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  • #31
    UNIT DESCRIPTION

    Eagle: The F-15 Eagle is an all-weather, extremely maneuverable, tactical fighter designed to gain and maintain air superiority in aerial combat. It can penetrate enemy defense and outperform and outfight current or projected enemy aircraft.

    Fokker: The Dutchmen Anthony Fokker sold his expertise to the Germans in WW1. One authority noted about the Fokker D.VII, that it had "an apparant ability to to make a good pilot out of mediocre material." When equipped with the BMW engine, the D.VII could outclimb any Allied opponent it encountered in combat. Highly maneuverable at all speeds and altitudes, it
    proved to be more than a match for any of the British or French fighter planes of 1918. The last Fokker warplane produced was the Fokker G.V. Fighter, build in 1936 and fought in WW2. They had a kill ratio of 16:1 during the brief fight between Germany and Holland in 1940.

    U-boat: Probably the single most important contributor to present day submarines and the tactics used today can be attributed to the German Navy's skill and technological breakthroughs of the First and Second World Wars. The infamous U-boats were a real plague to allied shipping lines.

    Enterprise: The first nuclear powered aircraft carrier in the world and one of the first nuclear powered surface warship. The "Big E" or "Starship Enterprise" is the longest warship in the world, and after her latest refit is among the heaviest as well.

    Man-o-War: The most powerfull warships of the pre-ironclad age. Loaded with cannons and troops, these ships were feared by all but the most the powerfull warships.

    Yamato: By far the largest warships of W.W.II. They were also the heaviest armed and armored of all battleships. These great ships were built in complete secrecy and it was not until very late in the war that it was found out how large and powerful they really were.

    Ilmarinen: Finland's Väinämöinen and Illmarinen were two of the most concentrated naval artillery units ever built. They where designed and optimized for operations in the arcipelago areas of the Baltic.

    War Galleon: Spanish shipwrights developed the war galleon, a modified, enlarged version of the carrack that became the premier ocean-going ship of the 16th and 17th centuries. Although developed as a warship, the galleon proved to be a fast and able sailer with a large cargo capacity. War galleons were the principal fighting ships of the Spanish Armada.

    Privateer: The great era of privateering was the period from 1589 to 1815, when privateers became auxiliaries to or substitutes for regular navies, and when weaker naval powers used privateers as an effective method of injuring a more powerful maritime rival.

    Longboat: Viking longships with 80 oars or more and a single removable mast with a square sail carried warriors into battle. The sailors lowered and stored the mast when traveling under oar power. Longships had a shallow draft, a design that enabled Vikings to navigate rivers and streams. This design permitted them to take many inland settlements by surprise because the inhabitants did not expect an attack from the water.

    Carrack: Carracks were commonly used for trade and war in the Mediterranean and northern seas.On previous ships, fighters stood on elevated decks to fire cannons and other weapons down onto the decks of enemy ships. The Carrack featured gun ports with hinged lids on each side. During battle,
    fighters opened the lids, rolled out the cannons, and fired at the enemy ship's hull instead of its deck.

    Virginia: The Virginia, originally a wooden steam frigate called the Merrimack, had been sunk and abandoned by Union forces in the Elizabeth River off Norfolk, Virginia, in the spring of 1861. It was raised by Confederate forces a few months later and rebuilt as an ironclad vessel and renamed the Virginia. Two months after the inconclusive battle with the Monitor, the Virginia was destroyed by Confederate forces when they evacuated the Norfolk Navy Yard.

    Hussaria: The pride and glory of the cavalry, its mailed first, was the Husaria, the winged cavalry. Operating in regiments of about 300, the front rank carried an astonishing lance of up to twenty feet in length (thus outreaching infantry pikes and allowing the Husaria to cut straight through an enemy square). They also carried a sabre or rapier with a six - foot blade, as well as a pair of pistols, a short carbine, a bow and arrows and a
    variety of other weapons, the most lethal of which was the "czekan", a long steel hammer. For over a century, the Husaria were the lords of the battlefield, delivering the decisive blow in many an important engagement; at Kircholm (1605) 4,000 Poles accounted for 14,000 Swedes, at Klushino (1610) 6,000 Poles (of only 200 were infantry) defeated 30,000 Muscovite and
    5,000 German and Scottish mercenaries, at Gniew (1656) 5,500 Polish cavalry defeated 13,000 Swedes and outside Vienna (1683) the Husaria saved Europe from the, until then, unstoppable might of the Ottoman Empire.

    Drorom: The Byzantine dromon was a fast, two-banked sailing galley having 25 oars on a side.

    Quinquireme: The Quinquireme was two sizes bigger than the Trireme, but lacked the same speed. At the front was a deck structure in which heavy missile weapons such as catapults were located.

    Turtle Boat: The great Korean admiral Yi Sun-Shin defeated the Japanese at sea. One key to the Korean naval victories was their innovative turtle ships, the first cannon-bearing armored ships in history. The Japanese had no answer for these slow but powerful weapons.

    *Great Cannoe

    Trireme: The desire to increase the speed and ramming power of the galley led to the introduction, sometime before 500 BC, of three-banked galleys, which are called triremes.

    Pansarskepp: Originally designed as small Battlecruisers specially suited for the Scandinavian region. The ships where extensively modernized several times and served as the backbone of the Swedish navy from 1922 to 1946. These small but powerful units played a important role as a stabilizing
    factor in the Baltic region during the Inter-war and WWII period.

    *Templar
    *Doryphoren
    *Cataphract

    Mamluk: A warrior caste dominant in Egypt and influential in the Middle East for over 700 years. The Mamluks successfully resisted invasions by the Crusaders and the Mongols, brought about commercial prosperity, and fostered the arts and architecture, most notably in Cairo.

    War Elephant: Elephants were the tanks of the ancient era: massive, hard to kill, and incredibly dangerous.

    *Hospitalier
    *Camel Rider
    *Mangudai

    Tarkan: The best of the Hunnic light horsemen were Tarkan warriors. They rode hard, hit with surprise, and could withdraw as quickly if the situation was not advantageous. The mobility of the Tarkan warriors made them devastating raiders, but their light cavalry status put them at a disadvantage against heavily armored horsemen in close combat.

    Rider: Once the discovery of the stirrup made its way to China, heavy cavalry soon followed. As the Chinese found out first-hand when the Mongols invaded in the 12th century, it is better to have heavy calvary than to be attacked by them.

    Cossack: From the 16th century, as the tsars extended their realm, the Cossacks were subjected to the authority of the Russian government, which tried to incorporate them into the state on the same basis as the other inhabitants of the country. Therefore, as subjects of the tsar, all Cossack males 18 to 50 years of age became liable to military service. They were used most often as cavalry and became famous in the wars of the tsars
    against the Tatars in Crimea and the Caucasus.

    Spahis: The elite of the Turkish army were regular soldiers, 'spahi' cavalry. The 'spahi' numbered approximately 15,000, they were highly paid, and each man was responsible to recruit and train two to six other men. They were armed with a bow, a sword and a lance and did not wear any armour
    thereby retaining their capability of manoeuvring; with this system the Turks produced about 100,000 cavalry.

    *War Party

    Texas Ranger: mounted fighting force organized (1835) during the Texas Revolution. During the republic they became established as the guardians of the Texas frontier, particularly against Native Americans. Said to "ride like Mexicans, shoot like Tennesseans, and fight like the very devil, the rangers were unique as a police force in that they never drilled, were not required to salute officers, and wore neither uniforms nor any standard gear except the six-shooter. In their first decade of operation, the rangers effectively quelled lawlessness in Texas on frequent occasions, and in the Mexican War (1846-48) they served as scouts and guerrilla fighters, gaining a wide reputation for valor and effectiveness. In the late 1850s the rangers fought
    vicious battles with the Comanche, and in the Civil War, Terry's Texas Rangers gained renown.

    Panzer: German armored (panzer) divisions, supported by aircraft, proved their worth in Poland and France and later won spectacular successes in the Balkans, the Soviet Union, and Africa.

    T-54: The T-54 has been used more than any other tank since the Second World War. The T-55 combines a high velocity gun with exceptional long-range endurance.

    War Chariot: The chariot was the centerpiece of the Egyptian army, which dominated the Middle Eastern theatre of war for hundreds of years, until they were supplanted by horse-mounted soldiers, which were cheaper and more durable.

    *War Wagon

    Genoese Crossbowmen: Genoese mercenary cross bow men were employed by almost all European armies except England

    *Persian Cavalry
    *Mongol Horsemen
    *Mtd. Braves
    *Songhay Cavalry
    *Fast Galley
    *Eagle Warrior
    *Tracker
    *Berzerker
    *Woad Raider

    Jaguar Warrior :As a militaristic society, the Aztecs placed a very high emphasis on honor and battlefield skill. After an Aztec warrior captured four or five enemy soldiers, he could advance to the rank of Eagle or Jaguar Warrior. These ranks provided unique benefits, such as exemption from taxes. Jaguar Warriors were fearsome combatants who wore colorful costumes including elaborately plumed headgear and Jaguar pelts, and wielded
    war shields (chimalli) and obsidian-tipped weapons such as war hammers and swords.

    *Macana

    Hoplite: The Hoplite was one of the first soldiers of the ancient world to fight in formation. The well-known "phalanx" formation that has become synonymous with the Greek hoplite was actually first used by the Sumerians as early as 2500 B.C, but the Greeks made it famous. Armed with a sword and
    a 6 foot-long pike, clad in a helmet, breastplate, greaves, and a shield, the Hoplite was a fighting unit to be reckoned with.

    Impi: a band of armed Zulu warriors or soldiers in precolonial times.

    *Halberd
    *Javalin
    *Nubian Guards
    *Huskarl

    Legion: large unit of the Roman army. It came into prominence c.400 B.C. Marcus Furius Camillus is traditionally regarded as the great organizer of the legion. A legion was composed of 10 cohorts and comprised about 5,000 men. Training
    was hard, with much difficult drilling to prepare the men especially in shock tactics and for rapid marches. The standard weapons
    were the spear (pilum) and (after Scipio Africanus Major conquered Spain) the short thrusting sword (gladius). The characteristic emblems of the legions were eagles inscribed SPQR [Senatus Populusque Romanus-the Senate and the people of Rome], and they carried the eagles in triumph over the far
    reaches of the empire for hundreds of years. Upon the legions rested to a large extent the glory of Rome. They were primarily heavy infantry and were vulnerable to quickly moving cavalry and archers (e.g., the defeat of Marcus Lucinius Crassus at Carrhae) and to guerrilla fighters (e.g., the famous defeat of Varus by the Germans). With the Germanic invasions the legion proved unable to match the barbarian horsemen, rendering it obsolete.
    Last edited by Saint Marcus; September 22, 2001, 14:04.
    Quod Me Nutrit Me Destruit

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    • #32
      Immortal: The Immortals were the elite corps of the Persian army, as well as the king's personal bodyguards, and only those of Persian or Medic descent were allowed to serve. Equipped with bows, spears, a short sword, and little else, the Immortals relied on superior numbers and high morale to defeat
      their foes. Immortals also carried lightweight wicker "shields" that could deflect arrows, but they were of little use in melee combat against more heavily armored and better equipped forces.

