Armies of the War of the Grand Alliance 1688–97
Armies of the War of the Grand Alliance 1688–97

Author: Gabriele Esposito

Publisher: Bloomsbury Publishing

Published: 2021-10-28

Total Pages: 50

ISBN-13: 147284436X

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This title explores and illustrates the armies of France, and six countries allied against Louis XIV, in a wide-ranging Continental conflict that ushered in more than a century of European warfare. Formed in 1689, the 'Grand Alliance' or League of Augsburg was a military coalition of the Holy Roman Empire, the Dutch Republic, Britain, Spain and the Duchy of Savoy, to resist Louis XIV's rich, powerful and expansionist France. The first stage of the nine year conflict that followed also coincided with the so-called 'Glorious Revolution' in Britain (1688–91), when the throne passed to the Dutch Protestant leader, William of Orange, the head of a multi-national Dutch, Danish and English army, which finally expelled James II's Jacobite and French forces from Ireland. The long war on the continent was notable for the first widespread use of regimental uniforms and flintlock muskets with bayonets, plus the sophisticated use of siege warfare under the great French engineer, Vauban. The final Treaties of Ryswyck (1697) brought the war to an end and marked Louis XIV's political zenith, and also the ascendancy of both the Dutch and British as first-rate global powers. This fully illustrated title explores the armies which fought the War of the Grand Alliance, examining their strength, organization, uniforms and weapons, and explaining their campaigns and major battles.

Armies of the War of the Triple Alliance 1864–70
Armies of the War of the Triple Alliance 1864–70

Author: Gabriele Esposito

Publisher: Bloomsbury Publishing

Published: 2015-03-20

Total Pages: 125

ISBN-13: 1472807278

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The War of the Triple Alliance is the largest single conflict in the history of South America. Drawing Argentina, Brazil, Uruguay and Paraguay into conflict the war was characterized by extraordinarily high casualty rates, and was to shape the future of an entire continent – depopulating Paraguay and establishing Brazil as the predominant military power. Despite the importance of the war, little information is available in English about the armies that fought it. This book analyzes the combatants of the four nations caught up in the war, telling the story of the men who fought on each side, illustrated with contemporary paintings, prints, and early photographs.

The Nine Years' War and the British Army, 1688-1697
The Nine Years' War and the British Army, 1688-1697

Author: John Charles Roger Childs

Publisher: Manchester University Press

Published: 1991

Total Pages: 392

ISBN-13: 9780719034619

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This is a description of how the Nine Years War affected the British Army, both in its actual operations in the theatre of war and in its size, operative capacity and costs. This war brought about radical changes in the sizes and the associated costs of the armies of Britain, France, Austria and the United Provinces in a relatively short period. For example, the size of field armies grew from an average of about 25,000 men during the Thirty Years' War to an average of about 100,000 men in 1695 during the Nine Years War. The costs of sustaining such huge field forces in terms of food, equipment and pay brought Britain and France, in particular, fiscal crisis and a shattered economy respectively, after the peace.

Armies of the Great Northern War 1700–1720
Armies of the Great Northern War 1700–1720

Author: Gabriele Esposito

Publisher: Bloomsbury Publishing

Published: 2019-10-29

Total Pages: 50

ISBN-13: 147283349X

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This detailed study explains and illustrates the Russian, Scandinavian, Polish, and German armies of the crucial series of wars that saw Russia's arrival as a great military power in Northern Europe, displacing Sweden's 60-year hegemony. The Great Northern War was a long series of campaigns in which Russia, linked with several other countries in temporary alliances, confronted and eventually replaced Sweden as the predominant power in Northern Europe. While contemporary with the Duke of Marlborough's pivotal campaigns against France, the Great Northern War was in fact more decisive, since it reshaped the Northern European power balance up to the eve of the Napoleonic Wars. It began with a series of astonishing Swedish victories lead by King Charles XII, from Denmark to Poland and deep into Germany. But Peter the Great of Russia showed steadfast determination, and Charles overreached himself when he invaded Russia in 1708; the Russians adopted classic “scorched earth” tactics until they could destroy the Swedish army at Poltava in 1709, one of the most overwhelming victories in history. Nevertheless, Sweden continued to fight, and frequently win, in Germany, Denmark, and Norway, until Charles' death in battle in 1718, though the war itself did not conclude until 1721. This study explores, in detail, the numerous armies and complex alliances engaged in the war for Northern European dominance. Containing accurate full-color artwork and unrivaled detail, Armies of the Great Northern War offers a vivid insight into the troops which battled for control of the North.

Grand Strategy and Military Alliances
Grand Strategy and Military Alliances

Author: Peter R. Mansoor

Publisher: Cambridge University Press

Published: 2016-02-09

Total Pages: 417

ISBN-13: 1107136024

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A broad-ranging study of the relationship between alliances and the conduct of grand strategy, examined through historical case studies.

