armed force: Quick Facts

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Facts

Also Known As	the military • military • military service

Photos and Videos

British Army soldiers of the 1st Battalion Grenadier Guards Regiment in desert camouflage stand and ride in an armored vehicle, holding weapons in the Sangin Valley, Helmand Province, Afghanistan.

Limestone relief from the Temple of Amon at Karnak showing Thutmose III raising a weapon over defeated enemies, with hieroglyphics covering the background.

Black and white illustration of heavily armored Spartan soldiers with shields and spears fighting in close combat at the Battle of Plataea, with fallen warriors on the ground.

Alexander the Great

Map showing the empire of Alexander the Great at its greatest extent, shaded in yellow, stretching from Greece and Egypt in the west through Asia Minor, Mesopotamia, Persia, and reaching as far east as the Indus River in India. Red arrows trace Alexander's campaign routes, with crossed swords marking major battles along his path. Major regions, cities, and rivers are labeled for context.

Hannibal and the Punic Wars

Trajan's Column

Oil painting after Giulio Romano depicting the Battle of Zama, with Roman and Carthaginian soldiers fighting among war elephants, fallen warriors, and chaos on the battlefield.

The Ludovisi battle sarcophagus features an intricate high-relief scene in marble of Romans fighting Goths, with densely packed figures in dramatic poses.

Discover the truth about the Hessians, the German mercenary soldiers who assisted the British during the American Revolutionary War

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Topics

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Key People

Joseph Stalin

Joseph Stalin

premier of Soviet Union

Joseph Kabila, former President of the Democratic Republic of Congo, sits in an armchair wearing a dark suit and striped shirt, with greenery and a railing in the background.

Joseph Kabila

president of Democratic Republic of the Congo

Muammar al-Qaddafi

Muammar al-Qaddafi

de facto leader of Libya

Yamagata Aritomo

Yamagata Aritomo

prime minister of Japan

Józef Piłsudski

Józef Piłsudski

Polish revolutionary and statesman

Lázaro Cárdenas.

Lázaro Cárdenas

president of Mexico

Marcus Vipsanius Agrippa

Marcus Vipsanius Agrippa

Roman leader

Blaise Compaoré

Blaise Compaoré

president of Burkina Faso

Field Marshal Sam Manekshaw in full military uniform, wearing medals and holding a baton, sits on a chair on a red carpet at an outdoor event.

Sam Manekshaw

Indian field marshal

President Idriss Deby of Chad, wearing a white traditional outfit and hat, speaks at the United Nations podium with the UN emblem visible in front of him.

Idriss Déby

president of Chad

Zine al-Abidine Ben Ali

Zine al-Abidine Ben Ali

president of Tunisia

Qassem Soleimani

Qassem Soleimani

Iranian general

Manuel Noriega

Manuel Noriega

Panamanian military leader

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Ibrahim Babangida

head of state of Nigeria

Bernard Law Montgomery

Bernard Law Montgomery, 1st Viscount Montgomery

British military commander

Wilson, Sir Henry Hughes, Baronet

Sir Henry Hughes Wilson, Baronet

British field marshal

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Gaafar Mohamed el-Nimeiri

president of The Sudan

Admiral William D. Leahy, chief of staff to U.S. President Franklin D. Roosevelt during World War II.

William Daniel Leahy

United States admiral and politician

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Bernhard, prince of the Netherlands, prince of Lippe-Biesterfeld

prince of the Netherlands

Louis Mountbatten, 1st Earl Mountbatten of Burma, in naval uniform and cap, wearing medals and standing outdoors among a group of people.

Louis Mountbatten, 1st Earl Mountbatten

British statesman

D-Day. American soldiers fire rifles, throw grenades and wade ashore on Omaha Beach next to a German bunker during D Day landing. 1 of 5 Allied beachheads est. in Normandy, France. The Normandy Invasion of World War II launched June 6, 1944.

A History of War

Civil War era cannon overlooks Kennesaw Mountain National Battle. (military, artillery, American history)

Pick Your Battles Quiz