In Bismarck: 24 Hours to Doom, historian Iain Ballantyne lays out in an almost cinematic style how the German high-seas raider met her match during a contest of steel versus struts and canvas. It was the most unlikely of tales — fragile, supposedly obsolete Swordfish biplanes against the modern battle-wagon Bismarck, at the time the most powerful warship…
Category: Military History
Military History: Kentucky Physician and Governor Was One of First Civilians to Attempt Biological Warfare in the Civil War
Dr. Luke Blackburn was a respected medical doctor and philanthropist until he allegedly attempted to create a yellow fever outbreak targeting Northern civilians and soldiers during the Civil War. Despite widespread outrage at the time, he later won a landslide victory to become the governor of Kentucky. Blackburn was a native Kentuckian who began working…
Armed Citizen Corner: British Pistol Use During World War I
Here’s an interesting piece of research, done in 2010 by one David Thomas as part of a degree in British First World War Studies: The Pistol in British Military Service During the Great War (pdf) This is a well-footnoted 38 pages, covering the British procurement of handguns, the different types of handguns use, and the training…
Modern Warfare: Getting Schooled on Deterrence – What is it Exactly?
I could really care less about Politics, Politicians or the Lies they tell. I am posting this article so you guys can get a textbook definition of “Military Deterrence” and understand what it really is so you can THINK for yourselves regarding Foreign Affairs and not have some Talking Head D.C. Zombie mislead you.-SF In…
Russian Corner: The Hybrid State as Adversary
Oceans of ink and terabytes of electronic musings have been expended on the subject of hybrid warfare. The classic formulation is a non-state actor with appurtenances of state power and, in many cases, support from traditional nation states. Of particular concern to defense planners and intelligence experts was the ability of these non-state actors to…
World War I History: Australia And The Battle of Fromelles
Editor’s Note: This article was originally published by The Interpreter, which is published by the Lowy Institute for International Policy, an independent, nonpartisan think tank based in Sydney. War on the Rocks is proud to be publishing articles from The Interpreter weekly. Fromelles, fought one hundred years ago this week, is now one of the most famous battles in which…
Cold War “What If” History: The World War III Naval Battle of A U.S. Iowa Class Battleship vs Russia’s Battelcruiser
It’s 1988. World War Three has begun, with the armies of the Soviet Union and the rest of the Warsaw Pact pouring over the Inter-German Border. Their destination: the Rhine River and beyond, dealing NATO a knockout blow that will end the war. Meanwhile at sea, an equally titanic battle is about to take…
Psy-Ops Military History Files: The True Story of ‘Commando Buzz’
On Dec. 24, 1970, an odd airplane touched down at an air base in Thailand. Though it might not have looked like it, this was a top secret U.S. Air Force propaganda plane and the crew had just flown the last of a series of classified missions over neighboring Cambodia. The Pentagon sent the…
Military History In Pictures: IRA Snipers and The Troubles
See the Original at Forgotten Weapons
World War II History: How British Commandos Pulled Off The “Greatest Raid of All”
During World War II, there were many ingenious and courageous raids, but only one would come to be known as “The Greatest Raid of All” – the British raid on St. Nazaire. Since the beginning of hostilities, the German Navy had wreaked havoc on shipping in the Atlantic. With the fall of France, the Nazis…