      Samurai: warrior class in Japan, or a member of that class.
      Originally the term was applied to the whole military system of Japan, both nobles and vassals. By the beginning of the feudal period in the 12th century, however, it denoted the military retainers of a daimyo, who was a feudal baron under the shogun, or military governor, of Japan. The samurai formed a distinct class, wearing two swords as a symbol of their caste and
      following a rigid code of ethics known as bushido. In 1867 the last shogun resigned, and the samurai class lost its privileges in 1871 when the whole feudal system was abolished. The daimyos returned their lands to the emperor, both nobles and retainers were granted pensions, and the practice of wearing swords was prohibited.

      Schiltron: The schiltrons, are agreed by most historians to have been first used successfully at Falkirk not at Stirling, but it is likely that the units, untrained as yet, were already in existence to use against the overwhelming numbers of English mounted warriors and knights. The basic schiltron was a mass of Scottish spearmen wielding unusually long 12 foot spears in tight formations such as oval rings or box shaped infantry units.
      The oncoming charge of the heavy or light cavalry would not be able to break the tightly packed ranks of spearmen and the horses were usually impaled by the spears. Before long the knight was pulled easily from his mount and slaughtered by the Scots on the battlefield. This ingenious invention is credited to William Wallace himselfand was used by the Flemish against the
      Frech cavalry in 1302 and again, much perfected, by Robert the Bruce at Bannockburn in 1314

      Swiss Guards: Swiss mercenaries who fought in various European armies from the 15th cent. until the 19th cent. These mercenaries, who were not volunteers, were put at the disposal of foreign powers by treaties (called capitulations) between the Swiss diet, the separate cantons, and the foreign power concerned, in return for money payments. As a result of the
      traditional alliance between Switzerland and France-dating from the Everlasting Peace of 1516-the Swiss mercenaries played their most important role in the military history of France. Francis I used some 120,000 Swiss levies in his wars. The most famous episode in the history of the Swiss Guards was their defense (Aug. 10, 1792) of the Tuileries palace in Paris in the French Revolution. Some 500 men of the regiment were massacred by the invading mob. Their heroic stand is commemorated by the Lion of Lucerne, the impressive monument by Thorvaldsen at Lucerne, Switzerland. The Swiss constitution of 1874 forbade all military capitulations and recruitment of Swiss by foreign powers, although volunteering in foreign armies continued until absolutely prohibited in 1927. An exception to the ruling of 1874 is the Swiss Guard of the Vatican, founded in 1505 by Pope Julius II, which is
      the personal guard of the pope. Recruited from the Catholic cantons of central Switzerland, the Swiss Guard at the Vatican is garbed in colorful costume of Renaissance design.

      *Elephant Fighter

      Longbowmen: The longbow, which was in use in Wales in the 12th cent. became prominent in the Welsh Wars of Edward I in the late 13th cent. For the rest of that century, the English emphasized skill with the longbow; it was inexpensive, mobile, and easily adapted to a peasant army. Only in England did the longbow survive the introduction of gunpowder; it was superseded gradually by firearms. It was a powerful weapon, but it took great strength to pull and years of practice to master.

      Babylonian Bowmen: Babylonian bowmen wore tunics of scale mail armor and helmets, and carried a composite bow that allowed them to strike targets from a long range.

      Comp.bowmen: Various woods and bones were used for the bow itself. However, it was not a powerful weapon until the invention of the compound, or composite, bow around 1500 B.C. on the steppes of Central Asia. A composite bow is made of various materials (wood, horn, sinew) glued together so as to increase their natural strength and elasticity.

      Plumed Archer: The Mayans in Central America had developed the bow and used it in combat. Their bow technology was not far advanced, however, in comparison to the Asian composite bow or English longbow. Archers could be ordered to wound when capture of enemies was more important than killing.
      Like all other Mayan warriors, archers wore distinctive costumes so commanders could distinguish their troops and place the right group where needed. The status of archers was low in comparison to other warrior ranks, so men of lower standing and skill entered their ranks. Men of status and ambition joined the ranks of the Eagle Warrior where they could have the opportunity to take captives. The better skilled and experienced bowmen
      became Elite Plumed Archers. They were especially important when absolute victory was required because they had the ability to kill enemies quickly and break enemy army morale under a barrage of well-aimed arrows.

      *Nubean Bowmen
      *Musketeer
      *Tercio

      Crossbowmen: Weapon used in war and sport in medieval Europe. It consisted of a wooden stock, or handle, with a bow made of wood, iron, or steel crossing it at right angles. The bowstring, held in a notch by a catch or trigger, was pulled back by a lever, which in the smaller bows was worked by hand or foot. The missile to be shot (called a bolt, or quarrel) was then
      laid in a groove on the top of the stock, and when the trigger was pulled the missile was propelled with considerable power. The larger crossbows, which threw heavy missiles, were military weapons and required several men to operate them. The crossbow was used in England chiefly during the 13th
      century. After that time it was largely replaced by the longbow.

      Janissary: Standing Ottoman Turkish army, organized by Murad I. Ottoman armies had previously been composed of Turkmen tribal levies, who were loyal to their clan leaders, but as the Ottoman polity acquired the characteristics of a state, it became necessary to have paid troops loyal only to the sultan. Next, the system of impressing Christian youths (devshirme) was instituted; converted to Islam and given the finest training, they became the elite of the army. Special laws regulated their daily life, cutting them off from civil society; they were even forbidden to
      marry. Devotion to such discipline made the Janissaries the scourge of Europe.

      Chi-Ko-Nu: The crossbow, although known in Roman times, was not widely used in Europe until the Middle Ages. In China, however, where it developed at the same time, the crossbow revolutionized warfare. A crossbow is a bow set on a stock. It fires missiles propelled by mechanical energy and released by a trigger. It could be more powerful than the ordinary bow
      and could fire arrows, darts, or stones. The Chinese later developed the repeating crossbow, an ingenious weapon that proved ineffective against repeating rifles in the First Sino-Japanese War.

      *Alpine Troops
      *Legionaire

      San Marco: in 1713 was constituted "La Marina" Regiment, then during the Independence wars the "Fanteria Real Marina" was formed by selected seamen keen in using firearms. They had also an important role during the Boxers' riot in Peking and during the Italian-Turkish war at the beginning of the century. In 1915 at the beginning of WW1 it was reconstituted the "Marina"
      Brigade, with an artillery regiment and an infantry one. This Brigade fought bravely in the Isonzo Front trenches side by side with the Army. But its contribution to the final victory is remembered most for their defence of Venice. Naval Infantrymen defended courageously this beautiful town and they saved it by being conquered. For this reason the Italian Navy Infantry was named San Marco, like the Saint Protector of Venice, and its insignia was the winged lion, the Saint and Venice's symbol. During WW2 San Marco Regiment fought in Greece and Africa, defending Tobruk, and lowered the last Italian flag in Tunisia during 1943. After the armistice with the Allies, San Marco Regiment fought against the Germans and was the first Allied corps to enter in Venice when it was liberated. Today it's one of the best troops of Italian Armed Forces and is based in Brindisi
      on the Adriatic Sea. In the recent past San Marco participated to several international peace-keeping missions.

      Slavic Partisan: Josip Broz Tito, the Croat head of the Yugoslav Communist Party, organized a pan-Yugoslav resistance group called the Partisans, which was in the field by June 1941. The Partisans, with "death to fascism, freedom to the people" and the "brotherhood and unity" of all the Yugoslav ethnic groups as their principal slogans, recruited fighters and supporters
      from all of the Yugoslav ethnic groups. In the end, the Partisans were the victors, primarily because of their broad appeal, better organization and discipline, and greater persistence in fighting the Axis occupiers. In 1943 the Partisans won what would eventually become exclusive British and American recognition and military assistance as the most active anti-Axis fighters.

      *Fanatics
      *Mujahedeen
      *Militia
      *Khmer Rouge/Vietcong

      *Onager: "Wild Ass", big catapult used by the Romans in sieges.

      Ballista: The ballista and the mangonel used the energy created by twisting ropes to create torsion. The sudden release of this energy was used to launch large rocks, arrows, or flaming balls at an enemy. The earliest catapult was the ballista. It resembled a crossbow and originated in Greece in the 3rd century BC. Engineers working for Philip II of Macedonia, father
      of Alexander the Great, most likely invented the ballista. A ballista used two vertical groups of ropes that were twisted over and over again to create torsion. Wooden arms were inserted horizontally into the twisted ropes. A single cord attached to both arms pulled them back against the force of the twisted ropes, much like a crossbow as it is being cocked. A spear was
      placed in a pocket on the cord. When the cord was released, the twisted ropes pulled the wooden arms forward, thrusting the spear toward the enemy. The distance varied depending on how much and how tightly the ropes had been twisted.

      *Light Cannon: Polish Cannon with a higher accuracy and fire rate than others of it's time.

      *Skoda Cannon: Powerful cannons build by the second largest arms manufacturer in Europe, the Skoda Works.

      *Mountaineer
      Last edited by Saint Marcus; September 22, 2001, 14:09.
      Quod Me Nutrit Me Destruit

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      • #33
        CIV DESCRIPTION

        *Germans
        *French
        *English
        *Dutch

        Vikings: Scandinavian warriors who raided the coasts of Europe and the British Isles from the 9th cent. to the 11th cent. During the Neolithic period the Scandinavians had lived in small autonomous communities as farmers, fishermen, and hunters. At the beginning of the Viking Age they were the best shipbuilders and sailors in the world; they later ventured as far as Greenland and North America (see Vinland). Among the causes that drove the Vikings from their lands were overpopulation, internal dissension, quest for trade, and thirst for adventure. Many local kingdoms came into existence in Scandinavia, and from them stemmed the kingdoms of Norway, Denmark, and Sweden. Many Vikings settled where they had raided.

        *Spanish
        *Portugese

        Swiss: In pre-Roman times the territory now known as Switzerland was inhabited by the Helvetii in the west and the Rhaetians, a people believed to have been related to the Etruscans, in the east. In 1276 Holy Roman Emperor Rudolf I of the Habsburg dynasty attempted to assert feudal rights
        in Switzerland, making his power a threat to the traditional liberties of the Swiss. To resist Rudolf's aggression, the three so-called forest cantons-Uri, Schwyz, and Unterwalden-around the Lake of Lucerne, entered a league for mutual defense in 1291. In 1474 the Habsburgs, unable to cope with the militant Swiss mountaineers, abandoned their attempts to acquire the region as a family appanage, and the Swiss confederation became directly
        dependent on the empire. In 1499 Holy Roman Emperor Maximilian I attempted to abrogate various Swiss governmental rights; in the ensuing war he was defeated, and by the Treaty of Basel on September 22, 1499, he was compelled to recognize the virtual independence of the Swiss. Because of their skill and bravery in war, Swiss mercenaries became famous throughout Europe. The Protestant Reformation in Switzerland started in 1518, when a country pastor named Huldreich Zwingli began to denounce the sale of indulgences by the Roman Catholic church. The Congress of Vienna, in 1815, recognized the perpetual neutrality of Switzerland, and Swiss territory was expanded to
        include 22 cantons; since that time the country's boundaries have remained virtually unchanged. Because of the traditional neutrality of the country, Switzerland became the favored site of international conferences and the headquarters of many organizations. The main office of the International Red
        Cross was established there in 1863, as was that of the League of Nations following World War I (1914-1918) and the WTO.

