Great Western Schism

The Great Western Schism was a period of political conflict and deep division in the history of the papacy from 1378 to 1417, when two or three popes, struggling among themselves, simultaneously held the papal throne. The causes of this rift within the Catholic Church were a weakening in the political importance of the papacy as the international center of the feudal system (as powerful kingdoms arose in Western Europe) and a struggle among the Western European rulers to subjugate the papal throne.

The Great Western Schism began after the Avignon Captivity of the Popes. After the death of Pope Gregory XI (1370-78), who had returned from Avignon to Rome, Urban VI was elected pope (1378-89). Urban VI was supported by the states of northern and central Italy, the Scandinavian states, the German states, and England. The clergy, oriented toward France, Spain, Scotland, and Naples, elected Clement VII (1378-94) at Avignon in counterposition to Urban VI, who was in Rome. Thus, two papal curias were created. The Popes anathematized (cursed) each other. The successor to Clement VII was Benedict XIII (from 1394); the successors to Urban VI were Boniface IX (1389-1404), Innocent VII (1404-06), and Gregory XII (from 1406).

A church council in Pisa (1409) removed both Benedict XIII and Gregory XII and elected Alexander V as Pope (1409-10). But as the dethroned Popes did not accept the decision of the council, there were three popes on the papal throne. The schism contributed to the development of heretical movements that threatened the feudal system as a whole. This in turn alarmed the secular feudal authorities, who called for the reestablishment of church unity. The Council of Constance (1414-18) put an end to the schism by removing the three popes, John XXIII (successor to Alexander V), Gregory XII, and Benedict XIII, and electing Martin V as the new pope (1417-31). The Great Western Schism greatly undermined the authority of the papacy and the Catholic church as a whole.

Above, an early 15th century painting portraying the different Popes ruling simultaneously in different places in Europe.

Huguenots

The Huguenots were the Calvinists in France in the 16th to 18th centuries. They constituted the main protestant group that broke away from the Catholic Church in this country in the 16th century during the Protestant Reformation, when John Calvin and Martin Luther founded their own Christian churches, breaking away from the Vatican. The social composition of the Huguenots was mixed. It included the urban popular masses, who were opposed to feudal and incipient capitalist exploitation, part of the hereditary nobility and feudal aristocracy, and the urban upper strata (mainly from cities in the outlying southern and western provinces) that resisted the centralization caused by absolutism.

The Huguenots’ struggle with the Catholics took the form of the so-called French Wars of Religions in the 16th century, with the St. Bartholomew's Day massacre in 1572 being the main event. At the end of this armed struggle the Huguenots received religious liberty. Catholicism, however, remained the dominant religion in France. Huguenot rebellions in the 1620s resulted in the abolition of their political and military privileges that had been granted to them. They retained the religious provisions of the Edict of Nantes until the rule of Louis XIV, who gradually increased persecution of Protestantism until he signed the Edict of Fontainebleau in 1685. This edict ended legal recognition of Protestantism in France as the Huguenots were forced to convert to Catholicism. However, many of them fled the country as refugees, migrating to Switzerland or North America.

The attitude of the state toward the Huguenots changed several times in the 17th and 18th centuries. However, it was only the aftermath of the Great French Revolution that accorded the Huguenots equal rights with Catholics as equality before the law was a fundamental principle of this civil war in France and in any republican system.

This painting by Francois Dubois depicts a scene of the St. Bartholomew's Day Massacre, during the French Religious War, when a large number of Huguenots were killed by the Catholics.

First Boer War

The First Boer War was an armed conflict between the Dutch colonists of the Transvaal, known as 'Boers', and the United Kingdom. It took place in South Africa, from December 16, 1880, to March 23, 1881. Also known as the Transvaal War, it lasted three months and it saw the defeat of the British at the battles of Bronkhorstspruit, Ingogo River, Laing's Neck, and Majuba Hill. Although the cease fire was agreed upon on March 23, the war was formally ended on August 3, 1881, by the Treaty of Pretoria, by which Great Britain was forced to recognize the independence of the Transvaal (known as the South African Republic). The peace period would last until 1899, when the Second Boer War broke out.

