History of the British Army

The history of the British Army spans over three and a half centuries since its founding in 1660 and involves numerous European wars, colonial wars and world wars. From the late 17th century until the mid-20th century, the United Kingdom was the greatest economic and imperial power in the world, and although this dominance was principally achieved through the strength of the Royal Navy (RN), the British Army played a significant role.
, there were 92,000 professionals in the regular army (including 2,700 Gurkhas) and 20,480 Volunteer Reserves. Britain has generally maintained only a small regular army during peacetime, expanding this as required in time of war, due to Britain's traditional role as a sea power. Since the suppression of Jacobitism in 1745, the British Army has played little role in British domestic politics (except for the Curragh incident), and, apart from Ireland, has seldom been deployed against internal threats to authority (one notorious exception being the Peterloo Massacre).
The British Army has been involved in many international conflicts, including the Napoleonic Wars, the Crimean War and both World War I and World War II. Historically, it contributed to the expansion and retention of the British Empire.
The British Army has long been at the forefront of new military developments. It was the first in the world to develop and deploy the tank, and what is now the Royal Air Force (RAF) had its origins within the British Army as the Royal Flying Corps (RFC). At the same time the British Army emphasises the continuity and longevity of several of its institutions and military tradition.
Origins.
The English Army was first established as a standing military force in 1660. In 1707 many regiments of the English and Scottish armies were already combined under one operational command and stationed in the Netherlands fighting in the War of Spanish Succession. Consequently, although the regiments were now part of the new British military establishment, they remained under the same operational command, and so not only were the regiments of the old armies transferred "in situ" to the new army so too was the institutional ethos, customs, and traditions, of the old standing armies that had been created shortly after the restoration of the monarchy 47 years earlier.
Stuart Asquith argues for roots before 1660:
The New Model Army was the first full-time professional army raised within the three kingdoms of England, Ireland and Scotland. It was created in 1645 by the English Long Parliament and it proved supreme in field. At the end of the First Civil War the New Model Army survived attempts by Parliament to disband it. Winston Churchill described its prowess thus:
Having survived Parliament's attempts to disband it, the New Model Army prospered as an institution during the Interregnum. It was disbanded in 1660 with the restoration of the monarchy under Charles II.
At his restoration Charles II sought to create a small standing army made up of some former Royalist and New Model Army regiments. On 26 January 1661, Charles II issued the Royal Warrant that created the first regiments of what would become the "British Army", although Scotland and England maintained separate military establishments until the Acts of Union 1707.
King Charles put into these regiments those cavaliers who had attached themselves to him during his exile on the European continent and had fought for him at the Battle of the Dunes against the Roundheads of the Protectorate and their French allies. For political expediency he also included some elements of the New Model Army. The whole force consisted of two corps of horse and five or six of infantry. It is, however, on this narrow and solid basis that the structure of the English army was gradually erected. The horse consisted of two regiments the Life Guards (formed from exiled cavaliers); and The Blues (or The Oxford Blues), formed by Lord Oxford, out of some of the best New Model Army horse regiments. The foot regiments were Grenadier Guards (initially two regiments Lord Wentworth's Regiment and John Russell's Regiment of Guards which amalgamated in 1665), the Coldstream Guards (the New Model Army regiment of General Monck), the Royal Scots (formed from the Scotch guard in France), and the Second Queen's Royals.
Many of Charles' subjects were uneasy at his creation of this small army. Pamphleteers wrote tracts voicing the fear of a people who within living memory had experienced the Rule of the Major-Generals and had liked neither the imposition of military rule, or the costs of keeping an army in being when the country was not at war with itself or others. People also remembered the "Eleven Years' Tyranny" of Charles I and feared that a standing army under royal command would allow monarchs in the future to ignore the wishes of Parliament.
The English were not fully reconciled to the need for a standing army until the reign of William III when the near perpetual wars with other European states made a modest standing army a necessity to defend England and to maintain her prestige in the world. But public opinion, always anxious of the bad old days, was resolved to allow itself no rest until it had defined the prerogatives of the crown on this delicate point. Parliament finally succeeded in acquiring a control over the army, and under a general bill, commonly called the Mutiny Act, laid down the restrictions which, whilst respecting the rights of the sovereign, were likewise to shield the liberty of the people. It did this by making the standing army conditional on an annually renewed act of parliament. To this day, annual continuation notices are required for the British Army to remain legal. On paper, this also guarantees representative government, as Parliament must meet at least once a year to ratify the Order in Council renewing the Army Act (1955) for a further year.
Creation of British Army.
The order of seniority for the most senior line regiments in the British Army is based on the order of seniority in the English army. Scottish and Irish regiments were only allowed to take a rank in the English army from the date of their arrival in England or the date when they were first placed on the English establishment. For example, in 1694 a board of general officers was convened to decide upon rank of English, Irish and Scots regiments serving in the Netherlands, the regiment that became known as the Scots Greys were designated as the 4th dragoons because there were three English regiments raised prior to 1688 when the Scot Greys were first placed on the English establishment. In 1713 when a new board of general officers was convened to decide upon rank of several regiments, the seniority of the Scots Greys was reassessed and based on their entry into England in June 1685. At that time there was only one English regiment of dragoons and so after some delay the Scots Greys obtained the rank of 2nd dragoons in the British Army.
Eighteenth century.
Organisation.
By the middle of the century, the army's administration had developed the form which it would retain for more than a hundred years. Ultimately, the main bodies responsible for the army were:
None of these bodies were usually represented in the Cabinet, nor were they responsible for overall strategy, which was in the hands of the Secretary of State for War (an office later merged into the Secretary of State for War and the Colonies).
In the field, a commander's staff consisted of an Adjutant General (who handled finance, troop returns and legal matters), and a Quartermaster General (who was responsible for billeting and organising movements). There were separate commanders of the Artillery, and Commissary Officers who handled the supplies. The commander of an Army might also have a Military Secretary, responsible for appointments, courts martial and official correspondence.
Infantry and cavalry units had originally been known by the names of their colonels, such as "Sir John Mordaunt's Regiment of Foot". This could be confusing if Colonels succeeded each other rapidly; and two regiments (the Buffs and the Green Howards) had to be distinguished by their facing colour in official correspondence because for several years, both had Colonels named Howard. In time, these became the official names of the regiments. In 1751 a numeral system was adopted, with each regiment gaining a number according to their rank in the order of precedence, so John Mordaunt's Regiment became the 47th Regiment of Foot.
The later Jacobite risings were centred in the Scottish Highlands. From the late 17th century, the Government had organised Independent Highland Companies in the area, from clans which supported the Hanoverian monarchs or the Whig governments, to maintain order or influence in the Highlands. In 1739 the first full regiment, the 42nd Regiment of Foot, was formed in the region.
Towards the end of the 18th century, the battalion became the major tactical unit of the army. On the continent of Europe, where large field formations were usual, a regiment was a formation of two or more battalions, under a colonel who was a field commander. The British Army, increasingly compelled to disperse units in far-flung colonial outposts, made the battalion the basic unit, under a lieutenant colonel. The function of the Regiment became administrative rather than tactical. The Colonel of a regiment remained an influential figure but rarely commanded any of its battalions in the field. Many regiments consisted of one battalion only, plus a depot and recruiting parties in Britain or Ireland if the unit was serving overseas. Where more troops were required for a war or garrison duties, second, third and even subsequent battalions of a regiment were raised, but it was rare for more than one battalion of a regiment to serve in the same brigade or division.
Strategy and role.
From the late 17th century onwards, the British army was to be deployed in three main areas of conflict (America, Europe and Scotland), one of which (Scotland) was effectively ended at the Battle of Culloden in 1746. The major theatre was often the continent of Europe. Not only did Britain's monarchs have dynastic ties with Holland or Hanover, but Britain's foreign policy often required intervention to maintain a balance of power in Europe (usually at the expense of France).
Within England and especially Scotland, there were repeated attempts by the deposed House of Stewart to regain the throne, leading to severe uprisings. These were often related to European conflict, as the Stuart Pretenders were aided and encouraged by Britain's continental enemies for their own ends. After the Battle of Culloden in 1746, these rebellions were crushed.
Finally, as the British empire expanded, the army was increasingly involved in service in the West Indies, North America and India. Troops were often recruited locally, to lessen the burden on the Army. Sometimes these were part of the British army, for example the 60th (Royal American) Regiment of Foot. On other occasions (as in the case of troops raised by the British East India Company), the local forces were administered separately from the British Army, but cooperated with it.
Troops sent to serve overseas could expect to serve there for years, in an unhealthy climate far removed from the comforts of British society. This led to the army being recruited from the elements of society with the least stake in it; the very poorest or worst-behaved. The red-coated soldier, "Thomas Lobster", was a much-derided figure.
Seven Years' War.
The Seven Years' War, which took place from 1755 to 1763, has sometimes been described as the first true world war, in that conflict took place in almost every continent and on almost all the oceans. Although there were early setbacks, British troops eventually were victorious in every theatre.
The war can be said to have started in North America, where it was known as the French and Indian War. The early years saw several British defeats. The British units first despatched to the Continent were untrained in the bush warfare they met. To provide light infantry, several corps such as Rogers' Rangers were raised from the colonists. (A light infantry regiment, the 80th Regiment of Light-Armed Foot, was raised by Colonel Thomas Gage, but subsequently disbanded). During the war, General James Wolfe amalgamated companies from several regiments into an ad hoc unit, the Louisbourg Grenadiers.
There were also disagreements between high-ranking British officers and the North American colonists. It was laid down that even the most senior Provincial officers were subordinate to comparatively junior officers in the British Army. The first concern of the colonists' representatives was the protection of the settlers from raids by Indian war parties, while the British generals often had different strategic priorities. Partly through the naval superiority gained by the Royal Navy, Britain was eventually able to deploy superior strength in North America, winning a decisive battle at Quebec.
Similarly, in India, the French armies and those of the most powerful Indian rulers were defeated after a prolonged struggle, allowing the steady expansion of British-controlled territory.
In Europe, although Britain's allies (chiefly Prussia) carried the main burden of the struggle, British troops eventually played an important role at the decisive Battle of Minden.
Aftermath.
The result of this war was to leave Britain as the dominant imperial power in North America, and the only European power east of the Mississippi (although it would return southern Florida to Spain). There was increasing tension between the British government and the American colonists, especially when it was decided to maintain a standing army in North America after the war. For the first time, the British Army would be garrisoned in North America in significant numbers in a time of peace.