        *Austro-Hungarians

        Celts:A people who dominated much of western and central Europe in
        the 1st millennium BC, giving their language, customs, and religion to the
        other peoples of that area. The earliest archaeological evidence associated
        with the Celts places them in what is now France and western Germany in the
        late Bronze Age, around 1200 BC. In the 4th century BC, the Celts invaded
        the Greco-Roman world, conquering northern Italy, Macedonia, and Thessaly
        (Thessalia). They plundered Rome in 390, sacked Delphi in 279, and
        penetrated Asia Minor, where they were known as Galatians. The "Cisalpine
        Gauls" of northern Italy were conquered by the Romans in the 2nd century BC;
        Transalpine Gaul (modern France and the Rhineland) was subdued by Julius
        Caesar in the 1st century BC, and most of Britain came under Roman rule in
        the 1st century AD. In the same period, the Celts of central Europe were
        dominated by the Germanic peoples. In medieval and modern times the Celtic
        tradition and languages survived in Brittany (in western France), Wales, the
        Scottish Highlands, and Ireland. Celtic art is considered the first great
        contribution to European art made by non-Mediterranean peoples.

        *Russians

        Goths: The Goths were a Germanic tribe on the Danube River frontier
        known to the Romans from the 1st century AD. Pressured and then displaced
        when the Huns moved west out of Central Asia, the Goths moved west into
        Europe and over the Danube River to escape the oncoming Huns. After taking
        part in the fall of Rome, they vied with other barbarians for the leavings
        of the Western Roman Empire during the Early Middle Ages. The Goths
        originated on the island of Gotland in the Baltic, to the best of our
        knowledge, and split into two groups as they migrated south across Central
        Europe. In 409 they sacked Rome under their king Alaric and then moved north
        into Gaul. The Romans gave them southwestern Gaul. From their they
        eventually extended their rule into all of Italy. Under Theodric, king of
        modern Switzerland and the Balkans already, the Goths entered Italy in 488,
        completing its conquest in 493. In 552 the Ostrogoths were finally defeated
        in Italy. They ceased to exist as a separate group by the late 6th century
        when northern Italy was invaded by a new group of barbarians called the
        Lombards. The Visigoth kingdom in Spain lasted somewhat longer. In the late
        5th century Clovis of the Franks pushed the Visigoths out of France and over
        the Pyrenees Mountains. Following the death of Clovis his kingdom fragmented
        and the Visigoths were left alone temporarily. In 711 a new threat appeared
        from the south. Islamic armies crossed over from North Africa and destroyed
        the last Gothic kingdom in four years.

        *Swedes
        *Fins
        *Poles
        *Yugoslavs

        Romans: The Romans began as a small tribe living in modern Italy but
        expanded to create the largest and longest lasting empire of antiquity. They
        were a hardy and industrious people who survived in a violent world mainly
        by creating a powerful army. The Roman Army went through many changes over
        the thousand years of its existence and failed eventually to defend the
        empire, but in general it was consistently superior to opponents from all
        corners of the world. The empire expanded on the strength of the ruthless
        and aggressive Roman legions, and consolidated through benign administration
        and public works on an unprecedented scale. The people who became the Romans
        migrated from northern Europe and settled on the plains south of the Tiber
        River. They established towns on the seven hills near the river. These towns
        eventually merged to form their capital city of Rome. As first a republic
        and then an empire, Rome began expanding after 400 BC and eventually
        controlled the entire Mediterranean coastline, Europe west of the Rhine and
        south of the Danube, Egypt, Palestine, Syria, Asia Minor, and modern
        England.

        Byzantines: The Byzantine Empire was centered on the Bosphorus, the
        strategic waterway linking the Black Sea to the Aegean Sea. At its zenith in
        the middle 7th century, the empire had recovered much of the original Roman
        Empire, lacking only most of the Iberian Peninsula (modern Spain), Gaul
        (modern France), and Britain. The Byzantines held the Middle East for a few
        centuries, but their empire consisted mainly of the Balkans and modern
        Turkey for most of their existence. The Byzantine capital was
        Constantinople. It was defended on the land side by three rings of stout
        walls and over 1000 towers. A strong navy kept supplies coming in by sea.
        Constantinople stood for 1000 years after the fall of the Roman Empire,
        defending Europe against invasions by Persians, Arabs, and Turks. The
        Byzantine economy was the richest in Europe because Constantinople was
        ideally sited to act as a conduit for trade between Asia and Europe and
        between the Black and Aegean Seas. It was an important destination point for
        the Silk Road from China. The nomisma, the principal Byzantine gold coin,
        was the standard for money throughout the Mediterranean for 800 years. A key
        factor in the long life of the Byzantine Empire was its generally superior
        army. Although it suffered defeats on occasion, the military was
        sufficiently efficient to defeat successive invasions by Persians, Arabs,
        Bulgars, Slavs, and Russians through the 11th century and to survive for
        several centuries more.

        *Egyptians

        Carthagians: Carthage was founded by the Phoenicians around 800 BC
        near modern Tunis in North Africa. Although the home cities in Phoenicia
        were repeatedly conquered and subjugated, the colony of Carthage prospered
        and expanded to become one of the great powers of the Western Mediterranean.
        True to their Phoenician heritage, the Carthaginians became great seafarers,
        traders, and colonizers. Carthaginian settlements spread along the North
        African coast, into western Sicily,
        Sardinia, Corsica, Minorca, and much of Spain (modern Cartagena in Spain was
        called Carthago Nova, or New Carthage). In the third century, they began a
        titanic clash with the rising
        power of Rome. The Punic Wars between Rome and Carthage were fought to
        decide which power would dominate the Western Mediterranean. At the decisive
        battle at
        Zama, the Romans destroyed the Carthaginian army.

        Phoenicians: Phoenicia, ancient designation of a narrow strip of
        territory on the eastern coast of the Mediterranean Sea, now largely in
        modern Lebanon. The Phoenicians were well established as the navigators and
        traders of the Mediterranean world, enjoying the commerce that had once been
        in the hands of the Aegeans. Their communities were organized into
        city-states; the greatest of these were Tyre and Sidon. Tyre was famous for
        its industries, such as textile manufactures, and particularly for the
        purple Tyrian dye. Wherever the Phoenicians ranged across the Mediterrean
        they founded posts and colonies that later became Their greatest
        contribution to
        Western civilization, however, was the development of a standardized
        phonetic alphabet, which was a great improvement over the more ambiguous
        cuneiform and hieroglyphic. The Phoenician alphabet served as a basis for
        the Greek alphabet and was a key factor in the development of Greek
        literature. Phoenician sailors, architects, and artisans were all
        prominent in Persian service. They also served elsewhere, and Phoenician
        ships were in the Greek navy that defeated Xerxes I at Salamis.

        *Greeks
        *Hospitalers
        *Italians

        Zulus: About 2,000 years ago Iron Age peoples established themselves
        on the plateau, developing a series of distinctive pottery styles, herding
        cattle, and mining gold and copper that they traded with peoples of the
        coast. About the 11th century AD the first stone building began, and this
        rapidly developed into a distinctive and impressive architectural style.
        Stone building reached its first peak in the city of Great Zimbabwe, which
        was built between the 11th and 15th centuries. The whole area was later
        conquered by the European powers, mainly the Portugese and British. The
        Zulus became historically important in the early 19th cent. under Shaka,
        whose conquests reduced many neighboring people to vassalage and caused
        others to flee. After many wars against the British and Boers, the Zulus
        were finally defeated and forced to lay down their arms.

        *Ethiopians

        Nubians: Ancient state of NE Africa. At the height of its political
        power
        Nubia extended, from north to south, from the First Cataract of the Nile
        (near Aswan, Egypt) to Khartoum, in Sudan. It early came under the influence
        of the pharaohs, and in the 20th cent. B.C. Seti I completed the occupation
        of the area. Many centuries later Egypt itself was ruled (8th and 7th cent.
        B.C.) by conquering Nubians of the Cush (Kush) kingdom. The capital fell in
        350 B.C. to the Ethiopians and was abandoned. The British, who succeeded the
        Boers as rulers of Natal in 1843, encountered the hostility of Cetshwayo.
        After he ignored an ultimatum that he submit to British rule, Great Britain
        launched an attack on Zululand in 1878 and, although suffering several grave
        defeats, finally triumphed in July, 1879. Faced with continuing Zulu
        rebellions, the British annexed Zululand in 1887; it became part of Natal in
        1897.

        *Songhay/Mali
        *Persians
        *Assyro-Babylonians
        *Hebrew
        *Ottomans
        *Arabs

        Mongols: The Mongols were nomads from the steppes of Central Asia.
        They were fierce warriors who fought each other over pasture lands and
        raided developed civilizations to the east and south. At the beginning of
        the 13th century the Mongol clans united and began a campaign of foreign
        conquest. Following in the hoof prints of the Huns, their predecessors of a
        thousand years, they carved out the largest empire the world has yet seen.
        Cutting a wide swathe of death and destruction, the Mongols became known as
        the "devil's horsemen." The Mongols inhabited the plains south of Lake
        Baikal in modern Mongolia. At its maximum, their empire stretched from
        Korea, across Asia, and into European Russia to the Baltic Sea coast. They
        held most of Asia Minor, modern Iraq, modern Iran, Afghanistan, Pakistan,
        Tibet, parts of India, parts of Burma, all of China, and parts of Vietnam.
        The Mongol clans were united by Temujin, called Genghis Khan ('Mighty
        Ruler') in the early 13th century. His ambition was to rule all lands
        between the oceans (Pacific and Atlantic) and he nearly did so. He took
        Beijing in 1215 after a campaign that may have cost 30,000,000 Chinese
        lives. Genghis Khan was a strict ruler but he worked to encourage trade and
        industry once he owned it. The Silk Road, for example, was made safer and
        much more profitable. The legend of the time was that a virgin carrying a
        bag of gold could walk from one end of his empire to the other without fear
        of being molested.

        Huns: The Huns were a nomadic people from around Mongolia in Central
        Asia that began migrating toward the west in the third century, probably due
        to climatic change. They were a horse people and very adept at mounted
        warfare, both with spears and bows. Moving with their families and great
        herds of horses and domesticated animals they migrated in search of new
        grasslands to settle. Due to their military prowess and discipline, they
        proved unstoppable, displacing all in their path. They set in motion a tide
        of migration before them as other peoples moved to get out of their way.
        This domino effect of large populations passed around the hard nut of
        Constantinople and the Eastern Roman Empire to spill over the Danube and
        Rhine Rivers, and ultimately overwhelm the Western Roman Empire by 476.
        Finding lands to their liking, the Huns settled on the Hungarian plain in
        Eastern Europe, making their headquarters at the city of Szeged on the Tisza
        River. They needed large expanses of grasslands to provide forage for their
        horses and other animals. From this area of plains the Huns controlled
        through alliance or conquest an empire eventually stretching from the Ural
        Mountains in Russia to the Rhône River in France. The Huns were superb
        horsemen, trained from childhood, and some believe they invented the
        stirrup, critical for increasing the fighting power of a mounted man
        charging with a couched lance. They inspired terror in enemies due to the
        speed at which they could move, changing ponies several times a day to
        maintain their advance. A second advantage was their recurved composite bow,
        far superior to anything used in the West. Standing in their stirrups, they
        could fire forward, to the sides, and to the rear. Their tactics featured
        surprise, lightning attacks, and the ensuing terror.

