Sino-Vietnamese War

Reading time: 5 minutes
The Sino-Vietnamese war was a short, nasty conflict fought between China and Vietnam in early 1979. Largely forgotten by almost everybody including the belligerents, it was a side plot of the Sino-Soviet split, itself a sideshow to the Cold War. Let’s go over the events before, during and after the war to see what it was all about.

Read More

Jamaica’s Morant Bay Rebellion and it’s brutal repression

Reading time: 11 minutes
On 12 October 1865, John Davidson, a magistrate in the east of Jamaica, wrote to the island’s Governor, Edward John Eyre:
‘The people at Morant Bay [on the island’s southeast coast, St. Thomas-in-the-East parish] have risen, burnt down the Court-house, released all the prisoners, murdered several white people.’

Read More

The R1 – South African Bush Rifle

Reading time: 9 minutes
In the wake of the rise of the Soviet Union’s AK-47 and the USA’s litany of rifles during the Cold War, South Africa needed a modern automatic service rifle. After trialling several different guns, the South African government settled on the Belgian FN FAL battle rifle. As a result, the “Rifle R1” was born – the bush gun of Southern Africa.

Read More

Five myths about the partition of British India – and what really happened

Reading time: 6 minutes
This August marks 75 years since the partition of the Indian subcontinent. British withdrawal from the region prompted the creation of two new states, India and Pakistan.
The process of transferring power grossly simplified diverse societies to make it seem like dividing social groups and drawing new borders was logical and even possible. This decision unleashed one of the biggest human migrations of the 20th century when more than ten million people fled across borders seeking safe refuge.

Read More

The Anglo-Zanzibar War: The Shortest War in History

The story of the shortest war in history begins with a treaty between colonial powers. In 1890, Britain and Germany signed the Heligoland-Zanzibar treaty which secured spheres of influence in East Africa. Germany was given control of mainland Tanzania, while Zanzibar fell under British control. 

Read More

Tom Petrie’s reminiscences of early Queensland (dating from 1837). Recorded by his daughter – Audiobook

TOM PETRIE’S REMINISCENCES OF EARLY QUEENSLAND (DATING FROM 1837). RECORDED BY HIS DAUGHTER – AUDIOBOOK By Constance Campbell Petrie (1873 – 1926) and Thomas Petrie (1831 – 1910) Tom Petrie (1831-1910), explorer and grazier, arrived in the then convict settlement of Moreton Bay in 1837. His reminiscences of what was to become the colony of Queensland were […]

Read More

Great Epochs in American History, Volume II – Audiobook

GREAT EPOCHS IN AMERICAN HISTORY, VOLUME II – AUDIOBOOK By Francis Whiting Halsey (1851 – 1919) This is the second volume in ten volume series of great epochs in the history of the United States, from the landing of Columbus to the building of the Panama Canal. In large part, events composing each epoch are described […]

Read More

315 nuclear bombs and ongoing suffering: the shameful history of nuclear testing in Australia and the Pacific

The Treaty on the Prohibition of Nuclear Weapons received its 50th ratification on October 24, and will therefore come into force in January 2021. A historic development, this new international law will ban the possession, development, testing, use and threat of use of nuclear weapons. Unfortunately the nuclear powers — the United Kingdom, France, the United […]

Read More

The Making of the British Empire (A.D. 1714-1832) – Audiobook

THE MAKING OF THE BRITISH EMPIRE (A.D. 1714-1832) – AUDIOBOOK By Arthur Hassall (1853 – 1930) At its height, the British Empire was the largest in history. This short volume traces its development through the long 18th century, from 1714 to the end of the Napoleonic Wars. Founded on the prosperity of Sir Robert Walpole’s […]

Read More

Churchill and India: imperial chauvinism left a bitter legacy

For those who enjoy debunking the reputations of national heroes, there can be few softer targets than Winston Churchill. The phrase “flawed hero” could almost have been invented to characterise his long, wilfully erratic career. Running through it, like some bitter-tasting lettering in a stick of rock was a strain of extreme imperial chauvinism. Indeed, […]

Read More

Venezuela’s Fight For Independence: The Battle of Carabobo

This year marks the 200th anniversary of the battle of Carabobo, a major battle in Venezuela’s history. Fought during the Spanish-American wars of independence, the second battle at Carabobo in 1821 ultimately led to Venezuela’s independence from the Spanish Empire. The Battle of Carabobo was not the last in the fight for Venezuelan independence. However, […]

Read More
Dutch Ships Sail Off a Rocky Shore

How War with Spain Created the Dutch Colonial Empire

The Dutch colonial empire was a large collection of territories that spanned the globe from the Americas to Asia. It held together for about 400 hundred years and made its mother country a fortune, wealth that persists today. What was the reason that the Netherlands, a tiny country with very few natural resources, was able […]

Read More

The Two Countries That ‘Escaped’ The Scramble for Africa

The Scramble for Africa is often recognized as the beginning of colonialism and European Imperialism. Beginning in 1884, the scramble brought most of the African continent under European control, barring two countries – Liberia and Ethiopia. However, debate continues over whether these regions truly escaped colonialism as they grapple with the same colonial legacies that […]

Read More

Wounded Knee: Shame or Honour?

On 29 December 1890, between 150-300 Sioux Lakota men, women, and children, most of whom were unarmed, were killed by the United States military. Known as the Wounded Knee Massacre, after Wounded Knee Creek in the Pine Ridge Reservation, South Dakota, this event has attracted recent attention due to the twenty Medals of Honour awarded […]

Read More