The German reconnaissance units (Aufklärungsabteilung =reconnaissance detachment) were the spearhead of the Panzer Divisions. Being a miniature, essentially, of the familiar divisions, possessing elements of all arms, but fully motorized, they were able to operate at a very great depth within the en
The previous days were marked by the walk of the Turkish research vessel Oruc Reis in the Aegean - and in particular in the Greek continental shelf. What is not particularly well known, however, is the story of the person who gave his name to the Turkish vessel. After all, his Greek roots are one of
After the terrorist attack by the Palestinian organization Black September and the murder of Israeli athletes participating in the Munich Olympics in 1972, Israel decided to respond forcefully. The reaction came in the context of Operation Wrath of God. The Company Fountain of Youth was part of
In 1970, the American secret service CIA and the German BND signed a top secret agreement in Munich, which made them partners in what the CIA later called the trick of the century. The BND named the operation Rubikon and the CIA Minerva. The high-profile case was revealed by Germanys ZDF Second Prog
In 1793 royalists in the Vendée region were fiercely fighting loyalist troops at the beginning of the French Revolution. In this civil conflict atrocities against rivals were recorded by both camps. However, what happened during and after the conflict at Le Mans is strongly reminiscent of German ext
The Kalthoff repeating rifle was a groundbreaking weapon that could have changed the face of warfare. Its inventor remains unknown, however, due to the fact that it was manufactured by the well-known Kalthoff family of gunsmiths, since the 16th century it has been known by this name. The Kalthof
In war and love everything is permitted, says a saying. But there are actions that exceed the limits of even cruelty. An action that goes beyond the limits of the most morbid imagination took place at the end of 1944 on the island of Chichi Jima in the Bonin Archipelago. This small island is loca
During a war all kinds of services, technicians, scientists on both sides look for ways to physically, materially or morally harm the adversaries. In this context the predecessor of the CIA, the Office of Strategic Services (OSS) commissioned two scientists to create a perfume that would be spray
A World War I French helmet protects soldiers better in the event of explosions than the helmets used by the US military today, a century later, according to a recent study. Duke University biomedical technology researchers have shown that (…) modern military helmets do not better protect the brain
The conflict that led to the outbreak of the Crimean War began in 1848, far away from the Crimea, in the Holy Land. In 1847 a conflict broke out over control of the Church of the Nativity in Bethlehem. At that time only the Orthodox and pre-Chalcedonian Armenians had the keys to the temple, granting
In the past month, 54 Turkish soldiers have died in Idlib province, as the Syrian government under Bashar al-Assad and its Russian allies accuse Turkey of not honoring the agreement to separate groups extremists from other militants in the region. Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan is increasing
The Thirty Years War officially broke out in 1618. However, its roots can be traced back to the Treaty of Augsburg in 1555. The then Habsburg Emperor Charles V, facing the specter of an intra-German, religious war between Roman Catholics and Lutherans, allowed Protestants certain religious freedoms.
Germany does not produce oil. This is a truth that was and still is. In 1939 the country covered 70% of its needs from imports. With the start of World War II, Germany lost access to almost all international oil markets with the exception of that of the Soviet Union, which was opened with the signin
The Battle of Emsdorf in Hesse would remain an unknown, small-scale conflict lost in the depths of History if something unique did not happen during it. The battle pitted two equal forces of about 3,000 men on each side. In 1760 the Seven Years War was in full swing. In western Germany British f
The Knights of St. John were a constant mortal threat to the Turks for centuries. The Knights never possessed strong numerical forces on land or sea, but their numerical inferiority was more than compensated by their qualitative superiority. At sea, in fact, the Knights usually did not care about th
Some of his achievements as an intelligence officer of the Soviet Union were revealed to journalists by Yuri Shevchenko, who in the 1970s claims that he managed to obtain sensitive files related to the work of the American government, the American Ministry of Foreign Affairs, the CIA and NATO. I
Since 1613, when Mikhail Romanov, the first tsar of the eponymous dynasty, ascended the throne, the question of further modernization of the Russian Army was raised. Already in the preceding 14 years (the time of trouble, as it is known in Russian history), from 1599 when Ivans son and successor Feo
Heinrich von Brill is certainly a special figure in world war history. He was not a military man, but still carried the rank of general, as he convinced his ruler to bestow it on him so that he could control the military. He effectively ruled Saxony for 30 years, robbing the public treasury and weak
In 1809, feeling capable of defeating the French, the Austrians declared war on Napoleon. The exiled, hunted by the French, Duke Friedrich Wilhelm of Braunschweig naturally did not let the opportunity go to waste and in agreement with Vienna decided to form a mixed corps of infantry, cavalry and art
The Seven Weeks War (1866) was a disastrous war for Austria. The Prussian opponents of the Austrians were equipped with the breech-loading needle-bearing Dreyse rifle while the Austrian soldiers were equipped with front-loading rifled rifles. However, the main reason for the defeat of the Austria
Lorica is the name of body defenses (often called armor) in ancient Rome). Hamata is a ring mail chainmail. It was generally coat of mail of the so-called 1/4 type (1 ring is connected to 4 others) closed by a barleycorn rivet (see chain mail and ring mail). After the disaster of the capture of
Tanganyika , a historic East African country founded in 1964 with Zanzibar merged to form the United Republic of Tanganyika and Zanzibar was later renamed the United Republic of Tanzania. ( See Tanzania .) Britannica Quiz Destination Africa:Fact or Fiction? Is Africas northernm
In ancient Arcadia, now included in the Greek region of Achaia north of the Peloponnese, is a mountain range called Aroania that is home to the third highest peak in the country (2,355 meters). The mountains are traversed by several rivers to the north and southeast, and the Krathi River rises fro
Fossils of a piece of skull and jawbone discovered in 2021 near Ramla, Israel • TEL AVIV UNIVERSITY / AFP Two recently discovered fossils claim the title of a new species of Homo and a close kinship with modern man. And spark debate. The first was unearthed in Israel, as part of the extension of