You probably weren’t around for WWI but if you’re anything like us watching documentaries on Direct TV and listening to survivors speak just isn’t enough. You want to visit the sites that made the first World War what it was and we’ve got a list of the top three you should pilgrimage to if you ever get the chance
The Somme – Located in Northern France, the Somme was one Read the rest of this entry »

While the current debate on Palestinian statehood is fraught with complexity which can’t be ignored, the fundamental issues at play are still as current and relevant today as they were in 1947. These are issues of human rights, equality, and peaceful co-existance.

International sympathy for the plight of Eurpoean jews after WWII – and consequently, support of the Jewish State – was understandable. They were refugees in exodus to their holy land and they deserved support from those nations who had the means and might to help.

Sadly, support from the western world (mainly the USA) wasn’t motivated by Read the rest of this entry »

From 1891 to 1905, Alfred von Schlieffen sat at the head of the German Imperial Staff of Generals. His most important contribution during this tenure was the Schlieffen Plan. This plan was devised to avoid a two front war in the event that France and Russia posed a threat to the German Empire at the same time. The time occurred during the First World War. By the beginning of the war, von Schlieffen was retired and Helmuth von Moltke adjusted the plan due to significant Read the rest of this entry »

Baron Manfred Albrecht von Richthofen is more widely known as The Red Baron, his World War I moniker. He earned this nickname due to his prowess as a fighter pilot at the controls of a red Fokker tri-plane. He has been officially credited with eighty aerial combat victories. This number is more than any other pilot.

Born in May 1892, Richthofen was originally a cavalry officer but, in 1915, transferred to the Army Air Service as a founding member of Jasta 2. He Read the rest of this entry »

Few terms conjured as much fear during World Wars I and II as the “U-Boat”. Short for unterseeboot (underwater boat), the U Boat preyed upon allied navies and merchant ships with impunity, attacking without warning and disappearing into the depths. The sentry standing guard at the rail of a ship not only had to worry about what they could see, but they also had to worry about what lay beneath the waves.
The first German U-Boat first set sail in 1850 (designed by inventor Wilhem Bauer). Read the rest of this entry »

The role of the cavalry in warfare has always been considered in the most romantic terms. The Romans, King Arthur, Jeb Stuart and George Custer all bring images of gallant warriors and cavaliers on horseback. The cavalry served as shock troops, charging infantry and foot soldiers with lances, they broke the enemy’s lines and permitted the foot soldiers behind to advance to victory and take the field of battle. The Civil War made the “Ride around McClellan” and ” Sherman’s March to the Sea” Read the rest of this entry »

Most historians believe World War I was the product of Trans-European increases in militarism, imperialism, nationalism, and alliances made in the hundred years leading up to the war. The catalyst directly responsible for triggering the war was Franz Ferdinand’s assassination by Gabrilo Princip. In response to his death, Austria-Hungary laid out an impossible ultimatum for Serbia, the country where Ferdinand died and after a few days declared war. Ferdinand was not very popular with the Austro-Hungarian Read the rest of this entry »