a subscription to MacWorld. I already had an iPhone. Anyway, with all this new Mac stuff now I will try to get back to regular blogging again, although I will have to pace myself as I am very committed at present with work.

On the work front I have moved to Southeast Asia again, Indonesia to be precise. I did not think that I would be back here after ten years away but work made me an offer that I could not refuse. This year will be very busy but the following two years, while still hectic, will be a little more under control.

Indonesia has gone through some changes over the last 10 years, not surprising really for any country over a decade. When I was last here Indonesia was recovering from the fall of Soeharto and the monetary crisis. It was coming off a real low point but it now appears to be climbing out of those woes. I would not say that it has changed completely, how could a country as diverse and as large as Indonesia change over just 10 years.

It is an interesting time to be back in Asia, with the US saying that it is focusing on Asia again, with China pushing its regional ambition and with Indonesia building its military again. Yes, it should be an interesting three years I would say. Hopefully I will find time for blogging. More soon...I hope :-)

For sale - recreated elephant armour...with a recreated elephant

Continuing the war elephant theme I seem to be running with, please check this link to Christie's Auction House if you have ever thought about buying a set of fake Indian elephant  armour; complete with the fake pachyderm. Happy bidding!

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.

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.

Katana vs Longsword

Disclaimer: I am not trolling for comments with this post, as I can see from the comments on Youtube that this is an emotional subject for some reason. I am not sure why although at least some commenters did refer to sources if readers wanted more information.

I was originally looking at a copy of the National Geographic special on The Medieval Fight Book (note, this is part 3 of 4), written by Hans Talhoffer. A fascinating special in itself and it also had Bettany Hughes as one of the commentators; beauty and a planet sized brain, the ultimate...sorry, minor digression. While looking at the videos I noticed that there were other postings about katanas versus longswords and knights versus samurai. They piqued my interest.

Osprey iPhone Quizz App

I saw the post of the Osprey Blog and rushed off to iTunes. The app itself is free as is the first quiz but then you have to pay for the subsequent quizzes. You can buy in bulk or as you complete the levels, up to four star general and including a training level. The complete cost for all levels was AUD9.99, which I could not resist. I am still on the lowest level and working through the quizzes slowly. There are ten questions in each quiz and they range over all time periods although mainly focused on western military history but not exclusively. They will certainly test your knowledge of the facts. The one minor problem I see is that there is often no context or explanation in the answer. For example, there was a question about from which country was the next highest scoring ace of WW1 after the Red Baron, [spoiler alert] answer, France. But no further detail about who it was and what the scores were. Still a great way to spend a few minutes when you are caught somewhere and have some time free, recommended

History the musical way

I found the Youtube channel of the History Teachers thanks to this post at A Commonplace Book and have enjoyed a number of the songs. Well done to the team behind it.

My favourite ones are:

Macedonia

The Crusades

King Arthur

Julius Caesar

Attila the Hun

Constatine

Battle of Agincourt

A poem

I notice that there has been interest in my post with the two quotes backed by pictures of the people who were responsible for the quotes. In a similar style but a poem this time, I offer the picture below. This is from an incident that occurred during the Battle of the Nile when Nelson's ships blew up the French flag ship, L'Orient. The captain's son supposedly manned his post despite the destruction around him until the ship exploded. I had heard the opening line before, normally followed with an implied fear of the presence of Oscar Wilde, never realising the actual story behind it. I found the story very touching and added colour to an interesting battle, in an interesting campaign during an interesting period. I hope that you enjoy.

The jpg is not the best quality so here it is in pdf format Download Casabianca.

A geographic translator tool

This may be a slightly tangential post for this blog but for those like me who occasionally look at old battle maps or war diaries and want to compare them to the current terrain via Google earth or modern maps I have just found a geographic translator tool on the web from NGA. If you go here you will see the tool. 

Two quotes

I recently made these two pictures, they are quotes from Napoleon and General Patton. I liked the quotes and I tracked down some suitable photos. Please feel free to use them as you wish.

 

Some podcasts and other AV resources

I thought that some people may also like listening to military history on their Ipod or other style of MP3 player. Below I have listed two sites that I found have some good audio or video resources on military history:

The UK's Defence Academy - both audio and often video of military history and other current military issues - http://www.da.mod.uk/podcasts (Thanks to Thoughts on Military History Blog for publicising it.)

