1.
United States Department of War
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The Secretary of War, a civilian with such responsibilities as finance and purchases and a minor role in directing military affairs, headed the War Department throughout its existence. Retired senior General Henry Knox, then in civilian life, served as the first United States Secretary of War, forming and organizing the department and the army fell to Secretary Knox. On November 8,1800 the War Department building with its records, foundation of the new military academy at West Point along the Hudson River upstream from New York City in 1802 was important to the future growth of the American army. The multiple failures and fiascos of the War of 1812 convinced Washington that thorough reform of the War Department was necessary, winfield Scott became the senior general until the start of the American Civil War in 1861. The bureau chiefs acted as advisers to the Secretary of War while commanding their own troops, the bureaus frequently conflicted among themselves, but in disputes with the commanding general, the Secretary of War generally supported the bureaus. Congress regulated the affairs of the bureaus in detail, and their chiefs looked to that body for support, during the American Civil War, the War Department responsibilities expanded. It handled the recruiting, training, supply, medical care, transportation, a separate command structure took charge of military operations. In the late stages of the war, the Department took charge of refugees and freedmen in the American South through the Bureau of Refugees, Freedmen, during Reconstruction, this bureau played a major role in supporting the new Republican governments in the southern states. When military Reconstruction ended in 1877, the U. S. Army removed the last troops from military occupation of the American South, and the last Republican state governments in the region ended. The Army comprised hundreds of small detachments in forts around the West, dealing with Indians, the United States Army, with 39,000 men in 1890 was the smallest and least powerful army of any major power in the late 19th century. By contrast, France had an army of 542,000, temporary volunteers and state militia units mostly fought the Spanish–American War of 1898. This conflict demonstrated the need for effective control over the department. Elihu Root enlarged the United States Military Academy at West Point, New York and established the United States Army War College and he changed the procedures for promotions and organized schools for the special branches of the service. He also devised the principle of rotating officers from staff to line, indeed, Secretary Taft exercised little power, President Theodore Roosevelt made the major decisions. In 1911, Secretary Henry L. Stimson and Major General Leonard Wood, his chief of staff, the general staff assisted them in their efforts to rationalize the organization of the army along modern lines and in supervising the bureaus. Assisted by industrial advisers, they reorganized the system of the army. General March reorganized the general staff along similar lines and gave it authority over departmental operations. After the war, the Congress again granted the bureaus their former independence, in the 1920s, General John J. Pershing realigned the general staff on the pattern of his American Expeditionary Force field headquarters, which he commanded
2.
Fort Santiago
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Fort Santiago is a citadel first built by Spanish conquistador, Miguel López de Legazpi for the new established city of Manila in the Philippines. The defense fortress is part of the structures of the city of Manila referred to as Intramuros. The fort is one of the most important historical sites in Manila, several lives were lost in its prisons during the Spanish Colonial Period and World War II. José Rizal, the Philippine national hero, was imprisoned here before his execution in 1896 and it is only a few meters away from the Manila Cathedral and the Palacio del Gobernador. It is located at the mouth of the Pasig River and served as the premier defense fortress of the Spanish Government during their rule of the country and it became a main fort for the spice trade to the Americas and Europe for 333 years. The Manila Galleon trade to Acapulco, Mexico began from the Fuerte de Santiago, the fort has a perimeter of 2,030 feet, and it is of a nearly triangular form. A moat connected with the river separates the fort from the city, the 22-foot high walls, with a thickness of 8 feet are pierced for the necessary communications. The front gateway façade measures 40 feet high being in the south wall, the communication with the river and the sea was by an obscure postern gate - the Postigo de la Nuestra Señora del Soledad. Inside the fort were guard stations, together with the barracks of the troops of the garrison and quarters of the warden, also inside the fort were various storehouses, a chapel, the powder magazine, the sentry towers, the cisterns, etc. The location of Fort Santiago was once the site of a fort, armed with bronze guns, of Rajah Matanda. The fort was destroyed by maestre de campo Martin de Goiti who, upon arriving in 1570 from Cebu, fought several battles with the Muslim natives. The Spaniards started building Fort Santiago after the establishment of the city of Manila under Spanish rule on June 24,1571, the first fort was a structure of palm logs and earth. Most of it was destroyed when the city was invaded by Chinese pirates led by Limahong, Martin de Goiti was killed during the siege. After a fierce conflict, the Spaniards under the leadership of Juan de Salcedo, eventually drove the pirates out to Pangasinan province to the north, and eventually out of the country. The construction of Fort Santiago with hard stone, together with the fortified walls of Intramuros, commenced in 1590. The stones used were volcanic tuff quarried from Guadalupe, the fort as Dasmariñas left it consisted of a castellated structure without towers, trapezoidal in trace, its straight gray front projecting into the river mouth. Arches supported an open gun platform above, named the battery of Santa Barbara and these arches formed casemates which afforded a lower tier of fire through embrasures. Curtain walls of simplest character, without counter forts or interior buttresses, in 1714, the ornate gate of Fort Santiago was erected together with some military barracks
3.
