Kildare rebellion (1534-1535) in the Annals of the Four Masters

One of the most important Irish historical sources, which are the Annals of the Four Masters, written in the modern period, provide us with unusually valuable information about the history of the Emerald Island. In addition to data from the ancient or medieval periods, it also contains material from the difficult 16th and 17th centuries for Ireland, when it came under the yoke of English Protestants, who were initially represented by the Tudors and then by the Stuart dynasty. The Annals of the Four Masters also witnesses the resistance of the Irish, both those from Hiberno Normans and Gaelic Irish, to the demands of new authorities, including the rejection of Catholicism and total submission to the power of the kings of England. One such attempt, although unsuccessful, was the Kildare rebellion undertaken by Silken Thomas Earl of Kildare in the late 1630s. The laconic nature of Annales’ accounts, as well as the omission by this source of many important data, makes it an auxiliary material related to military history in the case of the Kildare rebellion. This is interesting because, in the context of later revolts that broke out in Ireland against the authority of the Tudors or Stuarts, in the era of further conquest of the island, this source is very valuable research material in this field.

Impact of Domestic and Transboundary Conflicts on Militarization

Security issues are the global concern nowadays, which triggers government spending on military equipment and supply chain. This paper analyzes the global perspective of cohesion indicators on Militarization by using 177 countries panel data from the Years 2011-2018 based on middle/lower and high-income groups. By applied OLS and Fixed Effect modelling, we explored the idea that Group Grievance and Population Growth Rate have a significant impact on Militarization in both income groups worldwide. However, middle/lower income group’s Militarization is more fragile than high-income groups due to state cohesion. It further analyses that Security Apparatus and Fractionalization Elite are significant in Middle/ lower-income countries and have an insignificant impact on Militarization in high-income countries. In the end, the study suggested that the United Nations must keenly observe the militarization trends of the less fragile states by considering global peace concerns and should play its role to resolve the bilateral conflicts in the region to maintain world peace environment.

Hitler’s Downfall and the Collapse of the Thousand Years Reich: Multi Fronts and Incapable Allies

The downfall of Adolf Hitler was a significant development in the history of the world. His armies conquered almost all of Europe in a dramatic span of time by the employment of Blitzkrieg tactics. Before the outbreak of the Second World War, Hitler assisted General Franco in the Spanish Civil War. Later, while still fighting on the Western front, Hitler ordered the Afrika Korps to assist Italians in Northern Africa and in the Balkans region and finally launched Operation Barbarossa by invading the Soviet Union. The Anti-Comintern Pact, Pact of Steel and Tripartite Pact brought the Third Reich, the Empire of Japan and the Kingdom of Italy onto one page. This paper attempts to probe the multiple fronts and the efficacy of Hitler’s allies including Japan, Italy, Romania, Hungary, Slovakia, Bulgaria, Yugoslavia and Croatia and to try and find the causes behind the downfall of one of the strongest men the world has ever seen from a theoretical perspective. This research did not intend to glorify Hitler or Nazism, but focuses on how the maximization of power and the states’ actions with hegemonic aspirations triggered a balancing coalition and ultimately resulted in punishment from the system itself.

The Difficult alliance. Military cooperation between the ruthenian king Daniel and the Piasts of Mazovia

The article presents the military cooperation between the King of Galician-Volhynian Ruthenia, Daniel Romanowicz, and the Dukes of Mazovia, Konrad and his son Siemowit. The alliance, based as a counterweight for the cooperation between the King of Hungary and the Piast princes of Lesser Poland, who were trying to conquer Ruthenia and dominate all Piast principalities in then fragmented Poland. It lasted for several decades from the 1220’s to the 1260’s and was primarly aimed at mutual protection against the invasions of the pagan Yotvingians and supporting each other in armed conflicts. The text contains an analysis of war expeditions, tactics and ways of support that were given by both sides of the allianace. It is a new point of view on this aspect of political strategy of both sides that in some ways defined the regional situation. Ruthenians granted masovian Piasts some mobile and political uncommited support in fight with their relatives in Poland, and also secured their border with the Yotvingians. On the other hand, masovian knights were an additional strike force in ruthenian plundering expeditions to Yotvingia. The research was based on the analysis of preserved historical sources and scientific literature using historical methodology.