        *Japanese:

        *Chinese:

        Koreans: When Europe fell into its Dark Age, Korea had been divided
        into three competing kingdoms: Koguryo to the north, Paekche to the
        southwest, and Shilla to the southeast. In alliance with China, Shilla
        conquered the other two kingdoms in the 7th century and then expelled their
        erstwhile Chinese ally. The central authority of Shilla disintegrated in the
        8th-9th centuries, however, under pressure from local lords. Korea was
        unified once again as Koryo in the 10th century and after that, recovered
        territory reaching up to the Amnok River border with China in 993. The
        civilian nobility was thrown out of power by a military coup in 1170 and
        military rule then lasted for sixty years. The Mongols invaded in 1231,
        initiating a 30-year struggle. The Mongols were often distracted by their
        wars in China and elsewhere but eventually brought enough power to bear that
        Koryo made peace with the invaders in 1258. Under the Mongols the Koryo
        maintained their distinct culture and were inspired to demonstrate their
        superiority to their conquerors through a burst of artistic accomplishment.
        Land reform, the rise of a new bureaucracy, the diminishment of Buddhism,
        and the rise of Confucianism around 1400 were part of the creation of a new
        kingdom, the Choson, that would rule Korea until the 20th century. China
        heavily influenced the Choson politically and culturally. Korea became an
        important center of learning, aided by the invention of movable type and the
        woodblock technique of publishing around 1234. The greatest test of the
        Choson dynasty was invasion by samurai armies from Japan in 1592 that
        ostensibly planned to conquer China.
        Last edited by Saint Marcus; September 22, 2001, 14:10.
        Quod Me Nutrit Me Destruit

        Comment


        • #34
          *Indians
          *Khmer

          *Afghans: Excavation of prehistoric sites suggests that early humans
          lived in northern Afghanistan at least 50,000 years ago and that farming
          communities in Afghanistan were among the earliest in the world. After 2000
          BC successive waves of people from Central Asia moved into the area. Since
          many of these settlers were Aryans (speakers of the parent language of the
          Indo-European languages), a people who also migrated to Persia (now Iran)
          and India in prehistoric times, the area was called Aryana, or Land of the
          Aryans. A Samanid established a dynasty in Ghazni called the Ghaznavids. The
          greatest Ghaznavid king, Mahmud, who ruled from 998 to 1030, established
          Islam throughout the area of Afghanistan. He led many military expeditions
          into India. Ghazni became a center of literature and the arts. The Ghaznavid
          state grew weaker under Mahmud's descendants and gave way in the middle of
          the 12th century to the Ghurid kingdom, which arose in Ghur, in the west
          central region of present-day Afghanistan. The Ghurids in turn were routed
          early in the 13th century by the Khwarizm Shahs, another central Asian
          dynasty. They were swept away in about 1220 by the Mongol conqueror Genghis
          Khan, who devastated the land. Near the end of the 14th century the central
          Asian military leader Tamerlane (Timur Lang) conquered the region of
          Afghanistan and moved on into India. His sons and grandsons, the Timurids,
          could not hold Tamerlane's empire together. However, they ruled most of
          present-day Afghanistan from Herat. The period from the Ghurid through the
          Timurid dynasty produced fine Islamic architectural monuments. Many of these
          mosques, shrines, and minarets still stand in Herat, Qal'eh-ye Bost, Ghazni,
          and Mazar-e Sharif. An important school of miniature painting flourished at
          Herat in the 15th century. In the 18th century, Nadir Shah, the king of
          Persia, employed the Abdali tribe of Pashtuns in his wars in India. Ahmad
          Shah, an Abdali chief who had gained a high post in Nadir Shah's army,
          established himself in Kandahar after Nadir Shah's assassination in 1747. An
          assembly of tribal chiefs proclaimed him shah and the Afghans extended their
          rule as far east as Kashmir and Delhi, north to the Amu Darya, and west into
          northern Persia. In the 19th century, palace rivalries and internal
          conflicts gradually reduced the Afghan empire to roughly its present
          borders. Both the British in India and the Russians sought to bring
          Afghanistan under their influence. This Anglo-Russian rivalry (called the
          Great Game) resulted in two wars, the First Anglo-Afghan War (1838-1842) and
          the Second Anglo-Afghan War (1878-1880). After the second of these wars, the
          British won control of Afghanistan's foreign relations. Abd-ar-Rahman Khan
          became emir of Afghanistan in 1880. During his reign the British drew a
          border, the Durand Line of 1893, between Afghanistan and British India.
          Afghanistan became a buffer between the British and Russian empires.
          Abd-ar-Rahman Khan extended his control throughout the territory within
          these boundaries. His son, Habibullah, who reigned from 1901 until 1919,
          took the first steps toward the introduction of modern education and
          industry. Habibullah's son and successor, Amanullah, initiated a brief war,
          the Third Anglo-Afghan War, in 1919 to end British control over Afghan
          foreign affairs. The resulting peace treaty recognized the independence of
          Afghanistan. His reforms, including efforts to induce women to give up the
          burka, or full-length veil, and to make men wear Western clothing in certain
          public areas, offended religious and ethnic group leaders. Revolts broke
          out, and in 1929 Amanullah fled the country. Order was restored in 1930 by
          four brothers who were relatives of Amanullah. Daud began to modernize
          Afghanistan rapidly with the help of economic and especially military aid
          from the USSR; the modern Afghan army was largely created with Soviet
          equipment and technical training. Late in 1978 Islamic traditionalists and
          ethnic leaders who objected to rapid social change began an armed revolt. By
          the summer of 1979 the rebels controlled much of the Afghan countryside. On
          December 25, 1979, Soviet forces invaded. They quickly won control of Kabul
          and other important centers. During the next few years about 3 million war
          refugees fled to Pakistan and 1.5 million fled to Iran. During the 1980s
          Soviet forces increasingly bore the brunt of the fighting. By 1986 about
          118,000 Soviet troops and 50,000 Afghan government troops were facing
          perhaps 130,000 guerrillas. Although the Soviet troops used modern
          equipment, including tanks and bombers, the guerrillas were also well armed,
          and they had local support and operated more effectively in familiar
          mountainous terrain. The effects of the war on Afghanistan were devastating.
          Half of the population was displaced inside the country, forced to migrate
          outside the country, wounded, or killed. Estimates of combat fatalities
          range between 700,000 and 1.3 million people. In May 1988 Afghanistan,
          Pakistan, the USSR, and the United States signed agreements providing for an
          end to foreign intervention in Afghanistan, and the USSR began withdrawing
          its forces. The Soviet withdrawal was completed in February 1989. The
          rebels, who did not sign the agreement concerning the Soviet withdrawal,
          maintained their fight against the Afghanistan central government with
          weapons that they continued to get from the United States via Pakistan. They
          rejected offers from Najibullah to make peace and share power, and refused
          to consider participating in any national government that included
          Communists. Kabul was besieged beginning in 1992, first by various
          mujahideen factions and then by the Pashtun-dominated Taliban, who sought to
          reestablish Pashtun dominance in the capital. The Taliban emerged in the
          fall of 1994 as a faction of guerrilla soldiers who identified themselves as
          religious students. The movement started in the south and worked its way
          toward Herat in the northwest and Kabul in the east. It made outstanding
          military gains using armor, heavy rocket artillery, and helicopters against
          government forces. By the late 1990s the Taliban controlled almost all of
          Afghanistan, although most other countries had not recognized the group as
          the legitimate government of the Afghan state.

          *Americans
          *Confederates

          *Aztecs: By absorption of other cultural elements and by conquest the
          Aztec achieved a composite civilization, based on the heritage of Toltec and
          Mixteca-Puebla. They attained a high degree of development in engineering,
          architecture, art, mathematics, and astronomy. The Aztec calendar utilized a
          260-day year and a 52-year time cycle. Aztec skill in engineering was
          evident in the fortifications of their island capital. The Aztec further
          developed sculpture, weaving, metalwork, ornamentation, music, and picture
          writing for historical records. Agriculture was well advanced and trade
          flourished. The political and social organization was based on three
          castes-nobility, priesthood, and military and merchants. The priesthood was
          a powerful political as well as religious force. Aztec government was
          relatively centralized, although many conquered chiefs retained political
          autonomy; they paid tribute and kept commerce open to the Aztec. The Aztec
          had a large and efficient army. Prisoners of war were used for human
          sacrifice to satisfy the many gods of the Aztec pantheon, notably
          Huitzilopochtli, the chief god, who was god of war.

          Mayas: Archaeologists divide the prehistory of the Maya region into
          the Formative (c.1500 B.C.-A.D. 300), Classic (300-900), and Postclassic
          (900-1500) periods, and concur that in most parts of this large region the
          most spectacular florescence occurred during the Classic period. Throughout
          Maya history, populations increased and agriculture, correlatively, became
          more intensive. Linked with this process, social organization became
          increasingly hierarchical, with increasing differentiations of wealth and
          status, shown primarily in the differential size and elaborateness of both
          residences and public buildings. Settlements in civic centers show a
          repeated pattern of arrangement of residences, pyramidal structures, and
          temples around courts or plazas, with buildings made of cut stone masonry,
          sculptured and stuccoed decorations, corbel-vault stone roofs, and paved
          plazas. Such groupings in small, poor rural settlements involve buildings of
          largely perishable materials and small size. Neither during the Classic
          period nor at any other time does there seem to have been any political
          unification of the area as a whole. Rather, political organization seems to
          have been described by a series of small, city-state-like polities, each
          characterized by its own internal differentiation of status and power. While
          much earlier literature refers to professional rulers and priests, the
          present view is that the higher-status individuals were more probably heads
          of patrilineages (see kinship), and that much of the religious complex was
          centered on ancestor worship rather than on universalist gods. In contrast
          to the civilizations of central Mexico, urbanization and occupational
          differentiation in the Mayan region were poorly developed, even during the
          Classic period. On the other hand, the Classic Maya developed a system of
          written hieroglyphic script, largely syllabic in nature, which, although
          once considered astronomical or religious in content, is now considered
          primarily dynastic and political. Concomitantly, a vigesimal (base 20)
          numerical system was used, notable in its development of the zero as
          placeholder; several types of calendar reckonings were in simultaneous use.

