From charting to mapping: Russian military mapping of Corfu in the early nineteenth century

Abstract

This paper concludes the overview of the Russian Navy's chart making published in Imago Mundi, Volume 52 (2000). In the present paper attention is drawn to the way the emphasis shifted in the early years of the nineteenth century from charting by naval surveyors to land mapping by the Army. The need for specialized military topographical education had led to the founding of the Map Depot in 1797 in St Petersburg. The first major survey undertaken by the Depot was of the island of Corfu (1804–1806), in anticipation of further Russo‐Turkish hostilities (the Third Russo‐Turkish war, 1806–1812).     

论辛亥革命中的巡防队

晚清巡防队是清政府军政改革中保留下来的一种新旧混杂的军队,长期以来史学界对于辛亥革命时期军队的研究主要集中在新军上,对于巡防队的研究基本上是一片空白.本文对巡防队的历史和巡防队在辛亥革命中的表现及作用进行研究,认为清政府对于巡防队的改造存在诸多问题;巡防队在辛亥革命中有一定的表现,在不同的省区其作用是不一样的;但是也不能忽视其反面作用,军队起义意味着对中国传统文化意识的强烈挑战,造成了军阀政治的悲惨结局,影响了半个世纪中国社会的发展进程.     

试论20世纪30年代初冯玉祥与中国共产党的关系

冯玉祥在20世纪30年代初与中共再次合作,是出于其反蒋的现实需要。抗日同盟军的成立,与中共北方特科的积极参与和正确帮助有关,但它的失败又与中共临时中央的错误指导和前委的极左举措密不可分。冯玉祥对中共的政治态度取决于他当时所处的主客观条件。冯与中共合作的经历说明,出于实用主义目的,他会主动联共;但当他认为这种联合的实用性变小,或对他构成威胁时,就会转而反对、阻止中共所从事的政治活动,甚至不惜与中共闹翻。同盟军失败前夕,冯玉祥之所以没有公开“分共”,是由当时的特殊环境决定的。     

Remaking the Fighting Man. Martial Masculinity and the British Army’s Command Depots, 1915–1918

During the First World War, the British Army sought to avoid manpower wastage by setting up ‘Command Depots’ specialising in physical therapy for the wounded. The present article will argue that Command Depots restored military usefulness in tandem with the restoration of an appropriately martial masculine identity. Additionally, in contrast to recent studies that focus on non-compliance with authority, the article will also contend that in the case of Command Depots there is evidence to demonstrate a general approval of the system’s processes, with trainees being embraced as exemplars of masculine conduct in wartime.     

North Korea’s Response to US Army Propaganda Leaflets during the Korean War

This study examines a particular aspect of the history of North and South Korea’s bbira (propaganda leaflets), focusing on North Korea’s propaganda strategies in response to US propaganda during the Korean War, including perceptions of propaganda leaflets targeting North Koreans and counterstrategies used against them. The research herein analyses Munhakyesul, the leaflets during the Korean War, and the leaflets held by the DMZ Museum. The findings of this study reveal characteristics of and differences between the psychological tactics used by North Korea and the US during the Korean War, as exhibited through the use of these propaganda leaflets.     

‘Fighters without guns’: humanitarianism and military action in the aftermath of the Second World War

Abstract

This paper makes a contribution to the debate about the interplay between military action and humanitarian aid. It takes on the case study of post-World War Two Europe and in particular the activity carried out by the United Nations Relief and Rehabilitation Administration (UNRRA), which offers a useful key for highlighting the entanglements between relief and reconstruction projects. It is from this perspective that the interaction between humanitarianism and military undertakings also acquires a special meaning, which recalls both the development of the international aid regime and the post-war history of Western countries. The matter will be addressed from two points of view. First to be analysed is the set of agreements stipulated by UNRRA and military authorities, for the zones under Allied administration after the liberation, but also with respect to specific areas of intervention, like the Displaced Persons Operations. The terms of the official agreements allow the delineation of the tasks actually assigned to the agency by the United Nations and the role of control and protection reserved for military organizations. Based on the formal agreements, it is already possible to reconstruct a vision of relief understood as the result of the inextricably linked action of military and humanitarian actors. Next, the interplay between different interpretations of activities to help civilians affected by the war will be examined. This section will focus on the personnel deployed by UNRRA, on their origins, and on duties they are called on to fulfil. People with extensive experience in the welfare sector were a substantial part of the personnel, but a significant number of UNRRA employees came from military ranks. This essay, therefore, has a twofold objective. It analyses the normative and institutional frame that shaped relief work in Liberated Europe. At the same time, it aims to uncover competition and cooperation between military and humanitarian actors in the field. The aim is to highlight how the co-construction of the aid operations between military and civilian personnel that occurred during the second post-war period followed a series of complex, nonlinear paths that conditioned the development of the humanitarian regime from within.     

The Trouble with Peace: The Royal Army Medical Corps’ Cold War Recruitment Conundrums

This article examines the Royal Army Medical Corps’ (RAMC) recruitment problems throughout the Cold War (1945–1980s). It explores why the RAMC experienced difficulties in attracting new personnel, how the army tried to alleviate these shortages, and the impact of chronic understaffing on the quality of military health care for generations of soldiers and their families. It concludes by reflecting on the enduring dilemmas of recruiting professionals in peacetime.     

William Tell Militarism: The Swiss Model for Canada’s ‘Citizen Army’

Following Confederation in 1867, Canadians needed to move forward from their dependence on British imperial defence. Canadian militiaman Richard John Wicksteed was first to recommend adopting the model of the Swiss Army, a multi-ethnic, rifle-wielding citizen force powerful enough to ensure Swiss neutrality although surrounded by militaristic European powers. General Officer Commanding Edward Thomas Henry Hutton later proposed the Swiss model for a Canadian ‘National Army,’ echoed by Militia Minister Frederick Borden. In 1917, Colonel William Hamilton Merritt was the final advocate, drawn especially to the notion of equality in Switzerland’s universal military training programme. By this time, however, the Great War had changed concepts of Canada’s military needs from a reliance upon the defence-oriented citizen soldier to a more highly trained, expeditionary military force.     

Goats Mingling With Sheep? Professionalisation,Personalities, and Partnerships Between British Civil and Military Engineers,c.1837–1939

This article explores the entangled history of civil and military engineering from 1837 to 1939. Typically characterised in the historiography as a relationship marked by neglect and intransigence, it reveals a longstanding kinship between the two professions, built on the firm foundations of mutual interest and respect. Charting the formal and informal links between civil and military engineering in terms of knowledge, recruitment, and education, this article argues that the relationship, while often characterised by tensions and disagreements, represented a process of re-negotiation and renewal to meet new challenges and altered contexts.     

Restrained Policy and Careless Execution: Allied Strategic Bombing on the Netherlands in the Second World War

Abstract

This article examines the nature of Allied strategic bombing on the Netherlands in the Second World War. It discusses the endless controversy on strategic bombing, and adds the policy of bombing occupied countries, especially the Dutch involvement in bombing policy development, a quantitative analysis of bombing on the Netherlands, and three case studies to the existing narrative. The paper concludes that Allied bombing policy towards the Netherlands sought to maintain a balance between the usefulness of bombing and the risk of collateral damage. Further, it reveals the absolute magnitude of the bombing campaign in the Netherlands, which contrasts with existing history. This article concludes that the nature of strategic bombing on the Netherlands, notwithstanding the fact of sincere intentions and restrained policies, was that the execution of the bombardments regu- larly failed to attain the defined bombing goals. These failures caused extensive collateral damage, as illustrated by three case studies: bombardments on Amsterdam, Nijmegen, and The Hague.