Modern Algeciras is the main city on the Bay of Gibraltar and one of the busiest commercial ports in Europe. It's pretty old, too, having been founded by Berber-Arab invaders all the way back in 711. "Algeciras" is a European corruption of the city's original name, al-Jazirah al-Khadra ("the green island"). And, if we're being … Continue reading Today in European history: the (third) Siege of Algeciras ends (1344)
Tag: european history
Today in European history: the Skirmish at Bendery (1713)
The “Skirmish at Bendery” (known in Swedish as the Kalabaliken i Bender, from the Turkish word kalabalık or “crowd”) is a relatively silly affair, but it shows that, even in 1713 when they were supposedly in “decline,” the Ottomans were still capable of the occasional muscle flexing in Europe. It’s the climax of a chapter in the 1700-1721 … Continue reading Today in European history: the Skirmish at Bendery (1713)
Today in European history: the Treaty of Karlowitz (1699)
You know that old joke about how the “Holy Roman Empire” was neither holy, nor Roman, nor an empire? You could write a similar joke for the 1683-1699 Great Turkish War. It wasn’t “great” (this is admittedly subjective, but it definitely wasn't so great if you were in the Ottoman army). It wasn’t “Turkish” (the … Continue reading Today in European history: the Treaty of Karlowitz (1699)
Today in European history: the Battle of Vaslui (1475)
The principality of Moldavia emerged under a Vlach warlord named Dragoș in the middle of the 14th century as a frontier state between Hungary and the Mongolian Golden Horde Khanate. It survived until the middle of the 19th century, when it was merged with Wallachia and thereby became one of the three (along with Transylvania) … Continue reading Today in European history: the Battle of Vaslui (1475)
Today in European history: the Gallipoli campaign ends (1916)
January 9 is the anniversary of the end of World War I's very extended Gallipoli campaign, which lasted eight and a half months starting from late April 1915. In full disclosure, the date is a bit misleading--while "January 9" is the date upon which the last British (Canadian, if you want to be particular about … Continue reading Today in European history: the Gallipoli campaign ends (1916)
Today in European history: the “Reconquista” ends (1492)
January 2, 1492, was the official end-date of the cleverly-named Reconquista, as it is the date upon which the last Muslim hold-out in Iberia, the city of Granada, was formally handed over to Ferdinand of Aragon and Isabella of Castile. While this obviously is a date of significant historical import, it’s also a little anti-climactic. … Continue reading Today in European history: the “Reconquista” ends (1492)
Today in European history: the Siege of Rhodes ends (1522)
The feud between the Knights Hospitaller (aka the Knights of Rhodes and, later, the Knights of Malta) and the Ottoman Empire follows the standard big budget movie trilogy playbook, assuming you’re OK with casting the Knights as the protagonists. The saga begins with the Ottoman siege of Rhodes in 1480, from which the heavily outnumbered … Continue reading Today in European history: the Siege of Rhodes ends (1522)
Today in European History: the Russians capture Plevna (1877)
Although they’ve settled into a kind of love-hate rut nowadays, historically relations between the precursors of modern Russia and modern Turkey have tended not to be so great. Consider that the Russian Empire and the Ottoman Empire, two of those precursors, fought a whopping 12 wars against one another between the second half of the … Continue reading Today in European History: the Russians capture Plevna (1877)
Today in European history: the Mongols sack Kyiv (1240)
Historians often cite the 1240 Mongol sack of Kyiv as the final end of the Kyivan Rus’ federation, but as with most things there's more to the collapse of the Rus’ than one solitary event. For nearly two centuries prior to 1240, the balance of power in the Rus’ federation had been shifting gradually away … Continue reading Today in European history: the Mongols sack Kyiv (1240)
Today in European history: the Battle of Sinop (1853)
Apart from the Charge of the Light Brigade (the actual charge, but also the poem), the Crimean War (1853-1856) is best known as the first “modern” war, in that it was during the Crimean War when later military staples like rail, telegraphs, trenches, and rifled firearms and artillery first got tested in a major engagement. Oh, … Continue reading Today in European history: the Battle of Sinop (1853)
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