The US Army's Heritage and Education Centre - with a series of military history video lectures that can be downloaded - http://www.carlisle.army.mil/ahec/media/video_archive.cfm

On Itunes, there are a number of military history related Podcasts and you can access them through the websites I have listed below or searching on Itunes. The Podcasts that I listen to are:

Binge Thinking History - currently doing a series on the history of the Royal Navy.

Civil War Podcast - normally only three minutes each but looking at unique aspects of the US Civil War.

History According to Bob - not always military history but a reasonable number of Bob's podcasts have a military flavour. He normally has a number of themes running at any time and produces almost daily ten minute podcasts. He is looking at the Russo-Japanese War, US Civil War, the medieval Italian Wars and the Seminole Wars.

The History Network (ancient warfare magazine) - Linked to the Ancient Warfare Magazine and the podcast ties in with the current edition. It is normally the editor discussing the month's theme with several of the contributing authors from that edition of the magazine and is a great adjunct to reading the magazine.

The History Network (military)- podcasts on various aspects of military history.

The History of Rome - not really military history I admit but Rome was founded and maintained by a very impressive war machine. A likable listen as well.

Historyzine- currently exploring the War of Spanish Succession. I have not heard Jim's voice for a while and I hope that he is OK. Come back Jim, your Podcast is always entertaining.

The International Spy Museum Spycast - not strictly military history but it does explore the issues behind recent military history such as the Vietnam War in one podcast.

Military History Podcast - just as it says but not as prolific as it once was.

TPN :: Napoleon 101 - if you have not heard this podcast you are missing out. A US academic and authour of Napoleon for Dummies, David J. Markham, with an Australian internet entrepreneur, Cameron Riley, discuss the life of Napoleon in over 40+ podcasts and are still going, even though they 'killed-off' Napoleon several podcasts ago. They are now doing podcasts on aspects of Napoleon and his time. More political biography than military history but the two have great chemistry. I even bought David Markham's Napoleon for Dummies after listening to the Podcast. A highly recommended Podcast.

I am cross posting this at Military Photos Net to see if I can find out more Podcasts or Military History audio and visual resource pages.

Asian and Western Archery

After doing some archery when I was very young and then not having a chance to continue it, I decided that as part of my mid-life crisis that I would take up archery again. I wrestled for a while about whether I would lean towards western (English and Welsh design) longbows or Asian compound bows. In the end the romance of the longbow won out. (Maybe its just a guy thing to go for the longer bow?) I am just starting but I have been doing some reading up on archery and I find that by practicing it that I can better visualise some of the historical contexts that I am reading about. My longbow is not a traditional English longbow; I have promised that to myself in about a year's time if I am still going and my skill level is up to it. Apart from the construction materials, the other major difference between the Western longbow and compound bow is the shooting style; the comparison assumes a right hand drawback:

- The longbow is traditionally shot off the left side of the bow, with the archer drawing the string back with three fingers; either one on top and two below or all three below.

- The asian compound bow shoots off the right side of the bow and uses a thumb ring, where the archer uses the ring to protect his thumb while he hooks his thumb on the string. His index finger locks the thumb in place for the drawback.

I accept that these are generalisations but I was interested that the two different bow types also had different shooting styles.

Here is a link to a good video in English about Korean archery that also briefly looks at the military aspects of it. It comes from this site by an American living in Korea who practices Korean archery. The site also talks about the thumb ring. Here is another article from a person who shoots traditional western style bows in South Africa but gave the thumb ring a try. He gives an interesting opinion about why the thumb ring is god for the small compound bows and also an idea from his perspective about the pros and cons of the simple device.

Test post from Iphone

A test post from my Iphone.

The first post

This is my first post for what I hope will be a blog that lasts for at least a few years. I will write more about what I want to do with the blog as I become accustomed to being a blogger and so this is more of a test post. Hopefully I will maintain a minimum of weekly updates about military aspects of mainly Korea and North East Asia. I will also include other parts of Asia sometimes when I feel that I have something of relevance to say.

Please feel free to comment on the posts but please keep comments friendly. I am hoping to learn about my interest with this blog and I want to stimulate some good, well informed discussion about areas that interest those who visit this blog.

I hope that you enjoy this blog.