Articles concerning history, with a particular focus on UK history or the UK's role in world history

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“Before this time tomorrow I shall have gained a peerage or Westminster Abbey.” - Horatio Nelson

Aboukir Bay - The Naval Battle Which Made a Hero

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A few weeks ago, I went down a rabbit hole of researching my local duke and his family. And I started noticing a pattern. they would regularly have to inherit in ways other than father to son. Today, I will be cataloguing the story.....of the Duchy of Northumberland.

The Dukes of the North

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They wore this wool at Lodi, at Milan, at Mantua, and at Arcole. It would have been difficult to persuade these soldiers to go into battle without uniforms, and as such it is perfectly reasonable to make the claim that without British wool, France would never have won the War of the First Coalition.

Marching Sheepishly: How the British wool industry helped the French to win the War of the First Coalition

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This may seem an odd question with the gift of hindsight. When the French Revolution exploded into an international crisis, no country fought harder to suppress France than Great Britain (United Kingdom from 1801). Britain would not only act as financiers against the French Revolution, funding the multiple coalition wars, but the British Empire would also play an important military role both on land and at sea. It may come across as odd, perhaps, to ask why Britain would be opposed to the French Revolution.

Why did Britain oppose the French Revolution?

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One of the more famous real estate sales in human history was the Louisiana Purchase. Not only was it an enormous sale, but also all sides involved got what they wanted from the deal. In 1803, Napoleon Bonaparte sold the French colonies of Louisiana to the young United States for a sum of $15 million (estimated to be roughly $309 million today). This purchase would, interestingly enough, come in large part from British financiers... and would end up funding and providing justification for two separate invasions of Britain and its territories.

The time Britain funded an invasion of itself... twice!

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Many believe that Britain’s conquest of India was a forgone conclusion. Images may arise of a technologically superior wealthy British empire taking on an India totally unprepared for European imperialism - in the same vein as the Scramble for Africa or the colonisation of the New World. Nothing could be further from the truth. 

One better than Alexander - The remarkable story of how Britain conquered India

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Aboukir Bay - The Naval Battle Which Made a Hero

The Dukes of the North

Marching Sheepishly: How the British wool industry helped the French to win the War of the First Coalition

Why did Britain oppose the French Revolution?

The time Britain funded an invasion of itself... twice!

One better than Alexander - The remarkable story of how Britain conquered India

Check out our latest articles

Aboukir Bay - The Naval Battle Which Made a Hero

The Dukes of the North

Marching Sheepishly: How the British wool industry helped the French to win the War of the First Coalition

Why did Britain oppose the French Revolution?

The time Britain funded an invasion of itself... twice!

One better than Alexander - The remarkable story of how Britain conquered India