HISTORICA SAPIENTIA
HISTORICA SAPIENTIA 2025
Welcome to the third edition of Historica Sapientia, the Hampton History Magazine! After three excellent editions, I am still sometimes asked ‘Why Historica Sapientia?’, well it is a play on our School motto ‘Praestat Opes Sapientia’, wisdom surpasses wealth. Historica sapientia (very loosely) translates into ‘historical wisdom’ and I am sure that you will agree with me, there is much of this on display in the pages of this magazine.
I am always impressed by the breadth and depth of the articles submitted. The authors have clearly worked incredibly hard in their research, writing and editing over this year and I am so pleased that we are able to showcase this in the magazine. We have contributions from across the school on varied and fascinating topics and the pupils write with authority and style about their areas of interest. They should all be very proud of the articles they have written, and I hope this might be just the start of their investigations into these topics.
Please do enjoy taking a journey through different times and places throughout history, the pupils will guide you through challenging terrain with expertise and clarity. If you’d like to participate in the next edition in 2026, please do let me know, we are always on the lookout for new contributors!
Mr Roberts
It has been a genuine pleasure to read and edit this fantastic collection of historical writing again this year. The range of topics - spanning from Prince Albert’s enduring legacy to the evolution of military technology – is testament to the broad scope of all of your interests and was matched by the depth of insight and quality of research each contributor has demonstrated. What stands out most is the thoughtful evaluation and curiosity evident in every piece. For any teacher, it is heartening and inspiring to see such enthusiasm and engagement from our young historians. This magazine is a celebration of their hard work, passion, and growing expertise; well done, all!
Miss Bellingan
ARTICLES
THE BERLIN WALL AND ITS FALL
VLADIMIR LENIN
BATTLE OF WATERLOO
THE LEGACY OF PRINCE ALBERT
THE PIVOTAL BATTLES OF WWII
OPERATION GUNNERSIDE
THE FALL OF THE OTTOMAN EMPIRE
THE JACOBITE REBELLION
VEHICLES OF WAR
T
GURADAES SINGH
EDIZ YILDIRIM
NAVID SOUFIZADEH
RORY MCEWAN - THOMAS NET - LUKE FITZPATRICK - FALAK KHAN - KAIRAV SCHAFERMEYER
SAMRITH POONIA
SOPHUS WONG
RORY MCEWAN
The Berlin Wall and Its Fall in 1989
By Guradaes Singh 4A
Imagine a nation divided into four sectors, each controlled by a different country. This was the situation inGermanyafteritsdefeat in the Second World War. Between the 17th of July and 2nd of August 1945, mere days before Japan’s surrender, the Allied leaders attended the Potsdam Conference, whereitwasdecidedthatone‘zone of occupation’ would each be governedbytheUSA,Britain,France and the Soviet Union. Berlin, the capitalcitywassituatedintheSoviet zone but was also split up between the four powers. The American, British, and French sectors formed WestBerlin,theSovietzoneforming EastBerlin.
So how exactly does a divided city come around to be guarded by a 155-kilometre-long wall, and how
was it a key representation of the ideological divisions of the Cold War? To understand this, one must delveintoitshistory.
The reason why the USSR was allies with the Western powers was merely the fact that they had a commonenemy:Germany.Tensions were high between them even during the war, most notably when Stalinwasgiventhefalsepromiseby RooseveltthattheAllieswouldopen the Western Front against the Nazis in 1942, when in fact the D-Day landings came two years after. As a result,onceGermanyhadfallen,the Soviets had no reason to support their former allies and disagreements began to occur regardingthegeographyofpost-war Europe. By 1945, the USA and the Soviet Union arose as two opposing ‘superpowers’, both trying to prove theirsuperiorityovertheother.Two contrasting worlds of the CommunistRussiaandcapitalistUSA were up against each other, and Berlin was at the heart of all the chaos.
As time progressed, the conflict between these two great powers worsened, and the partition of Germany became even more prominent. In 1949, Germany officially split into two independent nations: the Federal Republic of Germany (FDR or West Germany), whichwasassociatedwiththeWest, and the German Democratic
Republic (GDR or East Germany), alliedtotheUSSR.Threeyearslater, the government of East Germany, run by the SED party who established a dictatorship, shut the border with West Germany. However, the border between East and West Berlin remained open, giving East Germans the chance to escape to the less tyrannical and more prosperous West. By 1961, around a sixth of the GDR’s population (4 million people) had fled for better opportunities and morefreedom.
This was possible until the 12th of August 1961, when a wire barrier wasconstructedaroundWestBerlin, in a surprise move by the SED, aiming to bring the mass emigration to an end. Eventually, this barrier of barbedwiredevelopedintoaheavily guarded concrete wall, surrounding West Berlin and cutting off all ties with East Germany, leaving families separated. Pressure on East Berliners to flee was higher than ever due to separation from their loved ones, which led the East German government to further strengthen the border fortifications. What started as a singular wall had evolved into a multi-layered, complex barricade designed to prevent escapes, measuring 155 kilometreslongandfourmetrestall.
Initially,ifsomeonefledsuccessfully, border guards would temporarily add barriers, but after the border areawas fullydeveloped behind the wall on the East Berlin side in 1963, a fence was added to block major parts of the area. In the mid-1960s, the SED demolished many buildings to create a border strip which allowedsoldierstohavea‘clearfield offire’.Overtime,thisstripwasalso improved, and in the 1970s, a second ‘inner wall’ was installed, blocking off the border strip to the GDR. Many areas started dog runs, wherewatchdogscouldobstructthe path and notify border soldiers of incoming trespassers. The watchtowers stood approximately 250 metres apart, offering guards a good view of their assigned part of the border. At nighttime, the strip was illuminated brightly by a line of lamps, making it easier to catch someone trying to escape in the dark. If an intruder was spotted and theguardsweren’totherwiseableto prevent the breakout, they were given the strict command to shoot them. Of the 140 total deaths that occurred during the course of the Berlin Wall’s 28-year history, 91 of the victims had been shot by GDR soldiers,mostofthemattemptingto flee. This order to shoot wasn’t stoppeduntiltheborderopened.
In 1989, political changes in Eastern EuropeandcivildisorderinGermany
furtherforcedthealreadyweakEast German government to lift restrictions on travel to West Germany with immediate effect. However, their spokesperson failed to state that not all regulations would be loosened, so media mistakenly reported that the border
inanattemptofmarketingit,pieces of the wall were sold across the world.
On the 3rd of October 1990, 11 months after the fall, Germany reunited, symbolising the end of dictatorship and the communist ideologythewallhadonceshielded.
had been opened. As a result of this misinformation, on the 9th of November, crowds quickly began to gather on both sides of the wall, in anticipation of German reunification. Seeing the onslaught of so many people, the border was opened, allowing Germans to cross unrestricted. As soon as the border opened, the demolition of the wall began, and so called ‘wall peckers’ broke off pieces of concrete as souvenirs. Border soldiers dismantled the rest of the wall, and
The Revolutionary activities of Vladmir Lenin
By Ediz Yildirim 1L
Vladimir Ilyich Ulyanov (he changed his name to Vladimir Lenin in 1902) was born in 1870 into an upper middle-class family in Russia, where there was complete authoritarian rule by the Tsar and his inner circle. Lenin began his revolutionary activities after the death of his father, who died from a brain
tumourin1886,andtheexecutionof his brother, Alexander, the next year,whohadjoinedarevolutionary cell intent on assassinating the Tsar. He had been selected to help construct the bomb, but his group were arrested and executed by hanging before they could assassinate the Tsar. The deaths of his brother and father, in such quick succession, did not affect Lenin’s schoolwork as he graduated top of hisclass,andwentontostudylawat
Kazan University. At university, he joined a student society called a Zemlyachestvo. This was a group of men that were away from their home regions. While taking part in an illegal demonstration, Lenin was arrested by the police, who called him a ringleader. He was expelled from university, and exiled to his family’s home in Kokushkino, where hestudiedMarxism.
This all concerned his mother, who played a key role in convincing the government to allow her son to return to Kazan, but not the university. Upon his return in the autumn of 1888, Lenin joined a revolutionary circle interested in Marxism.Thenextyear,theUlyanov family moved to Samara, where Lenin joined Alexei Sklyarenko’s socialist discussion circle. Here, he fullyembracedMarxismandwrotea Russian translation of Karl Marx’s Communist Manifesto. In 1890, Lenin took external exams at the St Petersburg University, where he achieved the equivalent of a firstclass degree. He still stayed in Samaraforthreemoreyears,where he worked as a legal assistant for a regionalcourtandthenforalawyer. He stayed active in the discussion group, even collecting information about the Russian government and sentanarticleonpeasanteconomics
to the liberal journal, Russian Thought. However,itwasrejected.
In 1893, Lenin moved to St Petersburg. Here, he joined a Marxist revolutionary cell, where he rose to a prominent position. He encouraged the formation of other Marxist groups in Russia’s main cities. By 1894, he was leading a Marxist workers’ cycle but had
carefully ensured nothing of this could be traced to him by police spies.Atthistime,hebegandatinga Marxist school teacher named Nadezhda Krupskaya, or Nadya for short. He also authored books going against other socialist movements, which were illegally printed around two hundred times. He tried to create more solid connections between his social democrats and theEmancipationofLabour,agroup of Russian Marxists, based in Switzerland.Heevenmetwiththem there and afterwards, in Paris, he met Karl Marx’s son-in-law. He also wentto Berlin,wherehestudied for
sixweeks.HereturnedtoRussiawith a selection of illegal Marxist publications. However, while working on a news sheet, he and forty other activists were arrested. Hewasimprisonedforayearbefore his sentence, and spent the time thinking and writing, but in 1897, Lenin was exiled to Shushenskoye, Siberia for three years. After a year inexile,hewasjoinedbyNadya,who had been arrested for organising a strike and sent to Ufa, but had convinced the government to move hertoShushenskoye,wheresheand LeninmarriedinJuly.
As Lenin’s exile ended in 1900, he settled in Pskov, northern Russia, and begins gathering funds for a newspaper, Iskra, meaning spark, which was run by the Russian Marxistparty,whowerenowcalling themselves the RSDLP. It was promoting their beliefs and was illegally distributed in Russia. At this time,LeninhadmovedtoMunich.In 1901, Lenin authored his most influential writing yet, the pamphlet named “What Is to Be Done?”. At thistime,NadyamovedtoMunichas well, and became his secretary. Still writing for Iskra and attacking the foundations and beliefs of the socialistrevolutionarypartythrough the newspaper, Lenin eventually moved the newspaper to London in April 1902. Here, he befriended a RussianMarxist,LeonTrotsky.
Soonafter,Leninbecameillandwas unabletotakealeadingrolein Iskra, and the board decided to move the main operations to Geneva, Switzerland.InJuly1903,thesecond RSDLP congress was held in London, however,adivisionappearedamong Lenin’s supporters, and the supporters of Julius Martov. Lenin’s supporters were much of the party and he called them the Bolsheviks; Julius Martov’s supporters were called the Mensheviks. The two groups continued arguing after the congress, the Bolsheviks called the Mensheviks undisciplined reformists. The Mensheviks claimed that Lenin had too much power and influence. Furious with the Mensheviks, Lenin resigned from Iskra and published an antiMenshevik pamphlet, titled “One Step Forward, Two Steps Back.”
AllthestressmadeLeninunwell,and he left for Switzerland to recover in 1904. By 1905, the whole RSDLP main committee was Bolshevik. The same year, they began another newspaper called Vperyod, meaning forward.Duringthe1905revolution, Lenin encouraged violent actions in the revolution and proposed that the Bolsheviks split away from the Mensheviks. Many Bolsheviks did not want this, and it led to the third RSDLPcongressinLondon,andafter the failed revolution, Lenin decided
to return to Russia. Here, he continued encouraging violent actionsbytheparty,believingthatit would be needed for a successful revolution. In 1906, Lenin’s violent beliefs were criticised by the Mensheviks at the fourth RSDLP
congress in Stockholm. Lenin then started promoting robberies, the most famous of these was a bank robberyin1907ledbyJosefStalin.In 1908, the Party decided to move to Paris.
WhentheFirstWorldWarbrokeout, Lenin was in Austria-Hungary and was imprisoned beforeheexplained his anti-monarchy beliefs to the government. Following his release, hemovedtoZurichwithNadyauntil the end of the war. However, in 1916, Lenin’s mother died, which had a significant impact on him. In theFebruaryof1917,therevolution began in St Petersburg. Fearing for his life, Tsar Nicholas II abdicated. After the abdication, the state Duma, the lower part of the Russian government, took over as a
provisional government. When Leninheardthenews,hecelebrated with other revolutionaries and decided to return to Russia. This proved difficult because of German blockades. However, they negotiated with the Germans, who wereatwarwithRussiaandsawthat the revolutionaries would be problematic for their enemies. They allowed thirty-two people to pass, includingLeninandNadya.
TheyarrivedinStPetersburginApril and, believing that the current government was just as bad as tsarist rule, Lenin began speaking in public, trying to convert more people to the cause. In July, the Bolsheviks conducted an armed demonstration against the government, and they had engaged violently with the local authorities. The government then ordered the arrest of Lenin and other revolutionaries. So, he hid in safe houses in St Petersburg. In August, Lenin travelled to Finland and lived in houses owned by Bolshevik followers. The same month, GeneralLavr Kornilov tried to begin a coup against the government, but it ended before it reached St Petersburg.Thisprovidedacoverfor the Bolsheviks to return to politics. At this time, the Mensheviks were pressuring the government to regularise their relationships with the Bolsheviks. Lenin saw that the
continuation of the war had made the government unpopular with the restofthecountryand,seeingthatit wassafe,returnedtoRussia.
In October, the Bolsheviks seized control of the government by marchingintothewinterpalaceinSt Petersburg and arresting members of the state government. There was no resistance by the government, and they allowed the Bolsheviks to take control. This was named the October revolution. Lenin was born into a country with an authoritarian Tsar. This turned Lenin into a revolutionaryandlatertheleaderof the Bolsheviks. He ruled the country untilhisdeathinearly1924.
The Battle of Waterloo
By Navid Soufizadeh
Ataleoftwoarmies.
It was 1815 and the endgame of the Napoleonic wars had begun. It seemed like France, under Napoleon’s triumphant lead, could not be beaten in battle. Napoleon had a near-perfect tactical record, smashing Austrians, Prussians, and Russians in seismic victories like Marengo and Austerlitz. The French army were unstoppable, wreaking havocuponEurope.Butitwasonthe 18th of June 1815, when Napoleon Bonapartefinallymethisdownfall.
ruthlessly drive back the 80,000strong Prussian army. Over 20,000 Prussiansoldiersdiedinthebattle.
The British forces, who were also assembled in Belgium, were forced toretreat.Thiswasbecausethey were now being flanked on both sides by the French. They were driven back to Waterloo, a village close to Brussels. This would be where the British force, alongside their Dutch and German allies, wouldmakealaststand.
1815 was a dark time for the British and Prussian forces. Prussian forces led by Field Marshal Blücher had been forced back by the French at the Battle of Ligny (in modern day Belgium) two daysearlier. Napoleon had achieved a tactical victory against the Prussians at Ligny by using60,000Frenchsoldiersto
Napoleon, confident the Prussians were out of the way, hoped to snatch a quick victory against the cornered British. He marchedhis72,000strongarmy to Waterloo to meet Britian’s 68,000, led by the Duke of Wellington. However, little did Napoleon know, but the Prussian army was still intact and in contact with the British. The experienced Prussians, still 48,000 strong, promised to reinforce the British at Waterloo.
Emboldened bythecomingPrussian reinforcements, the Duke of Wellington decided to stand and fightuntilthePrussiansarrived. Napoleon’s plan was simple. He decided to launch a divisionary attack on the small castle of
Hougoumont, on the west of the battlefield, where a part of the British army, as well as a small German force, was gathered. Then, once Wellington moved to reinforce Hougoumont, Napoleon would use most of his army to attack the main bulk of Wellington’s forces, which wastotheeastofHougoumont.
After a massive preliminary bombardment, Napoleon launched his offensive. His attack on Hougoumont drove back Wellington’s army a few miles but was then held back. The castle was successfullyheldbytheBritish. Twohourslater,theFrenchattacked the main bulk of the allied army, forcing them back. Unfortunately, for Napoleon, the British infantry was lying in wait, and the French soldiers were stopped. The British
cavalry mounted a counterattack that successfully broke the French line.However,theywenttoofarand were cut to pieces by the French cavalry’sowncounterattack. Then the Prussian army arrived at the left flank of the battlefield, and Napoleon’s troops were rapidly forced into a defensive line. The British held firm and soon Napoleon’s ranks were being exposed by an onslaught of Prussians.
Fortunately, for the French, they managed to weaken the centre of Wellington’s army, and the British began to crumble. The French soldiers called for reinforcements to strengthen their advantage, but Napoleon decided to send troops to attack the Prussians instead of the British. This turned out to be a huge mistake for the French as it gave timeforWellingtontostrengthenhis position. It was not long before the PrussianandBritishlinesalikebegan to surge forwards, pushing Napoleon’sforcesback.Realisinghis mistake, Napoleon made a last bid forvictory.
He marched his 15,000 finest soldiers, the Imperial Guard, into battle.ButNapoleonhadcommitted a grievous mistake. He had unleashed the Imperial Guard straight at Hougoumont, the place where the British forces were the strongest. The Imperial Guard were tornapartbyabarrageofbulletsand artillery from the British and Dutch, and the French were soon in disarray. The French line held for a day
before collapsing, allowing a triumphant Allied army to stream through and finally conquer France after23yearsofwar.
It was the end of the devastating Napoleonic wars, and a glorious victory for the combined European forcesfightingagainstFrance.
How far has Prince Albert’s significance been underestimated?
By Rory McEwan 4A
Prince Franz August Karl Albert Emanuel was husband to his cousin QueenVictoriafrom1840to1861,a significant but comparatively brief periodofherreign.TheVictorianera coincidedwithaperiodofsignificant advancement in scientific knowledge, its application into industrial and technological advances, and international trade and capitalism leading to increased national and individual wealth. Cultural institutions were established that endure (including the Science Museum, Natural History Museum, Royal Albert Hall, and the V&A Museum), which together with the literary achievements of Dickens, Bronte, Hardy, and Eliot count as legacies of the Victorian era. Developments alsoassociatedwithVictorianBritain include social reforms such as women’s rights, children’s working conditions and education, but also ideas of moral codes, family values, duty, decorum and respect. Finally, international expansion of the British Empire also increased significantly under Victoria’s rule andmustalsobeconsideredalegacy ofVictorianera.
Victoria and Albert fostered a cultural environment which was supportive of ambitious exploration ofnewfrontiersinscientificand
artistic knowledge, Geography and commercewhich wasamajor factor in boosting Britain’s growth compared with historical performance and its contemporary peers. The Victorian legacy is the resultoftheoverwhelminginfluence AlbertexertedoverQueenVictoria’s reign which changed the course of her monarchy and her country’s placeintheworldandhistory.
PrinceAlbertwastheyoungersonof a German Duke and from a young age showed keen interest and enthusiasm for music and the sciences. During his early years in England, he was active in the Royal Society and became Chancellor of Cambridge University. He
campaignedfortheexpansionofthe University’s curriculum as he thought that mathematics and the classics should be accompanied by History and Science to provide a broader view on the world. Albert believed that a widerunderstanding of subjects is beneficial, and it is in part thanks to him that we are graced with such a variety of topics atahigherlevelofeducation.
His seminal contribution was as President of the Royal Commission for the Exhibition of 1851. Although credit is also given toHenry Cole for the Exhibition’s success, a critical role was played by Albert in championing the exhibition, using hisstatustoencourageinternational participation but also in some key details such as supporting the innovative Crystal Palace design in HydePark.
In addition to being a spectacle enjoyed by large crowds, the exhibition helped secure valuable funding into hitherto minimally explored areas of science and was judged a success. The success of the Great Exhibition acted as a catalyst for further scientific progress, especially the application of scientific advances to generate practical improvements in day-today human experiences. Through Albert’s direct actions, Britain developed global leadership in scienceandengineeringandcreated
a culture that encouraged and rewarded new ideas which set Britain on a path to prosperity. This wasakeylegacyofVictorianBritain, andhereAlbert’srole.
Furthermore, Albert was also key in developing an enlightened culture, using the profits from the Great Exhibition to create institutes that still stand today, including the Victoria and Albert Museum, the National History Museum and the Science Museum. This philanthropic use of profits acted as a role model forothersgeneratinggreatwealthat the time. Encouraging such patronage funded great artistic and literarydevelopment.
Albertwasamanwhowasnotafraid to share his opinions and often soughttopersuadewideropinionto his side of an argument. He advocated against child labour and slavery as well as calling for the British army to be updated with modern weapons and to be wellequipped for war. He also advised the Queen to cut her close political ties with the Whigs, believing that the monarchy should be above politics.
In contrast, Victoria focused primarily on Empire expansion. Victoria was Empress of India, and duringherreignmadesureto retain power by passing laws such as the
‘Government of India Bill’, which granted her and the monarchy sovereignruleinIndia.WhilstAlbert was involved in the making of the bill, he died before most of the groundbreaking steps regarding Empiretookplace.
In conclusion, Albert gave more to Britain in the long term both as an economic power but also as a socalled soft power, with numerous institutions in new parts of previously unexplored areas of education and liberal views that proved to be beneficial in the long run.Attheendoftheday,whilstthe Victorians supervised one of the largest Empires known to man, almost none of it has survived into the modern era. Albert managed to build several worthy legacies, all of which have survived to the present
day,provinghowhissignificancehas certainlybeenunderestimated.
What were the most pivotal battles of World War II?
By Thomas Net 3B
The Battle of France
TheBattleofFrancemarkedacrucial pointinthewar.TheGermansbegan theinvasionon10th May1940,andit ended in the fall of France, leaving the Nazis the masters of mainland Europe. The battle exposed the French army’s reliance on the Maginotlineasalineofdefencewith the French army crushed by the tactic known as Blitzkrieg. The cornerstoneofBlitzkriegwastheuse of massed tank divisions and close airsupportfrom Ju87divebombers to provide a crucial and rapid advance through enemy lines. The German tanks, even though they were outnumbered by French tanks of equal quality, could rapidly advance since unlike the French, as they were not tied to slow-moving infantry divisions. The German strategyforthisbattlewastolaunch anattackthroughtheLowCountries to draw the Allies’ best units before a lightning advance was made through the Ardennes Forest that theAllieshadthoughtimpossiblefor tanks. A thrust all the way to the ChannelthencutofftheAlliedforces in Belgium and Flanders and with thistheBattleof
France was lost. The British evacuated almost all of their troops from Dunkirk and a mere 2 months after the invasion began, the Nazis hadtakenParis.On22nd July,France signed a humiliating armistice, letting the Germans occupy the whole of northern France, and its Atlantic coast. The significance of this event was that it knocked a crucial ally of Britain out of the war and left Nazi Germany in charge of Europe.
Japan, greatly weakened by embargoes, desperately needed oil and raw materials in trying to expand across East Asia. This situation was made worse by the USA’s tough negotiations over the future of the Pacific, which were considered humiliating by the Japanese public. The Philippines,
Attack on Pearl Harbour
which then belonged to the USA, could limit Japanese advances into southeast Asia and the American navy would pose a serious threat to Japan’s plans. With this, on 26th November 1941, Japan’s six aircraft carriers set sail for Pearl Harbour. Strict radio silence was maintained whilesailing.Duetothis,theUSnavy hadnoideawherethefleetwasand therefore couldn’t anticipate the attack. On theday of the attack, the anti-aircraft guns weren’t manned, the ammunition was locked away and all combat aircraft were parked in lines out in the open so that sentries could guard them more easily. On top of all of this, it was a Sundayandmostof thesailorswere on shore leave. A total of 336 Japanese aircrafts struck, with one battleship exploding and a further seven badly damaged. 188 aircraft were destroyed, 155 were damaged and atotalof 2,403 Americanswere killed. However, the Japanese had attacked at a bad time. America’s three aircraft carriers had been out on training, escaping any damage at PearlHarbourand theywould goon to play a major role in war. The significance of this battle is that it brought America into the war and turned the tide in favour of the Allies.
Midway
The Battle of Midway was a naval battle fought between the US and Japanese navies off the island of Midway. The Japanese commanderin-chief, Admiral Yamamoto, ordered his ships to disperse, with the aim of luring the US navy into a trap before taking them by surprise. However, the US knew about their planandthepositionsofallJapanese ships due to the interception of secret Japanese messages. The four Japanese aircraft carriers launched an assault on Midway on the 4thof June 1942, unaware of the US carriers nearby. After the Japanese planes had landed after the assault, dive bombers from all three US aircraft carriers attacked the Japanese aircraft carriers while they were refuelling the planes. One aircraft carrier was ripped apart by an explosion while a further two were abandoned later on. An attack fromtheremainingJapaneseaircraft carrier set the USS Yorktown ablaze, and a submarine later sank the ship on the 7th of June. The remaining
Japanese carrier was, however, repeatedly hit and set ablaze by planes from the USS Enterprise aircraft carrier and this too was abandoned after a huge explosion occurred. The significance of this battles was that this significantly altered the balance of power in the Pacific and left America as the dominant naval power. It could now slowly take Japaneseterritory in the Pacific.
El Alamein
Erwin Rommel had overrun the British forces in Libya and pushed into Egypt, taking the city of Tobruk alongwith33,000prisoners,buthad been halted at the first Battle of El Alamein and both sides dug in after fighting to a standstill. The British had a crucial advantage – namely operating near their base to have supplies reach them faster while Rommel’s supply lines stretched an astounding 1,200 miles all the way from Tripoli. General Montgomery aimed to use a combination of men and artillery, supported by heavy tanks, to force a grinding set-piece battle. Montgomery could also field twice as many men, artillery and tanksthantheGermanAfrikaKorps.
On the 23rd of October 1942, Montgomery launched his attack, using his numerical superiority to destroy Rommel’s forces and force him to retreat back into Libya. The
significance of this battle was that it ended the German threats to the Suez Canal and the vital Middle Eastern oilfields Britain’s war effort reliedon.
Battle of Stalingrad
On the 23rd of August 1942, the German Sixth Army first moved into Stalingrad, beginning the decisive BattleofStalingrad.Ifthecitynamed afterhimwaslost,itwouldprovidea significant personal blow to Stalin himself. The Soviet General Vasily Chuikovsentjustenoughtroopsinto Stalingrad to hold the city, while preparing a daring pincer attack to surroundtheGermanSixthArmy.By the 18th of November, over one million troops had been assembled by General Zhukov, amply armed with new guns, tanks and aircraft. After rapidly advancing, the pocket had been closed by the 23rd of November, trapping the Germans in the city. The Red Army then began systematically destroying the forces trappedinside.Onthe31stof January, therecentlypromotedFieldMarshal Friedrich Paulus surrendered, with
forces amounting to 20 divisions comprised of 150,000 men. Only 5,000ofthesemensurviveduntilthe end of the war. The significance of this is that it proved German forces weren’t invincible and it marked a turningpointin thewarasGermany began to feel Soviet numerical superiority,leadingtotheireventual defeat.
D-Day (Battle of Normandy)
Five beaches in Normandy were selected as suitable for landings on the 6th of June 1944, codenamed Sword, Juno, Gold, Omaha and Utah. Just before the landings, 1,760 tons of bombs were dropped onthecoastaldefencesknown astheAtlanticwall.Thekeyto D-Day was surprise - to this end, a fake army had been created in southeast England to make it look like the landings were to take place around Calais. Also, the French Resistance destroyed communication lines, bridges and railway lines to Normandy, to hamper German response. After the landings, the Allies rapidly linked up their beachheads and advanced inland. The Allies encountered significant resistance when
attempting to take Caen as it was defended by the fanatical 12th SS Panzer division. Another difficult aspect was the terrain - Norman terrain consisted of woodland and fieldsboundedbybankscrownedby thick hedgerow. However, by the 19th of August the Allies had closed the Falaise pocket, trapping some 50,000 Germans and ending the BattleofNormandy.Thesignificance of this was that it paved the way for theAlliedadvanceintoGermanyand theendofthewar.
What was Operation Gunnerside?
By Luke Fitzpatrick 4B
We all know the story of when the USAdroppedtheworld’sfirstatomic bombs upon Japan, causing the Japanese surrender and the end of the Second World War from this powerful weapon. But what if Nazi Germany had been able to develop anatombombbeforetheAlliesdid? That would have shifted the tide of thewarimmensely.Anatomicbomb could have landed on London and turneditintoanuclearwasteland.
Eventhoughthiswasunlikely,itwas actually closer to the reality than many people think. Unlike AngloAmericannucleareffortswhichused uranium and plutonium, the Nazis soughttousedeuteriumandtritium, which required the production of water with deuterium, known as heavy water. In Europe, there was onlyoneheavywaterplant,andthat had fallen to the Wehrmacht troops during Operation Weserübung, the invasion of Norway. It seemed like the Allies could do nothing but sit and wait whilst intelligence about the increased production of heavy water in the Vemork plant accumulated.Buttheyneededtodo something.Andfast.
Under the command of Jocelyn Hambro, Operation Grouse was launched,withagroupofNorwegian commandos assigned the task of paradropping into the barren Hardangervidda Plateau, a place hostile to life. The first phase was uncertain, as they lost contact for a period after the drop, which happened on the 18th of October 1942. However, after the British received a secret code message, they found that Operation Grouse had been a success and now the commandos were skiing over miles ofsnowyplains.However,the commandos still required a second waveofBritishengineerstoconduct thesabotage.
Operation Freshman was initiated on the 19th of November 1942, and the engineers were sent out in gliders,tolandonafrozenlakenear the plant. But things went horribly wrong. The first tug, the plane that pulled gliders, crashed into a mountain, killing all its crew. The glider continued, but eventually crashedslowenoughtoinjureallthe
crewbutnotkillthem.Thecrashalso alerted the Germans nearby. They were now aware of the audacious plan to take down the Vermork plant.Guardswereputonhighalert, and defences were prepared, with searchlights and mines placed. Only a couple of hours later, the second glider tried to return to base but crashed, and the crew was killed. The survivors were tortured to give out more information, and now the entire operation seemed doomed. With the Grouse team stranded in the Norwegian wilderness, eating meagreamountsoflichenandmoss, they waited for three more months. Jocelyn Hambro knew he needed to be quick to save the operation and destroy the plant, whilst the Grouse team was still in Norway. Duringthe nightofthe16th ofFebruary1943,six additional Norwegians landed in the
Telemark region, within a close vicinitytotheGrouseteam.Supplies were also dropped including the necessary explosives to detonate in Vemork. The Grouse (temporarily renamed Swallow) and Gunnerside teams met to form the combined Operation Gunnerside.
Over the course of the nextweek,they were to execute the act that would cause serious damage to the Nazi atomic development program. They made their way over to the Vermork plant and sent back a code to the British. “The place is swarming with Germans,”theyreported.Tofirstget totheplanttheywouldhavetocross a ravine that was over 180m deep. The bridge across the ravine was heavily guarded. However, the commandos descended the 180m cliffs and crossed the icy river at the bottom of the gorge. They then trekked up a hill on the other side andpreparedfortheirassault.Using plans supplied to them from Norwegian partisans and British Intelligence,theywereabletolocate
a rail line which ran right into the plantandskippedpastallgates,and theydidn’tencounterasingleguard. Once more using the blueprints provided,theymadetheirwayintoa cable shaft, which brought them to the basement of the main building. From the basement, they silently climbed theirway tothe electrolysis chambers.Justastheywereaboutto enter the chamber, they heard footsteps and were frozen to the spot. This could have been the end fortheoperation.
Luckily, it was a Norwegian caretaker,calledJohansen,whowas a patriot and happy to help the saboteurs.TheGunnersideteamthe placed the explosives and lit a fuse so they had time to escape. A kind act by the commandos was to leave aThompsonsubmachinegunclearly brought from Britain, so the Germans did not carry out reprisals upon the native Norwegians. The squadron escaped the same way they came in, and as they were climbing up the face of the gorge, the heard the explosives detonate, destroying all 500kg of heavy water stored up, as well as severely damagingequipment. Thisbraveact ofsabotagesettheGermanprogram back by an estimated year. A search party was set up by the Reichskommissariat Norwegen, which included 3,000 troops. However, all 11 members of the
famedGunnersidesquadronmadeit to safety, with five of them skiing over 300km toneutral Sweden, four remaining in the Telemark region to continue the gathering of information for the allies, and two travelled to Oslo to assist the Norwegianpartisans(Milorg).
Overall, the operation was a great success. However, the Germans managed to get the plant back in operation within 3 months, and it was producingwateryet again, with significantly improved security. This time, repeated bombing raids were conducted, which caused serious permanent damage and culminated in the abandonment of the plant in 1944. The Nazi regime never managed to produce enough heavy water and develop a nuclear weapon, thanks to the courage of the squadron, the leadership and direction of Hambro, and the immense help and supply of information from the Norwegian partisans.
Was the First World War the main reason why the Ottoman Empire Collapsed?
By Falak Khan L6JAF
The Ottoman Empire is considered oneofthegreatestempiresinworld history, encompassing the Middle East,theBalkansandpartsofAsiaat its peak in the reign of Suleiman the Magnificent in the late 1500s. Despite uniting much of the Muslim world under one single caliphate, it came to a tumultuous end by 1922, which hasledmanytowonderwhat exactly caused the end of such a magnificentandlong-lastingempire.
We can perhaps point to three factorsthathaveheavilycontributed to the end of the Ottoman Empire: the devastating defeats of the First World War; the Empire’s internal weakness and growing nationalism; and the economic decline caused by the administrative corruption within theEmpire’shierarchy.
The Ottoman entry into the First World War is considered one of the greatest strategic blunders and contributed to theEmpire’s collapse by resulting in a punishing defeat. According to Banu Turanoglu at the University of Cambridge, the Allies’ desiredthe ‘liberationofthepeoples whonowliebeneaththemurderous tyranny of the Turks’. This view had been birthed from an idea that the OttomanswerealientoWestern
culture and civilisation (despite the Empire encompassing much of the Balkans) and Europe thus sought to expel them. It is possible to argue that while the war did negatively impact the Ottomans, some significant campaigns prevented the warfrombeingcompletefailure.For example, the Gallipoli Campaign (April 1915 - January 1916) is considered one of the most important tactical successes of the Ottomans.
Under the command of Mustafa Kemal, the Ottomans were able to successfully repel a planned AngloFrench invasion of the Ottoman capital, Istanbul, intended to knock the Ottomans out the war. They successfully defended the Dardanelles and also inflicted heavy casualties on the Allies. Moreover, the Ottomans were also successful attheSiegeofKut(December1915April 1916), defeating the British forces in Mesopotamia (Iraq) in one ofBritain’sworstdefeatsintheWar. However, this siege was also consideredtobeanOttomandefeat as although they managed to repel the British, they lost a lot of manpower and eventually lost Baghdad,markingthecollapseofthe OttomansinMesopotamia.
Another key Ottoman defeat that supports the idea that war played a significantroleinitscollapsewasthe Battle of Megiddo (September 1918). This marked the complete militarycollapseofthe4th,7th and8th armies of the empire in Syria and Palestine which were completely destroyed by a British counteroffensive. They suffered hugenumberofcasualtieswithover 90,000 dead, injured or taken prisoner. This defeat also commenced the collapse of Ottoman control of the Middle east and by October 1918, it had lost Palestine, Jordan, Syria and Lebanon.Thiseffectivelymarkedthe end of the Ottoman campaign and theEmpire’sinvolvementintheWar ended at the Armistice of Mudros (October 30th, 1918). Other major defeats had included the Battle of Sarikamish, the fall of Jerusalem
from the Sinai and Palestinian campaigns, and the Battle of Dobro Pole.
Another important factor behind thedissolutionoftheEmpirewasto dowiththealienationofminorities, rising nationalism and internal revolts that gave birth to several revolutions and movements. The Ottomans committed genocides that alienated the minority ethnic groups they governed. The Armenian Genocide, (1915-1917) was the most brutal of these. It resulted in the deaths of almost 1.5 million people, through methods such as death marches, starvation, brutal killings and mass executions. Many women and children were targeted, forced into marriages, tortured, raped and abducted. This dark chapter in the Ottoman history issummedupbyaquotefromAdolf Hitler, who reportedly referenced it before the Holocaust: “Who, after all, speaks today of the annihilation oftheArmenians.”
In the Arab peninsula, Ottoman control was weakened by what started off as collective Arab resistance and which later evolved into the Arab Revolt (1915-1918), famously supported by Lawrence of Arabia.Theinitialuprisingwasledby Ash-Sharif Husayn ibn Ali (Sharif Hussein of Mecca) and the Arabs werequicktotakecontrolofMecca,
Jeddah and Ta’if,with T.E. Lawrence aiding Faisal (later King of Iraq) in opening a crucial supply line for the allies after the capture of Aqaba in 1917.
It can be argued that both the Arab Revolt and the Armenian Genocide were caused by the Young Turk movement (1908), which sought Turkification of the Empire. While the Arab revolt proved to be successful,theBritishthathadaided the Arabs had secretly plotted to split the Arabian Peninsula with the French through the Sykes-Picot Agreement (1916). This was directly linked to the Balfour Agreement (1917), where Britain supported the declarationforaJewishhomelandin Palestine. While this was a betrayal
of a promise to the Arabs, the Ottomanswerealsoimpactedbythe agreement since Palestine had supposedly been under their jurisdiction, greatly undermining their authority, especially given the empire’s long-held opposition to Zionism reflected by Sultan Abdulhamid II’s 1896 rejection of a valuable bid from Zionist Theodore HerzltosellthelandofPalestine.
Another key factor behind the Empire’s collapse was economic decline, exacerbated by entrenched administrative corruption. This was largely due to weak leadership and poor policy. By the early 20th century, the Ottoman economy was in decline due to industrial backwardness, declining trade,
agriculturaldependencyanditdidn’t helpthattheempirehadsubstantial foreign debt. While the rest of Europehadindustrialisedduringthe 1800s, the Ottomans failed to successfully enter the Industrial Revolution, turning them into the ‘Old Man of Europe’, still reliant on agriculture. Furthermore, the European colonisation of Africa and the Americas meant that the Ottomans no longer had an upper handintradeastheEuropeanswere nowabletoimportgoodsacrossthe worldwithease.
Thetradeimbalancealsolimitedthe Empire’s potential to industrialise. The Empire’s administration was corruptwithseriousproblemsposed by ineffective bureaucracy, political favouritism, decentralization and a declining Janissary force (the Ottoman army’s elite military unit that had resisted any modernising reform), posing serious problems. With an increase in government positions being awarded based on bribery and favouritism rather than on merit or competence, the hierarchy’s collapse became inevitable. Officials often abused theirpowerforpersonalgainsuchas TalaatPasha,who asMinisterof the Interior and Grand Vizier perpetrated the Armenian genocide and embezzled huge amounts of moneyfromtheEmpire’sriches.The elitism of the officials also
contributed to the growth of nationalism among minorities who felt that they weren’t represented by Ottoman politicians – for example, a common-held Arab sentiment that the Ottomans favoured a Turkish elite over nonTurkish Muslims. Growing decentralisation of power in response to these sentiments only further reduced Ottoman power as enforcement of reforms became increasingly difficult, further reducing the Empire’s capacity to adapt to thechanges in theworld in the late 19th and early 20th centuries.
In conclusion, the Ottoman collapse was the result of the Empire’s internal weakness (caused by administrative corruption), economic decline and a global war that they could never have won. Although the War had heavily contributedtotheEmpire’scollapse, itshouldbenotedthatitsendwasas much to do with unrelated internal weaknesses. Furthermore, the dissolution was accelerated by corruption and the emergence of movements incompatible with the survivalof‘TheOldManofEurope’.
The Jacobite Rebellion, 1745 and the last battle on British soil
By Kairav Schafermeyer 3E
The Jacobite Rebellion of 1745 was an attempt led by Charles Edward Stuart to restore the throne to the Stuart line in Britain. Its defeat secured the reign of the Hanovers and ended Jacobitism altogether. Many Jacobites who were exiled would later fight in the American Revolution, changing the course of history.
Whydidsucharebellionoccur?King
James II of the Stuart line had been ruling since 1685 after the death of hisbrother,CharlesII.Hequicklylost support for being a Catholic when the majority of the country was Protestant. The prospect of him havinganheirangeredpeopleasthis would continue a Catholic dynasty. He believed in the divine right of kingslikehisfather,CharlesI,whose actionscaused theEnglish CivilWar.
Parliament did not want James to start a civil war, so they invited WilliamofOrangetoinvadeEngland and take the throne with his wife, Mary, who was James’s daughter. William and Mary were welcomed by Parliament and the public because they were both Protestant. James fled to France in exile, not engaginginbattle.WilliamandMary reigned until their deaths. Mary’s sister, Anne, took the throne but
despitebearingmanychildren,allof them died young, therefore Anne passed away without leaving any heir. This allowed the house of Hanover to take over the British throne.
KingGeorgeIoftheHanoverdynasty took the throne in 1714 as a Protestant king. There were still many Catholics who supported James II, especially in the Highlands of Scotland. They wanted the Stuart line to return to the throne. These peoplewerecalled‘Jacobites,’which meansJamesinLatin.In1715,there was an uprising led by the Jacobites in an attempt to put James Edward Stuart,JamesII’sson,onthethrone. However, they were defeated and the rebellion failed. James II’s
grandson, Charles Edward Stuart, was born in Rome in 1720 and aspired to reclaim the throne from theHanoverswhenhewasolder.
On the 23rd of July 1745, Charles landed in Eriskay in Scotland with only seven men, even though Charles had gathered support from FranceandSpainfromwhomhehad expectedmenandweapons.On19th of August, the rebellion was launched with the raising of the RoyalStandardatGlenfinnan,where 700Highlanderswererecruitedfrom various clans. Charles was also joined by Lord George Murray, who had participated in the rebellion of 1715.