With the defeat of France, the British government no longer sought actively to curry the favour of Native Americans. Urged by his superiors to cut costs, Commander in Chief General Jeffery Amherst initiated policy changes that helped prompt Pontiac's War in 1763, an uprising against the British military occupation of the former New France. Amherst was recalled during the war and replaced as commander in chief by Thomas Gage.
American War of Independence.
For the British Army, the American War of Independence had its origins in the military occupation of Boston in 1768. Tensions between the army and local civilians helped contribute to the Boston Massacre of 1770, but outright warfare did not begin until 1775, when an army detachment was sent to seize colonial munitions at Lexington and Concord.
Reinforcements were sent to America to put down what was initially expected to be a short-lived rebellion. Because the British army was understrength at the outset of the war, the British government hired the armed forces of several German states, referred to generically as "Hessians", to fight in North America. As the war dragged on, the ministry also sought to recruit Loyalist soldiers. Five American units (known as the "American Establishment", formed in 1779) were placed on the regular army roster, though there were many other Loyalist units.
When the war ended in 1783 with defeat and the independence of the United States, many of the Loyalists fled north to Canada, where many subsequently served with the British Army. The Army itself had established many British units during the war to serve in North America or provide replacements for garrisons. All but three (the 23rd Regiment of (Light) Dragoons and two Highland infantry regiments, the 71st and 78th Foot) were disbanded immediately after the war.
The Army was forced to adapt its tactics to the poor communications and forested terrain of North America. Large numbers of light infantry (detached from line units) were organised, and the formerly rigid drills of the line infantry were modified to a style known as "loose files and an American scramble". While the British defeated the colonists in most of the set-piece battles of the war, none of these had any decisive result, whereas the British defeats at the Battle of Saratoga and Siege of Yorktown adversely affected British morale, prestige and manpower. Historians have examined the issue of responsibility for the defeat in terms of personalities. They also have explored such issues as communications and supply, a lack of defined objectives, and the underestimation of the American forces.
Napoleonic Wars.
The British Army during the Napoleonic Wars experienced a time of rapid change. At the beginning of the French Revolutionary Wars in 1793, the army was a small, awkwardly administered force of barely 40,000 men. By the end of the period, the army had been through a series of structural, recruitment, tactical and training reforms and its manpower had vastly increased. At its peak, in 1813, the regular army contained over 250,000 men. The British infantry was "the only military force not to suffer a major reverse at the hands of Napoleonic France."
The later nineteenth century.
During the long reign of Queen Victoria, British society underwent great changes such as industrialisation and the enactment of liberal reforms within Britain. The period was also marked by the steady expansion and consolidation of the British Empire. The role of the military was to defend the Empire and, for the Army, to control the natives. The Industrial Revolution had changed the Army's weapons, transport and equipment, and social changes such as better education had prompted changes to the terms of service and outlook of many soldiers. Nevertheless, it retained many features inherited from the Duke of Wellington's army, and since its prime function was to maintain the expanding British Empire, it differed in many ways from the conscripted armies of continental Europe. For example, it did not undertake large-scale manoeuvres. Indeed, the Chobham Manoeuvres of 1853 involving 7,000 troops were the first such manoeuvres since the Napoleonic Wars.
 The Crimean War (1854–56) had so many blunders and failures—most famously the ill-advised "Charge of the Light Brigade"—that it became an iconic symbol of logistical, medical and tactical failures and mismanagement. Public opinion in Britain was outraged at the failures of traditional methods in the face of modernization everywhere else in British society; the newspapers demanded drastic reforms, and parliamentary investigations exposed a multiplicity of grave problems. However, the reform campaign was not well organized. This allowed the traditional aristocratic leadership of the Army to pull itself together and block all serious reforms. No one was punished. The outbreak of the Indian Rebellion of 1857 shifted attention to the heroic defense of British interests by the Army, and further talk of reform went nowhere. The demand for professionalization was, however, achieved by Florence Nightingale, who gained worldwide attention for pioneering and publicizing modern nursing while treating the wounded.
Reforms.
The Crimean War demonstrated that reforms were urgently needed to guarantee that the Army could protect both the home nation and the Empire. Nevertheless, reform was impossible until the 1870s when the army assumed the form it took in 1914. Prime Minister William E Gladstone paid little attention to military affairs apart from budgets, but as he and the rest of stunned Europe watched the German coalition led by Prussia crushed France in a matter of weeks, the myriad old inadequacies of the British army set the agenda. His Secretary of State for War, Edward Cardwell proposed far-reaching reforms that Gladstone pushed through Parliament. The Prussian system of professional soldiers with up-to-date weapons was far superior to the traditional system of gentlemen-soldiers that Britain used. The Cardwell Reforms centralised power in the War Office, abolished the purchase of officers' commissions, and created reserve forces stationed in Britain by establishing short terms of service for enlisted men.
Edward Cardwell (1813–1886) as Secretary of State for War (1868–1874) designed the reforms that Gladstone promoted in the name of efficiency and democracy. In 1868 he abolished flogging, raising the private soldier status to more like an honourable career. In 1870 Cardwell abolished "bounty money" for recruits, discharged known bad characters from the ranks. He pulled 20,000 soldiers out of self-governing colonies, like Canada, which learned they had to help defend themselves. The most radical change, and one that required Gladstone's political muscle, was to abolish the system of officers obtaining commissions and promotions by purchase, rather than by merit. The system meant that the rich landholding families controlled all the middle and senior ranks in the army. Promotion depended on the family's wealth, not the officer's talents, and the middle class was shut out almost completely. British officers were expected to be gentlemen and sportsmen; there was no problem if they were entirely wanting in military knowledge or leadership skills. From the Tory perspective it was essential to keep the officer corps the domain of gentlemen, and not a trade
for professional experts. They warned the latter might menace the oligarchy and threaten a military coup; they preferred an inefficient army to an authoritarian state. The rise of Bismarck's new Germany made this reactionary policy too dangerous for a great empire to risk. The bill, which would have compensated current owners for their cash investments, passed the Commons in 1871 but was blocked by the House of Lords. Gladstone then moved to drop the system without any reimbursements, forcing the Lords to backtrack and approve the original bill. Liberals rallied to Gladstone's anti-elitism, pointing to the case of Lord Cardigan (1797–1868), who spent £40,000 for his commission and proved utterly incompetent in the Crimean war, where he ordered the disastrous "Charge of the Light Brigade" in 1854. Cardwell was not powerful enough to install a general staff system; that had to await the 20th century. He did rearrange the war department. He made the office of Secretary of State for War superior to the Army's commander in Chief; the commander was His Royal Highness the Duke of Cambridge (1819–1904), the Queen's first cousin, and an opponent of the reforms. The surveyor-general of the ordnance, and the financial secretary became key department heads reporting to the Secretary. The militia was reformed as well and integrated into the Army. The term of enlistment was reduced to 6 years, so there was more turnover and a larger pool of trained reservists. The territorial system of recruiting for regiments was standardised and adjusted to the current population. Cardwell reduced the Army budget yet increased its strength of the army by 25 battalions, 156 field guns, and abundant stores, while the reserves available for foreign service had been raised tenfold from 3,500 to 36,000 men.
First World War (1914–1918).
The British Army during World War I could trace its origins to the increasing demands of imperial expansion together with inefficiencies highlighted during the Crimean War, which led to the Cardwell and Childers Reforms of the late 19th century. These gave the British Army its modern shape, and defined its regimental system. The Esher Report in 1904, recommended radical reform of the British Army, such as the creation of an Army Council, a General Staff and the abolition of the office of Commander in Chief of the Forces and the creation of a Chief of the General Staff. The Haldane Reforms in 1907, created an expeditionary force of seven divisions, it also reorganized the volunteers into a new Territorial Force of fourteen cavalry brigades and fourteen infantry divisions, and changed the old militia into the special reserve to reinforce the expeditionary force.
The British Army was different from the French and German Armies at the beginning of the conflict in that it was made up from volunteers not conscripts. It was also considerably smaller than its French and German counterparts. The outbreak of the First World War in August 1914 saw the bulk of the changes in the Haldane reforms put to the test. The British Expeditionary Force (BEF) of six divisions was quickly sent to the Continent, while the Territorial Forces fourteen divisions and Reserves were mobilised as planned to provide a second line.
During the war there were three distinct British Armies. The 'first' army was the small volunteer force of about 400,000 soldiers (comprising the Regular Army of 247,000 and Territorial Force of 145,000), over half of which were posted overseas to garrison the British Empire. This total included the Regular Army and reservists in the Territorial Force. Together they formed the BEF, for service in France and became known as the Old Contemptibles. The 'second' army was Kitchener's Army, formed from the volunteers in 1914–1915, which was destined to go into action at the Battle of the Somme. The 'third' was formed after the introduction of conscription in January 1916 and by the end of 1918 the British Army had reached its peak of strength of four million men and could field over seventy divisions.
The war also saw the introduction of new weapons and equipment. The Maxim machine gun was replaced by the improved and lighter Vickers and Lewis machine guns, the Brodie helmet was supplied for better personnel protection against shrapnel and the Mark I tank was invented to try to end the stalemate of trench warfare.
The vast majority of the British Army fought in France and Belgium on the Western Front but some units were engaged in the Mediterranean, the Middle East, Africa and Mesopotamia, mainly against the Ottoman Empire. One battalion also fought in China during the Siege of Tsingtao.
Inter-war period (1919–1939).
Organisation.
In 1919–1920 there was a short-lived boom in the British economy, caused by a rush of investment pent-up during the war years and another rush of orders for new shipping to replace the millions of tons lost. But, following the boom, Britain faced serious economic woes. Heavy defence cuts were consequently imposed by the British Government in the early 1920s as part of a reduction in public expenditure known as the "Geddes Axe" after Sir Eric Geddes. The Government introduced the Ten Year Rule, stating its belief that Britain would not be involved in another major war for 10 years from the date of review. This ten-year rule was continually extended until it was abandoned in 1932.
The Royal Tank Corps (which later became the Royal Tank Regiment) was the only corps formed in World War I that survived the cuts. Corps such as the Machine Gun Corps were disbanded, their functions being taken by specialists within infantry units. One new corps was the Royal Signals, formed in 1920 from within the Royal Engineers to take over the role of providing communications.
Within the cavalry, sixteen regiments were amalgamated into eight, producing the "Fraction Cavalry"; units with unwieldy titles combining two regimental numbers. There was a substantial reduction in the number of infantry battalions and the size of the Territorial Force, which was renamed the Territorial Army. On 31 July 1922, the Army also lost six Irish regiments (5 infantry and 1 cavalry) on the creation of the Irish Free State.
Until the early 1930s, the Army was effectively reduced to the role of imperial policeman, concentrated on responding to the small imperial conflicts that rose up across the Empire. It was unfortunate that certain of the officers who rose to high rank and positions of influence within the army during the 1930s were comparatively backward-looking. This meant that trials such as the Experimental Mechanized Force of 1927–28 did not go as far as they might have.
Operations.
One of the first post-war campaigns that the Army took part in was the Allied intervention in Russia in 1919 to assist the "White Army" against the Communist Bolsheviks during their Civil War. Another was the Third Anglo-Afghan War (1918–19), fought in Afghanistan after the Emirate of Afghanistan invaded British India. The British Army was also maintaining occupation forces in the defeated powers of World War I. In Germany, a British Army of the Rhine (BAOR) was established. The BAOR would remain in existence until 1929 when British forces were withdrawn. Another British occupation force was based in Constantinople in Turkey, and a number of British units fought against Turkish rebels during the Turkish War of Independence. A small British Military Mission was also advising the Polish Army during the Polish–Soviet War (1919–1921).
The Army, throughout the inter-war period, also had to deal with quelling paramilitary organisations seeking the removal of the British. In Iraq, British forces put down the Iraqi revolt of 1920 against British rule in Mandatory Iraq. In British Somaliland, Sayyid Mohammed Abdullah Hassan (known to the British Army as 'The Mad Mullah', although he was neither mad nor a mullah) resumed his campaign against the British, a campaign he had first begun in 1900. The operations against him were prominent due to the newly formed RAF being instrumental in his defeat. The Army also took part in operations in Ireland against the IRA during the Anglo-Irish War. Both sides committed atrocities, some units becoming infamous, such as the paramilitary Black and Tans where many recruits were veterans of the First World War. The British Army was also supporting Indian Army operations in the North-West Frontier of British India against numerous tribes, known collectively as the Pathans, hostile to the British. The Army had been operating in the volatile North-West Frontier area since the mid-19th century. The last major uprising that the Army had to deal with before the start of the Second World War, was the uprising in Palestine that began in 1936.
Rearmament and development.
By the mid-1930s, Germany was controlled by Hitler's Nazi Party and was becoming increasingly aggressive and expansionist. Another war with Germany appeared certain. The Army was not properly prepared for such a war, lagging behind the technologically advanced and potentially much larger Heer of the German Wehrmacht. With each armed service vying for a share of the defence budget, the Army came last behind the Royal Navy and Royal Air Force in allocation of funds.
During the years after the First World War, the Army's strategic concepts had stagnated. Whereas Germany, when it began rearming following Hitler's rise to power, eagerly embraced concepts of mechanised warfare as advocated by individuals such as Heinz Guderian, many high-ranking officers in Britain had little enthusiasm for armoured warfare, and the ideas of Basil Liddell Hart and J. F. C. Fuller were largely ignored.
One step to which the Army was committed was the mechanisation of the cavalry, which had begun in 1929. This first proceeded at a slow pace, having little priority. By the mid-1930s, mechanisation in the British Army was gaining momentum and on 4 April 1939, with the mechanisation process nearing completion, the Royal Armoured Corps was formed to administer the cavalry regiments and Royal Tank Regiment (except for the Household Cavalry). The mechanisation process was finally completed in 1941 when the Royal Scots Greys abandoned their horses.
After the Munich Crisis in 1938, a serious effort was undertaken to expand the Army, including the doubling in size of the Territorial Army, helped by the reintroduction of conscription in April 1939. By mid-1939 the Army consisted of 230,000 Regulars and 453,000 Territorials and Reservists. Most Territorial formations were understrength and badly equipped. Even this army was dwarfed, yet again, by its continental counterparts. Just before the war broke out, a new British Expeditionary Force was formed. By the end of the year, over 1 million had been conscripted into the Army. Conscription was administered on a better planned basis than in the First World War. People in certain reserved occupations, such as dockers and miners, were exempt from being called up as their skills and labour were necessary for the war effort.
Between 1938 and 1939, following a substantial expansion in the Army, a number of new organisations were formed, including the Auxiliary Territorial Service for women in September 1938; its duties were vast, and helped release men for front-line service.
Second World War (1939–1945).
The British Army in 1939 was a volunteer army that introduced conscription shortly before the declaration of war with Germany. During the early years of the Second World War, the army suffered defeat in almost every theatre it deployed, due to a variety of reasons, mainly because of decisions made before the war and politicians and senior commanders being unclear on what the army's role was. With mass conscription the expansion of the army was reflected in the creation of more divisions, army corps, armies and army groups. From 1943, the British Army's fortunes turned and it hardly suffered a strategic defeat.
The pre-war British Army was trained and equipped to garrison and police the British Empire and, as became evident during the war, was woefully unprepared and ill-equipped to conduct a war against multiple enemies on multiple fronts. At the start of the war the army was small in comparison to its enemies', and remained an all-volunteer force until 1939. By the end of the war the British Army had grown to number over 3.5 million.
The British Army fought around the world, with campaigns in Norway, Belgium and France in 1940 and, after the collapse of both the latter countries, in Africa, the Mediterranean and Middle East and the Far East. After a series of setbacks, retreats and evacuations the British Army and its Allies eventually gained the upper hand. This started with victory over the Italian and German forces in the Tunisia Campaign. Italy was then forced to surrender after the invasion of Sicily and mainland Italy. Then in the last years of the war, the British Army, with its allies, returned to France, driving the German Army back into Germany and in the Far East forced the Japanese back from the Indian border into Burma. Both the Germans and Japanese were defeated by 1945, and surrendered within months of each other.
With the expansion of the British Army to fight a world war, new armies had to be formed, and eventually army groups were created to control even larger formations. In command of these new armies, eight men would be promoted to the rank of field marshal. The army commanders not only had to manage the new armies, but also a new type of soldier in formations that had been created for special service, which included the Special Air Service, Army Commandos and the Parachute Regiment.
End of the Empire and Cold War (1945–1990).
Organisation.
The United Nations (UN) was formed on 24 October 1945, with Britain one of five permanent members of the UN Security Council. The British Empire at the time was considered a global power, despite its military having been surpassed by the two new superpowers—the US and Soviet Union. Another global organisation, known as the North Atlantic Treaty Organisation (NATO), was established on 4 April 1949 with Britain one of its founding members. The creation of NATO signified the beginning of the "Cold War" between the ideologically divided "Western Allies" and the Eastern Communist powers, controlled by the Soviet Union; they created their own NATO equivalent in 1955, known as the Warsaw Pact. An integral part of NATO's defences in the now divided Europe was the British Army of the Rhine (BAOR) in West Germany, the British Army's new overseas 'home' that replaced independent India. The British Army, just as in the aftermath of World War I, had established BAOR in the immediate aftermath of the war which was centred on I Corps (upon its re-establishment in 1951), at its peak reaching about 80,000 troops. At home, there were five regional commands: Eastern, Western, Northern, Scottish, and Southern Command, which all eventually merged to become HQ UK Land Forces or UKLF in 1972.
The Army was beginning to draw down its forces, beginning demobilisation shortly after the end of the war. The Territorial units were placed in 'suspended animation', being reconstituted upon the reformation of the TA in 1947. On 1 January 1948, National Service, the new name for conscription, formally came into effect. The Army was, however, being reduced in size upon the end of British rule in India, including the second battalions of every Line Infantry regiment either amalgamating with the 1st Battalions to maintain the 2nd Battalion's history and traditions, or simply disband, thus ending the two-battalion policy implemented by Childers in 1881. This proved too severe a decision for the overstretched Army, and a number of regiments reformed their second battalion in the 1950s. The year 1948 also saw the Army receive four Gurkha regiments (eight battalions in total) transferred to them from the Indian Army and were formed into the Brigade of Gurkhas, initially based in Malaya.
More reforms of the armed forces took place with the 1957 Defence White Paper, which saw further reductions implemented; the Government realised after the debacle of the Suez War that Britain was no longer a global superpower and decided to withdraw from most of its commitments in the world, limiting the armed forces to concentrating on NATO, with an increased reliance upon nuclear weapons. The White Paper announced that the Army would be reduced in size from about 330,000 to 165,000, with National Service ending by 1963 (it officially ended on 31 December 1960, with the last conscript being discharged in May 1963) with the intention of making the Army into an entirely professional force. This enormous reduction in manpower led to, between 1958 and 1962, eight cavalry and thirty infantry regiments being amalgamated, the latter amalgamations producing fifteen single-battalion regiments. Brigade cap badges superseded the regimental cap badge in 1959.
Many of the regiments created during the 1957 White Paper would have only a brief existence, most being amalgamated into new 'large' regiments -- The Queen's, Royal Fusiliers, Royal Anglian, Light Infantry, Royal Irish Rangers, and the Royal Green Jackets—all of whose 'junior' battalions were disbanded by the mid-1970s. Two regiments -- The Cameronians (Scottish Rifles) and The York and Lancaster Regiment—opted to be disbanded rather than amalgamated. The fourteen administrative brigades (created in 1948) were replaced by six administrative divisions in 1968, with regimental cap badges being re-introduced the following year. The Conservative Government came to power in 1970, one of its pledges included the saving of the Argyll and Sutherland Highlanders after a popular campaign to save it had been provoked by the announcement of its intended demise. The Government also decided to stop the planned amalgamation of The Gloucestershire Regiment with The Royal Hampshire Regiment. Further cavalry and infantry regiments were, however, amalgamated between 1969 and 1971, with six cavalry (into three) and six infantry (also into three) regiments doing so.
For the structure of the Army during this period, see List of British Army regiments (1962).
HQ UK Land Forces was formed in 1972, and the previous home commands were effectively downgraded to districts.
Post-World War II operations outside Great Britain.
Far East.
In the immediate aftermath of the war in the Far East, the Army was tasked with reoccupying former British territories such as Malaya, Singapore, and Hong Kong. The British Army also played an active part, if only briefly, in the military actions by other European nations in their attempts to restore their pre–World War II governance, occupation, and control of South-Eastern Asian countries. For example, British and Indian Army forces were sent to the island of Java in the Dutch East Indies in September 1945 to disarm and help repatriate the Japanese occupation forces. It was a month after the local nationalists—who had been provided with arms by the Japanese—had declared an independent Indonesia. The situation in Java was quite chaotic with much violence taking place. The British and Indian forces experienced fierce resistance from the nationalists; the former Japanese occupation force was also employed by the British to help maintain order, and fought alongside the British and Indian forces. Dutch forces gradually arrived in number and the British and Indians left by November 1946.
A similar situation existed in French Indochina after Vietnamese leader Ho Chi Minh declared the independence of Vietnam on 2 September 1945. British and Indian troops, commanded by Major-General Douglas Gracey, were deployed to occupy the south of the country shortly afterwards, while Nationalist Chinese attempted to occupy the northern areas of Vietnam. Vietnam was at this time in chaos and the population did not want French rule restored. The British military decided to rearm numerous French POWs—who then went on a rampage—and British forces also re-armed Japanese troops to help maintain order. The British and Indians departed by February 1946 and the First Indochina War began shortly afterwards. War in Vietnam would continue for more than twenty years.
