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Dr. Alexander S. Burns Profile picture
Dr. Alexander S. Burns
@KKriegeBlog
Historian of the eighteenth-century Atlantic World, American Continental Army, and Military Europe. PhD WVU.
Maleph Profile picture David O'Brien Profile picture Karloman314 Profile picture 3 subscribed
May 4 • 25 tweets • 8 min read
Were the industrial revolution and its consequences a disaster for the human race? Were we better off pre-capitalism? Was life better before nationalism?
The post below combined with the pesky resurgence of "medieval peasants had more days off than you" has inspired a 🧵. 1/25 I'm a historian who studies the last part of human history before these developments (1600-1789), in the North Atlantic World (Europe and NA) with a focus on the lives of ordinary people (peasants) and especially soldiers drawn from that peasant class between 1730-1790. 2/25
Apr 28 • 28 tweets • 10 min read
Ok. Manor Lords review time, @LordsManor. In short, I LOVED IT. But, maybe not for the reasons you might initially think. A review 🧵on the indie peasant sim/city builder that took the internet by storm. It's been compared to Total War, but is something else. 1/25 Image So, I'm currently 13 hours in, and I think I have enough of a feel for it to give you my impressions. I'm not reviewing this as a gamer first, but as a history professor who has read, written, and thought about peasants in German History in the period just after this one. 2/25 Image
Apr 24 • 22 tweets • 6 min read
Spent some time this morning chatting with Charlie, the Queensland State Library's WW1 veteran AI.

Of course, I immediately asked him about nationalism, race, politics and religion.

I'm not sure I love the concept, but it was entertaining, maybe that was the point?
🧵 1/23 Charlie was very keen to provide a balanced perspective on the 1914 election. 2/23 Image
Apr 24 • 25 tweets • 7 min read
I was pleasantly surprised by the ending of Shōgun, having braced myself for disappointment after reading some reviews of the last episode. A 🧵with some letters from Blackthorne's historical counterpart, the Miura Anjin William Adams. 1/25 Image Both of the letters below were written in 1611, long after William Adams initial landing in Japan, and Tokugawa Ieyasu's (Toronaga's) victory at the Battle of Sekigahara in October of 1600. Both of the letter selections below describe Adams first meeting with Tokugawa. 2/25
Apr 18 • 11 tweets • 3 min read
This from a Roman historian, who knows that the people who are currently studying what she studied have abysmal chances of getting a tenure-track position.

A 🧵of my history job market threads. We need to build a society in which people can professionally study the past. 1/11 Telling young aspiring historians: "do it for love, rather than a career" isn't a new idea. I heard it at the conference that inspired this thread. 2/11
Apr 14 • 22 tweets • 10 min read
A lot of things going on in the world. Today, my university wargame club held the last meeting of the semester. We did the Battle of Höchst (June 20th, 1622). All in all, a fairly historical result, with heavier casualties on both sides than in the actual engagement. 1/22 Image It has been an absolute blast being the faculty advisor to this club over the last year. There were some bumps along the way, but we have a great crew: don't be fooled, young people love historical gaming, even in "obscure" periods. 2/22 Image
Apr 8 • 5 tweets • 2 min read
I don't want to rag on anybody, and history is tough sometimes, but it is at least helpful to consult with the professionals. A short meta thread on aiming and rifles. 1/5

A thread outlining my views of 18th century infantry combat after a decade of research. 2/5
Apr 1 • 25 tweets • 7 min read
This academic year marks a decade of teaching military history in higher education for me.
I'd like to reflect upon the demographic that keeps me employed: my students who are "into" military history. I'm going to try to limit myself to observations rather than judgement. 🧵1/25 Image These young people are frequently derided with memes about "starter packs" or paradox games. Some of my fellow graduate instructors at WVU called them "military history bros." Although a number of them were conservative white men, I've taught "milhist bros" of all stripes: 2/25
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Mar 18 • 18 tweets • 8 min read
Today, the wargame club gamed the Battle of Fleurus (1622). Despite being close to spring break, we had a great turn out. In history, a 14,000 strong Protestant army of Mansfeld and Brunswick attacked Don F. Gonzales de Cordoba's 8,000 strong detachment of Spanish veterans. 1/17
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Image The Protestant "Paladins" were trying to break through the Spanish position to reach threaten the city of Breda, which Ambrogio Spinola's Spanish forces were currently investing. The goal of the action was not so much to destroy Cordoba as break through. 2/17 Image
Feb 25 • 23 tweets • 4 min read
I attended an academic conference (History) this weekend.

There was a panel, run by brave graduate students, on the job market. I had to choke back my emotions, and I wasn’t the only one.

A report on how the kids (and by that: adults with advanced degrees) are doing. 1/23 The panel was quite moving, because like me, these PhD students attended a flagship state university in state that is much closer to the poorer than the richer end of the spectrum with a smaller faculty. (~25 history professors). 2/23
Feb 21 • 22 tweets • 6 min read
I greatly enjoyed the "fascism doesn't win wars" discourse today.

However, I don't think those of us who live in liberal democracies will win bc of who we are either.

A 🧵on one of the reasons the fascists lost WW2, and my worries about American military power today. 1/22 First of all, it was refreshing to see the Wehrmacht put in its place. Despite Glantz and House's research being available for some time, the myth of the Wehrmacht as a (maybe * the *) superb fighting machine endures, at least in the eyes of my undergraduate students. Why? 2/22 Image
Feb 10 • 11 tweets • 6 min read
A @TeamYankeeGame at my university wargame club today.

