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A Cavalry Brigade at Cambrai

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Italo-Turkish War (1911-12)

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Blatant war of aggression launched by Italy against Turkey, with the aim of gaining Libya, in order to counterbalance French conquests in North Africa. Part of the general feeding frenzy that surrounded the decline of the Turkish Empire ('The Sick Man of Europe'). Italy declared war on 29 September 1911, and after preliminary naval bombardments, an Italian naval forces occupied Tobruk (4 October) and Tripoli (5 October). The army, under General Carlo Caneva, took over the occupation on 11 October, and promptly stalled under a combination of skilful Turkish religious propagande amongst the local population and the caution of Caneva. It was only the next summer, starting in July 1912, that the Italians advanced out of their coastal strongholds, slowly forcing the Turks back, and winning several victories over them. However, it was the threatened outbreak of the First Balkan War that forced Turkey to make peace, and by the Treaty of Ouchy (15 October 1912), Turkey gave Italy Libya, Rhodes and the Dodecanese islands.

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1863: A Confederate attempt to rescue Vicksburg and a Rebel garrison held back by Union forces to the east of the city fails when Union troops turn back the attack.

1863: Mexico City is captured by French troops.

1900: The Boxer rebels cut the rail links between Peking and Tientsin in China.

1917: U.S. subchasers arrive at Corfu for anti-submarine patrols.

1917: The Battle of Messines begins.

1932: Over 7,000 war veterans march on Washington, D.C., demanding their bonus pay for service in World War I.

1942: Japanese soldiers occupy the American islands of Attu and Kiska, in the Aleutian Islands off Alaska, as the Axis power continues to expand its defensive perimeter.

1942: The Battle of Midway ends with the loss of the USS Yorktown.

1965: General Westmoreland requests a total of 35 battalions of combat troops, with another nine in reserve. This gave rise to the "44 battalion" debate within the Johnson administration, a discussion of how many U.S. combat troops to commit to the war.

1968: In Operation Swift Saber, U.S. Marines sweep an area 10 miles northwest of Danang in South Vietnam.

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Italo-Turkish War (1911-12)

Should the military offer 18-month enlistments, as Congress is now proposing?