British de-colonialisation and the British Army.
The latter part of the 1940s saw the British start to begin to withdraw from the Empire, the Army playing a prominent role in its dismantlement. The first colony the British withdrew from was India, the largest British possession as measured by population, though not the largest by geographical area.
In 1947 the British government announced India would become independent on 15 August, after being separated into two countries, one mostly Muslim (Pakistan) and the other mostly Hindu (India). The last British Army unit to leave active service in the Indian subcontinent was the 1st Battalion, The Somerset Light Infantry (Prince Albert's) on 28 February 1948.
In Palestine, there was a surge in attacks against the British mandate and occupation by Zionist organisations such as Irgun and the Stern Gang after the British attempted to limit Jewish immigration into Palestine. British military and other forces eventually withdrew in 1948 and the State of Israel was established on 14 May.
Elsewhere, within British territories, Communist guerrillas launched an uprising in Malaya, starting the Malayan Emergency.
In the early 1950s, trouble began in Cyprus, and in Kenya—the Mau Mau uprising. In Cyprus, an organisation known as EOKA sought unity with Greece, the situation being stabilised just before Cyprus was given independence in 1960.
Korea.
The British Army also participated in the 1st Commonwealth Division during the Korean War (1950–53), fighting in battles such as Imjin River which included Gloster Hill.
More British de-colonialisation.
Elsewhere, the Army withdrew from the Suez Canal Zone in Egypt in 1955. The following year, along with France and Israel, the British invaded Egypt in a conflict known as the Suez War, after the Egyptian leader, President Nasser nationalised the Suez Canal which privately owned businesses in Britain and France owned shares in. The British Army contributed forces to the amphibious assault on Suez and British paratroopers took part in the airborne assault. This brief war was a military success. However, international pressure, especially from the US government, soon forced the British government to withdraw all their military forces soon afterwards. British military forces were replaced by UN peacekeeping troops.
In the 1960s two conflicts featured heavily with the Army, the Aden Emergency and the Indonesia–Malaysia confrontation in Borneo.
Operations within the United Kingdom.
Northern Ireland.
In 1969 a surge of sectarian violence and attacks in Northern Ireland against Catholics by Protestants, loyalists and the RUC in which seven people were killed, hundreds more wounded and thousands of Catholic families were driven from their homes led to British troops being sent into Northern Ireland to try to stop the violence. This became Operation Banner. Among those killed in the attacks by the RUC was Trooper Hugh McCabe, the first British soldier to die in the conflict. The troops were initially welcomed by the Catholic community as they believed the troops would protect them; however, this developed into opposition as the troops began to support the RUC, and the Provisional Irish Republican Army (PIRA), a militant break-away from the IRA which had been quiet since the 1962 cessation of the Border Campaign, began to target British troops. The British Army's operations in the early phase of its deployment had it placed in a policing role, for which, in many cases, it was ill-suited. This involved seeking to prevent confrontations between the Catholics and Protestants, as well as putting down riots and stopping Republican and Loyalist paramilitary groups from committing terrorist attacks.
However, as the Provisional IRA campaign 1969–1997 grew in ferocity in the early 1970s, the Army was increasingly caught in a situation where its actions were directed against the IRA and the Catholic Irish nationalist community which harboured it. In the early period of the conflict, British troops mounted several major field operations. The first of these was the Falls Curfew of 1971, when over 3,000 troops imposed a 3-day curfew on the Falls Road area of Belfast and fought a sustained gun battle with local IRA men. In Operation Demetrius in June 1971, 300 paramilitary suspects were interned without trial, an action which provoked a major upsurge in violence. The largest single British operation of the period was Operation Motorman in 1972, when about 21,000 troops were used to restore state control over areas of Belfast and Derry, which were then controlled by republican paramilitaries. The British Army's reputation suffered further from an incident in Derry on 30 January 1972, Bloody Sunday in which 13 Catholic civilians were murdered by The Parachute Regiment. The biggest single loss of life for British troops in the conflict came at Narrow Water, where eighteen British soldiers were killed in a PIRA bomb attack on 27 August 1979, on the same day Lord Mountbatten of Burma was assassinated by the PIRA in a separate attack. In all almost 500 British troops died in Northern Ireland between 1969 and 1997.
By the late 1970s, the British Army was replaced to some degree as "frontline" security service, in preference for the local Royal Ulster Constabulary and the Ulster Defence Regiment (raised 1970) as part of the Ulsterisation policy. By the 1980s and early 1990s, British Army casualties in the conflict had dropped. Moreover, British Special Forces had some successes against the PIRA – see Operation Flavius and the Loughgall Ambush. Nevertheless, the conflict tied up over 12,000 British troops on a continuous basis until the late 1990s and was ended with the Good Friday Agreement which detailed a path to a political solution to the conflict.
Operation Banner came to an end in 2007 making it the longest continuous operation in the British Army's history, lasting over thirty-eight years. Troop numbers were reduced to 5,000.
England.
In 1980, the Special Air Service emerged from its secretive world when its most high-profile operation, the ending of the Iranian Embassy Siege in London, was broadcast live on television. By the 1980s, even though the Army was being increasingly deployed abroad, most of its permanent overseas garrisons were gone, with the largest remaining being the BAOR in Germany, while others included Belize, Brunei, Gibraltar, and Hong Kong.
Falklands War.
One remaining garrison provided by the Royal Marines was the Falkland Islands in the South Atlantic, 6,000 to (11,000 to 15,000 km) from Britain. The Argentinians invaded the Falklands in April 1982. The British quickly responded and the Army had an active involvement in the campaign to liberate the Falklands upon the landings at San Carlos, taking part in a series of battles that led to them reaching the outskirts of the capital, Stanley. The Falklands War ending with the formal surrender of the Argentinian forces on 14 June.
1990–present.
Organisation.
The collapse of the Soviet Union, ending the Cold War, saw a new defence white paper, Options for Change produced. This saw inevitable reductions in the British armed forces. The Army experienced a substantial cut in its manpower (reduced to about 120,000), which included yet more regimental amalgamations, including two of the large regiments of the 1960s—the Queen's Regiment and Royal Irish Rangers—and the third battalions of the remaining large regiments being cut. The British Army in Germany was also affected, with the British Army of the Rhine replaced by British Forces Germany and personnel numbers being reduced from about 55,000 to 25,000; the replacement of German-based I Corps by the British-led Allied Rapid Reaction Corps also took place. Nine of the Army's administrative corps were amalgamated to form the Royal Logistic Corps and the Adjutant General's Corps. One major development was the disbandment of the Women's Royal Army Corps (though the largest elements were absorbed by the AGC) and their integration into services that had previously been restricted to men; however, women were still prohibited from joining armoured and infantry units. The four Gurkha regiments were amalgamated to form the three-battalion Royal Gurkha Rifles, reduced to two in 1996 just before the handover of Hong Kong to the People's Republic of China in 1997.
The Labour Party became the country's new government and after their election victory in 1997 a new defence white paper was prepared, known as the Strategic Defence Review (1998). Some of the Army's reforms included the creation of two deployable divisions -- 1st (UK) Armoured Division and 3rd Mechanised Division, with the 1st Division being based in Germany—and three 'regenerative' divisions -- 2nd, 4th, and 5th Divisions. The 16 Air Assault Brigade was formed from 24 Airmobile Brigade and elements of 5 Airborne Brigade to provide the Army with increased mobility, and would include the Westland WAH-64 Apache attack helicopter. Other attempts to make the Army more mobile was the creation of the Joint Rapid Reaction Force, intended to provide a corps-sized force capable of reacting quickly to situations similar to Bosnia. The Army Air Corps's helicopters also helped form the multi-service Joint Helicopter Command.
Another defence review was published in 2004, known as Delivering Security in a Changing World. The defence white paper stated that the Army's manpower would be reduced by 1,000, with four infantry battalions being cut and the manpower being redistributed elsewhere. One of the most radical aspects of the reforms was the announcement that most single-battalion regiments would amalgamate into large regiments, with most of the battalions retaining their previous regimental titles in their battalion names. The TA would also be further integrated into the Army, with battalions being numbered into the regiment's structure. These are reminiscent, in some respects, to the Cardwell-Childers reforms and the 1960s reforms.
The elite units of the Army are also playing an increasingly prominent role in the Army's operations and the SAS was allocated further funds in the 2004 defence paper, conveying the SAS's increasing importance in the War on Terror. Another élite unit became operational in 2005, the Special Reconnaissance Regiment. The 1st Battalion of the Parachute Regiment became the core of a tri-service Special Forces Support Group formed in 2006 to support the SAS and the Navy's SBS, being described as the Army's equivalent to the U.S. Army Rangers.
Operations.
The end of the Cold War did not provide the British Army with any respite, and the political vacuum left by the Soviet Union has seen a surge of instability in the world. Saddam Hussein's Iraq invaded Kuwait, one of its neighbours, in 1990, provoking condemnation from the United Nations, primarily led by the United States. The Gulf War and the British contribution, known as Operation Granby, was large, with the Army providing about 28,000 troops and 13,000 vehicles, mostly centred on 1 (UK) Armoured Division. After air operations ended, the land campaign against Iraq began on 24 February. 1st Armoured Division took part in the left-hook attack that helped destroy many Iraqi units. The ground campaign had lasted just 100-hours, Kuwait being officially liberated on 27 February.
The British Army has also played an increasingly prominent role in peacekeeping operations, gaining much respect for its comparative expertise in the area. In 1992, during the wars in the Balkans provoked by the gradual disintegration of Yugoslavia, UN forces intervened in Croatia and later Bosnia. British forces contributed as part of UNPROFOR (United Nations Protection Force). The force was a peacekeeping one, but with no peace to keep, it proved ineffective and was replaced by the NATO IFOR though this was in turn replaced the following year by SFOR. As of 2005, Britain's contribution numbers about 3,000 troops. In 1999 the UK took a lead role in the NATO war against Slobodan Milošević's forces in Kosovo. After the air war ended, the Parachute Regiment and Royal Gurkha Rifles provided the spearhead for ground forces entering Kosovo. In 2000, British forces, as part of Operation Palliser, intervened in a civil war ravaging Sierra Leone, with the intention of evacuating British, Commonwealth and EU citizens. The SAS also played a prominent role when they, along with the Paras, launched the successful Operation Barras to rescue 6 soldiers of the Royal Irish Regiment being held by the rebels. The British force remained and provided the catalyst for the stabilisation of the country.
The early 21st century saw the world descend into a new war after the 9/11 terrorist attacks on the World Trade Center in New York City by Al Qaida: the War on Terrorism. A US-led invasion of Taliban-ruled Afghanistan followed, with the British contribution led by the RN and RAF; the most important Army element being the SAS. The British later took part in the invasion of Iraq in 2003, Britain's contribution being known as Operation Telic, The Army played a more significant role in Iraq than Afghanistan, deploying a substantial force, centred on 1 (UK) Armoured Division with, again, around 28,000 troops. The war began in March and the British fought in the southern area of Iraq, eventually capturing the second largest city, Basra, in April. The Army remained in Iraq upon the end of the war and subsequently led the Multi-National Division (South East), with the Army presence in Iraq numbering about 5,000 soldiers.


