Curated category
Wars of succession involving the states and peoples of Europe
- Year of the Five EmperorsOn New Year's Eve of AD 192, the Roman Empire witnessed a massacre in Rome that would trigger its collapse. Emperor Commodus ordered the killing of citizens…
- Year of the Four EmperorsIn the winter of 67, 68, Gaius Julius Vindex, legate of Gallia Lugdunensis, looked for support among other governors to start a revolt against Nero.
- Carnatic warsThe Mughal Emperor Aurangzeb died in 1707. His death triggered a general decline in central control over the empire during the tenure of Jahandar Shah and…
- Civil wars of the TetrarchyThe civil wars of the Tetrarchy tore the Roman Empire apart across eighteen years, beginning in 306 AD with a throne seized at York and ending only when one…
- Hundred Years' WarThe Hundred Years' War lasted 116 years, from 1337 to 1453, which makes its tidy name a small lie. It was never one continuous fight.
- Second Schleswig WarOn the 18th of November 1863, King Christian IX signed the November Constitution in Copenhagen. This document tied the Duchy of Schleswig more closely to…
- Fourth CrusadeThe Fourth Crusade set out in 1202 with a clear mandate from Pope Innocent III: retake Jerusalem from Muslim control by first striking at the heart of…
- Trajan's Parthian campaignIn 113, Roman emperor Trajan decided that the moment was ripe for a final resolution of the eastern question. He sought to defeat Parthia and annex Armenia…
- Time of TroublesThe Time of Troubles was a fifteen-year catastrophe that came close to erasing Russia as a political entity. It began in January 1598 when Tsar Feodor I died…
- Polish–Russian War (1609–1618)The Polish-Russian War began in 1609, when a king who already ruled the largest country in Europe decided to reach further east.
- Decembrist revoltThe Decembrist revolt was a failed coup launched in Saint Petersburg on a single December morning in 1825, when roughly 3,000 soldiers refused to swear…