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.     

中国与奠边府战役

50多年前的奠边府战役,是越南抗法战争中具有决定性意义的重大战役。中国对奠边府战役的胜利作出了重大贡献,主要表现在以下四个方面:在中国军事顾问的直接帮助下,越南人民军迅速发展壮大,初步具备了进行大规模攻坚战的能力;中共中央建议以越西北为主要战略方向并为越方采纳,这是越南人民军得以顺应敌情变化、举行奠边府战役的重要前提条件之一;中共中央、中央军委和中国军事顾问对奠边府战役的各个环节都提出过重要建议,对确保战役的胜利起了重大作用;由中国人民解放军帮助训练的越南炮兵、高射炮兵部队及时回国参加奠边府战役,中国援助的武器装备和其他军用、民用物资及时运到越南,满足了奠边府战役的需要。     

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.     

淮军将领王芝生生平事迹考

淮军将领王芝生官至澎湖镇总兵,记名提督,诰授建威将军,历经咸丰、同治、光绪三朝,参加平定太平军、捻军起义等重要战役,因吸食鸦片一度被革职查办.复职后,主持修建江阴炮台,防御外敌入侵;在澎湖总兵任上整饬兵制、积极救援外国遇险船员,受到到中外舆论的高度肯定.     

试论冯玉祥及国民军在1925—1927年的政治态度

192 5— 1 92 7年 ,冯玉祥在政治方面的进步尽管不大 ,但特殊的政治形势决定其充当了独特的历史角色。当时的中外反动派认为冯及国民军是北方“赤化”的中坚力量而大力围剿。冯玉祥及国民军在政治上一再倒退 ,但最终还是被逼到了国民革命的一方。冯玉祥加入国民党改变了南口大战的性质 ,使其成为第一次国内革命战争的北方战场。冯玉祥及国民军在大革命的历史中应当有一席地位。     

遵义会议前中共中央高层权力的转移:对毛泽东领导权威形成的历史考察

斯大林和共产国际鉴于中共中央屡屡出现的"路线错误",以留苏学生担纲改组了中共最高领导层。以博古为首的临时中央,是"国际路线"不折不扣的执行者。第五次反"围剿"的失败,使"国际路线"的正确性受到怀疑,"国际派"内部也顿生罅隙。毛泽东在长征途中争取了"国际派"成员张闻天、王稼祥的支持,在政治局中结成"小三人团"。红军湘江惨败后,中央最高"三人团"的威信直落谷底,出现严重的信任危机。在红军存亡之际,毛泽东提出新的进军路线,得到多数人的赞同。周恩来继张、王之后,转向毛泽东一边,瓦解了最高"三人团"的最后抵抗。由此,中央的实际权力开始转到了"小三人团"的手里,为遵义会议的召开和改组中央领导机构,做好了组织上的铺垫。     

Puppet troops revisited: A case study of the Northwestern Army during the Anti-Japanese War

After the Japanese occupation of North China at the beginning of the Anti-Japanese War, the Nationalist government adopted the strategy of using the regular army to develop the battlefield to the rear of the enemy in order to sustain a protracted war. As a result, the Northwestern Army, which was organizing anti-Japanese forces in North China, became the Nationalist government's main military force in the occupied area. However, caught between Japanese and Communist troops, the Northwestern Army surrendered to the Japanese for the purpose of self-preservation and thus became a puppet army. From a nationalist point of view, the collaborationists who covered up their self-serving motives and later defended their actions as a crooked path to national salvation had a negative image. In response to Communist expansion, the Nationalist government acquiesced in the measure of collaborating with the puppet troops to annihilate the Communists. To reinforce the battles at the front, the Nationalist government also attempted to plot anti-Japanese mutinies among the puppet troops, but its plan was never implemented. The Northwestern Army forces planned to build an alliance in order to survive as a third force both in the confrontation between the Chinese government and the Japanese army and in the confrontation between the Nationalists and the Communists. Yet, due to the tight control exercised by the Japanese in North China, it was difficult for the Northwestern Army to gain momentum as a third force. After the end of the Anti-Japanese War, the Northwestern Army had to take sides in the Civil War, and this dilemma caused its final collapse.     

A research report on Japanese use of chemical weapons during the Second World War

This research report introduces the historical process of Japanese use of chemical weapons against the Chinese during the Second World War, which caused serious casualties and mass destruction. In addition, it also elaborates on the discarded chemical weapons' injuries to the Chinese people and their negative effects on environmental pollution. According to the Chemical Weapons Convention (CWC), which became effective in 1997, Japan should take responsibility for destroying all chemical weapons abandoned on Chinese territory.     

论日本关东军的武器流向

有关日本关东军的武器装备流向,史学界一直没有明确的说法。前苏联方面有4种相关数字,但这些数字有笔误和夸大的成分。从东北解放军武器增多的数量和时间来分析,可以看出投降关东军的武器装备有支援中共、散落民间和运往前苏联的三个流向。