World War II
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World War II, also known as the Second World War, was a global war that lasted from 1939 to 1945, although related conflicts began earlier. It involved the vast majority of the worlds countries—including all of the great powers—eventually forming two opposing alliances, the Allies and the Axis. It was the most widespread war in history, and directly involved more than 100 million people from over 30 countries. Marked by mass deaths of civilians, including the Holocaust and the bombing of industrial and population centres. These made World War II the deadliest conflict in human history, from late 1939 to early 1941, in a series of campaigns and treaties, Germany conquered or controlled much of continental Europe, and formed the Axis alliance with Italy and Japan. Under the Molotov–Ribbentrop Pact of August 1939, Germany and the Soviet Union partitioned and annexed territories of their European neighbours, Poland, Finland, Romania and the Baltic states. In December 1941, Japan attacked the United States and European colonies in the Pacific Ocean, and quickly conquered much of the Western Pacific. The Axis advance halted in 1942 when Japan lost the critical Battle of Midway, near Hawaii, in 1944, the Western Allies invaded German-occupied France, while the Soviet Union regained all of its territorial losses and invaded Germany and its allies. During 1944 and 1945 the Japanese suffered major reverses in mainland Asia in South Central China and Burma, while the Allies crippled the Japanese Navy, thus ended the war in Asia, cementing the total victory of the Allies. World War II altered the political alignment and social structure of the world, the United Nations was established to foster international co-operation and prevent future conflicts. The victorious great powers—the United States, the Soviet Union, China, the United Kingdom, the Soviet Union and the United States emerged as rival superpowers, setting the stage for the Cold War, which lasted for the next 46 years. Meanwhile, the influence of European great powers waned, while the decolonisation of Asia, most countries whose industries had been damaged moved towards economic recovery. Political integration, especially in Europe, emerged as an effort to end pre-war enmities, the start of the war in Europe is generally held to be 1 September 1939, beginning with the German invasion of Poland, Britain and France declared war on Germany two days later. The dates for the beginning of war in the Pacific include the start of the Second Sino-Japanese War on 7 July 1937, or even the Japanese invasion of Manchuria on 19 September 1931. Others follow the British historian A. J. P. Taylor, who held that the Sino-Japanese War and war in Europe and its colonies occurred simultaneously and this article uses the conventional dating. Other starting dates sometimes used for World War II include the Italian invasion of Abyssinia on 3 October 1935. The British historian Antony Beevor views the beginning of World War II as the Battles of Khalkhin Gol fought between Japan and the forces of Mongolia and the Soviet Union from May to September 1939, the exact date of the wars end is also not universally agreed upon. It was generally accepted at the time that the war ended with the armistice of 14 August 1945, rather than the formal surrender of Japan
4.
