Fuzzy and Nutz have been on a trip through
time, showing us what life was like with the dinosaurs, what the worst jobs in history
were, and the worst natural disasters ever. Now they've found themselves in ancient China,
smack-dab in the middle of one of the worst wars in history! In the middle of the 8th century AD, China-
ruled by the Tang Dynasty- was at the height of a cultural golden age, yet major military
losses on its borders to Arab armies in the west and the kingdom of Nanzhao to the south
had put severe strain on the kingdom. To turn the tide of bad luck for the Chinese
army, Emperor Xuanzong appointed one of his greatest generals, An Lushan, to lead a force
of over 150,000 troops. On December 16, 755 though An Lushan rebelled
and turned his force against the emperor, announcing the formation of a new empire called
the Great Yan Empire with him as the first emperor. Seizing the eastern Tang capital at Luoyang
and then the main capital at Chengdu, An Lushan was poised to defeat what remained of the
Tang when infighting started to tear his newly created empire apart. First An Lushan was killed by his son, An
Qingxu, who declared himself emperor and was then killed in turn by An Lushan's old friend
Shi Siming. Shi Siming continued the war against the Tang
with great success, but he would shortly after be killed by his own son, Shi Chaoyi. Proving to not be the military leader his
father or An Lushan was, Shi Chaoyi would lead his troops to ruin and commit suicide
as the Tang retook all their former territory. The war devastated China, with death estimates
ranging from 13 million to 36 million, and brought to an end a Chinese cultural golden
age. Not one war, but a series of back-to-back
wars, the Napoleonic wars were the direct result of one single man's ambitions, Napoleon
Bonaparte. Ending the chaos of the French Revolution,
Napoleon created a strong, stable state with a formidable army- but believing France to
be weak, a joint Austrian and Russian coalition waged war on France. Scoring his greatest victory, Napoleon crushed
the Austrian and Russian forces at Austerlitz in December 1805, bringing an end to the war. However, concerns about increasing French
power led to a new war led by Prussia and the Russians in October 1806. Napoleon quickly defeated the Prussian forces
and forced Russia to surrender a year later in 1807. Peace fell on Europe for a short while, but
in 1809 Austria declared war on France again. Napoleon would go on to decisively defeat
Austria at the Battle of Wagram, but would suffer serious casualties. Hoping to shore up his control over a defeated
Europe, Napoleon turned his attention to Britain and tried to isolate Britain economically
by invading Spain. Napoleon simultaneously tried to invade Russia
in 1812, but would suffer major losses. Encouraged by Napoleon's defeat, Prussia,
Austria and Russia allied together and captured Paris in 1814. The coalition placed Napoleon in exile on
the island of Elba off the coast of Italy, but Napoleon would go on to escape a year
later and regain control of France. A massive alliance involving nearly every
major European power would rise up against Napoleon and decisively defeat him at the
battle of Waterloo, after which he would be exiled permanently to the remote island of
St. Helena in the middle of the south Atlantic. Taking place over 12 years of near-constant
fighting, Napoleon's wars would decimate Europe, killing between 2.5 million and 3.5 million
soldiers and up to 3 million civilians. Just over a hundred years later though, humanity
would see the most devastating war in all of history. World War II would span across the entire
planet and involve every major power on the Earth. With conflict from Europe to Asia, and everywhere
in between, the Second World War would kill over 25 million soldiers and a staggering
80 million civilians, or over 3% of the entire human population! This darkest of all periods in human history
would last six years and would see the dual nightmares of the Holocaust and the atomic
bombings of Nagasaki and Hiroshima. Though it would be the deadliest conflict
of all time, as a silver lining the war would also strengthen the resolve of all nations
to ensure lasting peace, leading to the creation of the United Nations and the longest period
of peace between major powers in human history. World War II showed us what war can be like
with modern technology, but have you ever wondered what life was like before any technology
at all...?