Toma de Mercedes

Toma de Mercedes was the takeover of the city of Mercedes by the Ejército Blanco under the command of Timoteo Aparicio. The capture took place on August 25, 1870 during the Revolución de las Lanzas in the Banda Oriental.
In the ranks of the revolutionary army served prominent Blancos military men like Anacleto Medina and Gerónimo Amilivia. Among the leaders of the Colorado party who took part in the defense of the city was Juan Idiarte Borda, future Uruguayan president.


Abu Osama al-Masri

Muhammad Ahmad ’Ali al-Isawi, known as Abu Osama al-Masri () (1973-June 2018) was an Egyptian scholar and leader of the Islamic State branch in the Sinai Peninsula, known as Wilayat Sinai.
History.
He is believed to have been born in north Sinai and grew up in Sharqiya in the Nile Delta. His kunya means 'father of Osama, the Egyptian'.
As of 2015, Abu Osama is said to be 42 years old. He is reported to have been a clothing importer who studied at al-Azhar University, a top Sunni institution in Cairo.
Prior to the 2011 Egyptian revolution he is believed to have been imprisoned for some time.
In October 2014, he is believed to have traveled to Syria with about 20 followers when security forces clamped down on militants after former Egyptian President Mohamed Morsi was deposed in the 2013 Egyptian coup d'état.
Abu Osama was a member of Ansar Bait al-Maqdis, the previous name of the group that pledged allegiance to the Islamic State.
On a propaganda video created by ISIS-Wilaya Sinai on the 15th of November 2018, the group released a voice recording by him whilst confirming his death.
Islamic State in Sinai.
For much of his time in the group he served as head media spokesman.
In May 2015 a recording surfaced where Abu Osama called for attacks against Egyptian judges, saying: "It is wrong for the tyrants [judges] to jail our brothers, Poison their food... surveil them at home and in the street... destroy their homes with explosives if you can."
In the summer of 2015 they released a video showing the beheading of four Bedouin people, whom they accused of passing information to Israeli spies to assist in drone strikes. They have also conducted raids into Israel including an attack on the tourist area of Eilat and a gas pipeline.
In November 2015, he became a person of interest in the downing of Metrojet Flight 9268. He claimed responsibility saying “We are the ones who downed it [Metrojet Flight 9268] by the grace of Allah, and we are not compelled to announce the method that brought it down.”
He became leader of Wilayah Sinai in August 2016. A video titled "The Path of Rationality From Darkness to Light" claimed he was killed in June 2018 during an airstrike.


