The Trojan War was a legendary period of fighting which took place in Greece and Asia Minor. It was the largest military campaign ever led by the Greeks against Troy, and began after the Queen of Sparta, Helen, was kidnapped by Paris, the son of the King of Troy. This event has been told through many different works of Greek...
Read more
-
-
With 193 member states, the United Nations (UN) is a key organisation on the global stage and plays a crucial role in international relations and diplomacy. It emerged in the aftermath of the Second World War, superseding the largely ineffectual League of Nations, and is now known for its many activities spanning areas such as peacekeeping, humanitarian aid and international development....
Read more -
The Universal Declaration of Human Rights, passed on 10 December 1948, was one of the most significant milestones of the 20th century. It was the first text to recognize that each individual is entitled to fundamental rights and freedoms which make us all equal to one another, regardless of nationality, religion, profession or ethnicity. In just 50 minutes, you will find out...
Read more -
The Vietnam War lasted for 20 years, from 1955 to 1975, and had deadly consequences for both the soldiers fighting in it and Vietnamese civilians. Following the partition of French Indochina by the Geneva Accords in 1954, tensions mounted between the two ideologically opposed halves of the country, resulting in a long conflict between the US-backed South Vietnam on the one hand,...
Read more -
The Watergate scandal was one of the major events of the 20th century and marked the end of an era in US politics. It caused a crisis of confidence of the American general public in their government, with the resignation of a large number of senior officials and the replacement of Richard Nixon by Gerald Ford. In just 50 minutes,...
Read more -
The Yom Kippur War was fought in 1973 between a coalition of Arab countries, led by Egypt and Syria, and Israel. On the day of Yom Kippur (Day of Atonement), Egyptian and Syrian troops attacked the Sinai Peninsula and the Golan Heights, which had been occupied by Israel since the Six-Day War in 1967. The Yom Kippur War contributed to the...
Read more -
Theodore Roosevelt was the 26th President of the United States. Known in particular for being the youngest president in the history of the USA, Roosevelt was a very important historical figure, to such an extent that his image is immortalized on Mount Rushmore. Roosevelt was not only a Republican who contributed a great deal to the assertion of American imperialism, but also...
Read more -
Thomas Jefferson was the 3rd President of the United States and one of the country's Founding Fathers. Known in particular for his role in the drafting of the Declaration of Independence, Jefferson was a talented political writer who served as Vice-President under John Adams before being elected President in 1801. He also significantly increased the size of his home country:...
Read more -
Josip Broz Tito was the first President of the Socialist Federal Republic of Yugoslavia, holding the role from 1953 to his death in 1980. After distinguishing himself in the resistance during the Second World War, he played a crucial role in shaping the new federal state and went on to defy Stalin, calling instead for a “third way” between the Eastern...
Read more -
Thanks to the discovery of his opulent tomb by the Egyptologist Howard Carter in 1922 and the alleged curse that was unleashed as a result, Tutankhamun holds a prominent place in the popular imagination. “King Tut”, as he is colloquially known, ruled Egypt during the 18th Dynasty and oversaw far-reaching religious reform and a series of conflicts with Egypt’s enemies...
Read more -
Vasco da Gama was a Portuguese explorer who, along with Christopher Columbus and Ferdinand Magellan, was one of the most famous European explorers of his time. Known in particular for being the first person to open up a direct maritime route between Europe and Asia, da Gama sailed around Africa to reach the Western coast of India in the late...
Read more -
Vladimir Lenin was a Russian communist revolutionary and politician whose actions shaped the fate of Russia. He toppled the centuries-old tsarist regime to lead the proletariat to victory during the Russian Revolution, becoming a legendary figure for the people of Russia in the process. However, it is difficult to separate fact from fiction, as Lenin became surrounded by a cult of personality...
Read more