Tag Archives: Top 10

Top Tens – History: Top 10 WW2 Combatant Alternate History Rankings (Special Mention)

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Consistent with my running theme, it’s yet another cover for The Man in the High Castle, in this case the Penguin Modern Classics edition (fair use)

 

But wait – there’s more!

I ranked my Top 10 WW2 combatants by their alternate history scenarios, in terms of historical plausibility, or even more so, in terms of fantasy and SF – because alternate history scenarios for WW2 itself are more prolific or thematic in fantasy or SF than in historical plausibility.

 

Wait – WW2 alternate history is all German victory scenarios?

Always has been.

 

Well not quite but Germany took the top spot or god tier, because WW2 alternate history is almost all German victory scenarios, with the other combatants as footnotes – albeit with Britain and the US in top tier, if only because that’s where most WW2 alternate history fiction is written (and set).

So yes – I ranked all the major WW2 combatants, even including France, Italy and China, as well as Poland and Australia thrown in to round out the top ten.

But as I said, there’s more – enough for my usual twenty special mentions per top ten. There’s more WW2 combatants – although to be honest most individual minor WW2 combatants don’t rank highly enough in alternate history for separate special mention, hence this list might be regarded more as WW2 participants.

So there’s combatants but also neutral nations and collective continental or regional entries – as well as my usual weirder and wilder special mentions towards the end, although to be honest all these entries would rank in my wild tier.

 

(1) VATICAN CITY

 

“The Pope! How many divisions has he got?”

Quite a few it seems, at least in alternate, counterfactual or speculative history.

Yes, I’m as surprised as you are that the Vatican should rank as highly as my top special mention but there you have it. I was tempted to put it in god-tier because, you know, it’s the Vatican, but I’m afraid I can’t rank it in Germany’s god-tier for WW2 alternate history.

The answer to Stalin’s rhetorical question, if he said it, is of course none, as is intended by the rhetorical question, but the Vatican had the metaphorical divisions of its moral authority which is the focus of alternate, counterfactual or speculative history.

The Vatican was of course neutral in WW2, but its role has been the subject of historical debate – from virtual accusations of alignment with the Axis, through inaction or silence, to aiding the Allied cause or at least opposing the Axis. Alternate or counterfactual history tends to lean into that last one.

Alternate or speculative history kicks into overload with the German occupation of Italy in 1943, with contemporary rumors of a German plot to kidnap the pope. John Grigg approached 1943 from the other side in his book 1943: The Victory That Never Was. Grigg’s thesis is that the Allies should have substituted an invasion of France in 1943 for the one in Italy but also has other criticisms of the latter – including not using Vatican City as a neutral venue to negotiate the Italian surrender.

But the Vatican isn’t winning the war in any alternate history…or is it?

Despite the title of Frederic Mullally’s alternate history H!tler Has Won, it’s the Vatican that wins in the end. Well, to be accurate, it’s more what is in effect a rogue Vatican agent playing his own psyops – which the Vatican officially disowns but secretly applauds.

And that psyops is essentially driving H!tler crazy – feeding his megalomania, already high on the victory of the title from Operation Barbarossa launched early, all the way to heaven with the ultimate hubris of crowning himself pope. His nemesis follows shortly after that – with civil war in Germany and a recovery of Allied fortune. It’s not too plausible but it is a ripping yarn and an absolute hoot to boot.

 

(2) CANADA

 

Canada plays a similar role in alternate or counterfactual history as it did in Britain’s contingency plans for the event of German invasion or occupation in actual history – the potential seat of the British government or royalty in exile, aligned with the United States.

Canada is also worth mentioning as a planned front for War Plan Red, one of the US color-coded war plans in the interwar period – in this case for a hypothetical war against the British Empire.

 

(3) INDIA

 

India’s position in any alternate or counterfactual history where Germany defeats Britain is more precarious than that of Canada. India was potentially within reach for invasion and occupation, most plausibly by Japan, but potentially Germany in less plausible scenarios – or even the Soviet Union, which is where Germany sought to divert Soviet attention away from Europe during their pact.

A German occupation of India was used by Harry Turtledove in “The Last Article”, essentially as a pretext for the alternate history of how Gandhi’s non-violent resistance would have fared against the Naz!s instead of Britain. Spoiler alert – not well.

 

(4) FINLAND

 

While Finland doesn’t pop up often in WW2 alternate history fiction, I still rank it as special mention here.

Firstly, because I’d like to see an alternate history scenario in which Finland somehow emerges as the supreme victor of the war.

Secondly, because Finland meets my usual criteria for alternate history rankings – that the actual outcome seems more unlikely than the alternatives. Not so much Finland being defeated, but Finland being defeated and avoiding Soviet occupation – twice.

Thirdly, Finland was the subject of an alternate history scenario during the war itself – the Anglo-French plans for intervention in the Winter War, via the transit of forces through Norway and Sweden, with the latter often seeming the bigger goal than actually helping Finland. Fortunately but not surprisingly, those plans came to nothing, as Britain and France would have found themselves fighting Germany and the Soviet Union at the same time.