The Jacobites advanced to Edinburgh, where the Scottish welcomed them. He had gained the support of numerous Highlanders from several clans, including Clans Donald, MacDonell, Mackintosh and Macdonald of Keppoch. GovernmentforcesledbyJohnCope were intercepted and scattered by the Jacobites after only 20 minutes attheBattleofPrestonpans.Charles then visited Scone, a location of symbolicalimportancetohimasthis was where his ancestors were crowned.
Charles began his invasion of England to attract more support from the French. King George II asked his third son, William
Augustus, the Duke of Cumberland, to come back from Europe to suppress the Jacobite rebellion. WilliamhadbeenfightingintheWar of Austrian Succession, where most oftheBritishArmywassituated.
Meanwhile, the Jacobites managed to advance as far as Derby, but gained little support from the English. The threat of the government forces led by the Duke of Cumberland then made Charles decidetoretreat.TheJacobites,who were running low on supplies, were chasedbytheGovernmentforcesall the way up to Scotland. Despite winning a battle at Falkirk Muir, the Battle of Culloden would now break out between the Duke of CumberlandandtheJacobites. InInverness,bothsideshadcamped just miles apart. Some Jacobites were ordered to attack the Government forces at night in a surprise attack. However, they were too exhausted and had to retreat, allowing the Redcoats to seize their opportunity. Against Murray’s advice, Charles decided not to run from the Government forces but fight. The Jacobites were malnourished, outnumbered, had inferior artillery and the government’s cavalry, and artillery were better suited for the boggy ground. Yet Charles did not order a retreat.
The battle began when both sides had organised their troops and the government forces had advanced within 500 metres of the Jacobites. The Duke of Cumberland fired his superiorartillerytoafeebleJacobite response. Charles ordered his men to advance, but they were repelled by canister shots and coehorn mortars.OntheJacobiteright,there was confusion after some leading commanders had been killed by the canister shots. On the Jacobite left, they could only advance slowly and resorted to ineffective musket fire. Keppoch oftheMacDonaldclanwas killed, leaving some of the Highlanders leaderless. The Campbell Clan, who served the British Government, managed to breakthroughtheJacobite’slineand inflict heavy casualties with their muskets.Runningoutofoptions,the Jacobites decided to run straight through their opponents’ lines in whatwascalleda‘HighlandCharge.’ They managed to break through the Government’s first line but the second line had been formed to counter such charges, overcoming the Highlanders. Eventually, Charles decided that the battle was lost and fled, and with that the Jacobite threathadcometoanend.TheDuke of Cumberland would go on to earn a nickname, the ‘Butcher,’ as he slaughtered any remaining Jacobites. The Jacobites suffered
around2000casualtiescomparedto just50forthegovernment.
You may think that this is just another battle. However, it was this battle that secured the reign of the Hanover dynasty. If Charles had reached London, we would likely have a completely different line of monarchs. Charles would have put his father on the throne, restored Scottish Parliament and granted Scotland its independence. The outcomeoftheAmericanRevolution also may have been very different given the role played by exiled Jacobites. After the rebellion ended, the Government suppressed different aspects of Scottish culture and persecuted over a thousand Jacobites.
If events had turned out differently, whatwouldrealitybelikenow?
Vehicles of War
By Samrith Poonia
The vehicles used during war have changed dramatically through the courseofhistory.Humanshavegone from using shipsmade of thin layers ofwoodandpoweredbythewindto multimillion dollar state of the art vesselswithenoughpowertoflatten mountains. But what were the vehiclesusedinthepastreallylike ?
Intermsoffightingwarsontheland we now have formidable tanks capable of levelling buildings and cutting down swathes of soldiers in second. With their giant cannons and fast firing machine guns they reallyareaforcetobereckonedwith but what did we use before they came around. As we would all know horseswerewidelyusedthroughout all of time to travel to battlefields and crush enemy formations under theirheavyhooves.Horseswerethe staplevehicleforwartime,examples being Genghis Khan and his renownedhorsearchers.Infact,itis saidthataround40%ofhisarmywas made of cavalry. The horsemen of the medieval times were capable of being the deciding factor of battles such as the Battle of Aquolonia in 293bc where the Roman armyfaced off
against a large force of Samnites. The Roman cavalry is often thought to have been the deciding factor of thisbattle.Theywereabletocharge and scatter at the main army and then fiercely attack the flanks of the Samniteformation.
You could ride the horses or, as the ancient Egyptians liked to do, they could pull your war chariot. These were mobile stations that allowed the rider to carry multiple javelins, arrowsandspears,allowingtherider to storm around the battlefield picking of their enemy. They could also simply be used as a mobile platform for thecommanders of the army and other soldiers to deliver orders or get to where the fighting wasthemostviolent.Theywerefirst used by the ancient Egyptians around1600BC
Around 1400 years later, not far away in what is now Tunisia, the Carthaginianswerefamousforusing war elephants as a crushing force that would advance with their footmen. Like the chariot they were
giantplatformsfromwhichtherider couldinflictdeathonthosebelowby the means of projectile weapons or simplywith alongspear. Theycould also simply be used to charge the enemy lines and scatter the enemy formation before the fighting even trulybegan.However,itisquitewell known that, as the Romans demonstrated,theferociouscharges of the war elephants could be countered by flaming pigs. The pigs weresetaliteand then lefttorun at the elephants, which were terrified of them and cause the lumbering giants to turn around and, in some cases,trampletheirownforces.This was a very effective tactic that managed to break the siege of Megarain266BC.
When it comes to the sea, however, lots of powerful navies have pretty much had the same ideas and tactics, big guns on big ships. Of course, now they use missile launchers and aircraft carriers but there are a few old ships that stand out.
The ancient Greeks’ biremes are incredibly well known for the fierce battering rams at the front of the ships that could quite easily make giantholesin enemyshipsand were often used in ship battles and most ofthetimeboughtincredibleresults. They also had the ability to carry masses of men to go and wage war
overseas,whichisincrediblyusefulif youneedtogosiegeacityacrossthe sea. They were used in the battle of Actin 31 BC between Marcus Grippa and the combined fleet of Mark AnthonyandCleopatra.
Anotherfamoustypeofshipwasthe longship used, incredibly famously, by the Vikings. These were shallow ships capable of going far inland for raids via rivers. This is partially what made the Vikings so successful. The Vikings could attack from any river and anywhere along the coast. The longboat is often seen with shields mountedonthesideandthishelped the longboats against collisions with rocks and made it much easier for the raiders inside to reach their shields. Whilst they weren’t frequently attacked at sea it did happenafewtimes,soitwascrucial for the Vikings to always be ready. The famed longboats also impacted enemy morale before the battle even began, their recognisable shape and the terrifying animal head,oftenadragonorsnake,atthe frontoftheshipthatstruckfearinto theheartsoftheirvictims.
Another famed example of naval power is, of course, the aircraft carrier. Being quite a modern creation, the aircraft carrier is already a show of strength in naval battle and have the capability to changethetideofthebattleinmere seconds. One of the best examples of this was at the battle of Midway in which the USS Yorktown, Enterprise and Hornet sent out waves of dive bombers and torpedo bombers.Atfirsttheseseemedtobe failing as they had got lost and were unabletofindtheirtargets,butthey wentontosinkorforcetheJapanese to abandon all threeof their aircraft carriers which marked a turning point in the Pacific theatre of WW2. This greatly hindered the Japanese plans and made their attempt to take over midway a failure as they could not get enough air support to supportapossiblelanding.
Modern day aircraft are also incredibly sophisticated, but the planes of WW2 were incredibly deadly. Planes like the Spitfire and the P51 Mustang are remembered as heroes in the war in the skies. As
planes were only properly used in combat in WW1, they had not had much time to perfect them but in WW2. Most notably the battle of Britain, airpower determined the fate of a country. Had the Luftwaffe succeeded in destroying the RAF they would have been able to bring abouttheinvasionoftheBritishIsles and therefore winning WW2. Planes like the Spitfire and the Hurricane took on what was at the time, the strongest air force in the world and after sustained fighting, they managedtoweakentheLuftwaffeto the point where it was just now plausibletocontinuewiththeirplans andtheinvasionplanshadtobeput to an end. The Spitfire, possibly one of the most advanced planes at the time had a max speed of only 360 miles per hour. But no doubt this seems measly when compared to modern jets which can travel well overthespeedofsound.
Inconclusionthevehiclesofthepast are nothing compared to what we have now, but they served their purposewellandhavemadeaplace forthemselvesinhistory.
The Ottoman-Portuguese wars
By Sophus Wong 1P
Tensions between the Portuguese and the Ottomans had lasted well before the Ottoman-Portuguese wars. Europeans and Ottomans had fought for several decades in the Balkans,Levant,NorthAfricaandthe Mediterranean, featuring battles suchasNicopolisin1396,Gallipoliin 1416, and Varna in 1444. However, the Ottoman Portuguese wars involved many other frontiers in the Indian subcontinent, the Arabian Peninsula, East Africaand Southeast Asia.