United States Army
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The United States Armed Forces are the federal armed forces of the United States. They consist of the Army, Marine Corps, Navy, Air Force, from the time of its inception, the military played a decisive role in the history of the United States. A sense of unity and identity was forged as a result of victory in the First Barbary War. Even so, the Founders were suspicious of a permanent military force and it played an important role in the American Civil War, where leading generals on both sides were picked from members of the United States military. Not until the outbreak of World War II did a standing army become officially established. The National Security Act of 1947, adopted following World War II and during the Cold Wars onset, the U. S. military is one of the largest militaries in terms of number of personnel. It draws its personnel from a pool of paid volunteers. As of 2016, the United States spends about $580.3 billion annually to fund its military forces, put together, the United States constitutes roughly 40 percent of the worlds military expenditures. For the period 2010–14, the Stockholm International Peace Research Institute found that the United States was the worlds largest exporter of major arms, the United States was also the worlds eighth largest importer of major weapons for the same period. The history of the U. S. military dates to 1775 and these forces demobilized in 1784 after the Treaty of Paris ended the War for Independence. All three services trace their origins to the founding of the Continental Army, the Continental Navy, the United States President is the U. S. militarys commander-in-chief. Rising tensions at various times with Britain and France and the ensuing Quasi-War and War of 1812 quickened the development of the U. S. Navy, the reserve branches formed a military strategic reserve during the Cold War, to be called into service in case of war. Time magazines Mark Thompson has suggested that with the War on Terror, Command over the armed forces is established in the United States Constitution. The sole power of command is vested in the President by Article II as Commander-in-Chief, the Constitution also allows for the creation of executive Departments headed principal officers whose opinion the President can require. This allowance in the Constitution formed the basis for creation of the Department of Defense in 1947 by the National Security Act, the Defense Department is headed by the Secretary of Defense, who is a civilian and member of the Cabinet. The Defense Secretary is second in the chain of command, just below the President. Together, the President and the Secretary of Defense comprise the National Command Authority, to coordinate military strategy with political affairs, the President has a National Security Council headed by the National Security Advisor. The collective body has only power to the President
5.
Empire of Japan
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The Empire of Japan was the historical Japanese nation-state and great power that existed from the Meiji Restoration in 1868 to the enactment of the 1947 constitution of modern Japan. Imperial Japans rapid industrialization and militarization under the slogan Fukoku Kyōhei led to its emergence as a world power, after several large-scale military successes during the Second Sino-Japanese War and the Pacific War, the Empire also gained notoriety for its war crimes against the peoples it conquered. A period of occupation by the Allies followed the surrender, Occupation and reconstruction continued well into the 1950s, eventually forming the current nation-state whose full title is the State of Japan or simply rendered Japan in English. The historical state is referred to as the Empire of Japan or the Japanese Empire or Imperial Japan in English. In Japanese it is referred to as Dai Nippon Teikoku, which translates to Greater Japanese Empire and this is analogous to Großdeutsches Reich, a term that translates to Greater German Empire in English and Dai Doitsu Teikoku in Japanese. This meaning is significant in terms of geography, encompassing Japan, due to its name in kanji characters and its flag, it was also given the exonym Empire of the Sun. After two centuries, the policy, or Sakoku, under the shoguns of the Edo period came to an end when the country was forced open to trade by the Convention of Kanagawa in 1854. The following years saw increased trade and interaction, commercial treaties between the Tokugawa shogunate and Western countries were signed. In large part due to the terms of these Unequal Treaties, the Shogunate soon faced internal hostility, which materialized into a radical, xenophobic movement. In March 1863, the Emperor issued the order to expel barbarians, although the Shogunate had no intention of enforcing the order, it nevertheless inspired attacks against the Shogunate itself and against foreigners in Japan. The Namamugi Incident during 1862 led to the murder of an Englishman, Charles Lennox Richardson, the British demanded reparations but were denied. While attempting to exact payment, the Royal Navy was fired on from coastal batteries near the town of Kagoshima and they responded by bombarding the port of Kagoshima in 1863. For Richardsons death, the Tokugawa government agreed to pay an indemnity, shelling of foreign shipping in Shimonoseki and attacks against foreign property led to the Bombardment of Shimonoseki by a multinational force in 1864. The Chōshū clan also launched the coup known as the Kinmon incident. The Satsuma-Chōshū alliance was established in 1866 to combine their efforts to overthrow the Tokugawa bakufu, in early 1867, Emperor Kōmei died of smallpox and was replaced by his son, Crown Prince Mutsuhito. On November 9,1867, Tokugawa Yoshinobu resigned from his post and authorities to the Emperor, however, while Yoshinobus resignation had created a nominal void at the highest level of government, his apparatus of state continued to exist. On January 3,1868, Satsuma-Chōshū forces seized the palace in Kyoto. On January 17,1868, Yoshinobu declared that he would not be bound by the proclamation of the Restoration, on January 24, Yoshinobu decided to prepare an attack on Kyoto, occupied by Satsuma and Chōshū forces
6.
