From Caporetto to Vittorio Veneto: Italy, 1917–18: By the summer of 1917 the Austro-Hungarian Empire could be seen to be dying. Three years of war on three fronts had left the Dual Monarchy materially and morally exhausted. In particular, they feared the front in Italy might crumble and only a preemptive Central Powers offensive could remedy the situation. They were more correct than they knew.

Articles

• Cortés Wins An Empire: For Spain: Mexico, 1519–21: Hernán Cortés landed on the shores of Mexico with 630 men in mid-February 1519. Ostensibly he was there only to explore the coast, engage in trade, search for gold and take back some slaves to Cuba. But he was intent on nothing less than the expansion of the Spanish Empire across the Mesoamerican mainland. The resultant campaign remains among the most extraordinary ever waged.
• Malvern Hill: A Preview of Gettysburg: In general, Robert E. Lee’s biggest failure at Malvern Hill was that he did not absorb the lesson his defeat there offered regarding the futility of launching infantry against massed artillery. Here are the details.
• America’s Undeclared War with Libya: 1981–89: South Vietnam and China entered into a series of provocations that brought them into conflict over the Paracels in 1973, when the Vietnamese annexed six of the islands. The Chinese rejected that claim, and shooting started on 19 January 1974. It is an episode usually left untold within the larger context of the War in Vietnam, but it remains interesting in regard to the ongoing disputes in that area.