Military history of Sweden

Prehistoric Sweden and the Viking ages.
During the prehistoric times, modern Sweden was divided into provinces and in the Svea and Göta kingdoms. There is said that wars were fought between Svear and Götar and that the former were victors. As the Icelandic sagas tell of many family feuds, one can assume that these were not uncommon in Sweden either, as the structure of the society was similar.
During the early Middle Ages, many Vikings took recruitment in the fleet and participated both in trade and in plundering raids. The system of Leidang was used to organize the armies in the different parts of the country. In an alliance with the Danes, the Swedish king Olof Skötkonung won the war against the Norwegians at the battle of Svolder.
Middle Ages.
The Russo-Swedish War (1495–97) was a result of an alliance between Ivan III of Russia and Hans of Denmark, who was waging war against the Sture family of Sweden in the hope of regaining the Swedish throne. Ivan III sent Princes Daniil Shchenya and Vasily Shuisky to lay siege to the Swedish castle of Vyborg. The siege lasted for three months and ended when a castellan set his supply of powder on fire, thus "scaring the Muscovites out of their wits", as the Swedish records say. The following year Russian generals Vasily Kosoy and Andrey Chelyadnin severely devastated Swedish Finland as far as Hämeenlinna (Tavastehus). Another detachment sailed along the shore, forcing the Finns into subservience.
Sten Sture the Elder, who was then at Turku (Åbo), was enraged at the news of the Russian expedition and sent Svante Nilsson with 2,000 men to take Ivangorod, a new fortress which Ivan III had built to protect Russian Ingria against Livonian Knights. The fortress was taken but was impossible to defend it for a considerable period of time — Svante Nilsson proposed to hand it over to the Knights, an offer which they declined. Thereupon the Swedes set the fortress ablaze and sailed home. After the Swedish throne fell to Hans of Denmark, hostilities were suspended until 1508, when Sweden and Russia ratified a peace treaty for 60 years. Sweden and Russia would fight many wars in the following centuries (see Russo-Swedish Wars)
The Early Vasa era.
Swedish War of Liberation.
The Swedish War of Liberation (1521–1523) was a civil war in which the Swedish nobleman Gustav Vasa successfully deposed the Danish king Kristian II, as regent of the Kalmar Union in Sweden.
The De la Gardie Campaign.
The De la Gardie Campaign refers to the actions of a 15,000-strong military unit commanded by Jacob De la Gardie in alliance with the Russian commander Mikhail Skopin-Shuisky against the Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth in the Polish–Muscovite War (1605–18). The campaign was a result of an alliance between Charles IX of Sweden and Vasili IV of Russia, whereby the latter promised to cede the County of Kexholm to Sweden.
The combined Russo-Swedish forces set out from Novgorod late in 1609 and marched towards Moscow, relieving the Siege of Troitse-Sergiyeva Lavra on their way. They dispersed the supporters of False Dmitry II, who maintained an alternative court in Tushino near Moscow and challenged the authority of Vasily IV. In the aftermath, some of the Tushino boyars summoned Wladyslaw IV to lay his claim to the Russian throne, while Skopin-Shuisky was poisoned at the behest of his uncle and rival, Prince Dmitry Shuisky.
In June 1610, De la Gardie and Dmitry Shuisky departed from Moscow in order to lift Żółkiewski's Siege of Smolensk. The campaign ended with most of De la Gardie's forces being destroyed by the Polish hetman Stanisław Żółkiewski at the Battle of Klushino in 1610. The De la Gardie Campaign can be considered a prelude to the Ingrian War.
The Ingrian War.
The Ingrian War between Sweden and Russia, which lasted between 1610 and 1617 and can be seen as part of the Time of Troubles, is mainly remembered for the attempt to put a Swedish duke on the Russian throne. It ended with a large Swedish territorial gain in the Treaty of Stolbovo which laid an important foundation to Sweden's Age of Greatness.
The Kalmar War.
The Kalmar War was a war between Sweden and Denmark 1611 to 1613. Sweden sought an alternative trade route to avoid paying Denmark's Sound Toll through Northern Norway. This was not to Denmark's liking and they invaded southern Sweden. England and the Netherlands were also invested in the Baltic Sea trade, and pressured to curtail Denmark's power by ending the Kalmar War before a decisive victory could be attained. The Danes, while well-equipped and strong, had relied heavily on mercenary forces and Christian IV, low on funds, was finally amenable to persuasion in 1613. With England's intercession, the Treaty of Knäred was signed on January 20, 1613.
Denmark reached its victory, restoring Norwegian control of Sweden's land route through Lapland by incorporating Lapland into Norway (and thus under Danish rule). Further, Sweden had to pay a high ransom for two fortresses captured by Denmark. Sweden, however, achieved a major concession — the right of free trade through the Sound Strait, becoming exempt of the Sound toll (a right shared by England and Holland).
Polish–Swedish Wars.
The Polish–Swedish wars were a series of wars between the Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth and Sweden, in the wider meaning to the series of wars in which both Sweden and the Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth participated between 1563 and 1721, in the narrower meaning denoting the two wars between 1600 and 1629.
The Swedish Empire era.
The Thirty Years' War.
The Thirty Years' War was fought between 1618 and 1648, principally on the territory of today's Germany, and involved most of the major European continental powers, including Sweden. Although it was from the outset a religious conflict between Protestants and Catholics, the rivalry between the Habsburg dynasty and other powers was also a central motive.
Sweden held, for a time, control of the principal trade routes of the Baltic; and the increment of revenue resulting from this commanding position was of material assistance during the earlier stages of the war in Germany, whither the Swedish king Gustavus II Adolphus transferred his forces in June 1630. Gustavus, later to be called "the Lion of the North" due to his skills as a commander, intervened on the Protestant side in the German civil war. Using new military techniques such as lighter and more mobile artillery, a larger proportion of his infantry using firearms (as opposed to pikes), and cavalry shock tactics, he won a crushing victory at the Battle of Breitenfeld in 1631. In the Battle of Lützen on November 6, 1632, he rode into a group of enemy cavalry and was killed. The battle itself was a draw. Two years later Imperial troops won a convincing victory over the Protestant Army at Nördlingen. In order to prevent the Habsburg's from winning the war, France, who had already given major financial subsidies to Sweden, intervened on the Protestant side. The war dragged on for many years until a peace agreement was at last reached in 1648. In the Peace of Westphalia Sweden received an indemnity, as well as control of Western Pomerania and the bishoprics of Bremen and Verden. It thus won control of the mouth of the Oder, Elbe, and Weser Rivers, and acquired three voices in the Council of Princes of the German Reichstag.
The Torstenson War.
The Torstenson war was a short period of conflict between Sweden and Denmark/Norway which occurred in 1643 to 1645 during the waning days of the Thirty Years' War. It was named after Lennart Torstenson.
Dutch-Swedish War.
The Dano-Swedish War (1658–1660), was a Dutch intervention in the Northern Wars, in which Sweden tried to extend its control over the Baltic Sea.
Charles X's war.
Sweden attacked Poland in 1655. The goal was to gain full control over the Baltic Sea. During the two first years, Swedish troops occupied large parts of Poland and the war was almost won. In 1656, Sweden won the battle of Warsaw, but the Polish resistance hardened and the farmers began fighting a guerrilla war against the Swedes.
The war did not go well, and in the autumn of 1657, Denmark-Norway declared war against Sweden. Charles X took then the army and marched north. In October, the Swedes conquered Frederiksodde and on January 30, the Swedish army crossed the Little Belt and on February 5–6 they crossed the Great Belt, one of the biggest feats of the Swedish army. Denmark-Norway surrendered and handed over the Danish provinces of Blekinge, Bornholm, Halland and Scania as well as the Norwegian provinces of Trondheim and Båhuslen after the Treaty of Roskilde.
Wanting to follow up his victory, Charles X attacked Copenhagen in 1659, but was forced to withdraw because of the strong Danish defence and support from the Dutch navy. Norwegian forces succeeded in reconquering the province of Trondheim. The 1660 Treaty of Copenhagen restored Trondheim to Norway and Bornholm to Denmark.
The Scanian War.
The Scanian War was fought between the union of Denmark–Norway and Sweden from 1675–1679. The war was prompted by the Swedish involvement in the Franco-Dutch War. Sweden had allied with France against several European countries. The United Provinces, under attack by France, sought support from Denmark-Norway.
The Danish objective was to retrieve the Scanian lands that had been given to Sweden after the Northern Wars. Although the Danish offensive was initially a great success, Swedish counter-offensives nullified much of the gain. The most important battle was fought at Battle of Lund were Swedish forces won a costly victory, this was a turningpoint in the war for Sweden. Eventually, a French-dictated peace was negotiated stipulating that all territory lost by Sweden be returned.
Great Northern War.
The Great Northern War took place between 1700 and 1721. It was fought between a coalition of Russia, Denmark–Norway, and Saxony (also the Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth, from 1701, and Prussia and Hanover from 1715) and Sweden, which was helped by the Ottoman Empire and monetary subsidized by France.
The war began as a coordinated attack on Sweden, ruled by the young Charles XII, by the coalition in 1700 and ended in 1721 with the Treaty of Nystad and the Stockholm treaties. Despite spectacular early Swedish victories, the ultimate result of the war was the end of the Swedish Empire. Russia supplanted Sweden as the dominant Power on the Baltic Sea and became a major player in European politics.
The Age of Liberty.
Hats and Caps.
The policy of the Hats was a return to the traditional alliance between France and Sweden. When Sweden descended to a position of a second-rate power the French - alliance became too costly a luxury. Horn had clearly perceived this; and his cautious neutrality was therefore the soundest statesmanship. But the politicians who had ousted Horn thought differently. To them prosperity without glory was a worthless possession. They aimed at restoring Sweden to her former position as a great power. France, naturally, hailed with satisfaction the rise of a faction which was content to be her armourbearer in the north; and the golden streams which flowed from Versailles to Stockholm during the next two generations were the political life-blood of the Hat party.
The first blunder of the Hats was the hasty and ill-advised war with Russia. The European complications consequent with upon the almost simultaneous deaths of Charles VI, Holy Roman Emperor and Empress Anne of Russia, seemed to favour their adventurous schemes; and, despite the frantic protests of the Cap, a project for the invasion of Russian Finland was rushed through the premature Riksdag of 1740. On July 20, 1741 war was formally declared against Russia; a month later the Diet was dissolved and the lantmarskalk set off to Finland to take command of the army.
The first blow was not struck till six months after the declaration of war; and it was struck by the enemy, who routed the Swedes at Lappeenranta and captured that frontier fortress. Nothing else was done on either side for six months more; and then the Swedish generals made a "tacit truce" with the Russians through the mediation of the French ambassador at St. Petersburg. By the time that the "tacit truce" had come to an end the Swedish forces were so demoralized that the mere rumour of a hostile attack made them retire panic-stricken to Helsinki; and before the end of the year all Finland was in the hands of the Russians. The fleet, disabled by an epidemic, was, throughout the war, little more than a floating hospital.
To face the Riksdag with such a war as this upon their consciences was a trial from which the Hats naturally shrank; but to do them justice, they showed themselves better parliamentary than military strategists. A motion for an inquiry into the conduct of the war was skilfully evaded by obtaining precedence for the succession question Queen Ulrike Eleonora of Sweden had lately died childless and King Frederick was old; and negotiations were thus opened with the new Russian empress, Elizabeth of Russia, who agreed to restore the greater part of Finland if her cousin, Adolph Frederick of Holstein, were elected successor to the Swedish crown. The Hats eagerly caught at the opportunity of recovering the lost lands and their own prestige along with it. By the Treaty of Åbo May 7, 1743 the terms of the empress were accepted and only that small part of Finland which lay beyond the Kymi river was retained by Russia. In March 1751 the old King Frederick died. His slender prerogatives had gradually dwindled down to vanishing point.
The Pomeranian War.
King Adolf Frederick of Sweden (1751–1771) would have given even less trouble than his predecessor but for the ambitious promptings of his masterful consort Louisa Ulrika, Frederick the Great's sister, and the tyranny of the estates, who seemed bent upon driving the meekest of princes into rebellion. An attempted monarchical revolution, planned by the queen and a few devoted young nobles in 1756, was easily and remorselessly crushed; and, though the unhappy king did not, as he anticipated, share the fate of Charles Stuart, he was humiliated as never monarch was humiliated before.
The same years which beheld this great domestic triumph of the Hats saw also the utter collapse of their foreign "system." At the instigation of France they plunged recklessly into the Seven Years' War; and the result was ruinous. The French subsidies, which might have sufficed for a six weeks demonstration (it was generally assumed that the king of Prussia would give little trouble to a European coalition), proved quite inadequate; and, after five unsuccessful campaigns, the unhappy Hats were glad to make peace and ignominiously withdraw from a little war which had cost the country 40,000 men. When the Riksdag met in 1760, the indignation against the Hat leaders was so violent that an impeachment seemed inevitable; but once more the superiority of their parliamentary tactics prevailed, and when, after a session of twenty months, the Riksdag was brought to a close by the mutual consent of both the exhausted factions, the Hat government was bolstered up for another four years. But the day of reckoning could not be postponed forever; and when the estates met in 1765 it brought the Caps into power at last. Their leader, Ture Rudbeck, was elected marshal of the Diet over Frederick Axel von Fersen, the Hat candidate, by a large majority; and, out of the hundred seats in the secret committee, the Hats succeeded in getting only ten.
