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)
Tag: history
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 South Asian history: the Battle of Talikota (1565)
Muslim control over the Indian subcontinent, especially in areas south of modern Pakistan, was always somewhat precarious. Whatever Muslim dynasty happened to be in power at any given time was guaranteed to be part of a religious minority ruling over a vast number of Hindu subjects. The Mughal Empire, which ruled northern India, modern Pakistan, … Continue reading Today in South Asian history: the Battle of Talikota (1565)
Today in Middle Eastern history: the Republic of Mahabad is born (1946)
The Republic of Mahabad was an experiment in Iranian Kurdish self-rule that survived all the way from January (January 22, to be precise) 1946 until December, um, 1946, when the Iranians decided that they weren’t really all that keen on the idea of Iranian Kurdish self-rule. Its story involves Kurdish nationalism, the overthrow of the … Continue reading Today in Middle Eastern history: the Republic of Mahabad is born (1946)
Today in Middle Eastern history: the Battle of Bakhamra (763)
The various Shiʿa movements that have sprung up over the centuries trace their origins, of course, to Ali ibn Abi Talib, the cousin and son in-law of Muhammad. But apart from that common origin there have been a number of disagreements within the broad Shiʿa community over which line of descent from Ali was legitimate. These divergences … Continue reading Today in Middle Eastern history: the Battle of Bakhamra (763)
Today in Middle Eastern history: the Iran Hostage Crisis ends (1981)
On this date in 1981 the Iranian government finally released the last 52 of the 66 hostages it took when Iranian students/paramilitaries seized the US embassy in Tehran in November 1979. The Carter administration, when it wasn't busy planning botched rescue operations, spent most of the 444 days those hostages were held captive trying to … Continue reading Today in Middle Eastern history: the Iran Hostage Crisis ends (1981)
Today in Middle Eastern history: Operation Desert Storm begins (1991)
Although he was America’s good close pal when he was heroically gassing tens of thousands of Iranians throughout much of the 1980s, Saddam Hussein’s invasion of Kuwait put him on Washington’s naughty list for several reasons. Chief among them was, of course, the threat he posed to Saudi Arabia and therefore a large portion of the world’s … Continue reading Today in Middle Eastern history: Operation Desert Storm begins (1991)
Today in Caucasian history: the Battle of Sarikamish ends (1915)
The Battle of Sarikamish was one of the more overwhelming Russian victories of World War I. It was so overwhelming, in fact, that it put the Russians on the offensive in the Caucasus for good—or, well, until Russia quit the war following its 1917 revolution. Which is why its legacy is hard to judge. Whatever … Continue reading Today in Caucasian history: the Battle of Sarikamish ends (1915)
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)
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