History Archives – Brian F. Bridgeforth

A Brief History of Hamas

October 9, 2023

With the devastating attacks by Hamas on Israel on October 7th of this year that killed hundreds, it is important to understand the group that has caused Israel to declare war. Hamas is now one

Kissinger Before Nixon

August 29, 2023

This year Henry Kissinger turned 100 years old. It is quite a seminal milestone in a storied life operating at the highest echelons of the American government. He has become one of the most regarded

Peter the Great

July 10, 2022

Peter the Great, also known as Peter I, whose real name was Pyotr Alekseevich, was born on June 9th, 1672, the son of Tsar Alexis and Natalya Naryshkina. He was named after the apostle Saint

After the fall of the Soviet Union, many questioned the continued existence of NATO. After all, NATO’s sole purpose was to be a deterrent to Soviet aggression in Europe, and with the Soviet Union gone,

Leopold II and the Rape of the Congo

June 6, 2018

King Leopold II of Belgium is remembered in history as a monster. His atrocities in the Congo committed in the name of greed are the darkest chapters of European colonialism. Through the period from the

Remembering September 11th

March 27, 2018

September 11th, 2001 is one of those events that anyone who is old enough remembers exactly what they were doing when they heard the news that terrorists had flown planes into the World Trade Center

Simón Bolívar and Latin America

January 23, 2018

When Hugo Chavez came to power in 1999 he set about changing the name of Venezuela to the Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela after the South American liberator, Simón Bolívar. It was part of what Chavez

Vichy France and the Holocaust

November 28, 2017

After France was conquered by the Germans in World War II, the French government relocated to the small town of Vichy in the middle of the country. In the hopes of at least keeping the

Muhammad Mossadegh

September 10, 2017

Muhammad Mossadegh is a complicated historical character. Born in Iran in 1882 to an upper class family he was educated in Paris and Switzerland where he received his PhD in law. Back in Iran, he

The Monroe Doctrine

August 2, 2017

Until the Monroe Doctrine was proclaimed, America had chosen to stay clear of the power struggles between the nations of Europe with what amounted to an isolationist foreign policy. Content in not become with European