          *Incas

          Sioux: Confederation of Native North American tribes, the dominant
          group of the Hokan-Siouan linguistic stock. The Sioux, or Dakota, consisted
          of
          seven tribes in three major divisions. The Sioux were first noted
          historically in the Jesuit Relation of 1640, when they were living in what
          is now Minnesota. Their migration had been in a southwesterly
          direction in the face of the hostile Ojibwa, who had been equipped with guns
          by Europeans. In the mid-18th cent., having driven the Cheyenne and Kiowa
          out of the Black Hills, the Sioux inhabited the N Great Plains and the
          western prairies-mainly in Wisconsin, Iowa, Minnesota, North and South
          Dakota, and up into the bordering provinces of Canada. They then numbered at
          least 30,000. The Tetons, numbering some 15,000, were the most populous of
          the seven tribes, and the Oglala Sioux, the largest group of the Teton,
          numbered some 3,000. The Sioux became friendly
          with the British after the fall of the French power and supported the
          British against the United States in the American Revolution and (with the
          exception of one chief, Tohami, also known as Rising Moose) in the War of
          1812. The United States concluded treaties with the Sioux in 1815, 1825, and
          1851. A portion of the Sioux under Little Crow rose in 1862 and massacred
          more than 800 settlers and soldiers in Minnesota; this revolt was suppressed
          but unrest continued. In 1867 a treaty was concluded by which the Sioux gave
          up a large section of territory and agreed to retire to a reservation in SW
          Dakota before 1876. The discovery of gold in the Black Hills and the
          subsequent rush of prospectors brought resistance under the leadership of
          such chiefs as Sitting Bull, Red Cloud, Rain-in-the-Face, Crazy Horse,
          American Horse, and Gall. In this revolt occurred the famous last stand by
          Gen. George Armstrong Custer. The last major conflict fought by the Sioux
          was the battle of Wounded Knee, Dec. 29, 1890, which resulted in the
          massacre of more than 200 members of the tribe.

          *Iroquois: Iroquois, important confederacy of indigenous peoples of
          the Iroquoian language family and of the Eastern Woodlands culture area. It
          was founded in the 16th century in what is now central New York State. The
          original confederacy consisted of five tribes-the Mohawk, Onondaga, Cayuga,
          Oneida, and Seneca-and was known as the Five Nations, or the League of Five
          Nations. Sometime between 1715 and 1722, however, the Tuscaroras, an
          Iroquoian tribe originally of North Carolina, which had migrated to New
          York, was formally admitted to the confederacy, and the name of the league
          was changed to the Six Nations, or the League of Six Nations. As
          representative members of the Iroquoian family, and the ones first
          encountered and later most intensively studied by white people, the Iroquois
          gave their name to the family of which they are a part. The Iroquois had an
          agricultural economy, based mainly on corn, with supplementary crops of
          pumpkins, beans, and tobacco and later of orchard fruits such as apples and
          peaches. They made fine pottery, splint baskets, and mats of corn husk and
          used wampum as a medium of exchange. Public records were woven into the
          designs of large wampum belts. Each town contained several long,
          bark-covered communal houses, which had both tribal and political
          significance; along their inner sides the families of a clan lived in
          semiprivate compartments, and the central areas were used as social and
          political meeting places. The common council of the entire confederacy met
          in such meeting places. These councils were fairly democratic in
          composition; delegates were elected by members of various lineages, and each
          delegate represented both a tribe and one of the matrilineal clans within a
          tribe. The office of delegate was restricted to chiefs, and every delegate
          had to meet the approval of both tribal and league councils. If the conduct
          of any delegate was perceived as improper, or if he lost the people's
          confidence, the women of his clan officially expelled him and chose another
          delegate to serve in his place. The league as a whole had no single head,
          and deliberative decisions were usually made by a unanimous vote of the
          league council. The complexity and stability of this political organization,
          together with a carefully nurtured skill in warfare and the early
          acquisition of firearms, enabled the Iroquois to achieve and maintain a
          position of great power during the colonial period of American history.
          During their formative period in the 17th century they broke up the tribal
          confederacies to their west, notably that of the Hurons. They continued to
          expand the territory under their dominion until by 1720 they had subdued
          almost all the tribes in a vast region extending from the Atlantic Ocean to
          the Mississippi River and from the St. Lawrence River to the Tennessee
          River. In their relations with white settlers, the Iroquois from the start
          played the role of an independent power. During the colonial period they
          held the balance of power between the French and English, particularly in
          the area around the Canadian border. With few exceptions, chiefly factions
          of the Mohawk and Cayuga, who came under the influence of French Jesuit
          missionaries, the Iroquois allied themselves with English interests. They
          bitterly opposed the extension of French settlement southward from Canada,
          and they were responsible for preventing the English colonies from being
          flanked on the west by the French. At the outbreak of the American
          Revolution, the league council declared for neutrality but allowed each of
          the six component tribes to take sides as it saw fit. Most of them joined
          the British.

          Texans: Although Spain had claimed Texas for more than 300 years,
          there were only three settlements between the Río Grande and the Sabine
          rivers. In 1820 Moses Austin, a United States citizen, asked the Spanish
          government in Mexico for permission to settle in Texas. Austin died soon
          after making his request, but his son, Stephen Fuller Austin, was permitted
          to continue with the project in 1821. Mexico gained its independence from
          Spain in a revolution that same year, and Austin negotiated a contract with
          the new government to settle 300 families in Texas. In 1826 the Fredonian
          Rebellion, a short-lived attempt by a small group of Anglo-Americans in
          Texas to create the independent Republic of Fredonia, increased Mexican
          suspicion that settlers were not loyal to Mexico. In 1834 the Mexican
          politician and soldier Antonio López de Santa Anna deposed the Mexican
          government and assumed dictatorial powers. He was determined to crush
          rebellions in Texas and other areas. This determination led to the outbreak
          of the Texas Revolution. In October 1835 Mexican soldiers were sent to
          Gonzales, Texas, to retrieve a cannon that had been given to the settlers
          for use against Native Americans. The settlers, with a few reinforcements,
          forced the Mexicans to retreat in an encounter that is considered the first
          battle of the revolution. A Texan army was quickly gathered, and won a
          series of battles in the fall of 1835. However, the Texas forces were
          defeated at The Alamo, a former mission in San Antonio. On March 2, 1836,
          during the siege of The Alamo, a convention of American Texans met at
          Washington-on-the-Brazos and declared independence from Mexico. The Texans
          defeated Santa Anna and his troops at the Battle of San Jacinto on April 21,
          1836. The United States Senate rejected a treaty to annex Texas in 1844, but
          it reversed that decision the following year, and Texas joined the Union on
          December 29, 1845.
          Quod Me Nutrit Me Destruit

          Comment


          • #35
            LEADER DESCRIPTION

            Theodoric: Theodoric the Great, c.454-526, king of the Ostrogoths and
            conqueror of Italy, b. Pannonia. Elected king in 471 after his father's
            death, he became involved in intrigues in which he was by turns the ally and
            the enemy of Byzantine emperor Zeno. In 483 he was appointed imperial master
            of soldiers and in 484 was consul. Theodoric with his Gothic army entered
            Italy in 488. He won battles at the Isonzo (489), at Milan (489), and at the
            Adda (490); he besieged and took Ravenna (493). Theodoric was now master in
            Italy; because of his great power he was able to avoid Byzantine supervision
            and thus was more than a mere official. His title was that of patrician. His
            long rule in Italy was most beneficent; he respected Roman institutions,
            preserved Roman laws, and appointed Romans to civil offices, at the same
            time retaining a Gothic army and settling Goths on the land. He improved the
            harbors and repaired the roads and public buildings. Theodoric is the
            prototype for Dietrich von Bern in the German epic poem Nibelungenlied. His
            tomb is one of the finest monuments of Ravenna. He was succeeded by his
            grandson Athalaric, under the regency of Theodoric's daughter Amalasuntha.

            Shaka: Zulu warrior chief, who set in motion the far-reaching changes
            of the mfecane, a period of warfare and forced migrations among southern
            African peoples. When Shaka's father died in 1816, Chief Dingiswayo sent
            Shaka to rule the Zulu. He immediately reorganized the Zulu fighting force
            and, with innovations in tactics and weaponry, shaped it into a formidable
            military machine geared to total warfare. Within a year, Shaka had
            quadrupled the number of his subjects and army members by absorbing
            conquered groups into his Zulu nation. By the time his overlord, Dingiswayo,
            was killed in 1817, Shaka was ready to take on all other groups in the area.
            This he did in annual campaigns during the next ten years. The result was a
            wave of migrations by uprooted peoples as far north as modern Tanzania and
            as far south as the Cape Colony (later Cape Province).

            Cetshwayo: Cetshwayo gained ascendancy in 1856, On his father's death
            in 1872, Cetshwayo took over. He was determined to resist European advances
            in his territory, and in Dec., 1878, he rejected British demands that he
            disband his troops. The British attacked in 1879, and they ultimately
            utterly defeated Cetshwayo at Ulundi.

            Garibaldi: 1807-82, Italian patriot and soldier, a leading figure in
            the Risorgimento. He remains perhaps the most popular of all Italian heroes
            of the Risorgimento, and a great revolutionary hero in the Western world. In
            Sout America he gained his first experience in guerrilla warfare. He served
            (1836-42) the state of Rio Grande do Sul in its rebellion against Brazil and
            fought (1842-46) in the Uruguayan civil war, winning fame for his heroism.
            When revolution swept over Europe in 1848, Garibaldi found a new theater of
            action. He went to Rome (1849) and, at the head of some improvised forces,
            fought
            brilliantly for Mazzini's short-lived Roman republic against the superior
            French forces intervening for Pope Pius IX. Garibaldi took part in the war
            of 1859 against
            Austria. After the Treaty of Villafranca di Verona he violently attacked
            Cavour and denounced the cession of Savoy and his native Nice to France. In
            1860, with Victor Emmanuel's connivance, Garibaldi embarked on the crowning
            enterprise of his life-the conquest of the kingdom of the Two Sicilies. With
            1,000 volunteers, the Red Shirts, he landed (May, 1860) in Sicily, which had
            rebelled against Francis II, king of the Two Sicilies, and conquered the
            island in a spectacularly daring campaign. He then crossed to the mainland,
            took Naples, and won a decisive battle on the Volturno River. In the
            Austro-Prussian War of 1866 he
            commanded a volunteer unit, and in 1867 he was defeated by French and papal
            forces at Mentana while attempting once again to capture Rome. In the
            Franco-Prussian War of 1870-71 he commanded a group of French and Italian
            volunteers and won a battle near Dijon (1871). Garibaldi was elected to the
            Italian parliament in 1874.

            Attila: King of the Huns (445-53). In 434, Attila obtained tribute
            and great concessions for the Huns in a treaty with the Eastern Roman
            emperor Theodosius II, but, taking advantage of Roman wars with the Vandals
            and Persians, he invaded the Balkans in 441. Peace was made, and Attila's
            tribute was tripled. In 447 he again attacked the empire and spent the
            following three years negotiating a new peace. In 450, however, the new
            Eastern emperor, Marcian, refused to render further tribute as did
            Valentinian III, emperor of the West. Leaving Hungary with an army of
            perhaps half a million Huns and allies, Attila invaded Gaul but was defeated
            (451) by Aetius at Maurica. Attila turned back and invaded (452) N Italy but
            abandoned his plan to take Rome itself. His withdrawal, often ascribed to
            the eloquent diplomacy of Pope Leo I, appears to have been motivated by a
            shortage of provisions and the outbreak of pestilence. Soon afterward in
            Hungary, Attila died of a nasal hemorrhage suffered while celebrating his
            marriage to Ildico. The fear Attila inspired is clear from many accounts of
            his savagery, but, though undoubtedly harsh, he was a just ruler to his own
            people. He encouraged the presence of learned Romans at his court and was
            far less bent on devastation than other conquerors. Often called the Scourge
            of God, he appears in many legends, particularly as Etzel in the
            Nibelungenlied (see under Nibelungen).

