1/12 He had defeated all his rivals and stood as the undisputed master of the Roman world. But Julius Caesar was about to learn that victory on the battlefield does not guarantee survival in the treacherous world of Roman politics.

This is the story of Caesar's final years, and his assassination on the Ides of March. 🧵 2/12 Dictator For Life:
After crushing the last remnants of Pompey's supporters in Africa and Spain, Caesar returned to Rome in 45 BC. The Senate, now powerless, showered him with honours.
He was eventually granted the title Dictator Perpetuo—Dictator for Life. To the traditional Roman aristocracy, this was intolerable. The title of Rex (King) was a toxic concept in Rome, and Caesar was acting like one.

1/12 It was the war that decided the fate of the world. Two of Rome's greatest generals, once allies, now locked in a struggle for absolute power. A Republic hung in the balance.

This is the story of the Great Roman Civil War and how Julius Caesar defeated Pompey the Great. 🧵 2/12 "Alea Iacta Est" – The Die Is Cast
On January 10th, 49 BC, after being declared an enemy of the state by a Senate dominated by his political foes, Julius Caesar made a fateful choice. He led his veteran 13th Legion across the Rubicon River, the legal boundary of Italy.
This was an act of treason and open rebellion. The Civil War had begun.

1/4 On August 13, 1940, the Battle of Britain escalated dramatically. It was "Adlertag"—Eagle Day.

The German plan: Use the full might of the Luftwaffe to smash the RAF's Fighter Command in a series of massive, coordinated attacks. Here's how the day unfolded. 2/4 The day began poorly for the Luftwaffe. Morning raids were hampered by bad weather, leading to confusion and uncoordinated attacks.

German bombers, believing their fighter escorts were present, flew into ambushes. RAF radar stations, though targeted, were often quickly repaired or had backups. #MilitaryHistory #BattleOfBritain

1/12 An emperor lay dead on the field. An entire Roman army was annihilated. A defeat so total that many historians call it the beginning of the end of the Western Roman Empire.

This is the story of a forgotten, world-changing disaster: the Battle of Adrianople, 378 AD. 🧵 2/12 The Context: A Refugee Crisis on the Danube
The late 4th Century. A new, terrifying force, the Huns, sweeps out of the Central Asian steppes, conquering and displacing all in their path.

Fleeing this onslaught, a massive confederation of Gothic tribes led by their chieftain Fritigern arrives at the Danube River—the Roman frontier—and begs for asylum within the safety of the Empire.

1/14 It was the final clash of the Crusades. A tiny island garrison against the full might of the Ottoman Empire. For four months in 1565, the fate of the Mediterranean, and perhaps all of Europe, was decided by fire, steel, and sheer will.

This is the story of the Great Siege of Malta. 🧵 2/14 The Stakes:
Sultan Suleiman the Magnificent, the most powerful ruler on Earth, sought to eradicate his old nemeses: the Knights of St. John (the Hospitallers).

By conquering Malta, he would gain a strategic base to launch invasions into Sicily and Italy, shattering Christian naval power in the Mediterranean. This was an existential threat to Christendom.

1/12 He was nicknamed "the Great" at 25, yet also called the "teenage butcher." He was the Roman Republic's most celebrated general, who conquered the East and swept the seas clean.

But his entire career was built on a collision course with a younger, more ruthless rival: Julius Caesar. This is the tragic story of Pompey the Great. 🧵 2/12 The Young Conqueror:
Pompey burst onto the scene during the civil wars of the dictator Sulla. With no official authority, he raised his own private army from his father's veterans.

His campaigns in Sicily and Africa were so swift and brutal that they earned him his fearsome nickname and an unprecedented honour for one so young: a Triumphal parade in Rome. His ambition was clear from the start.

1/15 How do you win a battle when you are massively outnumbered, trapped, and being attacked from both the front and the rear?

You build a prison around your enemy, then build a fortress around yourself.