 

(5) ICELAND

 

While officially neutral and using the opportunity of the war to declare its independence from Denmark, Iceland was occupied first by British forces and then by American forces. However, Iceland was another subject of an alternate history scenario during the war itself – Operation Ikarus, the planned German invasion of Iceland after the British occupied it in the wake of the German occupation of Denmark. Not surprisingly, they wrote it off as having little prospect of success.

As H.P. Willmott opines, the better option might have been for Germany to plan it at the same time as invading Denmark and Norway. Willmott ranks Germany as having good prospects for taking it, but not so much holding on to it.

 

(6) IRELAND

 

Ireland was effectively buffered by Britain as long as the latter held out, so leant towards helping the Allies on the sly while remaining neutral.

Hence Ireland doesn’t pop up too often of itself in alternate history but is obviously in a precarious position in any scenario where Germany defeats Britain, unless perhaps it somehow allied with Germany while avoiding British pre-emptive or retaliatory action prior to Britain’s defeat.

As it was, Ireland was the subject of both German and British planned invasions.

 

In fairness, the German plans – aptly called Operation Green – was essentially hypothetical, even more so than Operation Sea Lion for the invasion of Britain, such that it is usually thought to have been deception to mislead the British.

The British planned more thoroughly for their Plan W as a response to any German invasion of Ireland and in cooperation with the Irish government rather than an invasion as such – although one wonders if the British would have gone in anyway with or without Irish cooperation.

In fairness to the British, they did propose another alternate history scenario to Ireland, albeit probably something of a poisoned chalice for the Irish government – ending the partition of Ireland and hence a united Ireland if Ireland abandoned its neutrality and joined Britain in the war against Germany and Italy.

 

(7) SPAIN

 

The neutral nation of WW2 that arguably had the biggest and most concrete alternate history scenario during the actual war – a key role in the proposed German “Mediterranean Strategy” against Britain, obviously in the western Mediterranean.

It doesn’t get much bigger than H!tler himself meeting with Franco at Hendaye (on the French side of the Spanish-French border) on 23 October 1940 to enlist Spain on Germany’s side – particularly for Germany’s planned Operation Felix to capture Gibraltar, sealing off the western Mediterranean from the British as an “Axis lake”.

While Franco was obviously supportive of the Axis that had effectively won his civil war for him, Spain was still exhausted from that same civil war and lacked the ability to, you know, actually fight in the world war (but for the volunteer “Blue” Division it provided for Barbarossa).

Franco was so obstructive, making such extortionate demands for Spanish participation, that H!tler complained afterwards he’d rather have teeth pulled than speak to Franco again.

 

(8) MALTA

 

Independent from 1964 onwards, Malta was a British Crown Colony in WW2. Although it was and remains small, both in area and population – yet curiously exporting a disproportionate number of hot girls to my acquaintance – it punches well above its weight for WW2 alternate history thanks to yet another planned scenario during the actual war.

And that is of course Operation Herkules – the German (and Italian) plans to capture Malta, both to deprive Britain of one of its most significant bases in the Mediterranean and to improve the supply lines to their own forces in north Africa (as those supply lines were diminished by British forces operating from Malta).

 

(9) TURKEY

 

From Spain at the western end of the Mediterranean, we go to the other significant neutral nation in the Mediterranean at its eastern end – Turkey. Despite Turkey being an ally of Germany in WW1, it didn’t have the same alternate history scenarios during the actual war as Spain.

It was courted as an ally by both sides, but they and Turkey itself ultimately preferred Turkish neutrality (until Turkey finally declared war on Germany in February 1945). Ironically, Britain’s Churchill was the most enthusiastic in courting Turkey as an ally – which one might infer as a recurring fixation with the Balkans as the road to victory in both world wars, going all the way back to his ill-fated Gallipoli campaign in WW1.

There was also Germany’s planned Operation Gertrude for an invasion of Turkey in 1942 – probably pie in the sky but abandoned in any event

 

(10) SWITZERLAND

 

Yeah, Switzerland is not looking too safe in any alternate history German victory scenario, despite its proverbial neutrality. A neighboring nation with German speakers? Germany’s having none of that!

In the actual war, Germany had Operation Tannenbaum, the planned invasion of Switzerland (also with Italy?!) – apparently from France’s surrender onwards, albeit repeatedly putting it on the backburner until it was abandoned altogether.

Interestingly, Switzerland was the neutral nation to escape German occupation in Europe in Robert Harris’ alternate history novel Fatherland – because when the time came round, it was more convenient for Germany and the US in their cold war with each other to exploit Switzerland’s neutrality.

 

(11) PHILIPPINES

 

“We’re the battling bastards of Bataan,

No mama, no papa, no Uncle Sam,

No aunts, no uncles, no cousins, no nieces,

No pills, no planes, no artillery pieces,

And nobody gives a damn.”

 

But could things have turned out differently for Bataan or the rest of the Philippines? That’s essentially the whole reason for this special mention, as I’ve always felt for the American and Filippino defenders, dogged and doomed as they were.