            Hiawatha: Hiawatha, legendary chieftain of the Iroquois, said to have
            lived about 1570. He is credited with having brought about the union of the
            Five Nations of the Iroquois for their mutual protection against the
            aggressive and stronger Algonquin people. According to legend, Hiawatha
            employed miraculous powers to protect his people from the evil forces of
            nature. He also instructed the Iroquois in the arts of medicine,
            agriculture, and navigation. He was the inspiration for the poem Song of
            Hiawatha by the American poet Henry Wadsworth Longfellow.

            Tito: Tito, Josip Broz (1892-1980), president of Yugoslavia, who
            established a Communist state independent of the Union of Soviet Socialist
            Republics (USSR) after World War II (1939-1945). Tito served as a
            noncommissioned
            officer in the Austrian army during World War I (1914-1918). After
            Nazi Germany attacked both Yugoslavia and the USSR in 1941, Tito formed an
            all-Yugoslav Partisan force to resist the Germans and their Croatian Fascist
            allies. Tito primarily fought defensive battles against Germany. In 1942 he
            formed a Communist-dominated provisional government, which brought him into
            conflict with the Cetniks, a Serbian resistance movement that favored the
            restoration of the prewar monarchy. After unsuccessful attempts to reconcile
            the rival groups, the Allies gave their support to Tito in 1944. In March
            1945 Tito was recognized as prime minister. By the end of that year the
            Germans were defeated, and the war-torn country was united, leaving Tito's
            government in full control. The Yugoslav party was expelled from the
            Cominform in 1948. This extreme action left Tito with two options: submit to
            Soviet domination or assert Yugoslav independence. He chose independence, a
            decision supported by the United States, which was in the midst of the Cold
            War. With his aides, Edvard Kardelj and Milovan Djilas, Tito revived Marxist
            humanism, which included the concept of workers' self-management, and
            recommended liberal economic reforms. They also decentralized the party and
            governmental power. This decentralization led to an emergence of nationalist
            tendencies within the republics. In the 1960s Tito joined with leaders of
            African and Asian countries, including India and Egypt, to promote the
            concept of nonalignment-independence from both the United States and the
            USSR. Each country made its own decisions, trying to stay neutral in the
            Cold War. A partial reconciliation with the USSR in 1955 further enhanced
            Tito's prestige at home and abroad. Tito supported the Soviet policy of
            détente
            with the West, but protested against the USSR's invasions of Hungary (1956),
            Czechoslovakia (1968), and Afghanistan (1979). His independent stance
            preceded and influenced the Chinese, Albanian, and Eurocommunist challenges
            to Soviet supremacy in the Communist world. In 1963 Tito relinquished the
            position of prime minister. He was named president for life in 1974. Tito
            died six years later after a prolonged illness and was buried on the grounds
            of Tito's Museum in Belgrade.

            Jean Parisot de La Valette: Forty-eighth Grand Master of the Order
            of the Knights of St. John of Jerusalem; b. in 1494; d. in Malta, 21 Aug.,
            1568. In Tripoli the knights devoted themselves to fighting the corsairs of
            Barbary, who were upheld by the Turkish Sultan. During this struggle La
            Valette made his first campaign, and soon rose to the highest ranks in the
            order.
            In 1537 he was appointed commander and governor of Tripoli. In that city,
            exposed to the attacks of the famous Dragut, chief of all the corsairs of
            Africa,
            La Valette displayed his power of organization, re-establishing discipline
            among
            the Christian and Moorish troops, driving useless persons out of the town,
            and
            punishing blasphemers. 20 years later, Sultan Soliman ordered all his
            available
            vessels to assemble before Malta, where Dragut and the corsairs were incited
            to join them. La Valette summoned all the knights of Christendom, raised
            2000
            men in Italy, and obtained two companies of Spanish troops. The inhabitants
            of
            Malta were organized as a militia, every priory sent money, and 600 knights
            from
            all the provinces of the order hastened to the rescue. La Valette displayed
            extraordinary activity, planning fortifications, helping the diggers with
            his own hands,
            inspecting magazines, and attending to the smallest details. He told the
            assembled knights that they had now entered upon a struggle between the
            Gospel and the Koran. The Turkish fleet, commanded by Mustapha, appeared
            before Malta on 18 May 1565. It consisted of 159 warships manned by 30,000
            janizaries and spahis, and a large number of vessels were employed to carry
            the
            siege train. The defenders of Malta were 700 knights, with 8500 mercenaries
            and enrolled citizens and peasants. On 18 August the Turks tried to enter by
            a
            breach in the wall, but were driven back after six hours' fighting. La
            Valette
            himself, pike in hand, charged them, leading his knights. On 23 August
            another
            assault resulted in the taking of the Castille bastion, but La Valette spent
            that
            night constructing new defences. At last, on 7 September, the relieving
            fleet
            of Don Garcia de Toledo arrived. After four months of fighting, Mustapha,
            disheartened, raised the siege; he had lost more than 20,000 men, and
            abandoned his heavy artillery. Malta was saved, and the heroism of La
            Valette at last awakened Europe from its torpor.

            Hiram: King Hiram (reigned 969-936 BC), appears in the Bible as an
            ally of the Israelite kings David and Solomon. The Biblical account of a
            growing friendship between King Hiram of Tyre and the Kings of Israel was an
            introductory phase for a more important events which included military
            alliances and cooperation not only during King David's time but also during
            the reign of King Solomon. King Hiram's enemies were the Philistines, who
            kept the Tyrians and Sidonians from prospering on the sea. In addition, King
            Hiram made common cause with King David, forming a land and sea alliance
            that endured into Solomon's reign. Hiram maintained friendly relations with
            Israel, supplying King Solomon with men and materials for the construction
            of the Temple at Jerusalem and cooperating with him in Mediterranean and Red
            Sea trading voyages. In return Solomon sent grain and olive oil to Hiram
            king of Tyre, and even Galilean territory was given to him (1 Kings 5),
            although it was not to his liking.

            Khalid: Khalid ibn al-Walid (?-642), brilliant Arab general known as
            "the Sword of Allah," who united Islam after the death of its founder,
            Muhammad. Born to the prominent Quraysh tribe of Mecca, Khalid was
            instrumental in the Meccans' early defeat of the Islamic Prophet Muhammad at
            the Battle of Uhud in 625. Faced with the Prophet's growing power, however,
            Khalid later converted to Islam. During the secessionist wars following
            Muhammad's death in 632, Khalid subdued the rebellious tribes, thus
            cementing the Muslim alliance across the central Arabian Peninsula. The
            Caliph Umar soon sent Khalid across the desert into Iraq where Muslim armies
            defeated the Persians and gained control of the Euphrates region. Khalid was
            then transferred to the Syrian front, leading the Muslim cavalry against the
            Byzantine armies at the Battle of Yarmuk (637), where Damascus-once a
            Byzantine stronghold-finally surrendered. Much of the Middle East thus fell
            under Arab, Islamic rule, and the continuous outward expansion kept the
            various Islamic tribes united. Khalid later governed part of Syria for a
            short time.

            Dayan: Dayan, Moshe (1915-1981), Israeli general and statesman. For
            25 years, he figured prominently in all of Israel's wars and more than
            anyone else personified his country's determination to survive. He was born
            on a kibbutz (cooperative farm) near the Sea of Galilee (Lake Tiberias) on
            May 20, 1915. At the age of 14 he joined the Haganah (Jewish militia), which
            defended Jewish settlements from Arab attacks, and later received special
            antiguerrilla training from the British. In 1941, he served with the Allied
            forces that liberated Lebanon and Syria from the Vichy French. During this
            campaign he lost his left eye and adopted the black eye patch that became
            his distinguishing feature. During Israel's war of independence (1948-1949)
            Dayan was a commander on the Jerusalem front. He became chief of Israel's
            general staff in 1953 and as such supervised the Sinai campaign of 1956.
            Leaving the army in 1958, he was elected to the Israeli Parliament in 1959
            and served (1959-1964) as minister of agriculture in the government of David
            Ben-Gurion. By popular demand, Dayan was made defense minister just before
            the Six-Day War of 1967, which greatly enhanced his reputation. He was,
            however, blamed for Israel's unpreparedness in the Arab-Israeli War of 1973,
            and he subsequently resigned (1974). Named foreign minister in Menachem
            Begin's government in 1977, he played an important role in negotiating the
            peace treaty with Egypt signed in 1979. Later that year he resigned in
            protest against Begin's policies concerning the disputed West Bank
            territory. He died in Tel Aviv on October 16, 1981.

            An Lushan: An Lushan (703-757), Chinese general of Turkic-Persian
            origin, who led a revolt against the Tang (T'ang) emperor Xuanzong (Hsüan
            Tsung); the revolt marked the beginning of the Tang dynasty's decline. An
            Lushan, a protégé of the emperor's concubine Yang Guifei (Yang Kuei-fei),
            was military commander on China's northeast frontier. In 755 he seized the
            city of Luoyang (Lo-yang) and the imperial capital, Chang'an (now Xi'an, or
            Sian), forcing Xuanzong to seek refuge in Sichuan (Szechwan). The general
            was killed by his own son in 757. The rebellion was finally ended in 763,
            but the Tang dynasty, although it lasted until 907, never regained its
            former strength.

            Forrest: Forrest, Nathan Bedford (1821-1877), American Confederate
            cavalry general, born near Chapel Hill, Bedford County, Tennessee. Forrest
            was known as one of the most effective Confederate generals during the
            American Civil War (1861-1865). At the start of the war, Forrest enlisted as
            a private in the Confederate army, and subsequently raised a battalion of
            cavalry, of which he was made lieutenant colonel. In 1862 he led his forces
            in the defense of Fort Donelson and later participated in the Battle of
            Shiloh. During 1862 and 1863, Forrest executed a series of successful raids
            behind Union lines in Tennessee, Alabama, Kentucky, and Mississippi. In 1864
            Forrest was given command of all the cavalry with the Army of Tennessee.
            Among his victories in 1864 were the capture of Fort Pillow and the Battle
            of Brices Cross Roads. Forrest was placed in charge of the cavalry in
            Alabama, Mississippi, and eastern Louisiana. In February, Forrest was
            promoted to lieutenant general. In March Forrest was defeated at Selma,
            Alabama, by the Union general James H. Wilson, and Forrest and his forces
            surrendered in May.
            Quod Me Nutrit Me Destruit

            Comment


            • #36
              Bradley: Bradley, Omar Nelson (1893-1981), American general, who was
              the senior commander of United States ground troops in the invasion of
              Europe in 1944. Bradley was born on February 12, 1893, in Clark, Missouri,
              and educated at the U.S. Military Academy. He attained the rank of major
              general in 1942. In 1943 he assumed command of the U.S. II Corps in the
              North African campaign of World War II. Later in 1943 he participated in the
              invasion of Sicily and was promoted to the rank of lieutenant general. In
              1944 Bradley commanded the U.S. First Army throughout the Normandy campaign
              and the newly created U.S. Twelfth Army Group throughout the remainder of
              the war. He was made a full general in March 1945; three months later he was
              appointed head of the Veterans Administration. Named by President Harry S.
              Truman to succeed General of the Army Dwight D. Eisenhower as chief of staff
              of the U.S. Army, Bradley assumed the position in 1948. From 1949 until his
              retirement from the army in 1953, Bradley was chairman of the Joint Chiefs
              of Staff, the principal military advisers to the president. Bradley was
              promoted to the rank of General of the Army in 1950. He died in New York
              City on April 8, 1981.

