The August issue of Military History Monthly, the British military history magazine, is now on sale.
In this issue we cover:
The Great Offensives
In 1916, the Germans faced major Allied offensives: Peter Doyle analyses ‘Kitchener’s Mob’ at the Somme, while Simon Innes-Robbins explains the Brusilov Offensive. We also conclude our study of the historiographical debate on the Somme.
Includes:
– Background
– Somme
– Brusilov Offensive
– Debate
How the Scots won the English Civil War: Alexander Leslie and the Solemn League and Covenant
Robbie MacNiven analyses the pivotal role of a Scots Covenanter army in Britain’s mid-17th-century revolution.
Belsen: horror, trial, and retribution
Second World War veteran Patrick Delaforce offers an eye-witness account of the liberation of Belsen and the execution of Nazi war-criminals.
Regiment: the 10th Bombay Native Infantry in the Indian Mutiny
Patrick Mercer recalls what some regard as India’s first great nationalist revolt.
Also in this issue: Behind the Image; War Culture; War Composers; War on Film; Book of the Month; Book Reviews; Museum Review; Event Listings; Competitions; and much more.
From the editor
Peter Doyle and Simon Innes-Robbins lead this issue with major articles on the two summer offensives of 1916, the Somme on the Western Front, the Brusilov on the Eastern.
The winter of 1915/16 saw a major rethink among European statesmen and commanders about the nature of the war. The stalemate had remained unbroken on the major fronts throughout the preceding year.
Where new fronts had been opened – as on Gallipoli – the same stalemate had resulted. Attempts to outflank the enemy, to strike at ‘the soft underbelly’, had proved as unavailing as head-on offensives in France or Poland.
The decision was ramp up war economies to increase the flow of men, guns, and munitions, and to mount fresh offensives on a much grander scale. The aim was sometimes the decisive breakthrough, otherwise the waging of battles of attrition to ‘bleed’ the enemy to death. 1916 became the year of the great offensives.
Was it worth it? We return to that question with the second part of our review of the debate among historians for and against the Battle of the Somme.
Also this issue, Robbie MacNiven argues that it was the Scots who won the English Civil War, Patrick Mercer takes our Regiment series in an exotic direction with a look at the role of the 10th Bombay Native Infantry in the Indian Mutiny, and WWII veteran Patrick Delaforce provides a visceral first-hand account of the liberation of Belsen and the trial and execution of Nazi war-criminals.