Introduction Charlemagne (Charles the Great; Latin: Carolus Magnus; 02 April 747 to 28 January 814) was King of the Franks from 768, King of the Lombards from 774, and Emperor of the Romans from 800. During the Early Middle Ages, Charlemagne united the majority of western and central Europe. He was the first recognised emperor… Read More
Introduction Colonel William Benedict Nolde (08 August 1929 to 27 January 1973) was an officer in the United States Army. Born in Menominee, Michigan, Nolde was a professor of military science at Central Michigan University before joining the army. He is known for being the last official American combat casualty of the Vietnam War: the… Read More
Introduction The Derby Scheme was introduced during World War I in Britain in the autumn of 1915 by Herbert Kitchener’s new Director General of Recruiting, Edward Stanley, 17th Earl of Derby (1865-1948) after which it was named. The war was lasting longer than had been anticipated and the British military required more recruits; ‘Derby’s scheme’… Read More
Introduction The Conscription Crisis of 1918 stemmed from a move by the British government to impose conscription (military draft) in Ireland in April 1918 during the First World War. Vigorous opposition was led by trade unions, Irish nationalist parties and Roman Catholic bishops and priests. A conscription law was passed but was never put in… Read More
Introduction Military Service Tribunals were bodies formed by borough, urban district and rural district councils to hear applications for exemption from conscription into the British Army during the First World War. Background Although not strictly recruiting bodies, they played an important part in the process of conscription. Tribunals were published as part of the Derby… Read More
Introduction The Military Service Act 1916 was an Act passed by the Parliament of the United Kingdom during the First World War to impose conscription in Great Britain, but not in Ireland. The Act The Bill which became the Act was introduced by Prime Minister H.H. Asquith in January 1916. It came into force on… Read More
Introduction The Boshin War (戊辰戦争, Boshin Sensō, lit. “War of the Year of the Yang Earth Dragon”), sometimes known as the Japanese Revolution or Japanese Civil War, was a civil war in Japan, fought from 27 January 1868 to 27 June 1869 between forces of the ruling Tokugawa shogunate and those seeking to return political… Read More