 

And yeah – probably not too much. They could certainly have done better for a more prolonged defence but that’s about it. War Plan Orange, the American plan for war against Japan (which became part of the larger Rainbow Five Plan as the basis for American strategy in WW2) always anticipated the defenders in the Philippines as a holding force – one likely to fall before the American navy slowly mobilized and fought its way across the Pacific to relieve them (or more likely liberate them), even without the attack on Pearl Harbor.

 

(12) VIETNAM

 

This alternate history special mention for Vietnam is not so much for WW2 – where it is difficult to see things going any other way for Vietnam as part of French Indochina taken over by Japan – but for avoiding the Vietnam War afterwards, particularly for the Americans.

What if the Americans had opposed the restoration of French colonialism or supported Vietnamese independence a la OSS officer Archimedes Patti?

What if the United States followed through on FDR offering French Indochina as a territory to Chiang Kai-Shek? It probably would have ended up with China fighting against the Vietnamese – and possibly accelerating the Nationalist defeat in the civil war against the communists – which is why Chiang Kai-Shek declined it. As it was, Chinese forces occupied the northern Vietnam above the 16th parallel (while British forces occupied the southern part below the parallel) as agreed by the Allies.

 

 

(13) NORWAY & BALKANS

 

Look, there’s probably a few WW2 alternate history scenarios for Norway and the Balkans, but this special mention is entirely for them in the actual war as possible substitutes proposed for the Allied landings in France.

Of course, those proposals mostly came from Churchill, while everyone else ignored them or adapted them to deception in Operation Bodyguard for virtually every part of the European coastline except Normandy to mask the true target of Allied landings.

No, seriously, as part of Operation Bodyguard you had Operation Fortitude with the deception of Allied landings in Norway and the Pas-de-Calais, Operation Ironside with the deception of Allied landings in the Bay of Biscay (particularly near Bordeaux), Operation Graffham not really doing much to pretend to target Sweden, Operation Royal Flush pretending to target Spain and Turkey, and Operation Zeppelin doing the same for Greece and southern France.

However, the deception for Allied landings in Norway reflected various genuine proposals by Churchill, of which the most concrete was Operation Jupiter, but consistently rejected by military leaders as a hiding to nothing – with Alan Brooke commenting that they never found out why Churchill “wanted to go back (to Norway) and what he was going to do there”.

 

Famously, Churchill also proposed allied landings in the Balkans instead of Normandy, again sensibly rejected by everyone else as only marginally more realistic than Norway and likely to be a slog as bad as or worse than in Italy – even if more politically astute to the problems posed by Soviet occupation in eastern Europe.

 

 

(14) AFRICA – MADAGASCAR

 

Special WW2 alternate history mention for Africa in general and Madagascar in particular.

Firstly, Africa.

Africa was of course a battlefield in the actual war – famously in north Africa but also in east Africa which everyone forgets. Africans were also combatants within British forces and perhaps even more so the Free French, with France’s African colonies providing the first rallying point for and nucleus of Free French forces.

Africa’s prospects are usually dire in alternate history scenarios of German victory, typically with Germany (and Italy) taking over European colonies to radically reshape Africa with a vengeance, including the same policies of population extermination as they did in Europe. Again, The Man in the High Castle is the classic example.

Secondly, the Vichy French colony of Madagascar – as it was the subject of two hypothetical plans or scenarios in the actual war.

The most famous is the Madagascar Plan by Germany to relocate the European Jewish population to Madagascar – a plan so obviously ludicrous, even in terms of its own logistics (let alone continued British opposition to Germany) that it is difficult to see it as anything other than a flimsy pretext for the plan they ultimately pursued.

The other was the scenario that prompted Britain to capture Madagascar from Vichy France in 1942 – the Japanese capture of Madagascar or its ports to turn the Indian Ocean into a “Japanese lake”, a scenario that one can’t help but feel was a missed opportunity for Japan.

 

(15) LATIN AMERICA – PANAMA & URUGUAY

 

Yeah…Latin America tends to turn out not too differently in WW2 alternate history, except perhaps with more regimes aligned or trading with Germany, but I thought I’d better give it special mention since I’ve mentioned virtually everywhere else.

This reflects that Latin America was on the periphery of the war (except for one naval battle between Britain and Germany fought off the coast of Uruguay), or indeed the interests of any combatant in the war except the United States.

Sure, the nations of Latin America aligned with the United States to declare war against the Axis – with Argentina and Chile coming in last in March and April 1945 – but the only one that actually did anything of substance was Brazil, sending an expeditionary force that fought in Italy (and Mexico sending an air squadron that fought in the Philippines).

That also reflects the lack of any German plans in Latin America beyond intelligence – with the exceptions of its cancelled Operation Pelikan to bomb the Panama Canal and a weird foiled invasion plan to colonize Uruguay before the war.

 

(16) H0L0CAUST

 

Yes, we’re no longer looking at combatants as such, but let’s face it – this is the elephant in the room for any WW2 alternate history German victory scenario.