Japanese Armies 1868–1877
Japanese Armies 1868–1877

Author: Gabriele Esposito

Publisher: Bloomsbury Publishing

Published: 2020-03-19

Total Pages: 50

ISBN-13: 1472837061

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The restoration of the Meiji Imperial dynasty in 1868, after 250 years of the Tokugawa Shogunate, decisively opened Japan to the outside world and the monarchy embraced modernization, including the creation of a new Westernized army. However, this modernization process was resisted by the traditional Samurai feudal nobility, leading to a series of battles. The first clash between the two cultures came swiftly. During the Boshin War of 1868–69, a French military adviser, Jules Brunet, changed sides to join the insurgents. They won several engagements before the final crushing of the rebel Ezo Republic. After this point, the Imperial Army continued to modernize along French lines, and social changes began to impoverish Samurai noblemen, who lost their social and political role and their associated privileges. During 1876, the powerful Satsuma Domain, around Kagoshima in south-west Kyushu, became a focus for discontent. Its leader Saigo Takamori effectively ignored the central government, and in January 1877, increasing unrest broke out into open rebellion. The Imperial forces were now much stronger, and the Navy could land troops and bombard Kagoshima. The bitter Satsuma siege and attempted capture of Kumamoto Castle finally failed in April, and the Samurai made a last stand at Shiroyama on 24 September, choosing to go down fighting. This marked the final defeat and displacement of the Samurai class. This fully illustrated title explores the fall of the Samurai in detail, examining the arms, tactics, key figures of both sides, and charting the increasing Westernization of the Imperial forces.

The Military Enlightenment
The Military Enlightenment

Author: Christy L. Pichichero

Publisher: Cornell University Press

Published: 2017-11-15

Total Pages: 228

ISBN-13: 1501712292

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The Military Enlightenment brings to light a radically new narrative both on the Enlightenment and the French armed forces from Louis XIV to Napoleon. Christy Pichichero makes a striking discovery: the Geneva Conventions, post-traumatic stress disorder, the military "band of brothers," and soldierly heroism all found their antecedents in the eighteenth-century French armed forces. Readers of The Military Enlightenment will be startled to learn of the many ways in which French military officers, administrators, and medical personnel advanced ideas of human and political rights, military psychology, and social justice.

Roman Army Units in the Western Provinces (1)
Roman Army Units in the Western Provinces (1)

Author: Raffaele D’Amato

Publisher: Bloomsbury Publishing

Published: 2016-06-16

Total Pages: 52

ISBN-13: 1472815386

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At its height the Roman Empire stretched across Europe, North Africa and the Middle East, maintained by an army of modest size but great diversity. In popular culture these soldiers are often portrayed in a generic fashion, but continuing research indicates significant variations in Roman armour and equipment not only between different legions and the provincially-raised auxiliary cohorts that made up half of the army, but also between different regions within the empire. With reference to the latest archaeological and documentary evidence Dr D'Amato investigates how Roman Army units in the Western provinces were equipped, exploring the local influences and traditions that caused the variations in attire.

Giant of the Grand Siècle
Giant of the Grand Siècle

Author: John A. Lynn

Publisher: Cambridge University Press

Published: 1997-06-13

Total Pages: 673

ISBN-13: 0521572738

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An 'invisible giant', the seventeenth-century French army was the largest and hungriest institution of the Bourbon monarchy. Combining social and cultural emphases with more traditional institutional and operational concerns, this book examines the army in depth, studying recruitment, composition, discipline, motivation, selection of officers, leadership, administration, logistics, weaponry, tactics, field warfare and siegecraft. The portrait that emerges differs from what current scholarship might have predicted. Instead of claiming that a 'military revolution' transformed warfare, Lynn stresses evolutionary change. This work also offers surprising insights into absolutism and the relationship between the monarchy and aristocracy. Questioning widely held assumptions about state formation and coercion, Lynn argues that this standing army was primarily devoted to border defence and only rarely to internal repression.

King Philip's War 1675–76
King Philip's War 1675–76

Author: Gabriele Esposito

Publisher: Bloomsbury Publishing

Published: 2020-10-29

Total Pages: 97

ISBN-13: 1472842987

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King Philip's War was the result of over 50 years' tension between the native inhabitants of New England and its colonial settlers as the two parties competed for land and resources. A coalition of Native American tribes fought against a force of over 1,000 men raised by the New England Confederation of Plymouth, Connecticut, New Haven and Massachusetts Bay, alongside their Indian allies the Mohegans and Mohawks. The resultant fighting in Rhode Island, Connecticut, Massachusetts, and later Maine and New Hampshire, resulted in the destruction of 12 towns, the death of between 600–800 colonists and 3,000 Indians, making it the deadliest war in the history of American colonization Although war resulted in victory for the colonists, the scale of death and destruction led to significant economic hardship. This new study reveals the full story of this influential conflict as it raged across New England. Packed with maps, battle scenes, and bird's-eye-views, this is a comprehensive guide to the war which determined the future of colonial America.