The Caps struck at once at the weak point of their opponents by ordering a budget report to be made; and it was speedily found that the whole financial system of the Hats had been based upon reckless improvidence and the wilful misrepresentation, and that the only fruit of their long rule was an enormous addition to the national debt and a depreciation of the note circulation to one third of its face value. This revelation led to an all-round retrenchment, carried into effect with a drastic thoroughness which has earned for this parliament the name of the "Reduction Riksdag". The Caps succeeded in reducing the national debt, half of which was transferred from the pockets of the rich to the empty exchequer, and establishing some sort of equilibrium between revenue and expenditure. They also introduced a few useful reforms, the most remarkable of which was the liberty of the press in 1766. But their most important political act was to throw their lot definitely in with Russia, so as to counterpoise the influence of France.
Although no longer a great power, she still had many of the responsibilities of a great power; and if the Swedish alliance had considerably depreciated in value, it was still a marketable commodity. Sweden's particular geographical position made her virtually invulnerable for six months out of the twelve, her Pomeranian possessions afforded her an easy ingress into the very heart of the moribund empire, while her Finnish frontier was not many leagues from the Russian capital.
A watchful neutrality, not venturing much beyond defensive alliances and commercial treaties with the maritime powers, was therefore Sweden's safest policy, and this the older Caps had always followed out. But when the Hats became the armourbearers of France in the north, a protector strong enough to counteract French influence became the cardinal exigency of their opponents, the younger Caps, who now flung themselves into the arms of Russia, overlooking the fact that even a pacific union with Russia was more to be feared than a martial alliance with France. For France was too distant to be dangerous. She sought an ally in Sweden and it was her endeavour to make that ally as strong as possible. But it was as a future prey, not as a possible ally, that Russia regarded her ancient rival in the north. In the treaty which partitioned Poland there was a secret clause which engaged the contracting powers to uphold the existing Swedish constitution as the swiftest means of subverting Swedish independence; and an alliance with the credulous Caps, "the Patriots" as they were called at St. Petersburg, guaranteeing their constitution, was the corollary to this secret understanding. Thus, while the French alliance of the warlike Hats had destroyed the prestige of Sweden, the Russian alliance of the peaceful Caps threatened to destroy her very existence.
Fortunately, the domination of the Caps was not for long. The general distress occasioned by their drastic reforms had found expression in swarms of pamphlets which bit and stung the Cap government, under the protection of the new press laws. The senate retaliated by an order in council, which the king refused to sign declaring that all complaints against the measures of the last Riksdag should be punished with fine and imprisonment. The king, at the suggestion of the crown prince thereupon urged the senate to summon an extraordinary Riksdag as the speediest method of relieving the national distress, and, on their refusing to comply with his wishes, abdicated. From December 15 to 21, 1768 Sweden was without a regular government. Then the Cap senate gave way and the estates were convoked for April 19, 1769.
On the eve of the contest there was a general assembly of the Hats at the French embassy, where the Comte de Modêne furnished them with 6,000,000 livres, but not till they had signed in his presence an undertaking to reform the constitution in a monarchical sense. Still more energetic on the other side, the Russian minister, Andrey Osterman, became the treasurer as well as the counsellor of the Caps, and scattered the largesse of the Russian empress with a lavish hand; and so lost to all feeling of patriotism were the Caps that they openly threatened all who ventured to vote against them with the Muscovite vengeance, and fixed Norrköping, instead of Stockholm, as the place of meeting for the Riksdag as being more accessible to the Russian fleet. But it soon became evident that the Caps were playing a losing game; and, when the Riksdag met at Norrköping on the April 19, they found themselves in a minority in all four estates. In the contest for speaker of the Riksdag ("Lantmarskalk") the leaders of the two parties were again pitted against each other, when the verdict of the last Diet was exactly reversed, von Fersen defeating Rudbeck by 234, though Russia spent no less a sum than 90,000 Riksdaler to secure the election of the latter.
The Caps had short shrift, and the joint note which the Russian, Prussian and Danish ministers presented to the estates protesting, in menacing terms, against any "reprisals" on the part of the triumphant faction, only hastened the fall of the government. The Cap senate resigned en masse to escape impeachment, and an exclusively Hat ministry took its place. On June 1 the "Reaction Riksdag", as it was generally called, removed to the capital; and it was now that the French ambassador and the crown prince Gustav called upon the new Privy Councillors to redeem their promise as to a reform of the constitution which they had made before the elections. Be it when, at the end of the session, they half-heartedly brought the matter forward, the Riksdag suddenly seemed to be stricken with paralysis. Impediments multiplied at every step; the cry was raised: "The constitution is in danger" and January 30, 1770 the Reaction Riksdag, after a barren ten months session, rose amidst chaotic confusion without accomplishing anything.
Gustavian times.
Gustav III's Russian War.
The Russo-Swedish War of 1788–90, known as Gustav III's Russian War in Sweden and as Catherine II's Swedish War in Russia, was fought between Sweden and Russia from June 1788 to August 1790.
The conflict was initiated by King Gustav III of Sweden for domestic political reasons, as he believed that a short war would leave the opposition no recourse but to support him. Despite establishing himself an autocrat in bloodless "coup d'état" that ended parliamentary rule in 1772, his political powers did not give him the right to start a war.
The Swedes initially planned a naval assault on St. Petersburg. One Swedish army was to advance through Finland; a second army, accompanied by the Swedish coastal flotilla, was to advance along the Finnish coast into the Gulf of Finland; while a third army sailed with the Swedish battlefleet in order to land at Oranienbaum to advance on St. Petersburg.
The Russian battlefleet under Samuel Greig met the Swedish fleet off Hogland Island in the Gulf of Finland on July 17, 1788, at the Battle of Hogland. The battle was tactically indecisive, but the Russians did enough to prevent the Swedish landing. As the war was deeply unpopular in Sweden and the Finnish officers were mutinous, news of the failure at Hogland triggered a revolt among some of the noble army officers, known as the League of Anjala.
The Swedish attack on Russia caused Denmark–Norway to declare war on Sweden in August in accordance with its treaty obligations to Russia. A Norwegian army briefly invaded Sweden and won the Battle of Kvistrum Bridge, before peace was signed on July 9, 1789 following the diplomatic intervention of Great Britain and Prussia. Under their pressure, Denmark-Norway declared itself neutral to the conflict, bringing this Lingonberry War to an end.
At sea, the two evenly matched battlefleets met again at the Battle of Öland on 25 July 1789, which was indecisive. A month later, on August 24, the Russian Vice-Admiral Nassau-Siegen decisively defeated the Swedish coastal flotilla at the First Battle of Svensksund.
In 1790, King Gustav revived the plan for a landing close to St. Petersburg, this time near Vyborg. But the plan foundered in a disastrous attack on the Russian fleet at the Battle of Reval on May 13. A further attack on the Russian fleet off Kronstadt at the beginning of June also failed and the Swedish battlefleet and galley flotilla both retired to Vyborg Bay, where the combined Swedish fleets of some 400 vessels were blockaded by Vasily Chichagov's Baltic Fleet for a month. On July 3 the Swedes forced their way out in the costly Battle of Vyborg Bay, losing six battleships and four frigates as a result.
The Swedish battlefleet retired to Sveaborg for repairs while the Swedish galley flotilla made for a strong defensive position at Svenskrund. An impetuous Russian attack on the Swedish galley flotilla on July 9 at the Second Battle of Svensksund resulted in disaster for the Russians who lost some 9,500 out of 14,000 men and about one third of their flotilla. It was the greatest naval victory ever gained by Sweden and helped to pave the way for peace. The Russian Vice-Chancellor Alexander Bezborodko immediately agreed to negotiations, and the war was ended by the Treaty of Värälä on August 14.
The Russo-Swedish War of 1788–1790 was, overall, mostly insignificant for the parties involved. Catherine II regarded the war against her Swedish cousin as a minor distraction, as her land troops were tied in the war against Turkey and she was likewise concerned with revolutionary events unfolding in Poland and in France. The war solved Gustav III's domestic problems only briefly, as he was assassinated at the Opera in Stockholm, in 1792.
The Finnish War.
The Finnish War was fought between Sweden and Russia from February 1808 to September 1809. As a result of the war, the eastern third of Sweden was established as the semi-autonomous Grand Duchy of Finland, according to the Finns a personal union with Imperial Russia. Another notable effect was the Swedish parliament's adoption of a new constitution and a new royal house, that of Bernadotte.
The Union era.
The Napoleonic Wars.
The Napoleonic Wars comprised a series of global conflicts fought during Napoleon Bonaparte's imperial rule over France (1805–1815). These wars were to some extent a continuation of the French Revolutionary Wars which followed on the French Revolution of 1789. Sweden was part of the Fourth Coalition, an alliance organized against Napoleon's French Empire in 1806–1807. Under the leadership of its new Crown Prince Charles John, formerly French Marshal Bernadotte, Sweden was a founding member of the Sixth Coalition and played a key role in the German Campaign of 1813. Bernadotte was the primary author of the Trachenberg Plan, the successful campaign plan for 1813, and commanding general of the 120,000 man Allied Army of the North. The principal battles involving Sweden include the Battle of Großbeeren, the Battle of Dennewitz and the Battle of Leipzig. Following the Allied victory at Leipzig, Charles John and the Swedes went on to wage a short, successful campaign in Denmark and Norway.
The Battle of Bornhöved.
The Battle of Bornhöved was a battle between Sweden and Denmark on December 7, 1813 in Bornhöved in northern Germany. The Swedes were victorious and this was a first step in conquering Norway. This would be realized in the Treaty of Kiel of 1814.
War with Norway.
According to the Treaty of Kiel, the king of Denmark–Norway ceded Norway to the king of Sweden. However, Norwegian resistance led to the restoration of Norwegian independence in 1814. Trying to enforce the provisions of the Kiel treaty, Sweden invaded Norway in July 1814. After two weeks, the superior strength of the Swedish army had forced the Norwegians to conclude the Convention of Moss on August 14, 1814. Norway kept its new constitution and formal independence, but had to accept a personal union with Sweden.
The peace with Norway at Moss concluded the last Swedish war.
World War I.
Sweden was officially neutral during World War I, although, under German pressure, they did take steps which were detrimental to the Allied powers including mining the Öresund channel, thus closing it to Allied shipping. Sweden also provided volunteers fighting for the White Guards together with the Germans against the Reds and Russians in the Finnish Civil War.
World War II.
Swedish neutrality – national policy since the end of the Napoleonic Wars – was maintained during World War II.
Cold war.
Sweden kept the non-alignment policy as well as the conscription-based army. The Swedish Air Force became one of the world's most prominent thanks to SAAB and other contractors. During this time a concept of "total defence" was developed to counter the feared full-scale invasion by the Soviet Union. This included, for example; bomb shelters in all new big buildings, bridges with prepared places for explosives and a pre-planned war-placement for almost every single citizen. During this time the "total defence system" could mobilize up to one million people to the military alone. This included around 100,000 Home Guard troops that could be mobilized within hours to protect the general mobilization, which could take up to two weeks to reach completion.
Congo Crisis.
During the Congo Crisis (1960–65) the U.N. Fighter Wing was formed and the Swedish F 22 Kongo was part of it. The Swedes flew Saab 29 Tunnan fighters against the rebel forces of Katanga.
Post-cold war.
During the 1990s, the armed forces budget was cut and several regiments were closed down. Several regiment towns have protested against downsizing, and the government has tried to prevent rising unemployment by relocating state agencies to these towns.
The number of enlisted recruits has decreased. The recruits are encouraged to sign up for additional service after their mandatory training is over. The units formed by those who chose to continue their service can be used as rapid response units in international missions, and are also targets of recruiting to the Nordic Battle Group.
Since the ending of the cold war, and despite a continuing position of neutrality, Sweden has been slowly playing an increased role in international operations, including NATO operations in Kosovo (KFOR) and Afghanistan (the International Security Assistance Force).
As of February 2020, Swedish soldiers are present in the following regions:
Sweden has registered about 15 units in the rapid response unit catalogs of the EU, UN, or NATO. Sweden takes an active part in international exercises such as the Multi National Experiment run by the USJFCOM.
Sweden is the framework nation for the Nordic Battlegroup, one of the EU Battlegroups that was active during the first half of 2008. This was also repeated during 2011.
Sweden had command of the battlegroup for the third time in 2015, when it was placed in standby during the period of 1 January - 30 June.
In 2010 Sweden deactivated conscription, only to activate it again in 2017. During the same time, the conscription was made gender-neutral, meaning that both women and men are since called up for obligatory military service .