Essentially, such scenarios tend to involve it extending beyond the limits, such as they were, imposed by German defeat in actual history – typically to the extent of German invasion or occupation, potentially even to a global extent. That includes the United States as occupied by Germany in The Man in the High Castle.

In Fatherland, it is largely to the same geographic extent in Europe as it was in actual history, except that they were able to complete it – with the plot revolving around it as a secret hidden afterwards so it doesn’t jeopardize détente in the cold war between Germany and the United States.

It also plays its part in counterfactual alternate history. Probably the biggest question in alternate history is whether it had any impact on the war’s outcome, particularly whether Germany would have won without it. While it is tempting to think that it cost Germany logistics and resources that might been committed elsewhere – as indeed has been argued in books such as H0l0caust vs Wehrmacht by Yaron Pasher – it sadly does not seem clear whether it made a substantial difference. On the other hand, the next biggest question is whether the Allies could have done anything for any substantial difference or impact on its outcome, apart of course from defeating Germany quicker.

 

(17) ATOMIC BOMB

 

The mushroom cloud in the room of WW2 alternate history. Typically, any WW2 alternate history German victory scenario involves Germany getting it, if only as a cold war standoff against the United States.

Not as typically but often enough in WW2 alternate history, the nukes start flying. The Big One by Stuart Slade is perhaps the classic example, but Harry Turtledove’s Worldwar series also sees the nukes start flying, just not as much (or as literally). And it’s perhaps an exaggeration to say that the nukes start flying in John Birmingham’s Axis of Time trilogy, but they certainly pop up – as they do in other alternate history.

 

(18) COLD WAR

 

The other elephant in the room of WW2 alternate history. Typically, WW2 alternate history substitutes a different cold war involving a victorious Germany – such as the cold war between Germany and Japan in The Man in the High Castle, or the cold war between Germany and the US in Fatherland.

It’s a recurring question in counterfactual alternate history whether the western Allies could have done anything to diminish Soviet occupation in Europe (or Asia) and hence diminish the Cold War – with perhaps the most extreme being planned by the British Chiefs of Staff under Churchill as Operation Unthinkable for war against the Soviets in 1945.

 

(19) FOURTH REICH

 

And now we get weird, with the wilder WW2 alternate history German victory scenarios – except not Germany but its successor state in exile or underground (sometimes literally), the proverbial Fourth Reich.

Bonus points if it involves Adolf H!tler somehow escaping Berlin at the end of the war – or cloned (or resurrected, but that’s getting to the next entry as my wildest entry of all).

It has some basis in actual history, in plans for ongoing German resistance, or even more, members of the regime escaping from Germany, most notoriously to South America. Hence South America is a common venue for the Fourth Reich.

Then we get the more exotic venues. Antarctica is commonly proposed and surprisingly mundane compared to others, such as the Hollow Earth or some other subterranean location (often accessed through Antarctica). Perhaps the most amusing are those off Earth entirely, involving Naz! UFOs – such as the far side of the moon in the Iron Sky film.

 

 

(20) ALIEN SPACE BATS & TIME TRAVELLERS

 

The alien space bats always win!

“Alien space bats” (or “ASB”) is the term coined “for plot devices in alternate history to mean an implausible point of divergence” (from our own history)

Not literally alien space bats – well, not usually anyway – but similarly implausible SF or fantasy plot devices. And yes, needless to say, if they’re powerful enough to change history, they usually win.

Not always, however, contrary to my opening quip – sometimes we manage to pull a fast one on them, even when they intend to use us as pawns.

As they pop up surprisingly often in alternate history in general, they also pop up surprisingly often in WW2 alternate history. Indeed, the term was originally coined (by Usenet user Alison Brooks in 1998) as a joke about the implausibility of Germany pulling off Operation Sea Lion, its planned cross-channel invasion of Britain – that Germany could have done it “only if they had the help of alien space bats”.

Time travellers also recur surprisingly often as the alien space bats in alternate WW2 history, albeit not as often as they recur to assassinate or target H!tler.

But hang on, I hear you say, don’t I normally reserve my twentieth and final special mention for whatever kinky entry I can squeeze out of a subject? Even with alien space bats, this doesn’t seem too kinky an entry.

Or is it?

Well, no – but perhaps it might have been with some Naz!sploitation, a short-lived subgenre of exploitation films, of which the most influential and famous was Ilsa, She-Wolf of the SS, a 1974 film about the titular depraved female camp commandant. Of course, such films were usually set against the backdrop of history rather than changing it – I don’t see Ilsa winning the war, as amusing as that might be as an alternate history scenario. Perhaps if she led a whole army of depraved she-wolves…?

 

Top Tens – History: Top 10 Types of War (Special Mention) (17) Pharmacological Warfare

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Cover SF Masterworks edition of Barefoot in the Head by Brian Aldiss (fair use)

 

 

(17) PHARMACOLOGICAL WARFARE

 

Sadly not a special mention entry for the psychedelic warfare in Barefoot in the Head, the classic SF novel by Brian Aldiss where a drugged out post-apocalyptic Europe is devastated by the Acid Head Wars, in which hallucinogenic “psycho-chemical” aerosols were the primary weapon.