Cause of the war

After the Zulu War of 1879, in which the Zulu nation was finally defeated, the Boers felt there was no further reason why the British should remain in control of their country. One of the leaders of the cause for the re-establishment of a republic was Stephanus Johannes Paulus Kruger, who was regarded as a 'crowd rouser' (trouble maker) by the British and as a great patriot by the Boers.

In April 1880, after a hard-fought election campaign in which he condemned the 'insane and immoral policy of annexation', William E. Gladstone and his Liberal Party, crushingly defeated Disraeli's Conservatives. Thus, the Transvaal Boers became overjoyed, for they believed that a Liberal government would be a swift return to independence. Nevertheless, once in power, Gladstone reversed his policy and informed the Boers that his judgment was that the Queen could not be advised to relinquish her sovereignty over the Transvaal. Therefore, to Kruger and his followers, there remained only one solution: rebellion.

Why were the British defeated in the First Boer War?

Despite their superiority in number and artillery pieces, the British were completely defeated by farmers and cattle breeders in a three-month period. The reason for the Boers' victory lies in the new type of warfare they introduced and in the color of their clothes. While the British Army soldiers wore a red-coat uniform, which could clearly be spotted from far away, the Boers wore either drab-green or olive-brown clothes. Although they had no military training, the Dutch farmers of South Africa were excellent marksmen who used to hunt large and dangerous wild animals.

While the British stood in long lines, wearing the red uniform, the Boers shot from a prone position as the lay on the ground in the grass or among bushes. These southern Africa farmers were also good at laying traps and springing ambushes on the enemy. The Boers organized themselves in commando units that carried out raids against British military outposts by surprise.

Weapons

The British Infantry used the Martini-Henry rifle as their standard issue firearm. The Boers, on the other hand, used the Westley-Richards 14.9-mm elephant rifle; they also used the Remington M1867, and Winchester M1873 rifles.

A Daguerreotype of a Boer carrying his Westely-Richards rifle. Notice the size of the cartridges.

British troops standing in three lines at a military outpost.

Russo-Polish War (1654)

The Russo-Polish War (1654) was a long and vicious armed conflict between Russia and the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth over the Byelorussian and the Ukrainian territory. The main cause of the war was the increasing tension between the two countries in the 1640’s, especially after the outbreak of the War of the Liberation of the Ukrainian People from Polish rule (1648–54). Until 1654, a growing class struggle in Russia during the 1648–51 period, precarious finances, and military unpreparedness had postponed active Russian intervention on the side of the Ukrainian people. On October 1, 1653, the Zemskie Sobory (Russian Assembly) had agreed to receive the Ukraine under Russian rule. This was tantamount to an official declaration of war on Poland. During the Russo-Polish War, Czar Alexis I, Romanov, was on the throne in Russia.

The main Russian army was composed of more than 41,000 men, including artillery. Led by Prince Yakov Cherkassky, Nikita Odoevsky, and Prince Temkin-Rostovsky, the Russian forces launched an early offensive and took Belaia and Dorogobuzh in July, 1654, also laying siege to Smolensk. However, the Russian Army could not storm and capture Smolensk, because Janusz Radziwill’s Lithuanian army of about 11,000 men attacked from the vicinity of Orsha. This action forced Prince Cherkassky to send troops to meet the threat. The Polish attack was hindered and the Russian captured Orsha, routing Radziwill's forces at Shklov. On September 23, Russian troops finally managed to captur Smolensk.

In the autumn of 1654 the Russian Army launched an offensive against the fortresses of Livland Województwo in the Polish Commonwealth, taking Lucyn (now Ludza), Pzeżyca (now Rēzekne), and Łuża. At the same time, combined Russo-Ukrainian forces, under Bohdan Khmelnitsky and A. V. Buturlin launched an offensive from the vicinity of Fastov and captured Ostrog, Mezhireche, Rovno, and other cities. In the winter and spring of 1654–55, Polish-Lithuanian troops under Radziwill, Gąsiewski, and other commanders invaded the liberated regions of Byelorussia, relieved Staryi Bykhov, and captured Kopys’, Dubrovno, and Orsha. In the Ukraine, the Poles and their Tatar allies defeated the Russian and Ukrainian troops at Zhashkov. However, an unsuccessful three-month siege of Mogilev and the defeat of the Polish and Tatar armies at Akhmatov (January 1655) by Sheremetev and Khmelnitsky frustrated the Commonwealth’s offensive. Cherkasskys army and Zolotarenko’s forces took Minsk on July 3, 1655, and the main Russian army captured Wilno (Vilnius) on July 31 and Kovno (Kaunas) and Grodno in August.