This is the story of Julius Caesar's masterpiece of military engineering: The Siege of Alesia (52 BC). 🧵 2/15 The Context:
The Gallic Wars have raged for nearly a decade. For the first time, the fractured tribes of Gaul have united under one charismatic leader, Vercingetorix. He has raised a huge army to expel the Romans from their lands for good.

Caesar, deep in hostile territory and outnumbered, has managed to trap Vercingetorix and his main army of 80,000 warriors inside the hilltop fortress (oppidum) of Alesia.

1/10 In the summer of 1940, the German war machine stood on the shores of France, looking across the water at a defiant Britain. The invasion plan was codenamed 'Operation Sea Lion.'

It never happened. But what if it had? Let's walk through one of history's most terrifying alternate timelines. 2/10 For Sea Lion to even begin, one thing must happen: the Luftwaffe must defeat the RAF. Let's assume, for our scenario, that through sheer weight of numbers they achieve a bloody, narrow, and temporary air superiority over the Channel and the South-East coast in late September 1940.

1/10 Ever heard of a general who reconquered Rome for the Romans, defeated enemies on three continents, and saved his emperor's throne, only to be rewarded with suspicion and betrayal?

Meet Flavius Belisarius. A name that should stand with Caesar and Scipio, but is often lost to history. 2/10 Our story begins in the 530s AD. The Western Roman Empire is gone, but the Eastern (Byzantine) Empire, under Emperor Justinian I, dreams of restoring it.
Justinian has the ambition, but Belisarius has the genius. His first major test: the Vandalic Kingdom in North Africa. With just 15,000 men, he shatters the Vandals in less than a year, restoring the province to the Empire.

1/5 Valley Forge wasn't a battle, but it was where the American Revolution was won. In the brutal winter of 1777-78, the Continental Army was on the verge of collapse. Here's how it was forged into a professional fighting force. 2/5 The arrival of Baron von Steuben, a Prussian captain, was pivotal. He didn't speak English but used a translator to systematically drill the soldiers. He introduced discipline, bayonet training, and camp sanitation, drastically reducing deaths from disease.

The Battle of Aughrim - The Bloodiest Day in Irish History 1/7 While today, July 12th, is famously known as 'The Twelfth' for commemorating the Battle of the Boyne, a far more decisive and brutal battle was fought on this very day in 1691: The Battle of Aughrim. This was the real military endgame of the Williamite War in Ireland.

The Thirty Years' War, Part 4: The French Phase (A Thread) 1/10 With the Swedes shattered at Nördlingen, a total Habsburg victory seemed imminent. To prevent this, a new power intervened directly, not for faith, but for power. This is the final, brutal chapter of the war: the French Phase (1635-1648).

The Thirty Years' War, Part 3: The Lion of the North (A Thread) 1/10 With the Danes defeated and the Emperor at the height of his power, the Protestant cause in Germany seemed lost. But across the Baltic, a king with a revolutionary new army was watching. The war was about to be transformed. This was the Swedish Phase (1630-1635).

#ThirtyYearsWar #MilitaryHistory #SwedishPhase

The Thirty Years' War, Part 2: The Danish Intervention (A Thread) 1/10 The Bohemian Revolt was crushed, but the embers of war remained. Fearing the rise of Habsburg power on his borders, a new Protestant champion entered the fray, backed by foreign gold. This is the story of the Danish Phase (1625-1629).

#ThirtyYearsWar #MilitaryHistory #DanishPhase

1/10 One battle. Two hours. Three centuries of consequences. The Battle of White Mountain on 8th November 1620 wasn't just a fight; it was the decisive moment that ended the Bohemian Revolt and set a brutal tone for the Thirty Years' War. Let's dissect the battle and its staggering aftermath. #MilitaryHistory #ThirtyYearsWar #BattleOfWhiteMountain 2/10 THE ARMIES: The Bohemian rebels, under Prince Christian of Anhalt, had about 21,000 men. A mixed force of Bohemians, Germans, and Hungarian mercenaries, many unpaid and demoralised after a long retreat. They took up a strong defensive position on the slopes of White Mountain, just west of Prague.