I suppose that would be a form of ehemical warfare, only a lot more fun.

Instead, this is a special mention entry for my fascination with the interconnection between drugs and war, as also reflected in my corresponding special mention (to my top ten wars) for the Opium Wars. The Opium Wars are the closest thing to a war fought over drugs like the modern stereotype of wars fought for oil – in this case, a war fought over Britain smuggling opium into China. Beyond that, it is fascinating to think how much of European colonialism (and slavery) was born from the plantation production of drugs – tobacco, coffee and tea. Even more so if you count sugar as a drug.

Of course, modern drug smugglers or cartels tend not to have the force of the world’s largest maritime empire behind them, but often play a role in more low-level war or insurgency as in Colombia. And notoriously, drug smuggling – particularly in cocaine and opium – has often laid beneath the surface of larger modern conflicts, particularly for financing them.

There is also the use of drugs in war. I’ve read that narcotics have been as much a part of war as bullets and bombs. While that appears to be an overstatement, historically drug use was often sanctioned and encouraged by militaries including alcohol and tobacco in troop rations. Of course, alcohol is something of a law of diminishing returns – what it adds in ‘Dutch courage’, it can often take away in effectiveness, famously as in the Russo-Japanese War on the Russian side.

Germany was also notorious for drug use in the Second World War, notably for amphetamine use by its armed forces, but also drug use by its leadership. However, stimulants such as cocaine and amphetamine were widely used by belligerents in both World Wars to increase alertness and suppress appetite. Drug use was also notorious in American forces in Vietnam – and has been a feature of other conflicts

And then you have the more trippy use of drugs – the Viking berserkers possibly as a result of agaric “magic” mushrooms, the Assassins named for hashish, even MK-Ultra by the CIA in the Cold War.

Top Tens – Comics: Top 10 Comics (New Entry) (2) Pat Mills – Slaine (2000 AD)

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Cover of the collected edition of The Horned God by artist Simon Bisley – still the most definitive and iconic art (and storyline) of Slaine

 

 

(2) PAT MILLS –

SLAINE (2000 AD 1983 – PRESENT)

 

“He didn’t think it too many”

Slaine’s catchphrase by reference to his body count. Also “kiss my axe” to much the same effect.

Slaine is essentially a prehistoric Irish Conan. although that is in itself turning full circle as the name Conan is of Celtic origin and Robert E. Howard identified Conan’s native Cimmerian people as prehistoric Celtic or Gaelic Irish and Scots. Or more accurately, a cross between Conan and Cuchulainn, the mythological Irish hero from the Ulster cycle – although there are other sources (and figures with whom Slaine interacts) from mythology, particularly Celtic or Irish mythology.

Slaine was introduced as a wandering exile from his tribe, banished for sleeping with the king’s intended consort Niamh – a figure adapted from Celtic mythology – and who remains something of a star-crossed lover for Slaine.

Getting into trouble with women is a recurring theme in Slaine’s early adventures, best personified by recurring antagonist and sorceress Medb, another figure adapted from Celtic mythology. Medb is something of a death cultist and Slaine earns her enmity when he rescued her from being sacrificed in a Wicker Man (in which he and Ukko were also imprisoned for execution) – unfortunately, she was a devotee of the dark god Crom Cruach and had eagerly embraced being a sacrificial bride of Crom.

Dark gods – of the Lovecraftian eldritch abomination sort – and their servants are the recurring antagonists for Slaine, his people the Tuatha de Danaan (living in Tir Nan Og or the Land of the Young) and their goddess Danu. Which is just as well as the morality of the protagonists, notably Slaine himself, is somewhat murky, but overshadowed by the completely monstrous antagonists. After all, the goddess Danu can be a bit of a bitch – “Sometimes I am the sister who befriends you, sometimes I am the mother who holds you and sometimes I am the lover who sticks one in your back”. It’s all part of her dance. Slaine himself tends to revel in raw brutality and blood lust, exemplified in his warp-spasm. Even the goddess snarkily rebukes him that he’s had his share of mindless violence, which Slaine acknowledges to be true.

The high point of Slaine is The Horned God story arc, painted by Simon Bisley (or the Biz as he is known in, well, the biz) with breathtaking results.

And yes – I’m classifying Slaine as continuing up to the present. Although the last original episodes and Pat Mills’ “secret history” of the character (entitled Kiss My Axe of course) were in 2021, 2000 AD is releasing an ongoing definitive collection as of 2025-2026.

Top Tens – History: Top 10 Wars (Special Mention: Revised) (17) Opium Wars

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The East India Company iron steam ship Nemesis, commanded by Lieutenant W. H. Hall, with boats from the Sulphur, Calliope, Larne and Starling, destroying the Chinese war junks in Anson’s Bay, on 7 January 1841 (First Opium War) – painted by Edward Duncan (public domain image – Wikipedia “Opium Wars”)

 

 

(17) OPIUM WARS (1839-1842 & 1859-1860)

 

Two wars in which China got pawned by European powers – the first Opium War in 1839-1842 saw China defeated by Britain (resulting in Hong Kong being ceded to Britain among other things) and the second Opium War in 1859-1860 was slightly less humiliating for China as at least it got defeated by Britain and France rather than a solo British effort.