In the summer of 1655, Sweden opened hostilities against Poland. Swedish troops captured Poznań and Kalisz in July, Warsaw in August, and then Kraków, and, in the Baltic region, Dynaburg (Daugavpils, Dünaburg). The Swedish victories drastically altered Russia’s foreign policy. In an attempt to prevent total Swedish domination of the Baltic, the Russian government in late 1655 began preparing for war with Sweden. It brought its military actions against Poland to a halt and in the spring of 1656 opened negotiations with the Polish government. However, the only result was an agreement, on October 23 (Nov. 2), 1656, to suspend military operations and to resume the negotiations after one year. In May 1656, Russia declared war on Sweden.

After a cease fire, the Russo-Polish War resumed in 1658. Between 1658 and 1659, the Russian troops overcame the szlachta’s treachery in Byelorussia and thus retained most of the territory they had previously liberated. In December 1659, Russian troops look Staryi Bykhov. the Russian troops overcame the szlachta’s treachery in Byelorussia and thus retained most of the territory they had previously liberated. In December 1659, Russian troops look Staryi Bykhov.

Treaty of Andrusov

The war would continue inconclusively, with attacks and counterattacks, with both armies capturing towns and cities in Byelorussia and Ukraine. However, the domestic situations both in Poland and Russia had deteriorated, with internal conflicts. Thus, the two countries entered into negotiations, which would be inconclusive and led nowhere. Finally, after a series of military action, the two nations resumed the negotiations in April 1666. Thus, forced by mutual exhaustion, Russia and Poland signed the Treaty of Andrusov of 1667, through which Poland recognized the annexation of all the Ukrainian territory lying to the east of the Dnieper River. On the other hand, Russia recognized all the territory located to the west of this European river as Polish territory. Also Kiev and its surrounding tract of land were ceded to Russia.

Above, a late 17th century painting depicting the Cossack forces attacking the Polish Army's rear during the Russo-Polish War.

Battle of Tsushima

The Battle of Tsushima was a decisive, naval engagement of the Russo-Japanese War (1904-1905). It was fought between the Russian Second Pacific Squadron, under Admiral Zinovy Rozhestvensky, and the Japanese Combined Fleet, led by Admiral Togo Heihachiro, on May 27 and 28, 1905. It took place in the Tsushima Strait, between the Sea of Japan and the East China Sea. It was the geopolitical rivalry between Russia and the Japanese Empire over Manchuria and Korea that had led to this armed conflict in 1904, and the Battle of Tsushima was the most important one in terms of losses and the number of warships involved. The result of this military encounter was a thorough Japanese victory over the Russians.

The Imperial Japanese Navy's Combined Fleet was composed of 5 battleships, 23 cruisers, 20 destroyers, and 16 torpedo-boats. Admiral Togo was the commander in chief and he was on battleship Mikasa, the flagship. On May 26, 1905, these warships sailed in a single column, with Mikasa leading them in front, as a spearhead, into the Tsushima Strait, where they would wait for the Russians. Behind the flagship, and next in line, came the battleships Shikishima, Fuji, and Asahi, with the armored cruisers and torpedo-boats stringing out behind in a long line. Although it was a pre-dreadnought battleship, Mikasa was an advanced war vessel, which had been built in the United Kingdom by the British ship-building firm Vickers.

The Second Pacific Squadron, on the other hand, was the Russian Baltic Fleet that had been reinforced; it consisted of 11 battleships, 9 cruisers, and 9 destroyers. The Russian commander, Zinovy Rozhestvensky, led the expeditionary force on the battleship Knyaz Suvorov, the flagship. This fleet had left the Baltic port of Reval (today Tallin - Estonia) on October 16, 1904. Their mission was to break the Japanese blockade of Port Arthur (today Lushunkou - China), and join the Far East Russian fleet stationed on the port of Vladivostok.