              Marcus Antonius: Roman statesman and general, who defeated the
              assassins of Julius Caesar and, with Gaius Octavius and Marcus Aemilius
              Lepidus, formed the Second Triumvirate, which ultimately secured the end of
              the Roman Republic. Antony was born in Rome and educated for a short time in
              Greece. From 58 to 56 BC he served as a leader of cavalry in Roman campaigns
              in Palestine and Egypt, and from 54 to 50 BC he served in Gaul under Julius
              Caesar. Subsequently, with Caesar's aid, he attained the offices of
              quaestor, augur, and tribune of the people. At the outbreak of the civil war
              between Caesar and the Roman soldier and statesman Pompey the Great, Antony
              was appointed Caesar's commander in chief in Italy. He commanded the left
              wing of Caesar's army at the Battle of Pharsalus in 48 BC, and in 44 BC he
              shared the consulship with Caesar. After the assassination of Caesar in 44
              BC, Antony's skillful oratory turned the Roman people against the
              conspirators, leaving Antony for a time with almost absolute power in Rome.
              A rival soon appeared, however, in the person of Gaius Octavius, later the
              Roman emperor Augustus, who was grandnephew of Caesar and Caesar's
              designated heir. A struggle for power broke out when Antony, Octavius, and a
              third contender for the throne, the Roman general Marcus Aemilius Lepidus,
              formed the Second Triumvirate and agreed to divide the Roman Empire among
              themselves. When, in 36 BC, Antony was defeated in a military expedition
              against the Parthians, popular disapproval of his conduct deepened in Rome,
              and a new civil war became inevitable. In 31 BC the forces of Antony and
              Cleopatra were decisively defeated by those of Octavius in a naval
              engagement near Actium. The couple returned to Egypt, deserted by the
              Egyptian fleet and by most of Antony's own army. In the following year,
              besieged by the troops of Octavius in Alexandria and deceived by a false
              report of Cleopatra's suicide, Antony killed himself by falling on his
              sword.

              Scipio: Scipio Africanus the Elder, full name Publius Cornelius
              Scipio Africanus (234?-183 BC), one of the most famous generals of ancient
              Rome and a hero of the Second Punic War between Carthage and Rome. In 210
              BC, after serving in the Roman legions sent against the Carthaginian general
              Hannibal in northern Italy, Scipio was put in command of the Roman armies in
              Spain. Arriving there in 209 BC, he led a surprise attack against the
              headquarters of the Carthaginian army at Nova Carthago (now Cartagena),
              thereby depriving Carthage of its principal supply base. In 208 BC he had
              driven the Carthaginian general Hasdrubal from Spain, but had failed to
              prevent him from crossing the Pyrenees to assist his brother Hannibal in 207
              BC. Scipio returned to Rome in triumph in 205 BC and was elected consul for
              that year. In 204-203 BC, he led an invasion of North Africa, defeating the
              Carthaginians at Campi Magni (modern Suk al-Khamis, Tunisia). Hannibal was
              then recalled from Italy, but Scipio won a decisive victory over him in the
              Battle of Zama (202 BC). For this conquest, which ended the Second Punic
              War, Scipio was granted the surname Africanus. In 190 BC Scipio served as
              tactical adviser to his brother in the war with the Seleucid king Antiochus
              III; the Syrian force was crushed in the great Roman victory at Magnesia in
              Asia Minor. On his return to Rome Scipio was accused by his enemy, Marcus
              Porcius Cato (Cato the Elder), of accepting bribes from Antiochus. He was
              acquitted of the charges, but retired from public life to his villa at
              Liternum in Campania. Scipio Africanus is regarded as the greatest Roman
              general before Julius Caesar. He was also an accomplished scholar and
              encouraged appreciation of Greek culture in Rome.

              Belisarius: The greatest general of the Byzantines. Belisarius first
              invaded
              North Africa in 533, near modern Tunis, and defeated the Vandals who had
              forcibly migrated there over the past century, all the way from Germany.
              From North Africa Belisarius moved into Italy. By 536 he had retaken Rome
              from the Ostrogoths. By 540 he had retaken northern Italy. Belisarius was
              then sent to the East once again, where a new Persian king was conquering
              Byzantine provinces in Asia. The combination of Belisarius, plague in
              Persia, and huge payments of gold stopped the Persian advance. The next
              threat came from Bulgars and Slavs from the north, down through the Balkans.
              They were beaten back four times between 540 and 558. When the Ostrogoths
              renewed the war in Italy, another Byzantine army broke their power forever
              and went on to recapture part of southern Spain.

              Cuauhtemoc: 1525, Aztec emperor. Succeeding the brother of Montezuma
              II in 1520, Cuauhtémoc failed to unite the native city-states of the Valley
              of Mexico against the Spanish after the expulsion of Hernán Cortés from
              Tenochtitlán. He courageously defended his capital, but was taken prisoner
              when it fell (1521) after a three-month siege. Tortured to reveal his
              treasure, Cuauhtémoc replied that it lay at the bottom of the lake-where the
              Spaniards had perished with it in their flight from Tenochtitlán on the
              noche triste [sad night]. Cortés took Cuauhtémoc with him on his march to
              Honduras and, accusing the Aztec of treason, had him hanged.

              Ilhuicamina: 1440-1469 Established the Aztecs' victorious military
              program, greatly expanded Aztec empire. 'Angry Lord, Archer in the Sky'. 5
              th Ruler.

              Ahuitzotl: 1486-1502 Was a fierce warrior, rebuilt the Great
              Temple, sacrificed 20,000 to 80,000 victims at temple's opening ceremony,
              empire stretched from coast to coast. 'Water Beast'. 8 th Ruler

              Arminius: chief of the Cherusci, a Teutonic tribe inhabiting parts
              of what is now Germany. German nationalists of the 19th century celebrated
              him as a national hero, under the name of Hermann, for having freed Germany
              from Roman control. He served in the Roman army (AD 1-6), obtaining Roman
              citizenship and an insight into the arts of war and policy as practiced by
              the Romans. Returning home about AD 7, he found his people oppressed by the
              Roman governor Publius Quintilius Varus. Arminius organized a rebellion of
              the Cherusci, annihilating three Roman legions in the Battle of Teutoburg
              Forest in AD 9 and forcing the Romans back to the Rhine River. The defeat of
              his legions led Varus to commit suicide. In AD 15 the Romans, under the
              general Germanicus Caesar, invaded Germany and in AD 16 defeated Arminius.
              Germanicus was recalled to Rome, however, and the advantages of his
              victories were lost. After this time, no Roman army ventured to penetrate
              the interior of Germany. After the expulsion of the Romans, internal feuds
              broke out among the Teutonic tribes, and Arminius was slain by his
              relatives. A colossal statue of him was set up in 1875 near the spot where
              he defeated Varus.

              Von Rundstedt: 1875-1953, German field marshal. He proved his
              exceptional abilities in World War I. In World War II he commanded in the
              Polish campaign (1939), in the French campaign (1940), and in Russia
              (June-Dec., 1941). From Mar., 1942, to Mar., 1945, except for a brief period
              in 1944, he was supreme commander in the West. He launched a deadly
              counteroffensive on Dec. 16, 1944 (see Battle of the Bulge). After the war
              he was held by the British for possible prosecution as a war criminal. In
              1949 he was released because of ill health.

              Von Wallenstein: 1583-1634, imperial general in the Thirty Years War,
              b. Bohemia. In 1625, Wallenstein raised a large army for Ferdinand II and
              became chief imperial general, cooperating with the general of the Catholic
              League, Count Tilly, in the Danish phase of the war. Wallenstein in 1626
              defeated Ernst von Mansfeld at the Dessau bridgehead, and some of his men
              helped Tilly to defeat the Danish king Christian IV at Lutter. The next year
              Wallenstein destroyed the remnants of Mansfeld's army and later defeated
              Christian IV's forces. Now at the height of his wealth and power,
              Wallenstein, having driven the dukes of Mecklenburg from their lands, was
              granted that duchy as a hereditary fief from the Holy Roman emperor. He was
              also given the title of admiral, but his hopes of founding a maritime empire
              were set back by the failure of the siege of Stralsund (1628) on the Baltic.
              Wallenstein had powerful enemies, particularly among the German princes,
              from whom he had extorted money for the support of the army. Finally, in
              1630, they prevailed on Ferdinand to dismiss him. The failure of his
              successor, Tilly, against King Gustavus II of Sweden brought Wallenstein
              back to power (1632). With a huge army he cleared Bohemia and began a
              contest with the Swedish king that ended at Lützen (1632), where Wallenstein
              was defeated and the Swedish king was killed. Embittered by his earlier
              dismissal, Wallenstein was then determined to become more powerful than
              ever, controlling not only military decisions, but imperial policy also. His
              secret negotiations with the enemy brought down on his head accusations of
              treason. A number of his generals, including Matthias Gallas and Ottavio
              Piccolomini, were drawn into a conspiracy against him. Ferdinand secretly
              removed Wallenstein from command on Jan. 24, 1634. Wallenstein renewed his
              attempts to negotiate with the Swedes and with a few hundred troops fled to
              Eger (Cheb), where he was treacherously murdered (Feb., 1634). His assassin
              later had the emperor's favor. Wallenstein is the central figure in a
              dramatic trilogy by Schiller.

              Von Blücher: 1742-1819, Prussian field marshal, an outstanding
              military opponent of Napoleon I. An officer in the army of King Frederick II
              from 1760, he incurred royal displeasure when, believing himself passed over
              for promotion, he abruptly resigned in the early 1770s. He returned to
              service only in 1787 after Frederick's death. He fought well in the
              disastrous campaign of 1806 against the French and surrendered with honor
              near Lübeck. In the dark days that followed he helped Karl vom und zum
              Stein, K. A. von Hardenberg, and General Scharnhorst recreate the Prussian
              opposition to Napoleon. He was a leader in the War of Liberation (1813-14).
              Although ill and subject to delusions, he won brilliant victories at
              Wahlstatt and Möckern and played a part in the defeat of the French at
              Leipzig. Crossing the Rhine, he led his army to Paris. In the Waterloo
              campaign of 1815, he was defeated at Ligny but arrived at the battle of
              Waterloo in time to make it a victory. In 1814 he was made prince of
              Wahlstatt.

              Foch: 1851-1929, marshal of France. A professor at the École de
              Guerre, he later served (1908-11) as director of that institute. In World
              War I, he was responsible, with General Joffre and General Gallieni, for
              halting the German advance at the Marne (1914). He participated in the first
              battle of Ypres (1915) and that of the Somme (1916); after a brief eclipse,
              he was appointed (1917) chief of the French general staff. In Apr., 1918,
              Foch assumed the unified command of the British, French, and American
              armies. In this capacity, he was perhaps more responsible than any other one
              man for the victory in 1918.

