Australia's War in the Mediterranean

The Strangest Battle of World War II? Uncovering the Battle of Castle Itter

The Strangest Battle of World War II? Uncovering the Battle of Castle Itter

Apr 3, 2025

Reading time: 6 minutes
In the waning hours of the war, exactly five days after Hitler shot himself in his bunker, a bizarre battle would commence in a small Austrian town, just south of the German border.
Seven hundred years after its construction in the 1200s, Castle Itter would host a battle between the Waffen-SS (the Nazi party’s specialist paramilitary) and a combined force of defecting German Wehrmacht troops, American soldiers, Austrian resistance fighters, and various French political prisoners.

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Hidden in plain sight: Finding working-class women in The National Archives

Hidden in plain sight: Finding working-class women in The National Archives

Mar 31, 2025

Reading time: 10 minutes
This article will make use of a particularly interesting case study of pit brow women in Lancashire, to explore the complexities and opportunities associated with archival work. The women’s lives can be revealed through analysis of documents from sources in the Copyright Office, and the Ministry of Power collections. By identifying strengths and weaknesses of records, they can be analysed with greater depth and nuance, so that they are used most effectively during an exploration of the past.

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April Fools! The History Behind the World’s Greatest Day of Pranks

April Fools! The History Behind the World’s Greatest Day of Pranks

Mar 27, 2025

Reading time: 7 minutes
The world loves a good April Fools’ Day prank – from telling your schoolmates it’s non-uniform to assuring a coworker the boss has definitely given everyone the day off, April 1st is a day of big and small pranks all around the world.
While mostly celebrated in Western countries such as Northern Europe, America, and other English-speaking countries like the UK, Australia, and New Zealand, much of the world knows of and sometimes takes part in the light-hearted tradition of April Fools.
But where does it come from?

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Military History

Latest
Slavery at home? The Australian Conscription Referendums of WWI

Slavery at home? The Australian Conscription Referendums of WWI

Mar 20, 2025

Reading time: 11 minutes On 31st July 1914, just days before the catastrophe of war was allowed to come to Europe, Australian Prime Minister Andrew Fisher made a solemn promise on behalf of his country to “stand beside the mother country to help and defend her to our last man and our last shilling.” But as the months passed as the fighting ground on, and as stories of the horrors endured in Turkey and France trickled back to the home front, Australia’s young democracy faced one of its most harrowing trials yet as those on both sides of the issue battled to determine the path ahead.

Political and Economic History

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The 7 Largest Empires in History

The 7 Largest Empires in History

Mar 6, 2025

Reading time: 8 minutes While very few exist today, the world’s history books are filled with hundreds of thousands of empires, ranging from a handful of islands to near-global domination. A select few stand as the most infamous, such as the Roman Empire or the British Empire, yet many of history’s largest empires are less well-known. So, what were the world’s largest empires across history?

Social and Cultural History

Latest
Medieval Christians saw the lunar eclipse as a sign from God — but they also understood the science

Medieval Christians saw the lunar eclipse as a sign from God — but they also understood the science

Mar 10, 2025

Reading time: 5 minutes This has been cited as evidence that some people believed that lunar eclipses were caused by magicians or moon-hungry monsters. However, it is important to remember this comes from a source written by an educated churchman who may have exaggerated evidence of superstitious beliefs in order to then condemn them. Yet even if we allow for these beliefs, the range of ideas surrounding lunar eclipses in medieval Europe reveal it was not the dark age of superstition and ignorance it is often assumed to have been.

History Audiobooks

A Voyage Towards the South Pole and Round the World – Audiobook

A Voyage Towards the South Pole and Round the World – Audiobook

On his first journey Cook mapped the east coast of Australia, on his second the British Admiralty sent him into the vast Southern Ocean. Equipped with one of the first accurate chronometers, Cook pushed his small vessel not merely into the Roaring Forties or the Furious Fifties but become the first explorer to penetrate the Antarctic Circle, reaching an incredible Latitude 71 degrees South, just failing to discover Antarctica.

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History Guild would like to acknowledge the Boonwurrung people, the Traditional Custodians of the land on which we are based, and pay our respects to their Elders, past, present and emerging.