Officer (armed forces)
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An officer is a member of an armed force or uniformed service who holds a position of authority. In this sense, officers are not enlisted, but hold appointments from their government that typically remain in force indefinitely unless resigned, the proportion of officers varies greatly. Officers typically make up between an eighth and a fifth of modern armed forces personnel, in 2013, officers were the senior 17% of the British armed forces, and the senior 13. 7% of the French armed forces. In 2012, officers made up about 18% of the German armed forces, historically, however, armed forces have generally had much lower proportions of officers. During the First World War, fewer than 5% of British soldiers were officers, in the early twentieth century, the Spanish army had the highest proportion of officers of any European army, at 12. 5%. Within a nations armed forces, armies tend to have a proportion of officers. For example,13. 9% of British army personnel and 22. 2% of the RAF personnel were officers in 2013, having officers is one requirement for combatant status under the laws of war, though these officers need not have obtained an official commission or warrant. Commissioned officers are typically the only persons, in an armed forces environment, a superior officer is an officer with a higher rank than another officer, who is a subordinate officer relative to the superior. Non-commissioned officers in positions of authority can be said to have control or charge rather than command per se, many advanced militaries require university degrees as a prerequisite for commissioning, even from the enlisted ranks. In the Israel Defense Forces, a university degree is a requirement for an officer to advance to the rank of lieutenant colonel, the IDF often sponsors the studies for its majors, while aircrew and naval officers obtain academic degrees as a part of their training programmes. In the United Kingdom, there are three routes of entry for British Armed Forces officers, the first, and primary route are those who receive their commission directly into the officer grades following completion at their relevant military academy. The third route is similar to the second, in that they convert from an enlisted to a commission, but these are taken from the highest ranks of SNCOs. LE officers, whilst holding the same Queens Commission, generally work in different roles from the DE officers, in the infantry, a number of Warrant Officer Class 1s are commissioned as LE officers. For Royal Navy and Royal Air Force officer candidates, a 30-week period at Britannia Royal Naval College or a 30-week period at RAF College Cranwell, Royal Marines officers receive their training in the Command Wing of the Commando Training Centre Royal Marines during a grueling 15-month course. The courses consist of not only tactical and combat training, but also leadership, management, etiquette, until the Cardwell Reforms of 1871, commissions in the British Army were purchased by officers. The Royal Navy, however, operated on a more meritocratic, or at least socially mobile, AOCS also also included the embedded Aviation Reserve Officer Candidate and Naval Aviation Cadet programs. NAVCADs were personnel who held associates degrees, but lacked bachelors degrees, nAVCADs would complete the entire AOCS program, but would not be commissioned until completion of flight training and receiving their wings. After their initial tour, they would be assigned to a college or university full-time for no more than two years in order to complete their bachelors degree
7.