Prologue
Vasco de Gama and his sons led many expeditions deep into the Indian ocean,even reachingpartsof Papua New Guinea by 1526 and being the first Europeans to reach Japanby1542.Theyhadsetupmany colonies in places such as Diu, HormuzandAden.Atthetimeofthe Ottoman-Portuguese wars, Portugal wasoneofthemostwell-established powers in the Indian Ocean, in both tradeandmilitarycapacity.Theyhad developed many ties with nations suchasAbyssinia(ChristianEthiopia) and the Ayutthaya Kingdom (modern-day Thailand). They also had lesser trade agreements with the Ming dynasty, with the Portuguese had establishing a base in Macau, and the Kingdom of Kotte inmodern-
day Sri Lanka. However, over the years, the Portuguese had also developed rivalries with predominantly Muslim states such as the Aceh Sultanate (based in Indonesia) and the Safavid Persians. The Ottomans did not have such a richhistoryintheIndianOceanprior to these wars with little to no relationships with faraway places, such as Indonesia and South India. However, the Ottomans could exploit their control of Mecca and Medinatoquicklyforgealliancesand trade agreements with Islamic nationssuchastheAdalsultanate.
The Arabian Peninsula
The Ottoman-Portuguese conflict in the Arabian Peninsula and Red Sea was part of a broader struggle betweenthetwoempiresforcontrol over Indian Ocean trade routes in the 16th century. The region was strategicallyvital,asitconnectedthe Mediterranean,theMiddleEast,and the lucrative spice trade of Asia. Both powers sought to dominate thesewaters,leadingtoaprolonged military and naval confrontation. Portugal, after establishing a foothold in India, in Goa, and East Africa, around Mozambique and Mombasa,attemptedtoexpandinto theRedSea.In1513,thePortuguese launched an attack on Aden
(Yemen), hoping to control the entrancetotheRedSea.
However, they failed to capture the cityandtheirambitionswerefurther challenged in 1517 when the Ottoman Empire conquered Egypt, securing a direct route to the region and control of the trade routes. The Ottomans quickly reinforced their presence, expelling the Portuguese from Kumaran Island (1525) and strengthening their naval dominance. In 1538, the Ottomans, under Hadim Suleiman Pasha, captured Aden and turned it into a keynavalbase.Thisallowedthemto challengePortuguesemovementsin the Red Sea. Portuguese counterattacks,includingEstêvãoda Gama’s 1541 expedition, failed to make lasting gains. In the following years,theOttomansfurthersecured Mocha (Yemen) and Jeddah (Saudi Arabia). A Portuguesecounterattack in1548failedtoreclaimAden.
The conflict extended into Oman, where the Ottomans briefly seized Muscat in 1552 before the Portuguese subsequently retook it. Meanwhile, the Ottomans captured Massawa (Eritrea) in 1557, securing key Red Sea trade routes. Despite Portuguese raids in the 1580s, the Ottomans successfully defended their territories. By the early 17th century, Ottoman control over the Red Sea and Arabian Peninsula was
solidified, while Portugal shifted its focus to India, the Persian Gulf, and Southeast Asia. The failure to dominate the region marked the decline of Portuguese influence in
the western Indian Ocean, cementing the Ottomans as the dominant power in the Red Sea and ArabianPeninsula.
East Africa
At this time, East Africa had two regional powers: Abyssinia, which was Christian, and the Adal Sultanate, which was Islamic. This map is of the situation in the region around 1495. Between 1495 and 1515, Abyssinia had gone through major social and economic stagnation due to internal corruption and the growth of Islam in many neighbouring states loosening ties with a Christian Abyssinia.Bytheearly16thcentury, Abyssinia faced a growing threat from the Adal Sultanate, which soughttoexpanditsinfluenceunder
Imam Ahmad ibn Ibrahim al-Ghazi (known as Ahmad "Gran"). In 1529, theOttomansprovidedfirearmsand military support to the Adal army to launch a devastating campaign against Abyssinia. This war, known as the Abyssinian-Adal War (1529–1543), saw Abyssinia suffer massive territorial losses, with Ahmad Gran advancing deep into the Ethiopian highlands. Facing near collapse, Abyssinia appealed to Portugal for aid.
In 1541, a Portuguese expedition, led by Cristóvão da Gama, arrived
witharound400musketeerstohelp Abyssinia. Initially, they scored victories against the Ottomanbacked Adal forces, but in 1542, Cristóvão was captured and executed after a battle near Wofla. However, Portuguese military expertise and Abyssinian resistance eventually turned the tide. In 1543, Abyssinian forces, led by Emperor Gelawdewos, decisively defeated Adal at the Battle of Wayna Daga, where Ahmad Gran was killed. Eventually almost all the military gains taken by Ahmad Gran were reversed, and both countries were
severely weakened economically andsocially.
Southeast Asia
Bytheearly16thcentury,Southeast Asia was a fragmented region of powerful Islamic sultanates and Hindu-Buddhist kingdoms. The most dominant Islamic power was the Sultanate of Aceh, located in northern Sumatra. Other major trading centres included the Sultanate of Demak in Java and the Maluku (Spice) Islands, which were richinclovesandnutmeg.
Portuguese influence in Indonesia began withtheconquestof Malacca in 1511 under Afonso de Albuquerque,givingPortugalcontrol over one of the most important trade hubs in Southeast Asia. This disrupted Muslim trade networks, leading to growing resistance from regional Islamic rulers, particularly Aceh.
By the 1530s, the Ottoman Empire, seeking to counter Portuguese expansion, established diplomatic and military ties with Aceh. This alliance was crucial, as both powers sawPortugalasacommonenemy.In 1565, the Ottomans sent a fleet of ships,firearms,andmilitaryadvisors to Aceh, helping the sultanate modernise its army. With Ottoman support, Aceh launched several naval attacks on Portuguese-held
Malacca throughout the late 16th century.
Despite these efforts, the Portuguese held onto Malacca until 1641, when the Dutch captured it. The Ottoman-Aceh alliance remained strong, but Ottoman support declined as their empire focused on conflicts in the Middle East and the Mediterranean. By the early 17th century, Portuguese influence in Indonesia was overtakenbytheDutch,markingthe endofbothcountries’ dominancein theregion.
The Indian Subcontinent
Bytheearly16thcentury,theIndian subcontinentwasabattlegroundfor competing powers, including the Portuguese, the Mughal Empire, the Sultanate of Gujarat, and the Bahmani successor states. Portugal, having established itself in Goa in 1510, sought to dominate the region’s maritime trade, particularly in spices, textiles, and horses. However, Portuguese expansion faced resistance from both local rulers and the Ottoman Empire, which sought to counter their growing influence in the Indian Ocean.
The Ottomans first entered the conflict in 1538, when Suleiman the Magnificent sent a naval expedition under Hadim Suleiman Pasha to
siege Diu, a strategic Portuguese fortress on the Gujarat coast. The siege, supported by the Sultanate of Gujarat, failed, solidifying Portuguese control over the region. Despite this setback, the Ottomans continued to support antiPortuguese forces by supplying firearms,cannons,andshipstolocal Muslimstates,includingGujaratand Bijapur.
Throughout the late 16th century, the Ottoman Empire maintained indirect influence in India, trading weapons and military expertise to Indian sultanates that opposed Portuguese dominance. In 1553, an Ottoman fleet under Seydi Ali Reis attempted to challenge the Portuguese in the Arabian Sea but was forced to retreat after several navalengagements.
By the early 17th century, the Ottoman-Portuguese rivalry in the Indian subcontinent declined, as both empires shifted focus to internal struggles and conflicts with the rising European powers. Portugalremained adominantforce in Goa, Diu, and other coastal enclaves, but the emergence of the Dutch and the English further weakeneditsposition.
Conclusion
The Ottoman-Portuguese conflict teaches us that global power strugglesarerarelywonoutrightbut leave lasting impacts on trade, culture, and geopolitics. The war demonstrated the importance of naval dominance, as Portugal’s ability to secure key ports gave it control over Indian Ocean commerce, while the Ottomans counteredthroughregionalalliances and military support. It also highlights the limits of imperial expansion - both empires were overstretched, fighting on multiple fronts, which prevented either from fully dominating the region. Additionally,theconflictemphasises the role of technology and adaptation, as the Ottomans introduced gunpowder weapons to their allies, while the Portuguese reliedonfortificationsandadvanced navaltactics.
