History for History's Sake

A blog dedicated to all eras of history. Feel free to enjoy my random postings and musings on all eras of history, and random reblogs of things. Special passion for anything Napoleonic.

[thegreypilgrim05]

Last Hungarian Coronation

On December 30, 1916 A.D., Emperor of Austria-Hungary Charles I is crowned as the last king of Hungary, where he is known as Charles IV.

In the year following Charles began secret negotiations with the French and the Allies to seek peace and an end to the Great War; Charles preferred to make a separate peace, although all plans for this fell through when correspondence of the secret attempts at a treaty were leaked. 

Following the armistice at the War’s end, Charles issued a proclamation in Austria on November 11th, 1918 that allowed the people of that nation to determine their own government and freed officials from his authority, and did the same in Hungary on November 13th. Charles however had held hope that his people would someday put him back on his thrones: “I did not abdicate, and never will.”

[thegreypilgrim05]

Annexation of Rep. of Texas

On December 29, 1845, the Republic of Texas, an independent nation since 1836, was annexed by the United States of America to become the twenty-eighth state. The official transference of power would take place in the following year in February.

The territory was claimed also by Mexico, and hostilities quickly began between the two North American nations, taking the form of the Mexican-American War which sparked in April of 1846 and ended on February 3, 1848. The annexation of Texas and the subsequent war were the culminations of the American policy of manifest destiny.

[thegreypilgrim05]

June 21st, 1900 A.D., Empress Dowager Cixi declares war on all foreign powers then in China, officially starting the Boxer Rebellion, which had started the previous year in August. For decades, animosity towards foreign nations in China had been growing. Imperial authority was crumbling, and many believed it was only a matter of time before China would be divided and ruled by different powers, much the same as had already happened in Africa. It was a radical group known as the 'Militia United in Righteousness', or to foreigners as the 'Boxers', that started hostilities. Believing themselves invincible to modern weaponry, they wished to expel all foreign influence in China and restore the power of the Qing Dynasty. The foreign powers would form a coalition against the Boxers and the Imperials, which was known as the Eight-Nation Alliance. The nations part of it were the United Kingdom, Russia, France, Germany, Japan, Austria-Hungary, Italy, and the United States.

[lesoldatmort]

| Attack of the 9th Honvéd Battalion |

Battle-painting commission for a customer over DA I’ve spent last few months on. I haven’t done such painting for years and I surely missed it. But now it’s finally finished and I’m very glad I could experience painting a battle again.

[thegreypilgrim05]

The Hot Air Balloon

June 4th, 1783 A.D., the Montgolfier brothers, Joseph-Michel and Jacques-Etienne, hold their first public display of their hot air balloon. It was the first time a balloon of its kind had been manned; manned perhaps isn’t the right word to use, as the three passengers of the flight were in fact animals: a sheep, a duck, and a rooster. The Flight lasted approximately ten minutes.

Hot air Balloons had been in existence as early as the third century in China, and appearing in Europe at the beginning of the eighteenth century. The Montgolfier flight however marked the beginning of air travel, as humans soon began going aloft. On October 15th that same year, Jacques-Etienne Montgolfier became the first human to fly when a tethered balloon test was made at a workshop in Faubourg Saint-Antoine near Paris, France.

[valinaraii]

Illustrations for a French edition of Conan Doyle’s The Exploits of Brigadier Gérard.

Gallica.

[thegreypilgrim05]

This is one of my favorite books! He's such a likable character, one of Doyle's finest.

Vive l'Empereur!

[thegreypilgrim05]

The Last Day of the Byzantine Empire May 29, 1453 A.D., the city of Constantinople falls to Ottoman forces led by Mehmed II after a fifty-three day siege. The fall of the Eastern Roman Empire's capital, coupled with the death of Emperor Constantine XI in battle, signaled the end of the last remnants of the Roman Empire.

[thegreypilgrim05]

May 19th, 1991 A.D., the country that is now Croatia votes to break away from Yugoslavia and gain its own independence. Ninety-three percent of the population voted in favor.

Croatia would later officially declare independence on June 25th of the same year, and Yugoslavia itself would dissolve in 1992.

[thegreypilgrim05]

First Barbary War

May 10th, 1801 A.D., the “Barbary States” of North Africa declare war on the United States of America. Though part of the Ottoman Empire, the Barbary states declared war on their own accord, and the Empire itself took no part in the hostilities.

War had been declared by the Barbary pirates because the U.S., under President Thomas Jefferson, had refused to pay tribute to prevent American ships from being raided.

The war lasted until June of 1805, with the result being an American victory. However, the peace did not last long, as the pirates began to attack American shipping once more in 1807.  A Second Barbary War would take place in 1815.

[thegreypilgrim05]

Treaty of Cherasco

April 28th, 1796 A.D., a treaty between the French Republic and the Kingdom of Piedmont-Sardinia is signed after four years of war. As a result, Sardinia was forced to recognize the French Republic, cede the Duchy of Savoy and the county of Nice, and allow the French military access through their territory.

