Brad's Battle Maps

Salamis (480 BCE) On 23 September 480 BCE, the Battle of Salamis was fought between the Greeks under Themistocles and Eurybiades and the Persians under Xerxes I and Ariabignes during the Greco-Persian Wars. Why did it happen? Following the death of Darius I in 486 BCE, his son and successor Xerxes I sought to avenge the Persian defeat at the Battle of Marathon by conquering Greece. By 480 BCE, his preparations were complete, and he invaded Greece with a massive army of 200,0

One Tree Hill (1843) On 12-13 September 1843, the Battle of One Tree Hill was fought in Australia between the British under Arthur Hodgson and the Aborigines under Multuggerah during the Australian Frontier Wars. Why did it happen? In 1840, Brisbane was the most northerly outpost of Australia to be settled by Europeans. This area of Queensland was dominated on all sides by an alliance of Aboriginal tribes that could muster 1,500 warriors to defend their lands. Over the next f

Darwin (1942) On 19 February 1942, the Battle of Darwin was fought in Northern Australia between the Japanese under Chuichi Nagumo and Mitsuo Fuchida and the Allies under David V.J. Blake during the Second World War. Why did it happen? At the start of 1942, the town of Darwin in Northern Australia was being used by the Allies as a supply base for their forces in the Dutch East Indies. Because of its distance from any Japanese-controlled territory, little thought was given by

Trafalgar (1805) On 21 October 1805, the Battle of Trafalgar was fought between the British under Horatio Nelson and the Franco-Spanish under Pierre-Charles Villeneuve during the Napoleonic Wars. Why did it happen? Following the Peace of Amiens in 1803, Napoleon planned the invasion of Britain, since this would remove the most formidable hurdle to French supremacy in Europe. In the summer of 1805, Napoleon encamped his 210,000 strong army at Boulogne but required the French a

Moremonui (1807) In 1807, the Battle of Moremonui was fought in New Zealand between Nga Puhi under Pokaia and Ngati Whatua under Taoho and Murupaenga during the Musket Wars. Why did it happen? Beginning in 1760, Nga Puhi had expanded its tribal domain east to the Bay of Islands and came into conflict with Ngati Whatua. By the beginning of the nineteenth century, both tribes had engaged in years of raids and counterraids designed to exact utu , or ‘payback’, over perceived wro

Breitenfeld (1631) On 17 September 1631, the Battle of Breitenfeld was fought between Sweden-Saxony under Gustavus Adolphus and John George and the Imperialists under Count Tilly during the Thirty Years War. Why did it happen? The Thirty Years War began in 1618 as an attempt by the Habsburg emperor Ferdinand II to eliminate Protestantism and reimpose Catholicism in Bohemia. By 1630, it looked as though the Imperialists had gained the upper hand in the conflict and were about

Eureka Stockade (1854) On 3 December 1854, the Battle of the Eureka Stockade was fought in Australia between Southern Cross Rebels under Peter Lalor and the British under Thomas Queade during the Eureka Rebellion. Why did it happen? In 1851, it was announced that gold had been discovered in New South Wales and Victoria, leading many people around the world to come to Australia to seek their fortunes. This led to Victoria's state population increasing exponentially from 77,000

Waterloo (1815) On 18 June 1815, the Battle of Waterloo was fought between the Allies under the Duke of Wellington and Gebhard Blucher against the French under Napoleon Bonaparte during the Napoleonic Wars. Why did it happen? Following his defeat in 1814, Napoleon Bonaparte was exiled to the island of Elba and the French monarchy was restored in the person of Louis XVIII. However, in February 1815, Napoleon left Elba and arrived in France with 1,100 men and 4 artillery. Due t

France (1940) On 10 May-22 June 1940, the Battle of France was fought between the Germans under Adolf Hitler and Erich von Manstein and the Allies under Maurice Gamelin and Lord Gort during the Second World War. Why did it happen? On 3 September 1939, two days after Adolf Hitler invaded Poland, Britain and France declared war on Germany. Even though most of Germany’s armies were concentrated on the invasion of Poland, France had committed itself to a defensive strategy based

Panipat (1526) On 21 April 1526, the Battle of Panipat was fought in India between the Mughals under Babur and the Delhi Sultanate under Ibrahim Lodi during the Mughal Conquest of India. Why did it happen? In 1504, the Timurid prince Babur, a descendent of both Tamerlane and Genghis Khan, took control of Kabul in Afghanistan after losing his home city of Samarkand in 1494. Using his new base as a springboard for wider ambitions, the wealth of India enticed him. In 1525, he wa