The Kiev operation and Tukhachevsky’s two offensives in 1920 as attempts at undertaking strategic and operational initiative during the Polish-Soviet War of 1919-1920

The article is an analysis of: 1) the Kiev operation from late April and early May 1920, 2) Tukhachevsky’s first offensive in May 1920, 3) Tukhachevsky’s second offensive launched in July 1920. All the three operations were attempts at undertaking strategic and operational initiative during the Polish-Soviet War of 1919-1920. The first offensive pertained to the Polish army, in the subsequent two cases it was the Soviet Western Front. Tukhachevsky’s second offensive resulted in the battle of the Bug in late July and early August 1920. By discussing each of the operations, the author presents the fighting potential of the armies involved, the tactical and operational goals, the course of the fighting, the turning points, both parties’ planning mistakes and the consequences of the operations.

Jan Sobieski’s latifundium and the soldiers (1652-1696)

An analysis of the relationship between Jan III Sobieski and the people he distinguished shows that there were many mutual benefits. Social promotion was more difficult if the candidate for the office did not come from a senatorial family34. It can be assumed that, especially in the case of Atanazy Walenty Miączyński, the economic activity in the Sobieski family was conducive to career development. However, the function of the plenipotentiary was not a necessary condition for this. Not all the people distinguished by Jan III Sobieski achieved the same. More important offices were entrusted primarily to Marek Matczyński. Stanisław Zygmunt Druszkiewicz’s career was definitely less brilliant. Druszkiewicz joined the group of senators thanks to Jan III, and Matczyński and Szczuka received ministerial offices only during the reign of Sobieski. Jan III certainly counted on the ability to manage a team of people acquired by his comrades-in-arms in the course of his military service. However, their other advantage was also important - good orientation in political matters and exerting an appropriate influence on the nobility. The economic basis of the magnate’s power is an issue that requires more extensive research. This issue was primarily of interest to historians dealing with latifundia in the 18th century. This was mainly due to the source material. Latifundial documentation was kept much more regularly in the 18th century than before and is well-organized. The economic activity of the magnate was related not only to the internal organization of landed estates. It cannot be separated from the military, because the goal of the magnate’s life was politics and, very often, also war. Despite its autonomy, the latifundium wasn’t isolated. Despite the existence of the decentralization process of the state, the magnate families remained in contact with the weakening center of the state and influenced changes in its social structure. The actual strength of the magnate family was determined not only by the area of land goods, but above all by their profitability, which depended on several factors: geographic location and natural conditions, the current situation on the economic market, and the management method adopted by the magnate. In the 17th century, crisis phenomena, visible in demography, agricultural and crafts production, money and trade, intensified. In these realities, attempts by Jan III Sobieski to reconstruct the lands destroyed by the war and to introduce military rigor in the management center did not bring the expected results. Sobieski, however, introduced “new people” to the group of senators, who implemented his policy at the sejmiks and the Parliament, participated in military expeditions and managed his property.

Melian dialogue syndrome in the Indian Ocean: A critical appraisal of Sri Lanka’s “small state dilemma” in the context of Indo-Sino rivalry

Sri Lanka’s foreign secretary’s statement indicating that Colombo would adopt “ India First” foreign policy appears to be a much-consoling phrase for the Indian diplomats. It is a fact beyond any dispute that New Delhi felt anxious about Sri Lanka’s extensive hobnobbing with China for years that has finally seen massive Chinese presence in the island nation. Given Sri Lanka’s strategic location in the Indian ocean as a crucial hub in the Indian ocean governance, Colombo’s relations with Beijing have always created a tense situation in India. However, the newly elected president of Sri Lanka Gotabaya Rajapaksa and his government’s novel approach to profess their foreign policy as India cantered doctrine raises some perplexity with the realpolitik caught by Sri Lanka. This paper seeks to examine the asymmetrical relationship that existed between Indian and Sri Lanka after the independence of both nations, wherein New Delhi used different means to carve Sri Lanka’s external relations for the best interests of India. Furthermore, this paper analyses the unequal position Sri Lanka has been facing as a small nation located near a ricing global power and how Sri Lanka struggles to balance both India and China in their rivalry in the Indian Ocean. The results emerge from this paper will reveal the impossibility of upholding neutrality for a small state before complex geopolitical power struggles.

“How can we free ourselves from this despotic Moscow oppression?” The attitude of Poznan and Kalisz voivodeships noblemen towards the Russian army actions in the years 1758-1759. Contribution to the history of the Seven Years’ War

The aim of the text is to show the attitude of the nobility from the Poznan and Kalisz provinces in the years 1758-1759 during the Seven Years’ War. This area, despite the neutrality of the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth, became a place of Prussian-Russian fighting. The article is a contribution to reflection on the functioning of the political elites and state structures of the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth.