The great European conflict known as the Thirty Years War was only the final phase of a war in the Netherlands which was to last 80 years. In the course of this the Dutch rose up successfully against their Spanish rulers and established a Republic in the early 16th century which was the envy of its contemporaries. This volume brings together papers by 11 leading military historians from the Netherlands who discuss the processes by which the Dutch organised and financed the military apparatus which was eventually to defeat the leading land and maritime power of their day, and to maintain the...

This is a study of the appearances of the Knights Templar, Knights Hospitaller and Teutonic Knights in the French, German and English epic and romance literature of the Middle Ages. It examines their religious roles, such as caring for the sick, their warrior role of fighting Muslims, and examines the role of 'Templars' in the Grail romances. It traces how these roles developed over time and considers what function the appearances of these military religious orders performed in the composition of a work of fictional literature. The frequent appearances of the Military Orders in medieval...

During World War I the Netherlands was situated squarely between two warring great powers, Britain and Germany, and on the edge of the war zone itself. Isolationism was impossible; strict neutrality was inadequate. The Netherlands nevertheless escaped the war, mainly because of its own actions. This book is the story of the people who managed this escape. The first part of the book examines the pre-war situation, espionage against Germany, and the mobilization of 1914. Succeeding chapters cover the military-diplomatic balancing act during the war, the attempted revolution of 1918, and the...

The art of the Netherlands (Dutch and Flemish) is unique in Early Modern Europe in its concern for military cruelty against civilians, principally the peasantry. Decimated by time and changes in taste, this popular iconography proves varied and extensive, stretching from Bruegel to and past Rubens. 'Massacres of the Innocents' continue to be a favourite subject through the Eighty Years War, in contrast to ruling-class glorifications of war. Dutch patriotic siege prints lay claim to 'scientific' precision in landscapes free of military terror, while the idea of military conquest is presented...

This volume examines Scotland's experience of and reaction to European expansion between c. 1600-1800. Although Scotland lacked an independent empire in the seventeenth century, it gained unfettered access to the global empire of England after 1707. The volume argues that, beneath this seemingly stark discontinuity, there lay considerable continuity. Using a series of case studies on Scottish governors serving in the empires of Denmark-Norway, Weden, and their eighteenth century Russian and British equivalents, it highlights the previously underestimated chronological and geographic extent of...

Preclassical and indigenous nonwestern military institutions and methods of warfare are the chief subjects of this annotated bibliography of work published 1967-1997. Classical antiquity, post-Roman Europe, and the westernized armed forces of the 20th century, although covered, receive less systematic attention. Emphasis is on historical studies of military organization and the relationships between military and other social institutions, rather than wars and battles. Especially rich in references to the periodical literature, the bibliography is divided into eight parts: (1) general and...

This volume, the first of a two-volume set, is the work of fourteen European and American scholars and focuses on the wider aspects of the Hundred Years. These essays range far afield from the traditional heartlands of Hundred Years War studies to investigate the influence of the conflict on Italy, the Low Countries, and Spain and on such topics as urban history, and the actualities of weapon use on the battlefield. A number of the essays in this collection seek to re-examine old but thorny questions long associated with the conflict, including the real immediate impact of gunpowder...

This is the first update of A Cumulative Bibliography of Medieval Military History and Technology, which appeared in 2002. It is meant to do two things: to present references to works on medieval military history and technology not included in the first volume; and to present references to all books and articles published on medieval military history and technology from 2000 to 2002. These references are divided into the same categories as in the first volume and cover a chronological period of the same length, from late antiquity to 1648, again in order to present a more complete...

This volume examines the Russo-Japanese War in its military, diplomatic, social, political, economic, and cultural context. Through the use of research from newly opened Russian and little used Japanese sources the editors assert that the Russo-Japanese War was, in fact, World War Zero, the first global conflict in the 20th century. The contributors demonstrate that the Russo-Japanese War, largely forgotten in the aftermath of World War One, actually was a precursor to the catastrophe that engulfed the world less than a decade after the signing of the Treaty of Portsmouth. This study not only...

The essays collected here suggest some of the ways in which an interdisciplinary perspective may contribute to our understanding of the Great War. Contributors examine the relationship between the character of the war and the nature of belligerent societies, and present original research on the comparative history of the First World War. In 1914-1918, the front lines did not only separate warring nations, but also cut across belligerent societies and ultimately determined the social responses to the conflict. Indeed, the 'totalizing logic' of the First World War entailed the blurring of...