The nineteenth century was…not a good century for China, as the commencement of what later became known as the Century of Humiliation by foreign powers. The Qing dynasty, formerly one of the most powerful states in the world and used to styling itself as the Middle Kingdom of the world, now became the punching bag of the new European world powers. Qing China was humbled and humiliated as it was easily defeated by European modern military technology and techniques. Ultimately that dealt the death knell to the Qing dynasty, which crumbled amidst a revolution and civil war that spanned decades.

And it was all pretty sordid by the European powers as well, with the Opium Wars being fought by Britain for free trade – its free trade of opium to China, that is. The Opium Wars saw the first of the so-called Unequal Treaties between China and Western powers – as an impotent China was forced to concede territory, privileges, concessions and reparations to one European power after another in a form of de facto colonization.

De facto colonization, that is, because China was too big for actual colonization by any one European power, particularly as rival European powers were concerned with maintaining a balance between themselves in China. Indeed, the European powers were remarkably cooperative between themselves when it came to their common purpose of pawning China.

Ironically, it was a newly admitted Asian power to the European circle of world power that upset this balance and came closest to colonizing China in the twentieth century – Japan. Although of course this was the final straw of humiliation for China. It was one thing to be humbled by European powers with their new industrial and military technology. It was quite another to be humbled by an upstart smaller Asian neighbor, particularly a former tributary state.

The Opium Wars earn their special mention particularly for my fascination with the interconnection between drugs and war, also reflected in my slightly tongue-in-cheek special mention for pharmacological warfare for types of war. The Opium Wars are the closest thing to wars fought over drugs like the modern stereotype of wars fought for oil – in this case, wars fought over Britain smuggling opium into China.

Of course, modern drug smugglers or cartels tend not to have the force of the world’s largest maritime empire behind them, but often play a role in more low-level war or insurgency as in Colombia. And notoriously, drug smuggling – particularly in cocaine and opium – has often laid beneath the surface of larger modern conflicts.

Top Tens – Comics: Top 10 Comics (Special Mention) (10) Frank Miller – Sin City

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Iconic panel from the comic, showcasing Miller’s mastery of black and white line art (fair use)

 

 

(10) FRANK MILLER –

SIN CITY (1991-2000)

 

Frank Miller’s finest artwork apart from blood splatter, something (both finest artwork and blood splatter) which recurs frequently in Miller’s “absurdly macho” comic noir (or neo noir) Sin City. Its black and white line art is matched only by its black and grey morality. And we’re talking a pretty dark grey! It’s a mystery how the city of the title, Basin City, isn’t completely depopulated, as its economy seems to consist entirely of sociopathy and of course “wh0reswh0reswh0res”.

“Sin City reads like an Affectionate Parody of Film Noir turned Up to Eleven: every hero is a mentally or physically scarred bruiser and every woman is a beautiful dame with a heaving bosom”

Shoutout to Frank Miller’s 300, which is even more absurdly macho (Rated M for Manly according to TV Tropes), because THIS! IS! SPARTA!

Top Tens – History: Top 10 Types of War (Special Mention) (16) Space Warfare

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(16) SPACE WARFARE

 

Less Star Wars, more Sputnik – that is, space warfare is more about ballistic missiles and satellites, for now at least.

And yes, Star Wars is essentially WW2 dogfights, bomber runs, and naval battles in space, where they wouldn’t work or make no sense as depicted.

But seriously, while we tend to think of space warfare as SF “space opera” battles between spaceships, we’ve been fighting space warfare in various degrees since WW2, just in more mundane forms (to the extent that you count ballistic missiles and satellites as mundane).

While the usual flightpath of German V-2 rockets to their targets in WW2 was not through space, they could on vertical launch traverse the edge of space when that was defined as 100 kilometers – hence the vertical launch of V-2 rocket MW18014 on 20 June 1944 retroactively became the first artificial object to travel into space by that definition.

After that, ballistic missiles have routinely had flight paths which transit the upper atmosphere or space. As such, nuclear warfare is space warfare, at least as represented by ballistic missiles, so not surprisingly defensive measures for nuclear warfare have also been planned to operate in space – most famously the Strategic Defense Initiative or SDI by the US, dubbed Star Wars.

However, ballistic missiles used in combat with conventional warheads have also operated in space, mostly in conflicts in the Middle East, along with the defensive measures against them. “In November 2023, Israel claimed an interception of a Houthi ballistic missile as the the first combat in space”.

It’s in the deployment of (or against) satellites, originating in the Cold War, that space warfare really comes into its own.

“The Cold War prompted the start of the militarization of space. Military satellites have been launched since the later 1950s for communications, navigation, reconnaissance, and munitions guidance. The Gulf War is sometimes called the “first space war” because of the use of these capabilities by the US.”