1/10 Imagine a peasant army, fueled by faith and fury, repeatedly annihilating the greatest armored knights of the Holy Roman Empire.

This isn't fantasy. This was the Hussite Wars (1419-1434), a brutal conflict that didn't just challenge an Emperor, but forever changed the rules of war. 🧵 2/10 It all began with a spark. Jan Hus, a Bohemian church reformer, was executed for heresy in 1415. His death enraged his followers, the Hussites, who rose up against the authority of the Pope and the Holy Roman Emperor Sigismund.

The First Crusade against them was declared in 1420. For the next 14 years, Europe's finest chivalry would be sent to crush Bohemia. They would all fail.

1/8 In the heart of the Holy Roman Empire, the city of Prague was the stage for not one, but two of the most dramatic political acts in European history.

When anger boiled over, diplomacy was thrown out the window... literally. This is the story of the Defenestrations of Prague. 🧵

#HolyRomanEmpire #MilitaryHistory 2/8 The Holy Roman Empire was a complex patchwork of territories in Central Europe. By the 15th and 17th centuries, religious tension between Catholics and reformers (like the Hussites and later, Protestants) was at a fever pitch, especially in the Kingdom of Bohemia (modern-day Czechia)

1/7 Imagine the High Renaissance. We think of Michelangelo & da Vinci. But from 1494 to 1559, Italy was the bloody chessboard for the great powers of Europe. This was the era of the Italian Wars—a brutal, 65-year conflict that reshaped warfare and politics forever. #ItalianWars #MilitaryHistory 2/7 It all ignited in 1494 when King Charles VIII of France invaded Italy to press his claim on the Kingdom of Naples. His powerful, modern army, featuring a formidable mobile artillery train, marched the length of the peninsula with shocking ease, awakening Italy to its own vulnerability. #Renaissance #Warfare

1/12 On this day, 22 June 1941, Operation Barbarossa was unleashed. Most know the name, but military history enthusiasts appreciate the staggering operational complexity. Let's bypass the basics and dissect the intricate military machine, its objectives, and its fatal flaws. #OperationBarbarossa #MilitaryHistory 2/12 The German Order of Battle was built on three massive Army Groups, each with distinct objectives:

Army Group North (von Leeb): Targeted Leningrad, spearheaded by Panzer Group 4. Key objective: Seize Baltic states & eliminate the Soviet Baltic Fleet's bases.

Army Group Centre (von Bock): The Schwerpunkt (main effort). Aimed for Moscow, wielding the formidable Panzer Groups 2 (Guderian) & 3 (Hoth).

Army Group South (von Rundstedt): Aimed for the agricultural wealth of Ukraine & the Caucasus oilfields, supported by Panzer Group 1 (von Kleist). #Wehrmacht #OrderOfBattle

"Don't fire until you see the whites of their eyes!"

It's one of the most famous quotes in military history. But the battle it comes from was a brutal lesson in the cost of underestimating your enemy.

This week in 1775, the Battle of Bunker Hill was fought. 🧵 A thread... Boston, 1775. The city is under siege by thousands of newly-formed colonial militia. To break the stalemate, the British plan to seize the high ground on the unoccupied Charlestown Peninsula.

But overnight on June 16, about 1,200 colonial troops stole a march...

1/7 In 218 BC, Rome faced a shock that shook its foundations—a moment when an audacious enemy outmaneuvered the Republic’s might, catching the Eternal City off guard. 2/7 Hannibal's invasion of Italy in 218 BC was one of the most audacious military campaigns in history. Instead of a direct sea route, he chose a grueling overland journey across the Alps! Why this seemingly impossible path?