Victor Amadeus III, King of Sardinia, was devastated that the kingdom he had economically revived during his reign was shattered. He died a broken man in October of the same year.

Napoleon Bonaparte, the young general who had led the French Army of Italy to victory, gained much popularity with both the populace and the army of France during his campaign against Piedmont-Sardinia and subsequent campaigns against Austria.

[thegreypilgrim05]

Elbe Day

April 25, 1945 A.D., American and Soviet troops meet at the Elbe River in Torgau, Germany. This meeting meant that the two armies had successfully cut the German Army in two, signifying the beginning of the end of  World War II.

Two days later on April 27th, a staged photo, shown above, was taken to commemorate the event. 2nd Lt. William Robertson of the U.S. Army stands on the left, shaking the hand of Lt. Alexander Silvashko of the Red Army.

[napoleondidthat]

           Napoleon signs first abdication, the Treaty of Fontainebleau

                                               April 11, 1814

                                          202 years ago today….

[thegreypilgrim05]

Battle of Näfels

April 9th, 1388 A.D., a four-hundred man force of the Old Swiss Confederation attacks and defeats an Austrian force of nearly six thousand. The battle was the last of a century long conflict between the cantons of Switzerland and Austria.

Early in the morning on April 9th, the Austrian force overran the fortifications of Näfels, a town in the Canton of Glarus. The town garrison fell back into the hills around the town; the Austrians believing the battle to be won, began pillaging and looting the surrounding area. The militia of Glarus sprang a counter attack on the unformed Austrians, and a slaughter ensued, with the Austrians suffering heavy losses.

As a result of this final battle, the next year a peace was signed between Austria and the Swiss Confederation, in which the Swiss cantons gained much territory. The battle is remembered still for its important role in the unification of the Canton of Glarus.

[danielkobg]

Americans Were Asked To Place European Countries On A Map. Here’s What They Wrote:

[scottish]

the americans have spoken. bye england

[beescream]

Good.

[perfectenthusiasttiger]

Yay everyone got France right! Wait! Why? Why France? Because you easily recognize it? Because there 2 world war in this area? Because it’s just the country at extreme west? Because it’s France? I need to know!

[noiralei]

They all got Spain right too.

[cuirassier]

I am glad someone distinguished Bulgaria. In fact, it says their mother is from here, nice! ( That’s the fifth image)

There is still hope @chjorniy-voron!

[thegreypilgrim05]

*sigh* I weep for my fellow Americans.

Kind of ironic, how people take pride in where their families came from in Europe, and most don't even know where that place actually is.

[thegreypilgrim05]

Sicilian Vespers March 30, 1282 A.D., Easter Monday, a Sicilian revolt against Anjou rule occurs in Palermo, resulting in the deaths of several thousand French foreigners. The island of Sicily had been under French rule for nearly two decades, and was extremely unpopular. Tensions between the people and foreigners came to a high point in the evening of Easter Monday. As the story goes, while the people were celebrating the Holy day, a group of drunken French soldiers began harassing a Sicilian woman. The woman's husband stabbed one of the soldiers, and the rest of the crowd joined in, killing the other soldiers. The church bells of the city began to ring the call to evening prayer, Vespers, which seemed to stir the people all the more. What resulted was a massacre of French foreigners, which in the following weeks spread throughout the whole island.

[thegreypilgrim05]

March 21st, 1800 A.D., Barnaba Niccolò Chiaramonti is elected Pope by Papal conclave. He adopted the name Pius VII.

Because Rome had recently been overrun by French troops during France’s Revolutionary Italian wars, the conclave was held in Venice. Up to this point, nearly every pope since 1143 A.D. was coronated with a papal tiara; during the invasion of Rome, most of the tiaras were either looted or destroyed, and none had been taken to the conclave.

He was coronated using a hastily made new tiara made of papier-mâché, covered in gold and silver cloth, and studded with jewels donated by wealthy matrons of Venice.

The papier-mâché tiara was used several times during the next several decades.

[thegreypilgrim05]

March 18, 1314 A.D., Grandmaster Jacques de Molay of the Templar Order is burned at the stake by King Philip IV of France. When he became the grandmaster in 1292, de Molay tried in vain to turn the order's focus back to the Holy Land and crusades. Unfortunately for him, support for such an endeavor in Europe was scarce. The Templars were officially disbanded in 1307 by Pope Clement V. It was held for a long time that it was disbanded because of corruption and practice of black magic, but in reality it was an attempt by Philip IV to gain more wealth and power. Philip was in great financial debt to the Order, and had tried in the past to get all the military orders, particularly the Templars and the Knights Hospitaller, to merge with himself as the leader. De Molay opposed him. The Pope, who was much under the influence of the French King, was most likely persuaded to disband the order; its holdings were raided and many were handed over to France. The Grandmaster spent the next seven years in prison, and was executed at the stake for his refusal to confess to the charges he was unjustly framed for.