Philippine Scouts
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This page is about the military unit. For the article on the movement, please see Boy Scouts of the Philippines. The Philippine Scouts was an organization of the United States Army from 1901 until the end of World War II. Philippine Scout units were given a suffix of, to them from other U. S. Army units. The first Scout companies were organized by the US in 1901 to combat the Philippine revolutionary forces led at that time by General Emilio Aguinaldo, service and support formations were also organized as engineer, medical, quartermaster and military police units. The infantry and field regiments were grouped together with the U. S. 31st Infantry Regiment to form the U. S. Army’s Philippine Division, at this point, the Scouts became the U. S. Army’s front line troops in the Pacific. The Philippine Department assigned the Scouts to subdue the Moro tribes on the island of Mindanao, in the 1930s, Philippine Scouts, along with the 31st Infantry Regiment, saw action at Jolo, Palawan. Philippine Scout regiments became some of the first United States Army units to be in combat during World War II, even after that some individual soldiers and units refused to surrender and become beginning elements of the resistance to the Japanese occupation. Later paroled POWs would also join the resistance, when the Philippine Revolution erupted in 1896, a Spanish Colonel named Eugenio Blanco who had large estates near the town of Macabebe in Pampanga organized a regiment from among his clients. The Macabebes sided with the Spaniards even while the rest of Pampanga threw its support for the quest for independence, Macabebes protected the retreating Spaniards, rescuing friars and the families of the Spanish Army. At the conclusion of the Spanish–American War 270 men of this 72nd Macabebe Regiment found themselves stranded in Manila, many shipped out to join a Spanish garrison in the Caroline Islands, and the remainder slipped back into Macabebe after it was occupied by the Americans. The Macabebes proved themselves reliable over the two months, and Batson formed five companies of 128 men each, all veterans of service in the Spanish Army. In retaliation, Gen. Antonio Lunas troops burned the town of Macabebe, batsons Macabebe companies saw combat against Aguinaldos forces beginning in October 1899, after which they were reorganized into the Philippine Cavalry Squadron and enlisted as irregulars. The Macabebes won lasting notability in the operation under General Frederick Funston to capture General Aguinaldo, in 1901, on the Armys recommendation, U. S. President Theodore Roosevelt authorized the formation of a unified native Scouts organization. The Army activated this Native Scouts force in October 1901 by integrating 50 local companies into a force of 5,000 men. Over the next ten years, the Scouts won accolades from their American commanders which contributed to their survival as a unit, MacArthur took command of all military forces in the Philippines except the U. S. Navy’s Asiatic Fleet. The Philippine Division, Philippine Department and all other Philippine Scout units were included in USAFFE, at the time of USAFFEs formation, the unit consisted of 22,532 troops, of which 11,972 were Philippine Scouts
8.
Philippine Division
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Philippine Division, or from 1944–45 the 12th Infantry Division, was the core U. S. infantry division of the United States Armys Philippine Department during World War II. On 31 July 1941, the division consisted of 10,473 troops, mostly enlisted Filipinos, all of the divisions enlisted men, with the exception of the 31st Infantry Regiment, and various military police and headquarters troops, were Philippine Scouts. In October 1941, as part of the U. S. Army Forces Far East, the 34th Infantry was detached from the 8th Infantry Division and moved to a port of embarkation in December 1941, along with two battalions of 105mm field artillery. The outbreak of war in December 1941, however, isolated the Philippines and it was briefly reconstituted as the 12th Infantry Division in 1944–45. Description, On a scarlet spade-shaped shield, a yellow carabaos head caboshed, symbolism, The carabao is suggestive of the Philippines, and the colors red and gold represent the Spanish heritage of the islands. Organized 8 June 1921 in the Philippine Islands, with Regular Army, surrendered 9 April 1942 to the Japanese 14th Army. Redesignated 6 April 1946 as the 12th Infantry Division, inactivated 30 April 1947 in the Philippine Islands. Units of the Philippine Division were on security missions at Manila, Fort William McKinley, after undergoing 2 days of bombings, the Division moved into the field to cover the withdrawal of troops to Bataan and to resist the enemy in the Subic Bay area. From 11 December 1941 to 23 December 1941, positions