World History Encyclopedia

Braxton Bragg was a Confederate general from North Carolina, who led the Army of Tennessee in the American Civil War. A strict disciplinarian with a prickly temper, he was despised by his men - indeed, Private Sam Watkins once wrote that "not a single soldier in the army ever loved or respected him". He was also hated by his subordinate generals and corps commanders, who often t...

The Battle of Iwo Jima (February to March 1945) was the bloodiest battle of WWII's Pacific War. A 72-day bombing campaign pounded the island before 110,000 US Marines landed on the beaches. The Japanese defenders had dug themselves a bewildering maze of bunkers, tunnels, and pillboxes, which made clearing the island a deadly business. The US forces won the battle after 36 days o...

Kish was one of the most significant and politically prestigious city-states in ancient Mesopotamia. According to the Sumerian King List, it was the first city to be given divine kingship after the Great Flood, suggesting that Kish was one of the earliest known contributors to the development of political authority in human history. Kish maintained a predominant position in the ...

The Battle of Guam, in the Mariana Islands, took place in July and August 1944 during the Pacific War of the Second World War (1939-45). Guam had been US territory prior to the conflict but was occupied by the Japanese military in 1941. A massive US naval bombardment and amphibious assault eventually cleared the island of the Japanese occupiers but at the cost of around 1,700 US...

The Battle of Saipan took place in June-July 1944. US forces engaged in a titanic three-week struggle with Japanese defenders to finally take the island, part of the Mariana Islands, during the Pacific War of WWII (1939-45). The battle for Saipan inflicted total casualties of over 45,000. Control of the island and others in the archipelago allowed the US to operate airfields wit...