List of monuments at the United States Military Academy

The United States Military Academy (USMA) is a federal service academy located at West Point, New York that educates and commissions officers for the United States Army. The Academy was formally founded in 1802 and graduated its first class in October of the same year. It is the oldest of the five American service academies. Due to the academy's age and its unique purpose of producing Army officers, it is home to many monuments and memorials, the oldest dating back to the early 19th century, shortly after the academy's founding. The oldest monument is the Cadet Monument, dedicated in 1818 and located in the West Point Cemetery, while the newest is the US Grant statue, located across from Battle Monument and dedicated in 2019.


Transportflotte Speer

Transportflotte Speer was a government owned waterways transportation company in Nazi Germany. At its creation it was tasked with the transportation of building material on the German inland waterways. During the war, it became subordinated to the Ministry of Armaments, and was given extensive coastal and inland transportation missions in occupied Europe, mainly in the service of Organisation Todt. The company was named after Albert Speer.
Creation.
Transportflotte Speer was founded in 1937 with the task of transporting Swedish and Danish granite from the German coastal ports, to the major Nazi rebuilding projects in Berlin under Albert Speer, as inspector general of building and construction in the capital.
During the war.
After the outbreak of the war, the Transportflotte Speer was initially used for transporting coal and other supplies to Berlin. During Operation Sea Lion, its operational headquarters were moved to Groningen in the Netherlands, in order to make better use of Dutch sailors and shipping. In 1942, the Transportflotte Speer was given the mission to supply the Organisation Todt activities in Norway, Denmark and Finland. Personnel strength now rose to about 10,000 sailors, mainly Norwegians who were trained in Sandefjord. Allied bombings of the German rail and road networks, made the inland waterways increasingly more important. In 1944, the Transportflotte Speer had a fleet of more than 2,000 vessels, with a combined deplacement of 500,000 ton dwt. The company serviced 31 sea and canal ports in France, Belgium, the Netherlands, Germany, Denmark, Norway, Finland, Russia, Roumania and Italy.
Norway.
Transportflotte Speer was used for the transportation of building material and machinery for German military projects along the Norwegian coast. At the end of the war, the company had a fleet of more than 700 larger and smaller vessels in Norway, with an extensive administrative organization in many Norwegian ports.


Battle of Alavus

The Battle of Alavus took place on 17 August 1808 in the vicinity of the town of Alavus (), as part of the Finnish War. The Finnish army, under the command of General Carl Johan Adlercreutz defeated a smaller Russian force and drove it southwards. It was the last in a string of Swedish successes during the summer of 1808, and marked the turning point in the war.
Prelude.
With his supply lines harassed by Swedish forces and retreating southward, the newly appointed general major Nikolay Kamensky decided to retake the initiative. The logistical situation precluded this however, and he was forced to march to Jämsä. Not until 7 August was he able to regain control of the situation, as Swedish raiding activities ebbed and reinforcements and fresh supplies started arriving. Kamenskiy then decided to renew his offensive. He sent a detachment under colonel Erikson toward Alavus and marched towards Jyväskylä.
Probably encouraged by the victory at Kauhajoki, marshal Wilhelm Mauritz Klingspor ordered general Adlercreutz to attack the Russian position at Alavus. The army, much worn by the ordeals of the summer, was moved south on 16 August in pouring rain. The following day the weather cleared.
The battle.
In bright sunshine, Adlercreutz attacked the Russian positions south of the Alavus church, near the small village of Härkölä, protected by lake Alajärvi (now Alavudenjärvi or Kirkkojärvi) on his left and marshy ground on his right. The Russian counterattacked on their right wing and forced a battalion of Karelians on the Swedish left flank to retreat northwards. At this point Adlercreutz ordered the 3rd battalion of Savolax infantry regiment, supported by the 2nd battalion, to counterattack. After a barrage of gunfire, the battalion made a bayonet charge and threw back the Russians. The Russian left flank was also under pressure and started yielding; by 19.00 the entire Russian force had retired with casualties tallying 370 men, compared to 200 on the Swedish side.
Aftermath.
Despite the success, Klingspor never capitalized on it or the outcome of Lapua and the difficult Russian supply situation in the summer of 1808. After the defeat at Alavus, Russian fortune turned and Kamensky was successful in his counteroffensive, which drove the Swedes ever further north.


Victory Monument (Chicago)

Erected in 1927, the Victory Monument, created by sculptor Leonard Crunelle, was built to honor the Eighth Regiment of the Illinois National Guard, an African-American unit that served in France during World War I. It is located in the Black Metropolis-Bronzeville District in the Douglas community area of Chicago, Illinois. The structure was added to the National Register of Historic Places on April 30, 1986. It was designated a Chicago Landmark on September 9, 1998. An annual Memorial Day ceremony is held at the monument.
Description and history.
The Smithsonian Institution’s Archives of American Art describes the monument:
In 1908 while Aaron Montgomery Ward was contesting the land use law for Grant Park for a second time in the Illinois Supreme Court, the Art Institute of Chicago considered locating the "Fountain of the Great Lakes" at 35th Street and Grand Boulevard (the latter has been renamed as Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. Drive.) Instead, the Victory Monument was installed at this intersection.
The Bud Billiken Parade has for many years traveled along King Drive. In some years, the Parade has started at 31st and King and in other years it has started as far south as 39th and King Drive. It has often started very near this monument.
Recently, the monument has received a grant for restoration as part of World War I centennial activities.
Features.
The monument features 4 bronze panels and a sculpture of a soldier atop that was added in 1936. To the north of the monument is a court with 4 plaques in the large tilings. The plaques honor Robert Henry Lawrence, Jr., Truman Gibson, Sr./Truman Gibson, Jr., Franklin A. Denison, & George R. Giles. To the south of the monument is a flagpole that flies the United States flag, Municipal Flag of Chicago, POW/MIA flag.


List of wars involving Tajikistan

This is a list of wars involving the Republic of Tajikistan.