After the failure of the Soviet assault into Northern Italy in late April of 1986, NATO forces have launched a successful counteroffensive into East Germany. 1/11 Image The speed of the NATO assault surprised the Warsaw Pact, leading to a collapse of positions on the inner-German border, bypassing Berlin. With Berlin contained, NATO troops are driving for crossing points on the Oder.

Using an old JFO map for the campaign. 2/11 Image
Jan 31 • 10 tweets • 2 min read
Most professors who publish and teach know things, actually.

This is literally just a plea to have a professor's life without doing ANY of the work.

So, what do professors do, and why is it valuable/worthwhile? 1/
Image Professors are paid to do three things, essentially. Teaching, Research/Publication, and Service (committee work).
Teaching keeps the tuition dollars coming in (for a lot of faculty today, especially in the humanities at smaller colleges, this is their primary job.) 2/
Jan 25 • 30 tweets • 9 min read
I'm just over a year late to this discourse. Thinking of it again bc of debate over drones their impact the battlefield. A Cavalry charge 🧵
TL;DR: watching some extras duke it out is not a substitute for a source-driven understanding of what occurred on the battlefield. 1/30 @maniagnosis does a great job of touching on some of the major points of the "infantry revolution" of the late middle ages, and also why, almost invariably, cavalry were outnumbered by infantry. 2/30
Jan 21 • 11 tweets • 3 min read
There has been some lively discussion regarding witchcraft trials today, addressing the horror of the deaths of 40,000-60,000 women who were murdered as a result of these trials, mostly between 1500 and 1700.
I enjoyed this chart and took the liberty of modifying it. 1/11


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Image The chart referenced the concurrent Thirty Years War, in which between 5-8 million died. I though it might be interesting to show the scale of the death during these religious wars, and might go some distance to explaining why the height of witch trials occurred then. 2/11
Jan 20 • 8 tweets • 4 min read
My university wargame club began a Thirty Years War Campaign today, started with the Battle of White Mountain.

Catholic/Imperial forces under Tilly, Burqury, and Wallenstein advanced against Hussite/Bohemian troops under Anhalt and Thurn. 1st, Thurn’s cavalry were defeated.


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Image Dutch-trained forces on the Bohemian right charged Polish mercenaries on the Imperial left.
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Dec 14, 2023 • 10 tweets • 4 min read
Today, a brief 🧵about one of my colleagues. He's a reserved Englishman, doubtless he'll be mortified that I'm doing this. Sorry, Andrew.

As the year ends, I want to acknowledge the incredible work that Dr Andrew Bamford has done on the From Reason to Revolution series. 1/10 Image Andrew's time working as series editor on From Reason to Revolution is coming to an end. I'm not going to dwell on that here, and the announcement has been made. Andrew's work RtR has been the most significant development in 18th century military history in my lifetime. 2/10 Image
Nov 26, 2023 • 20 tweets • 8 min read
A 🧵 on Napoleonic Wars reading recommendations. Lots of folks asked for a Napoleon biography, or single book. I'll give you some options below.
I also haven't been called a nerd this much since 8th grade. Jokes on you, I was homeschooled. You're trapped in here with me now. 1/20 There are a billion different ways to examine this period. You can do it through cultural, gender, social, economic, political, or military history. All of these approaches have their merits. I'm a military historian, and so this reading list is going to be military focused. 2/20
Nov 25, 2023 • 6 tweets • 3 min read
Ok Napoleonic media cravers/new followers.

I'm not just a cinema hater. If you need a Napoleon fix, what should you watch?
Don't watch Russian versions of War and Peace, or even the 1970s Waterloo movie. Just go watch the 2016 BCC War and Peace. 🧵 1/6 Image It is a modern miniseries with high production values, star power, enjoyable romance, and reasonable battle scenes.
Seriously, its got:
Brian Cox
Lily James
Gillian Anderson
Paul Dano
James Norton
Jim Broadbent

Not to put too fine a point on it, but these folks can act.
2/6
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Nov 25, 2023 • 25 tweets • 7 min read
And now, the nit-picky history details/battle thread.

TL;DR Ridley Scott's Napoleon movie is probably, in all seriousness, worse for Napoleonic Warfare than The Patriot is for eighteenth-century warfare. I'm going to focus on military history here in this one. 1/25 Image We'll start, as before, with the good. The majority of the military uniforms we see up close, (on Napoleon) are well-made and show signs of being hand finished. Some of them could fit better. Once again, the grenadier uniforms in the 18 Brumaire Coup look nice. 2/25 Image
Nov 25, 2023 • 18 tweets • 5 min read
I'm going to write two threads about the Napoleon movie. The first one (this one) will evaluate it as a movie. The second will be a nit-picky history thread about the details and battles.

TL;DR it was not great. Golda was a masterpiece by comparison. 2 stars. 1/17 Image Let's start with the good. It's cinematically beautiful. I loved the Coup of 18 Brumaire scene. I'll probably even show that in class. Great score.

Now, on to the rest:
The movie follows the long span of Napoleon's career, 1793-1815. You get uneven coverage, though. 2/17 Image