Christiansø – Denmark’s Eastern Outpost

Three small islands make up the Eastern most part of Denmark. It is a curious place of only 78 inhabitants all living in what is effectively a living museum. It has such a special significance that people living on the islands are exempt from a number of taxes. With an area of only 0.38 square kilometers, it is hard to imagine what drove Danish kings to order three barren rocks in the Baltic settled and  fortified. Please read on as we look into 200 years of military fortifications of Christiansø.

Innovations in Napoleonic Warfare

It is easy to look at troops marching in lines up to each other and then firing volley after volley and consider warfare of past centuries primitive, barbaric and suicidal. It is also easy to write it all off as being a period where the nobility never cared about their peasant soldiers and would gladly send them to their death in neatly organized rows held together by iron discipline and ferocious punishment. That innovation was stymied by tradition and a belief in a romanticized idea of gentleman warfare but that is oversimplifying it. While the basic weapons did not change much during the 18th century and into the Napoleonic Wars, warfare did change quite a lot. I will try to explain.

Frøslevlejren – The Weirdest Concentration Camp of WWII

Frøslevlejren (Frøslev concentration camp) has often been called the weirdest concentration camp in World War 2. It was suggested and paid by Danish authorities but like any concentration camp led by the SS but with Danish administration staff running the day-to-day business. It may sound like treasonous actions but in a weird twist done to save lives not end them. Read on and learn more.

Go for Broke – Asians in WWII US Army

In October of 1943 American troops fixed bayonets and charged the German positions screaming “Banzai”. Does it sound like alternate history? Learn about the 442nd Regimental Combat Team, the most highly decorated US unit of WWII was composed of Japanese Americans who fought against racism at home and fascism abroad.

It is an uncomfortable story to retell and thus it is often left unexplored, so I would like to cover another “forgotten” unit in this week’s blog post.