By the time the Russian Second Squadron reached the East China Sea, Port Arthur had already fallen in Japanese hands on January 2, 1905. Thus, the Russian commander decided to keep on sailing to Vladivostok. In order to reach this port, the Russians had two alternative routes; they could go through either the Korea Strait or the Tsushima Strait. Admiral Rozhestvensky chose the latter one to sail through, simply because it was wider, with more space to maneuver around if his fleet was attacked as his Borodino-class battleships were three knots slower than the Japanese vessels.

Summary

At around 04:00 hours, on the morning of May 27, 1905, a Japanese auxiliary scout cruiser Sinanu Maru discovered the presence of the Russian fleet looming in the mist in the Tsushima Strait. At 13:30 hours, the commander of the Japanese Combined Fleet was able to watch the enemy vessels; he had laid a trap for the Russians. As three Japanese ships maneuvered around to lure the enemy, the Russians opened fire and moved in pursuit. However, the Japanese battleships armor withstood the shell impact without perforation and damage. Admiral Togo's warships had already taken position and waited, then they fired their 305-mm naval guns on the Russian vessels.

In this first daylight encounter, the Russian battleship Oslyabya was hit hard several times and was seriously damaged and then it sank. A couple of hours later, the Russian battleship Borodino would also be struck hard by shells fired from the Japanese battleship Fuji; there was an explosion, and then it sank, too. Not only were the Japanese battleships and armored cruisers able to deliver lethal blows on the Russian fleet, but also the torpedo-boats were able to sink Russian vessels. The Battle of Tsushima raged on through the night. The Russian flagship, the battleship Knyaz Suvorov would also be sunk by the Japanese.

By the end of the battle on May 28, a total of 6 Russian battleships and 14 cruisers and destroyers had been sunk, with 5,000 dead sailors and officers. The Russians also suffered the loss of 7 more capital ships, which were captured by the Japanese. Meanwhile, Admiral Togo lost only three torpedo-boats and 117 men. It would take years for the Russian Navy to recover from this defeat.

Above, the Japanese battleship Mikasa; the flagship during the Battle of Tsushima.

A map showing the exact location of the Battle of Tsushima, marked in red.

Above, the Russian battleship Orel, which was captured by the Japanese. Notice a 12-inch gun was torn off during the fighting.

Battle of Jutland

The Battle of Jutland was a naval combat action of World War I. It was fought between the British Grand Fleet, under Admiral John Jellicoe, and the German High Seas Fleet, led by Admiral Reinhard Scheer, from May 31 to June 1, 1916, in the North Sea, off the coast of the Jutland peninsula (Denmark). By May 1916, the stalemate of the static trench warfare had been the status quo of the conflict, with the Battle of Verdun raging on. So was the naval warfare, with the supremacy of sea being balanced and each of the imperial naval power hoping to destroy the other. Although there had been great development and advance in naval weaponry, with powerful 12 and 15-inch long-range naval guns and self-propelled torpedoes, the result of the battle was inconclusive as neither side could claim a clear and decisive victory.

The backbone of the fleets that took part in the Battle of Jutland was made up of Dreadnought-type battleships, battlecruisers, light cruisers, and destroyers, plus a few submarines and auxilliary vessels. The German commander, Admiral Scheer, had first planned to stage a raid on Sunderland, hoping to lure part of the British fleet out onto the high seas where the submarines and the rest of the German fleet would be lying in wait ready to attack. However, bad weather prevented zeppelin reconnaissance, and Scheer would not move without it for fear of falling into an ambush and having to face off against the whole British Grand Fleet. Therefore, on May 30, 1916, he fell back on an alternative plan; instead of bombing Sunderland, the German scouting force was to sail northward, from Wilhelmshaven as if it were to attack British shipping off the Danish and Norwegian coasts.