Beyond military strategy, the struggle shaped long-term cultural and economic networks, reinforcing Islamic ties in the Indian Ocean and spreading European influences in India, Africa, and Southeast Asia. Ultimately, this conflict underscores that great empires rise and fall not just through warfare, but through strategic diplomacy, trade control, and technological superiority, lessons that remain relevant in moderngeopolitics.
Pegasus Bridge and the D Day landings
By Rory McEwan 4A
Led by Major John Howard, the DCompanywereanelitefightingforce who were some of the first men to touch French soil on D-Day. Their mission was to capture two bridges that were guarded by German troops. They had been rigorously drilledformonths,practicingforthe occasion with every possible scenario. When thetimecame,over thecourseofseveraldaysthesemen both took the bridges and successfully repelled multiple attempts by German troops to retake them. But how important were the bridges to the Allied landings? Whilst it is tempting to write off the taking of Pegasus bridge as ‘just another captured bridge’ there was by far much more at stake than even Howard realised atthetime.
When Major Howard and his men took the bridge in the early hours of June 6th, they met little German resistance and thanks to tireless traininganddiscipline,themenwere able to take up positions along the bridge within minutes of their success. Not long after this around halfadozentanksweresenttodrive theBritishforcesfromthe
bridges. The leading tank was, however, destroyed with the regiment’s sole PIAT gun, the only pieceofequipmenttheyhadcapable of destroying the advancing tanks. This both blocked the bridge and unintentionallyfooledtherestofthe Germantanksintobelievingthatthe defenders of the bridge were far greaterinnumberthanthem.Infact, had the tanks continued their attacks Sergeant Thornton with the onlyPIAT gun in theentirecompany wouldhavebeenoverrunandMajor Howard would have been forced to retreat. With access to the bridge, thesetankscouldhavemadeitdown to the beaches of Normandy and wreaked havoc among the Allied troops who were landing. Thedeath toll would have potentially doubled or tripled ifnotforThornton and his ‘shot that saved D-Day’. This is partially why Pegasus Bridge was so important to the Allied landings, for without its capture many more lives would have been lost, and an important strategic goal would have hadtoberetaken.
WithoutPegasusbridgeitisdoubtful that, even with the success of the landings on Sword Beach, the subsequent barrage of soldiers
would have been able to make it across the bridge. There were no explosives on either bridge to the relief of all the soldiers involved in thegliderlandings,buthadtheyhad been installed after the tanks had driven the company off the bridge then crossing into Caen would have been impossible,even withthemen that made it from the beaches. The Germans would have had far more timetosetupandformulatecounter attacks and perhaps even plant some of the explosives before repelling the soldiers that were to march across the bridge, and then the entire landing would have been put in jeopardy, had it not been for Major Howard and his welldisciplined troops.
With the bridge captured, and the ensuing battle towards Paris, Hitler sentthebulkof his armoured forces to stem the flow of soldiers into France.However,duetothecapture of Pegasus Bridge, the tanks were
forcedtotakealongcircuitousroute aroundCaen,onlytoreachtheAllied forcesheadon,ratherthanattacking their flank, meaning that they not only were they ineffectual in their aimofstoppingtheadvancingarmy, buttheyalsosufferedheavylossesin the process, seriously reducing Hitler’s reserve of armoured units in France.
Whilst at first Pegasus Bridge seems like a paltry objective at best, its importance in the D-Day landings and the subsequent invasion of France was vital. Without it, tanks may have been let loose among an alreadychaoticmessonthebeaches and taking Sword Beach would have been a severely steep uphill challenge. Without D-Company, countless men would have lost their lives unnecessarily and the Allied landings would have been blotched withasmearthatwasSwordBeach.
Death in the Middle ages
By Gabriel KnowlesSzuniewicz 3E
Death is an inevitability of being alive. An unfortunate necessity, perhaps. However, the views and beliefs surrounding death change drastically depending on culture. From the deeply spiritual, acceptance of death in the West to the focus on honour in certain Japanese traditions. However, they both have something in common. I will try to examine these changing andshiftingviewsinthisarticle.
Aroundthe1500s,deathwasviewed asapartoflifeintheWest.Apartof life that everyone was ready for. It did not discriminate, and you could die at any moment: medicine was notparticularlyusefulatthistime.In fact, it would more likely harm the person.So,peopledidnottrytohide from death or fear it. It was rather more mundane than anything else. According to Philipe Ariés, in his book ‘Western Attitudes Toward Death’, “There was no way of cheating, of pretending one hadn't noticed [death] …. Knowing that his end was near, the dying person preparedfordeath”. Deathwasjust a fact that everyone experienced, andeveryonewasreadyfor.
As well, there were very specific religious traditions that accompanied these beliefs. The dying person would lie down, in a
positioncalleda“gisant”,onhisback to face heaven. Then the dying personwouldlamentoverhislife.An examplewouldbeintheChansonde Roland, where Roland was “wept and could not keep himself from sighing”. Thenaperson’sfamilyand friends would ask for forgiveness; thiswastogivethedeadpeace.
In the final moments of death, a person would recite a prayer called theculpafollowedbyaprayercalled the commendacioanimae to focus theirmindonGod.Thiswouldoccur at the same time as a priest would perform the absolution. The absolution was a combination of religiousceremonies;from throwing holy water to reading psalms. This wouldcontinueuntilthepersonhad passed.
We can see here how death in the west, during the Middle Ages, was a simple affair. A combination of religious aspects, social aspects and an understanding of death. However, was this the same in the Easterntraditions?
In Japan, because of different religious practices the funeral and rituals surrounding death were completely different. Between 400 and 1400 CE Japan was mostly Buddhist and Shinto which were oftenbothpracticed.
The rituals involved three different parts. Buddhist often thought of deathas“transitionary”andsothese different rituals recognized that tradition.
Preliminary rituals would usually include cleaning; draping in robes and certain religious prayers. As well, the deceased individual would be placed in a different room separate from the living. This created a physical separation betweenthelivinganddead.
Thesecondstagewouldbeafuneral. Like in the west, it would usually depend on social standing in the communityandwealth.Thisprocess would again attempt to create a physical separation between the living and the dead to keep with Buddhist traditions. Many individuals associated with the deceased may abstain from work or food for a short period of time. This is similar to the tradition of mourning often observed in the west, prominently in the Victorian era.
Finally, in the third stage, the dead would be given a new identity as an ancestor.Thisfinallypartedthedead from the living world, which is a theme in what all these traditions attempt to do. This may include giving the dead a new, Buddhist name; prayers; and (for higher
socioeconomic classes) a stupa or pagodamaybebuilt.
The Buddhist tradition’s secondary goal would be to allow the dead to have a good rebirth, following the Buddhist tradition of karma and the cyclical nature of life. This may include posthumous chants, incense burning and presenting the decreased with Buddhist items. The posthumous chants would often includetheheartsutra(fig1)
This Sutra teaches about emptiness in Buddhism. It attempts to show how life is impermanent. It mainly helps the mourners to come to terms with the fact of death. Chanting also helped to create a senseofclosureandpurposetohelp mourners believe that they are helpingthedeadgetagoodafterlife. It is also meditative and lets mournersfocuson thewell-beingof thedeadratherthentheloss.
Thesepracticesarepossiblebecause of the Buddhist belief that the dead take 49 days to purify and obtain a new form. This means that any action taken before that time can
help the deceased obtain a good afterlife.
Beforethefuneraltheremayalsobe a wake (called Tsuya) which, similar to a western wake, is used to allow the living to share stories and pay respectstothedeceased.Thiswould usually be the day before the funeral.
In conclusion, we can see how traditions of death in the West and East have many similarities. Their dictation by religious beliefs, perhaps help us understand how religion has been used as a tool to
helpthelivingdealwithadeathofa loved family member. We can also see how prayer and chanting are often used before or after death in both traditions. Whilst in Buddhism, it would be after death as it is thoughtthedeaddonotreincarnate for 49 days, in the west it would be before death. We can also see how socioeconomic standards helped dictate not only how good a person hadbuthowgoodtheyweretreated after death. For if you cannot afford a funeral or are ostracized. It is impossibletohaveasgoodafuneral asaricharistocrat.
RICA SAPIENTIA 2025
WITH THANKS TO OUR
WRITERS
Guradaes Singh
Ediz Yildirim
Navid Soufizadeh
Rory McEwan
Thomas Net
Luke Fitzpatrick
Falak Khan
Kairav Schafermeyer
Samrith Poonia
Sophus Wong
Gabriel Knowles Szuniewicz
EDITORS
Rishi Vijayan
Jasper De Linde
Miss Bellingan
Mr Roberts