#OTD 100 years ago, Fidel Castro was born. After the 1958 revolution (image from #CubaLibre @volko.bsky.social @gmtgames.bsky.social), he ruled Cuba for almost 50 years.

New York's economic transformation from the early 20th century: Finance, shopping, and advertisement began to replace manufacturing. Read more: cliosboardgames.wordpress.com/2026/08/09/n...

Wilhelm Marx's skills as a mediator allowed him unexpected political successes - like introducing unemployment insurance, a major social security improvement, with a coalition of right-leaning parties (image from #Weimar @ulible.bsky.social). Read more: cliosboardgames.wordpress.com/2026/07/26/w...

The 1925 German presidential election represented a watershed for the republic - as it often does in #Weimar (@ulible.bsky.social): cliosboardgames.wordpress.com/2026/07/26/w...

Difficult situation in parliament: Wilhelm Marx led minority cabinets in three of his four terms. Read more: cliosboardgames.wordpress.com/2026/07/26/w...

If you have friends like this, you don't need enemies. The Zentrum's Bavarian sister party BVP at times openly opposed the unity of the nation. Almost as bad was the DVP in and out of national govt. As chancellor, Wilhelm Marx had to contend with both: cliosboardgames.wordpress.com/2026/07/26/w...

Wilhelm Marx's situation at entering the chancellorship would have been great in #Weimar (@ulible.bsky.social) - government leader and both minor parties aligned to his Zentrum. Yet in history, he faced severe difficulties: cliosboardgames.wordpress.com/2026/07/26/w...

#OTD 70 years ago, Egypt nationalized the Suez Canal. The subsequent Anglo-French invasion's failure marked the end of independent great power politics for the two European countries. Image from #Twilight Struggle @jasondcmatthews.bsky.social @gmtgames.bsky.social

#OTD 90 years ago, right-wing officers couped against the Spanish Republic. What is your favorite Spanish Civil War game? Mine is Land and Freedom.(@alexknight.bsky.social)

what i imagine my wife is like when i come home from work one hour later

Some impressions from Spiel doch! in Friedrichshafen. Read more: cliosboardgames.wordpress.com/2026/06/28/s...

New York City, America's financial hub, raised and distributed the capital for the ground-breaking infrastructure of the 19th century - the railway. (Image from #1846 @tomlehmann.bsky.social @gmtgames.bsky.social) Read more: cliosboardgames.wordpress.com/2026/06/14/n...

New York City was for American inventors of the 19th century the make-it-or-break-it place. One who made it: Thomas Edison, whose first large-scale electricity distribution system took shape there. Read more: cliosboardgames.wordpress.com/2026/06/14/n...

Tammany Hall's corruption channeled public money to wealthy bosses and their willing helpers, down to the smallest policeman and construction contractor: When the County Courthouse was built, individual thermometers were billed at $7,500. Read more: cliosboardgames.wordpress.com/2026/06/14/n...

New York in the 19th century was one of the most attractive places in the world - and marked by poverty, squalor, and death especially for its newly-arrived inhabitants. What was an immigrant to do if not to grasp any helping hand offered? cliosboardgames.wordpress.com/2026/06/14/n...

New York grew to be America's first city due to its harbor... but it had to boost its location by building the Erie canal. Read more: cliosboardgames.wordpress.com/2026/06/14/n...

Fabius's last big campaign: He took Tarentum by encouraging traitors within the city... who would meet a grisly fate. Read more: cliosboardgames.wordpress.com/2026/05/31/t...

The catastrophe of #Cannae brought Fabius Cunctator back to the helm of Rome (image from C&C Ancients, @gmtgames.bsky.social). Read more: cliosboardgames.wordpress.com/2026/05/31/t...

Hermann Müller's final foreign policy success: Negotiating the Young Plan, fending off the plebiscite against it by his domestic opponents. Read more: cliosboardgames.wordpress.com/2026/05/17/h...

After the 1920 electoral defeat, Hermann Müller led the SPD to the hard benches of the opposition. It would (except for a three-month stint in 1923) remain there for the next eight years. Read more: cliosboardgames.wordpress.com/2026/05/17/h...

Another exciting game of Pax Pamir (@colewehrle.bsky.social) on Rally the Troops! (@ccxvii.bsky.social) in the books! All four of us had chances to win up to the last dominance check. Thanks to @thebrdgmschronicle.bsky.social @whovian223.bsky.social for the fun game!

The only crisis which Hermann Müller solved in his first term as chancellor: Dissolving the Red Ruhr Army's left-wing uprising (image from #Weimar @ulible.bsky.social). Read more: cliosboardgames.wordpress.com/2026/05/17/h...

The British wanted to quash the American rebellion in New York… but George Washington, the wily fox, lived to fight another day (image from #LibertyOrDeath @gmtgames.bsky.social). Read more: cliosboardgames.wordpress.com/2026/05/03/new-york-city-in-history-board-games-part-1/

Well, hello. Just finished stickering the blocks of #JuliusCaesar!

What was Fabius's top priority when assuming the office of dictator? - Full attention to religious rites, something that games often struggle to represent. Read more: cliosboardgames.wordpress.com/2026/04/19/t...

All Roman offices were filled in pairs... except for one emergency office. When Hannibal threatened Rome in 217 BCE, senate and people of Rome appointed Quintus Fabius Maximus dictator (image from #Hannibal&Hamilcar @phalanxgames.bsky.social). Read more: cliosboardgames.wordpress.com/2026/04/19/t...

Catastrophe: In 217 BCE, a Roman arm was annihilated at the shores of Lake Trasimene (image from Commands&Colors: Ancients @gmtgames.bsky.social). With one consul dead and the other cut off from Rome, emergency measures needed to be taken. Read more: cliosboardgames.wordpress.com/2026/04/19/t...

#OTD 40 years ago, a nuclear reactor at the Chernobyl power plant exploded. Besides catastrophic health and economic consequences, the accident also de-legitimized the Soviet leadership. Image from #TwilightStruggle @jasondcmatthews.bsky.social @gmtgames.bsky.social

In his mid-40s, Quintus Fabius Maximus Verrucosus was consul and had been granted a triumph for his victory over the Ligurians. (Image from #Hannibal&Hamilcar @phalanxgames.bsky.design) Surely that was the pinnacle of his career... oh, hello, Hannibal. cliosboardgames.wordpress.com/2026/04/19/t...

Playing #ImperialStruggle (@jasondcmatthews.bsky.social @gmtgames.bsky.social) in the excellent implementation on Rally the Troops! We're having an easier time winning with the French. Crack players, what are your best tips for successful British play?