At 01:00 hours, on May 31, the German cruiser scouting group, under Admiral Hipper, began to make their way in a northeastward direction, while the Royal Navy's Grand Fleet was already sailing to a rendezvous that would result in one of the greatest naval battles of all time. At 14:30 hours on May 31, a Hipper's scouting group cruiser, which approached a Danish freight steamer, encountered a British counterpart, and opened fire on the enemy war vessel. As the heavy and light cruisers of the opposing scouting forces engaged each other in combat, the British Grand Fleet was heading for the battle at full speed. Meanwhile, the German battleships and battlecruisers headed northward to the site of engagement.

When the two fleets met, all hell broke loose. The warships maneuvered and veered around to fire their heavy naval guns on the enemy vessel broadsides. Although the Germans had sustained heavy losses, by 04:30 hours on June 1, they had also inflicted serious damage on the British, whose Grand Fleet had lost three battlecruisers (Queen Mary was one of them), three light cruisers, and eight destroyers, with two badly damaged battleships. Meanwhile, the Germans had lost eleven warships: one battleship, one battlecruiser, four light cruisers, and five destroyers.

Above, a German battlecruiser SMS Derfflinger fires her 305-mm (12-inch) guns on a British vessel.

The British Grand Fleet sail at full steam to meet the German warships off the coast of Jutland.

The map shows the geographical point of the Battle of Jutland. It is marked with a red X.

Battle of Savo Island

The Battle of Savo Island was a naval armed encounter of World War II Pacific Theater. It was fought between the Allied Task Force 62, under Admiral Richmond K. Turner, and a Japanese fleet, led by Gunichi Mikawa, on August 8 and 9, 1942, off the coast of Savo Island, during the Guadalcanal Campaign, which had just begun on August 7. Savo is a tiny land mass which is part of the Solomon Islands. It lies 15 km (9.4 miles) north of Guadalcanal, the landing on which marked the beginning of the Allied Island-Hopping Campaign of the Pacific Theater of Operations. Result: Japanese victory.

Task Force 62, under Turner, was composed of a landing force and a screening group. The screening group was led by British Admiral Sir Victor Crutchley. It was a flotilla composed of 6 heavy cruiser, 2 light cruisers, and 15 destroyers. They had the task of protecting the Allied landing force at Guadalcanal. However, they had been weakened as Admiral Frank J. Fletcher had withdrawn his aircraft carriers from the area, leaving them without air cover. The Japanese 8th Fleet, commanded by Mikawa, consisted of 5 heavy cruisers, 2 light cruisers and only one destroyer. Thus, both fleet avoided direct confrontation in daylight.

With the mission of destroying the Allied landing force at Guadalcanal, Gunichi Mikawa ordered the Japanese warships to attack the British screening force on the night of August 8, 1942. Although Crutchley had deployed two radar-equipped destroyers to give early warning for any approaching enemy warships, Mikawa's vessels were able to sail undetected towards Savo Island and the Guadalcanal area. The Japanese ships approached in a single, 3-km column, which was led by heavy cruiser Chokai, followed by Aoba and Kako. With enemy floatplanes dropping flares for better visibility, the Imperial Japanese 8th Fleet's heavy cruisers suddenly opened fire out of the blue.

The Japanese naval assault was relentless, with the Allied ships maneuvering around to avoid major damage. Thus, the Battle of Savo Island basically took place in two areas; a combat action between Guadalcanal and Savo, which was the most ferociously fought, and a naval encounter north of Savo. By the end of the battle, at 05:00 hours on August 9, the Japanese had sunk three US Navy's heavy cruisers, and had seriously damaged an Australian cruiser, which would be scuttled hours later. A fifth Allied cruiser also sustained heavy damage as well as two US destroyers. The Japanese 8th Fleet, on the other hand, did not lose any ship, with three vessels being only damaged. However, the Allied transport and landing ships were not sunk and came out unscathed of the battle.

Among the Allied warships sunk by the Japanese were the USS Vincennes (CA-44), USS Astoria (CA-34), USS Quincy (CA-39), and the HMAS Canberra.

Above, HMAS Canberra damaged and listing to port. It would be scuttled on August 9.

Map of Solomon Islands showing the location of both Guadalcanal and Savo Island. The site of the battle is marked by a red arrow.

Above, the heavy cruiser USS Astoria, a couple of days before the Battle of Savo Island took place.