were organized and strengthened, the 31st Infantry Regiment moved to a defensive position on the west side of the Olongapo Road near Layac Junction,5 January 1942. This junction was lost on 6 January 1942, but the withdrawal to Bataan had been successfully concluded, the Division was placed in reserve from 7 January 1942 to 14 January 1942. This period was one of reconnaissance and development by the Japanese in preparation for their attack on the main battle position on the Abucay line. Elements repulsed night attacks near Abucay on 10 January 1942 –12 January 1942, strong offensive and defensive action was not able to prevent enemy penetrations and the Division withdrew to the Reserve Battle Position in the Pilar – Bagac area,2 February 1942. During this period elements of the Division were shifted to assist in the defense of other sectors, the enemy attack on 28 March struck at a division weakened by malnutrition, sickness, and prolonged exposure to combat. The Division, no longer operating as a unit, was unable to counterattack against heavy enemy assaults. On 8 April 1942, the 57th Infantry Regiment and the 31st Infantry Regiment were lost near the Alangan River, the victory over Japan ended the misery of Japanese prison camps for the survivors of the Philippine Division. The Division was briefly reconstituted as the 12th Infantry Division in 1944–45 as the US & Filipino army liberated the Philippines, however, prior to being disbanded some subordinate units were tasked with Occupation duties on Saipan, Okinawa, and elsewhere. Furthermore, members of the 1st and 2nd Filipino Infantry Regiments who wished to remain in the Philippines upon being discharged were transferred to a unit under this division. U. S. Army Forces in the Far East –8 December 1941 –24 December 1941, Bataan Defense Force –24 December 1941 –6 January 1942
9.
Heraldry
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The beauty and pageantry of heraldic designs allowed them to survive the gradual abandonment of armour on the battlefield during the seventeenth century. Heraldry has been described poetically as the handmaid of history, the shorthand of history, in modern times, heraldry is used by individuals, public and private organizations, corporations, cities, towns, and regions to symbolize their heritage, achievements, and aspirations. Various symbols have been used to represent individuals or groups for thousands of years, similar emblems and devices are found in ancient Mesopotamian art of the same period, and the precursors of heraldic beasts such as the griffin can also be found. In the Bible, the Book of Numbers refers to the standards and ensigns of the children of Israel, the Greek and Latin writers frequently describe the shields and symbols of various heroes, and units of the Roman army were sometimes identified by distinctive markings on their shields. The Book of Saint Albans, compiled in 1486, declares that Christ himself was a gentleman of coat armour, the medieval heralds also devised arms for various knights and lords from history and literature. Notable examples include the toads attributed to Pharamond, the cross and martlets of Edward the Confessor, and the arms attributed to the Nine Worthies. These too are now regarded as an invention, rather than evidence of the antiquity of heraldry. The development of the modern heraldic language cannot be attributed to an individual, time. Yet no individual is depicted twice bearing the arms, nor are any of the descendants of the various persons depicted known to have borne devices resembling those in the tapestry. A Spanish manuscript from 1109 describes both plain and decorated shields, none of which appears to have been heraldic, in England, from the time of the Norman conquest, official documents had to be sealed. A notable example of an armorial seal is attached to a charter granted by Philip I, Count of Flanders. Seals from the part of the eleventh and early twelfth centuries show no evidence of heraldic symbolism. One of the earliest known examples of armory as it came to be practiced can be seen on the tomb of Geoffrey Plantagenet, Count of Anjou. An enamel, probably commissioned by Geoffreys widow between 1155 and 1160, depicts him carrying a shield decorated with six golden lions rampant. He wears a helmet adorned with another lion, and his cloak is lined in vair. A medieval chronicle states that Geoffrey was given a shield of this description when he was knighted by his father-in-law, Henry I, in 1128, but this account probably dates to about 1175. Since Henry was the son of Geoffrey Plantagenet, it seems reasonable to suppose that the adoption of lions as an emblem by Henry or his sons might have been inspired by Geoffreys shield. Richard is also credited with having originated the English crest of a lion statant and it is from this garment that the phrase coat of arms is derived
