Shock and friction as explanations for disaster at the Battle of Amiens, 8 August 1918

The assault at Amiens was ‘the black day of the German Army’. British accounts treat the Germans as passive, of no more importance than the terrain, and victory as inevitable. Using German sources, and drawing on statistical ‘historical analysis’ of behaviour in battle, the article argues the frontline defenders panicked when thick fog left them defenceless against the British tanks. By contrast, when the fog lifted, the defence recovered. Although senior German commanders on the spot reacted well, Ludendorff fell into a state of shock, such that he convinced the Kaiser the war must be ended.     

Transformation in East Central Europe: 1918 and 1989. A Comparative Approach

The authors of the introduction to this special issue argue for a historicization of the concept of transformation by broadening our understanding of it to decrease its teleological spin. This allows us to discard the “zero hour” narrative and to rather consider phenomena that exist long before a “turn” or “revolution” accelerates the transformation process. The closely related terms of “continuity” and “discontinuity” can be relieved of their mandatory dialectical logic by introducing the concept of “adaptation” as an analytical instrument in order to explain what happens after a certain turning point. Consequently, a historicization of the concept of transformation, as the briefly presented case studies show, entails detachment from apodictic periodization and the narration of quasi-mechanized progress in order to specify every single field of accelerated change. However, this does not necessarily limit the usefulness of the concept, as examining individual cases using specific criteria and comparing and bundling them will contribute to a better understanding of societies in transformation as a whole.     

乌尔会河之战

康熙二十九年(1690)六月,清军与准噶尔军在内蒙古乌珠穆沁左翼旗境内的乌尔会河①发生了双方历史上的第一次大冲突,是役以清军的惨败告终,史称"乌尔会河之战"。这是一场极为重要的战役,对随后的乌兰布通之战及噶尔丹的败亡均产生了深远的影响。由于史料原因,乌尔会河之战尚未被充分论述,也未见专文发表。笔者利用各种文献史料,考察此次战争的起因,战场的布局,双方的兵力、装备、战术、指挥等环节和战争的结果,以供研究者作进一步探讨。     

论武汉会战始于安徽省和县保卫战

武汉会战,是抗日战争时期中国军队在武汉地区同日本侵略军展开的一场会战。传统观点认为:武汉会战大致是从1938年6月12日日军侵占安庆开始,到同年10月25日中国守军主动放弃武汉为止,历时4个多月。本文的主要贡献是根据新发现的相关史料,认为武汉会战应从1938年4月23日至24日安徽省和县保卫战开始,这就将武汉会战开始的时间提前了一个多月,整个会战的时间增加到6个月有余。并对人们知之甚少的和县保卫战进行了梳理和评价,提高了可歌可泣的和县保卫战的地位,颂扬了抗战女英雄成本华的抗战精神。