              Alba: Alba, Fernando Álvarez de Toledo, Third Duke of (1507-1582),
              Spanish general known for his cruelty in repressing the Dutch revolt against
              Spain. Alba rose to prominence as commander of the armies of Charles V, a
              Holy Roman emperor. He gained a brilliant victory for Charles over Elector
              John Frederick of Saxony at Mühlberg in 1547. In Charles's Italian campaign
              against the French and papal forces, Alba overran the Papal States, but
              after the abdication of Charles V, Philip II, king of Spain, relinquished
              them. Alba was appointed captain general of the Netherlands in 1567, with
              authority to repress the Dutch revolt against Spain. He set up a tribunal,
              known as the Blood Council, which condemned and executed some 18,000 people
              and confiscated their property. Among the victims was the Flemish statesman
              Lamoral Egmont. Alba's troops defeated the Flemish forces and, on December
              22, 1568, entered Brussels. His tyranny intensified Dutch resistance, and he
              was recalled in 1573. In 1580 King Philip dispatched Alba to conquer
              Portugal, a task he accomplished with characteristic cruelty.

              Cammaert: UN Secretary General Kofi Annan has appointed Maj. Gen.
              Patrick Cammaert of the Netherlands to serve as Force Commander to the
              United Nations Mission in Ethiopia and Eritrea or UNMEE. Commaret commands a
              4,200-force from 22 nations, whose task entails monitoring Ethiopian and
              Eritrean forces along the common border. Cammaert served most recently as
              commander of the Multinational UN Standby Forces High Readiness Brigade or
              SHIRBRIG, based in Copenhagen, a post which he has held since December. He
              joined the Royal Netherlands Marine Corps in 1968. From 1979 to 1981 he
              served as exchange officer in the United Kingdom with the Royal Marines. He
              subsequently served in a series of posts in Scotland, Aruba, and The Hague
              until he took up his first UN assignment in 1992 as commander of the 1st
              Dutch Marine Battalion with the UN Transitional Administration in Cambodia.
              He later served as commander of the Forward HQ on Mount Igman of the
              Multinational Brigade of the Rapid Reaction Forces of the UN Protection
              Force in Bosnia and Herzegovina in 1995. Prior to his appointment to
              SHIRBRIG, Cammaert, who is married with one son and a daughter, served as
              Chief of Staff of the Dutch marine crops.

              Van Ginkel: 1644-1703, Dutch general in the service of William III of
              England. He accompanied (1688) William to England and took part in William's
              victory over James II in the battle of the Boyne. He then (1690) became
              commander in chief of the army in Ireland, capturing Ballymore and Athlone,
              winning a decisive, bloody victory at Aughrim, and taking Limerick, where
              peace was made (1691). In the War of the Spanish Succession (1701-14) he
              commanded the Dutch wing of the forces under the duke of Marlborough.

              Gordon: 1833-85, British soldier and administrator. He served in the
              Crimean War, went to China in the expedition of 1860, taking part in the
              capture of Beijing, and in 1863 took over the command of F. T. Ward, who had
              raised a Chinese army to suppress the Taiping Rebellion. For the
              achievements of this Ever-Victorious Army he was popularly known as Chinese
              Gordon. In 1873 he entered the service of the khedive of Egypt, succeeding
              Sir Samuel Baker as governor of Equatoria (S Sudan). Appointed governor of
              Sudan in 1877, he waged a vigorous campaign against slave traders. He
              resigned in 1879, but after various appointments in India, China, Mauritius,
              and Cape Colony (South Africa), he was sent back to Sudan, where Muhammad
              Ahmad (see under Mahdi) had acquired control. Although under orders to
              evacuate the Egyptian garrison from Khartoum, Gordon took it upon himself to
              attempt to defeat the Mahdi. He was cut off and besieged at Khartoum for 10
              months. A relief expedition belatedly dispatched from England reached the
              garrison two days after it had been stormed by the Mahdists, who killed
              Gordon. Gordon's death stirred public indignation and contributed to the
              collapse of the Gladstone government in 1885.
              Last edited by Saint Marcus; September 23, 2001, 06:28.
              Quod Me Nutrit Me Destruit

              Comment


              • #37
                Nice work, Mark L.
                Ex Fide Vive
                Try my new mod and tell me what you think. I will be revising it per suggestions. Nine Governments Mod

                Comment


                • #38
                  I can't believe we're including the Texans but not the Scots! Mark, do you think you could drop by the Scottish thread for a bit? I think you'll find most of the hard work is already done so it would be easy for you to include the Scots in your Mode Pack. Thanks.
                  Try http://wordforge.net/index.php for discussion and debate.

                  Comment


                  • #39
                    reprint of Scottish Data

                    The following is a reprint of the info for a Scottish Civ from the "Scottish Civ for Civ3" thread:

                    I think the Scots should be a Scientific and Industrious society. A short list of the inventions of Scotsmen would include the Television (John Baird), Penicillin (Alexander Fleming), the Bicycle (Kirkpatrick MacMillan), the steam engine (James Watt; who also helped write early electrical theory), the pneumatic tire (John Dunlop), the repeating rifle (Captian Patrick Ferguson), & the telephone (Alexander Graham Bell; born and educated in Scotland but later moved to America).
                    Just reading that list it becomes clear the Scots should be a scientific civilization, but why should they be industrious? Well, the industrious attribute seems to best comply with the "Hard work and thrift" philosophy that is so apart of the Scottish psyche. Plus the combination of Scientific & Industrious hasn't yet been filled by any other civ (Chinese where changed to Military & Industrious) so the Scots would be filling a vacant place in Civ3.
                    Their special unit should be The Highlander. The Highlander would be a regular swordsman who has a +1 movement bonus to reflect the superior maneuverability of the Highlander armies. In the middle ages several English armies arrived to do combat only to find the Highlanders were either gone or had flanked them. So a plus one to movement would be historically accurate and wouldn't unbalance the game.
                    The civ's golden age might be set off by the building of the Adam Smith's trading company wonder. This makes sense because Adam Smith was a Scotsman plus his book "On the Wealth of Nations" and his trading company where both from Scotland. This would also historically comply with what could best be described as the Scottish golden age (the Post Napoleonic period of Europe).
                    The male head of State could be Robert the Bruce, the female head of State Mary Stuart (as in Mary Queen of Scots), & the great war general could be William Wallace of Braveheart fame.

                    Capital: Glasgow.

                    Other cities: Edinburgh, Stirling, Perth, Falkirk, Dunbar, Muir of Ord, Gairlock, Aberdeen, Kilmarnock, Cowdenbeath, Nairn, Bathgate, Linlithgow, Iverness, Melrose, Rothsay, Monifeth, Aviemore, Kirkaaldy, fraserburgh, Portlethen, Glenrothes, Dufftown, Findhorn, Borgue, Lockerbie, Dalkeith, Gretna, Dingwall, Glasgowl.
                    Try http://wordforge.net/index.php for discussion and debate.

                    Comment


                    • #40
                      Thanks DM, but I'm far from finished

                      Oerdin: I have included the Scots as part of the Celts. As you can see, the Celts get Scottish special units and Scottish great leaders. On the other hand, I'd be happy to include the scots as a seperate civ. However, that leaves me with the problem of finding 2 celtic special units and 2 scottish special units. Any ideas for a second Celtic special unit?

                      Scots: Highlander (swordsmen, 3-2-2), Schiltron (pikemen, def)
                      Celts: Woad Raider (warrior, 2-1-1), ??????

                      I'm going to include them though, at your suggestion Just need to do some more research on seperate Celtic units. Not easy.
                      Quod Me Nutrit Me Destruit

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                      • #41
                        Originally posted by Mark L
                        LEADER DESCRIPTION
                        Forrest: Forrest, Nathan Bedford (1821-1877), American Confederate.... his forces
                        surrendered in May.
                        There is no doubt Forrest was a competent General but he was also a raving bigot, who hated blacks, and even founded the KKK. Should we be celebrating the founder of the KKK with "great hero" status?
                        Try http://wordforge.net/index.php for discussion and debate.

                        Comment


                        • #42
                          He wasn't that bad, since he wanted to disband the KKK after sometime but it's members didn't agree. And he was a good general, and a confederate hero. And probably 80% of the great leaders in civ3 have commited genocide in the past.

                          But I'll be happy to replace him. Just give me a suggestion or two
                          Quod Me Nutrit Me Destruit

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                          • #43
                            Originally posted by Mark L
                            Thanks DM, but I'm far from finished

                            Oerdin: I have included the Scots as part of the Celts. As you can see, the Celts get Scottish special units and Scottish great leaders. On the other hand, I'd be happy to include the scots as a seperate civ. However, that leaves me with the problem of finding 2 celtic special units and 2 scottish special units. Any ideas for a second Celtic special unit?

                            Scots: Highlander (swordsmen, 3-2-2), Schiltron (pikemen, def)
                            Celts: Woad Raider (warrior, 2-1-1), ??????

                            I'm going to include them though, at your suggestion Just need to do some more research on seperate Celtic units. Not easy.
                            Hmmm, I would prefer them as seporate but it's your mode pack so I will try to help you if I can. If you are going to have a Celtic and not Scottish civ then we should find a head of state that is entirely Celtic. I can't think of any solely Celtic leaders but maybe some one can come up with a Gaulic leader that Julius Caesar defeated.
                            The Scots would be Scientific & Industrious but this clearly wouldn't fit a hypothetical Celtic civ. You might consider Military & commercial but it hard to make a case for any combination since so little is known about them.
                            BTW In response to one of your other posts in the Scottish thread the La Tene were a group of Gauls; the Gauls were a sub-group of the, amorphous and poorly defined, "Greater Celtic" cultural group. Like I said before having a "Celtic" civ is kind of like having a "Slavic" civ; it's much better to break Slavs into Russians, Ukrainians, Serbs, Bulgars etc... (It's also better to break the "Germanic" group into Germans, English, Austrians, Danes, Swedes, and what not)
                            Try http://wordforge.net/index.php for discussion and debate.

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                            • #44
                              Originally posted by Mark L
                              He wasn't that bad, since he wanted to disband the KKK after sometime but it's members didn't agree. And he was a good general, and a confederate hero. And probably 80% of the great leaders in civ3 have commited genocide in the past.

                              But I'll be happy to replace him. Just give me a suggestion or two
                              You can keep him if you like I just wanted you to know what type of person he was. I've listed a couple of promonent CSA leaders.

                              Confederate States of America
                              Capital: Richmond
                              Head of State: Jefferson Davis
                              Civ type: Militaristic and ?

                              Robert E. Lee- Head military leader of all Confederate forces for the entire war. He is largely considered the best General, from either side, during the war. He won many battles even though he was outnumbered by Federal forces and was one of the last Confederate generals to surrender.

                              Thomas Jonathan "Stone Wall" Jackson- Another Confederate General; Jackson went to West Point with Lee and they both fought together against Mexico during the Mexican-American war (In which the U.S. seized half of Mexico). Jackson was Lee's right hand man and considered a great general in his own right.

                              James Longstreet- Considered one of the south's more talented Generals. Fought mostly in Virginia, Maryland, & North Carolina.

                              Richard S. Ewell- Lt. Col in the Confederate Army. A West Point Graduate and another major military leader.

                              This list isn't complete by far. In fact a short google such turns up several hundred Confederate Generals and I'm having a hard time figuring which are the "cream of the crop" if you will. Any way I hope this helps.
                              Try http://wordforge.net/index.php for discussion and debate.

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