The “Metal Army” of Alexander in the War against the Indian King Porus in Three Persian Alexander Books (Tenth‒Fourteenth Centuries)

The article focuses on a very particular episode of the eastern Alexander legend, i.e. the building of an extraordinary “metal army” employed by Alexander in his war against the Indian King Porus, which is present in at least three Persian accounts written between the tenth and fourteenth centuries CE: the “Book of Kings” (Shāh-nāmeh) by Ferdowsi, the “Book of Dārāb” (Dārāb-nāmeh), attributed to Tarsusi, and an “Alexander-book” (Eskandar-nāmeh) in prose copied by ?Abd al-Kāfi ibn Abu al-Barakāt. Compared to the most remote source, the text of Pseudo-Callisthenes, and to the closest ones (the Armenian version of the fifth century, the Syriac text of the sixth?seventh centuries, and the Hebrew version of the tenth?eleventh centuries), it is argued that the Persian authors have not passively received the inherited materials; on the contrary, they have been able to liven up the scene of Alexander’s battle against the Indian King Porus by bringing onto the battlefield a fiery and phantasmagorical army of metal, giving us one of the more amazing episodes in the eastern legend of the great Macedonian.     

Soviet children of occupation in Austria: The historical,political and social background and its consequences

Soviet children of occupation were born between late 1945 and mid-1956 in Austria, some following voluntary sexual relations between local women and Red Army soldiers, others as a result of rape. They were considered by many to be ‘children of the enemy’ and encountered various forms of discrimination and stigmatisation. The children involved were largely a ‘fatherless’ group of war children. By the time of their births even fathers who wanted to stay in touch had generally either been sent home or transferred to another barracks in line with the Kremlin's view that intimate relations between Soviet soldiers and Austrians were politically and ideologically reprehensible. Even after the signing of the Austrian State Treaty and the end of the occupation in 1955, the political situation largely ruled out further contact. This situation was exacerbated by the onset of the Cold War. In many cases, the children of occupation were hemmed in by a wall of silence that in some cases persists to this day. This has led to widespread questions about personal identity and searches for their ‘roots’. Against this background, the article analyses the impact of the specific historical, political and social background of the lives of Soviet occupation children.     

A Lone Islet or A Center of Communications? Shanghai in the Indian National Army Movement

Students of modem Chinese history,and modern Shanghai history in particular,tend to view Shanghai as having been a lone islet during the Pacific War,when it was cut off from other parts of the world.This article,however,argues that Shanghai was still well connected to areas under the control of the Japanese throughout the war.Using the Sikh community in Shanghai as a case,it demonstrates how the Indian National Army used both a Japanese-initiated military highway and the long-existing Indian diasporic network in Southeast and East Asia to facilitate a certain kind of mobilization.It further sheds light on how the Sikhs in Shanghai were influenced by and responded to the Indian National Army's endeavors.     

曾国藩厚饷养兵得失研究

“湘军,历史上一奇迹也。”太平天国起义后,曾国藩奉命在湖南原籍帮办团练,旋即组建并统帅湘军参与镇压太平军和捻军。当时的八旗军、绿营的战斗力相当弱,无力抵抗太平军的强大攻势,与之相比,由曾国藩组建的湘军却在镇压太平军的战斗中节节胜利,为巩固清王朝的统治起到了重大的作用。曾国藩实行的厚饷养军制度,使士兵安心服役;以“养将士之廉”为名,给予更优厚的待遇;同时不断保举有军功的将弁,广赐翎顶,以官禄为诱饵驱使官兵效命疆场,是鼓舞士气的有效措施。当时的湘军在军制等各方面都有值得我们借鉴和批判的地方。     

From Camels to Cats: Experimenting with Medicine in the Australian Flying Corps

As a nascent air force, the Australian Flying Corps (AFC) relied largely upon other services for medical evaluation of its personnel. In 1918, however, the AFC experimented with a dedicated medical board to gauge the suitability of recruits and convalescents as aircrew. This article examines the formation of the AFC’s Medical Board, which was paired with another innovation: laboratory research. Conducted by the board’s head, Charles Kellaway, animal studies into anoxaemia were intended to provide a means of determining suitability of aviators for high-altitude flight. In matching data derived from cats with front-line service conditions, Kellaway sought to enshrine a particular type of ‘steady’ man to conquer the novel realm of airspace.     

试论大革命时期苏联对国民二军的援助

国民二军,是20世纪20年代重要的军事集团.北京政变后,在苏联政府的大力援助下,国民二军获得迅猛发展.它的发展壮大,不仅直接打击了北洋军阀的统治,使河南和陕西境内的革命运动迅速高涨,为国民军经营西北打下基础,同时也有力地配合了南方巩固革命政权的军事行动.     

20世纪50年代周恩来探索我军武器装备现代化建设的思想与实践

建国后,我军武器装备与当时发达国家的技术水平相距甚远。实现武器装备的更新换代,成为摆在国防和军队建设面前的重大任务。时任国务院总理、主持军委日常工作的周恩来,从国情和军队现代化建设实际出发,提出了我军实现武器装备跨越式发展的思路：购买先进武器,缩短武器装备转化形成新战斗力的周期;为缩小与西方军事强国的技术差距,仿制苏式武器;在自力更生的基础上,抓我国武器装备体系建设。周恩来发展武器装备的思想和实践,为人民军队迈上具有我军特色的武器装备现代化建设道路奠定了坚实的基础。     

元朝西南地区军事机构的设置及兵力的布置

蒙元朝廷在西南三省军事机构的设置是伴随着灭宋战争而来的。由于面临的形势不同,四川、云南、湖广三行省的军事机构并不相同,各具特色。与此同时,为了维护西南政治稳固,蒙元朝廷在三省的军事险要之地布置了大批的兵力。