Intriguingly (to me at least), space warfare is occasionally broken down into components of ground-to-space warfare (such as targeting satellites from Earth), space-to-space warfare (such as satellites targeting other satellites), and space-to-ground warfare (such as satellites attacking targets on Earth).

Even more intriguingly, there is ground-to-space warfare that involves weapons capable of being deployed by a single soldier for satellites or other targets in space – with the amusing acronym of MANPASTA. I’m feeling the urge to take out the International Space Station with one of those babies – it blocks my view of Venus.

There have even been nukes in space, although international treaties prohibit the permanent basing of weapons of mass destruction in space or the military use of celestial bodies – but do not prohibit the military use of orbital space or military space spaces. I suppose there goes my dreams of moon buggy battles (or where opposing forces lob asteroids at each other). However, back to the nukes, “the US and Soviet Union carried out nine nuclear explosions in space from 1958 to 1962, which damaged satellites”.

Even without nuclear weapons in space, the logic of mutually assured destruction in space – as the accumulation or creation of space debris can endanger your own satellites or spacecraft, particularly in the scenario of Kessler Syndrome in which we effectively paint ourselves into a planetary corner with our own space junk. It’s a pity that the term, coined at almost the same time as the first Star Wars film, was not adapted by the latter – it would have put a whole new spin on it as the Kessler Run instead of the Kessel Run.

Top Tens – Comics: Top 10 Comics (Special Mention) (9) Peter Milligan – Shade the Changing Man

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Cover of the collected edition (of the first six issues) with art by Chris Baccalo (fair use)

 

 

(9) PETER MILLIGAN –

SHADE THE CHANGING MAN (1990-1996)

 

“Sometimes I think that if I wasn’t crazy…I’d go crazy”

Peter Milligan is another British comics writer that started as writing for 2000 AD, most notably with Bad Company – a future war story in which a bizarre company of soldiers fight humanity’s bizarre war against the alien Krool.

However, contrary to my characteristic preference for 2000 AD, my favorite is his work for DC Comic’s Vertigo imprint label for more mature graphic novels outside the publishing restrictions of mainstream comics. Milligan came to Vertigo towards the end of the first wave of the so-called British invasion or ‘Britwave’ of British writers into American comics – and like his fellow British writers for Vertigo, he revamped an obscure DC Comics character, Shade the Changing Man.

The focus of the series is Shade, an interdimensional traveler to Earth from the parallel world of Meta, with the reality-warping ‘power of madness’ (which seems to be part of Metan technology) – he resembles another of my favorites, Neil Gaiman’s Sandman, but with power born of madness instead of dreams. But then, what are dreams if not a little madness in our lives?

In other words, it starts off weird and gets weirder – a psychedelic fantasy and odyssey. The initial narrative has the most defined plot structure, as Shade was sent to Earth to defeat a dangerous manifestation of madness and the American psyche or collective unconscious, the American Scream. After that, it is the personifications from Shade’s own psyche that are dangerous, as well as other beings born from the Area of Madness – which after all extends to the land of dreams and the dead, angels and the Devil. Shade himself dies, but is reborn through the power of madness – jumping bodies and on one occasion gender as Shade the Changing Woman (anticipating the more recent reboot of a female Shade).

Top Tens – History: Top 10 Wars (Special Mention: Revised) (16) Barbary Wars

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Decatur Boarding the Tripolitan Gunboat during the bombardment of Tripoli, 3 August 1804. Lieutenant Stephen Decatur (lower right center) in mortal combat with the Tripolitan Captain – oil painting by Dennis Malone Carter, 1850 (public domain image – Wikipedia “First Barbary War”)

 

 

(16) BARBARY WARS (1801-1805 & 1815)

 

Marines vs pirates – what’s not to love?

The Barbary Wars would be worthy of special mention if only as wars by the US Navy and Marines, newly created for this purpose, fighting the pirates of the Mediterranean – and not just any pirates, but the most famous and feared pirates in history or at least those with the coolest name, the Barbary Corsairs based in north Africa.

And if you were not entertained already, the Americans fought the Barbary Wars because they were simply done with the crap of paying tribute – to the tune of a fifth of its government budget – as a protection racket for piracy and slavery, all while European nations were stuffing around with a little thing called the Napoleonic Wars, except for Sweden and Sicily which joined the Americans as allies in the First Barbary War.

They are also precursors for American expeditionary warfare of subsequent history, particularly the distinctive American style of punitive expeditionary warfare, as well as the robust defense of American shipping or trade – even more notable as occurring at a time usually characterized as the zenith of American isolationism.

Of course, that American style of punitive expeditionary warfare tended (and tends) to be averse to boots on the ground – unless those boots are of Marines – albeit it has evolved from naval power or “gunboat diplomacy” to air power, bomber or drone diplomacy as it were.

And yet the Barbary Wars are up there with the American wars in history that are most overlooked, even perhaps among the so-called forgotten wars, at least in popular culture and imagination – despite being commemorated by the second line of the US Marines’ Hymn “to the shores of Tripoli” and by the Mameluke sword worn by Marine officers.

