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The Boxer rebellion is a most fascinating conflict to study because of the unique nature of the conflict amongst many other notable conflicts fought at the very end of the 19 th century and into the early 1900's. Many histories written in modern times have highlighted the international diplomatic and military effort's of the Eight Nation Alliance which was arguably the first modern age military coalition force of its kind. Allied armies attack the Peking (Beijing) palace during the Boxer Rebellion 1900 Their enemy, the mystic Chinese ‘Boxer’ rebels (nationalists) of the Society of ‘Righteous Harmonious Fists’, fundamentalists patriots who were fighting to expel "Western" allied influence (Austria-Hungary, France, Germany, Italy, Russia, the United Kingdom, and the United States, and Japan) from China. A conflict marked by bloody insurrections, atrocities, and costly sieges, the Boxer Rebellion of 1899-1901 is a critical study in early-modern world diplomacy, war...

The film The Man Who Would be King is director John Huston’s interpretation of British Imperial policy and the idealized exploits of the adventurers and soldiers of Queen Victoria ’s Empire in the late 19th century inspired by the original short novel. In particular the movie concerns the exploits of two former British army officers’ adventures in Kafiristan, a remote part of the wild and open mountain ranges of Afghanistan . Based on the novel of the same name by famed Imperial era author Rudyard Kipling (1865-1936), The Man Who Would Be King is an historical inspired if ultimately idealize portrait of the imperial age and spirit. The real life adventures of James Brooke, the White Rajah of Brunei , mentioned very briefly in the original story, is most certainly an inspiration for Kipling's original 1888 novel. The story begins as the reminisces of Daniel Dravot and Peachy Carnehan, two former soldiers in the British Army who are planning an expedition to the remote region of Kaf...

The multi-faceted causes of the War of the Roses are defined by two great medieval issues of note, compounded by the great upheavals of the century before it, notably England ’s arrival in France and the rise of the House of Lancaster following the usurpation of Richard II in 1399. The two major issues plaguing England which led to the Wars of the Roses were the rise of bastard feudalism, essentially a political and cultural problem greatly influenced by the martial culture of England from 1200 to 1455  [1] , and the dynastic rivalries and political machinations influenced and caused by the many battles fought between the houses and liege lords scattered throughout England from Northumberland to Cornwall. The Usurpation of 1399 and its preceding events and aftermath are in many ways the opening to the Wars of the Roses due in part to the upheavals initiated originally through popular dissent aimed at the economic/financial constraints of the period, which some peasants and lords al...

The Honolulu Rifles regiment was a militia force of predominantly Anglo-American or European descendants living in Hawaii, formed in Honolulu in what was then the Kingdom of Hawaii,  1884. Founded originally as a parade-social club with their own uniforms, weapons, drill manuals, etc. the Honolulu  Rifles regiment became a potent military presence in Hawaii at a critical time in the island nation’s history, which came to be called the Hawaii Rebellions from 1887-1895. Honolulu Rifles regiment The downfall of both the Kingdom of Hawaii and the independent Hawaiian republic in 1893 & 1895 respectively were both directly linked to actions of the Honolulu Rifles brigade. Hawaii ’s annexation as a territory of the United States was in its day a  diplomatic and political hair trigger argument. President Grover Cleveland (b.1837-1908) opposed annexation in both his terms as president and only during President William McKinley's term in 1898 did the machinations...