This Day in History: January 29th through February 3rd
January 29, 757 - An Lushan, Leader of the Yan Dynasty, is Assassinated
Beginning in 755, the Chinese general An Lushan led a rebellion against the then-leading Tang Dynasty with the intent to start his own, splinter dynasty (the Yan) that would eventually overpower the Tang. However, by 757, many of his supporters were unhappy with the way he had been fighting, and so supported a plot by his son to have him assassinated. Though his rebellion soon collapsed not long afterwards, it left permanent scars on the Tang Dynasty (somewhere between 16-36 million people killed) that they would never be fully able to heal before their own collapse just a century and a half later.
January 30, 1648 - Spain Officially Recognizes Dutch Independence
For eighty years, the Dutch had been fighting to throw off their Spanish overlords, in a war for independence known as the Eighty Years’ War. Partially driven by religious motives (the Dutch were Protestant and didn’t enjoy living under the Catholic Spaniards), it’s not surprising this conflict also became part of the Thirty Years’ War from 1618-1648, the climactic final major conflict between Catholic and Protestant nations in Europe. At the end of the war, the Spanish were forced to finally recognize the independence of the Dutch Republic.
January 31, 1504 - End of the Second Italian War
In the Second Italian War, fighting began when the King of France (Louis XII) attempted to press his claims to the thrones of Milan and Naples, something Spain wanted to avoid as it would add power to their Northern neighbor. The Treaty of Lyon that ended the five-year war was a compromise; France would retain their claim on Milan, while Spain would acquire the Kingdom of Naples.
February 1, 1864 - Beginning of the Second Schleswig War
In 1864, Prussia (with the assistance of Austria) invaded Denmark, with the reasoning being that the Danish were attempting to take independence from the semi-autonomous Duchy of Schleswig-Holstein, a duchy that the German states saw as being one of their own, and under their protection as a result. The war was a by-product of a long-standing debate over whether Schleswig-Holstein was Danish or German, with the highly respected British diplomat Lord Palmerston saying of its complexity; “The Schleswig-Holstein question is so complicated, only three men in Europe have ever understood it. One was Prince Albert, who is dead. The second was a German professor who became mad. I am the third and I have forgotten all about it.”
February 2, 1207 - Formation of, “Terra Mariana”
Terra Mariana was a monastic state established in the aftermath of the Livonian Crusade (a crusade that attempted to convert Baltic Pagans). In 1237, after the disastrous battle of Saule, Terra Mariana merged with the Teutonic Order in the South-West to create the Livonian Order branch, which stayed independent even as the Teutons began to decline in 1410. In fact, the order only lost its independence by 1561, being partitioned between the Empire of Sweden, the Grand Duchy of Lithuania, and the Kingdom of Denmark.
February 3, 1706 - Swedish Victory in the Battle of Fraustadt
The Battle of Fraustadt was one of the greatest victories Sweden won during the first half of the Great Northern War against Denmark, Poland-Lithuania, and Russia, as well as some minor states. One of those minor states was the German duchy of Saxony, which, together with Russia, engaged the Swedes at the battle of Fraustadt with a 2-1 advantage in troop count. In order to win, the Swedish commander (Carl Gustaf Rehnskiold) utilized an extremely difficult technique in battle, especially when outnumbered - the double-encirclement. This was done by using the superior Swedish cavalry to route the flanks, then closing in on the center. The casualties were astounding; 1,500 Swedes lost compared to 15,000 Saxons / Russians killed or captured, from a battle where the Swedes began with just 9,400 men against 20,000.