And despite, as I said, being the genesis of the US Navy and Marines. Yes, there had been a Continental Navy as well as Continental Marines during the American Revolution, but they had been disbanded. Not to mention three badass post-Revolutionary War American military heroes – US naval commander Stephen Decatur, ex-consul William Eaton, and Marine Corps Lieutenant Presley O’Bannon.

The First Barbary War was fought from 10 May 1801 to 10 June 1805 (albeit American ally Sweden had been fighting the corsairs since 1800). The Second Barbary War was classic gunboat diplomacy, lasting only three days and ending on 19 June 1815.

“The wars were largely a reaction to slavery by the Barbary states” – with slaves taken from raiding European coastal areas or captured ships from piracy, shifting to the latter as kidnapping for ransom over time. The Europeans tended to shrug it off and just cough up ransom or tribute to the Barbary states. The Americans under President Thomas Jefferson decided they were having none of that and went to war to enforce safe conduct or passage for American ships instead – “millions for defense but not once cent for tribute”.

Hence the First Barbary War, with its turning point as the Battle of Derna – in which Eaton promoted himself to general and led a small force of Marines under O’Bannon as well as foreign mercenaries on a march across the desert from Egypt to capture the Tripolitan city of Derna. That gave American negotiators the leverage they needed for the release of American hostages and the end of the war, although they still wimped out by paying a reduced ransom for the captives – much to Eaton’s chagrin.

During the War of 1812, the Barbary corsairs resumed their attacks on American shipping, characteristically encouraged by the perfidious British. Hence the Second Barbary War, when the Americans (this time under President James Madison) once again rolled up in their navy, with Barbary War veteran Decatur returning as Commodore for a little gunboat diplomacy to persuade the Algerian corsairs to sue for peace – ending “the need for further tribute from the United States”, granting “the US full shipping rights in the Mediterranean”, and significantly reducing “incidents of piracy in the region”.

Of course, it didn’t entirely stamp out the piracy or slavery by Barbary corsairs, who tended to lay low until any opposing naval ships had sailed back over the horizon – that came with the French colonization of north Africa.

Top Tens – Comics: Top 10 Comics (Special Mention) (8) Hellblazer

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Classic Hellblazer art by Phil Hale depicting the character in his signature trenchcoat and smoking pose (fair use)

 

 

(8) HELLBLAZER (1988-2013, 2019-2020, 2024)

 

“I’m the one who steps from the shadows, all trenchcoat and cigarette and arrogance, ready to deal with the madness. Oh, I’ve got it all sewn up. I can save you. If it takes the last drop of your blood, I’ll drive your demons away. I’ll kick them in the bollocks and spit on them when they’re down and then I’ll be gone back into darkness, leaving only a nod and a wink and a wisecrack. I walk my path alone… who would walk with me?”

THE DC Vertigo series – and certainly longest running series – and virtual anthology of the best writers in comics, all writing the titular character, including my favorite writers from ‘British Invasion’ of American comics (and from 2000 AD).

The titular Hellblazer, John Constantine, originated with one such writer, Alan Moore, in his Swamp Thing – with the intended appearance and British nationality of Sting. TV Tropes sums him up best – a “con man, occult detective, gambler and magician of ill repute” who “tangled with Hell, Heaven, the police and the criminal underworld”. John Constantine may not have been the origin of the occult detective trope, but he codified it, particularly of the trenchcoat variety, and various other figures of contemporary fantasy have followed in his occult detective footsteps – Harry Dresden, John Taylor and Sandman Slim amongst others.

What more do you need to know? Read the damned thing, already!

Top Tens – History: Top 10 Types of War (Special Mention) (15) Electronic Warfare & Cyberwarfare

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United States Space Force personnel operating a satellite antenna during an electromagnetic warfare military exercise – photograph by Tech. Sgt. Luke Kitterman in California on 20 September 2022 and released released by the United States Space Force with the ID 220920-X-VE588-1004 (public domain image used in Wikipedia “Electronic Warfare”)

 

 

(15) ELECTRONIC WARFARE & CYBERWARFARE

 

Electronic warfare – evocatively defined as “warfare involving the use of the electromagnetic spectrum” or “directed energy to control the spectrum, attack an enemy, or impede enemy operations”.

In other words – intercepting, jamming or targeting modern communication, radar, “or other military or civilian assets” such as electronic guidance systems for drones, missiles or planes. Or the less destructive way of “sending them back to the Stone Age”.

Interestingly, electronic warfare dates back further than you’d think, albeit still at the dawn of the twentieth century – with Morse code in the Boer War, followed closely by radio interception or jamming elsewhere, including in the Russo-Japanese War. Churchill colorfully called the electronic warfare of WW2 as the “Battle of the Beams”.

Cyberwarfare on the other hand is the use of cyberattacks or the various means of “technological force within computer networks” against an enemy state, “causing comparable harm to traditional warfare” – “espionage, sabotage, propaganda, manipulation, and economic warfare” – or deploying defensive measures against the former.

In other words – essentially war by hacking (and counter-hacking).