Definitions

James Madison (1751-1836) was a statesman, diplomat, and a Founding Father of the United States, who served as the fourth US president from 1809 to 1817. He played an important role in the drafting of the United States Constitution...

Jordan is a country in the Near East bordered by Israel, Syria, Iraq, and Saudi Arabia. The country's name comes from the Arabic Al Urdun, referencing a fortified site but also meaning "prominence", though various sources also...

The Quran (also written Qur’an or Koran), revealed in the 7th century, is the sacred book of Islam, following in the tradition of the Abrahamic faiths, with the Torah as the sacred book of Judaism and the New Testament as the sacred book...

The Phoney War was the period from the start of the Second World War (1939-45) when Britain and France declared war against Germany on 3 September until the start of significant military action in the West in the spring of 1940. While...

Reinhard Heydrich (1904-1942) was a lieutenant-general in the Nazi SS organisation, Gestapo chief, and head of Reich security. A favourite of Adolf Hitler (1889-1945), Heydrich controlled...

Washington Irving (1783-1859) was an American author, essayist, and diplomat best known for his short stories The Legend of Sleepy Hollow and Rip Van Winkle. He was the first professional American author and also the first to...

The Christmas Truce of 1914 occurred on the Western Front during the First World War (1914-18). On Christmas Eve soldiers in the trenches spontaneously agreed to a ceasefire. Beginning with...

Anglo-Saxon warfare was characterised by frequent and violent conflicts between petty kings, which ultimately led to the rise of larger kingdoms such as the Kingdom of Mercia, the Kingdom of Northumbria, and the Kingdom of...

Adolf Hitler (1889-1945) was the dictator of Nazi Germany from 1933. He gained power by making popular promises like improving Germany's economy and status in Europe, but when he took these policies too far, he was responsible more...

Blitzkrieg ('lightning war') is a military tactic combining air and land forces deployed at speed against the enemy's weaker points while the rear lines are simultaneously disrupted by acts of sabotage...