In the USSR during Stalins regime, show trials were a tool of political repression. The trials were orchestrated events that coerced confessions out of innocent people. The end was to consolidate Stalins power by removing any potential rivals. The Great Purge of the 1930s was the most brutal political cleansing event in which up to 1.5 million people were arrested, interrogated, and tortured; up to 1.2 million of them diedeither by execution or in a forced labor camp called a Gulag.What Is a Show Trial?Joseph Stalin, Secretary-General of the Communist Party of Soviet Russia, 1942. Source: Wikimedia CommonsCommunist show trials were a central part of the Stalinist regime in the USSR. They were essentially theatrical productions in which the judge and jury had both already decided that the defendant was guilty, and they did not consult evidence before issuing their verdict. The victims of the show trials were sometimes coached on what to say before going to the stand to ensure that everybody followed the same story, like a script.These performances often went above and beyond. For example, if the defendant were accused of being an enemy spy, the prosecutors would bring his mother or wife in for an interrogation. They would tell the woman that the accused had already confessed to the crimes when he had not. She was then required to testify that she knew he had been a spy all along and had committed crimes against the state, and she would agree because it was no use fighting with the truth if he had confessed.The prosecutors would then tell the man that his wife/mother had said to them that he had committed the crime and that she was going to testify as a witness, so he might as well just confess. To get him to agree to lie on the stand, they might offer immunity for his family or take the death penalty off the table, but they were under no moral obligation to keep their word.Why Would They Fake a Trial?Donetsk repressii by Andrew Butko, 2007. Source: Wikimedia CommonsShow trials originated during the Great Purge of the 1930s, and they were to eliminate anybody who challenged Joseph Stalin or the regime. The catalyst for the political purge was the 1934 assassination of Sergei Kirov, a Bolshevik revolutionary from the 1917 Russian Revolution.Whether or not Stalin played a role in the assassination is debatable. Still, ultimately, he used Kirovs death to ask the Politburo (the policymaking committee) for permission to cleanse the government of anybody who might betray the USSR or Stalin himself. The NKVD (the secret police) began arresting the so-called enemies, including Trotskyitessomeone who associated with or favored Leon Trotsky, a man who challenged Stalin.The crowded gallery of a show trial where those accused of crimes against the state in the Soviet Union or Nazi Germany were tried without fair defense. Source: FriezePolitical repression, show trials, and gulags were an open secret; the public attended the trials, and details of the proceedings were published both within and outside of the USSR. Stalin desperately needed to prove that there were enemies of the state, and foreign agents, or Western spies who posed a threat to the USSR and Stalin himself. He wished to jail or kill all potential political rivals before they could challenge him.Stalin and the rest of the communists throughout the USSR and their satellite states would continue the tradition of denouncing their rivals for decades.The Great PurgeMemorial to the Victims of Political Repression by Vyacheslav Bukharov, 2021. Source: Wikimedia CommonsThe Great Purge, sometimes called the Great Terror, should not be confused with the Red Terror, a period of political repression from 1918 to 1922 after the 1917 Revolution. The Red Terror was orchestrated by the Cheka (the first Soviet secret police, later the NKVD, and even later, it would be called the KGB) and the Bolsheviks, resulting in the deaths of up to 600,000 people.This era of political cleansing lasted from 1936 to 1938, but its most prolific year was 1937; overall, upwards of 1.5 million people were arrested, and at least 681,692 people were found guilty and executed, and another 116,000 people died in the Gulagsofficially. It is estimated that upwards of 1.2 million people died, but deaths in Gulags often went unreported.The 1930s Great Purge was the systematic mass murder of political opponents. Although the United Nations Genocide Convention does not include political killings in the definition of genocide, many academics have called the purge a political genocide. They did not just target politicians, though; they also went for Red Army leadership, kulaks (considered wealthy peasants), religious leaders, scientists, doctors, intelligentsia, ethnic minorities, and anybody else who may have been standing in the wrong place at the wrong time. People were imprisoned or sent to Gulags to serve sentences of performing hard labor for the crime of telling jokes or of writing poemsand repression of the arts is still present in Russia today.The Gulag SystemGulag location map by NordNordWest, 2015. Source: Wikimedia CommonsThe USSR has a long history of genocide and ethnic cleansing operations, and the Great Purge is just one example.Victims of the Purge were sent to a Gulag if they were not executed outright. Gulag, sometimes written as GULAG, is an acronym for Main Directorate of Correctional Labor Camps. It was a vast network of forced labor camps and prisons in the Soviet Union. Labor camps began in 1919 with an official decree on April 15, but the Gulag system was established in 1930 and was not officially abolished until 1960.It is estimated that 18 million people passed through 53 camps and 423 labor colonies (camps where prisoners were forced to work in heavy industries such as mining, logging, and construction). Official estimates are always lower, but somewhere between 2.3 and 17.6 million prisoners lost their lives (Predota). The Soviets hid, or never made, records, and bodies of prisoners who died in the Gulags were buried in mass graves and never spoken of again. Many thousands of families still have no idea when their loved ones died nor where they were buried.One Day in the Life of Ivan Denisovich (1962) is a novel by Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn, a Russian who wished to tell the world what life was like in the USSR. The namesake, Ivan, was an inmate in the prison camp system after he was falsely convicted of being a spy. Solzhenitsyn has written several nonfiction books on the USSR and the Gulags, but his novel was the first of its kind.Memorial to the Victims of Political Repressions in the suburbs of Yekaterinburg by Vyacheslav Bukharov, 2021. Source: Wikimedia CommonsThe Soviet forced labor camps were akin to Nazi labor camps and operated during the same time. Before the Nazis even began relocating people, the Soviets began transporting people via cattle car in the 1930s to labor camps and relocation camps. They also invented mobile gas units to kill their prisoners in the 1930s. Then the Nazis took the idea to connect a trucks exhaust pipe to an enclosed space to gas prisoners inside.Prisoners in Soviet camps often died of starvation, executions, harsh working conditions, or extreme cold in the camps of Siberia. Roughly two-thirds of Russia is covered in permafrost, which never thaws, and they have vast deposits of natural resources such as coal, natural gas, and rocks and minerals. The Soviets used prisoners to perform the hard labor of extracting these resources to (literally) fuel their economy.Wall of sorrow at the first exhibition of the victims of Stalinism in Moscow by Dmitry Borko, 1988. Source: Wikimedia CommonsMass graves of victims are still being excavated today, such as the Kommunarkashooting grounds near Moscow, where over 6,600 bodies have been discovered. Sites have been uncovered throughout the USSR, such as in Ukraine, where there are now several memorials to pay tribute to the victims. In 2021, construction workers in Odesa, Ukraine, found at least 20,000 corpses buried in a mass grave. In Kurapaty, Belarus, in a forest outside Minsk, at least 30,000 but up to 250,000 people were killed by the Soviets and buried in mass graves.Adam Hochschild traveled through Russia, interviewing people, studying archives, and visiting former camp locations to write the book The Unquiet Ghost: Russians Remember Stalin (2003). He describes how mass graves were frequently discovered in the USSR and just as soon covered up. A tunnel in the Ural Mountains of western Russia was discovered with thousands of bodies in it, and a mass grave of more than a thousand bodies was uncovered after severe flooding in Kolpashevo, Russia.Eliminating the IntelligentsiaVsevolod Meyerhold 2024 stamp of Russia. Source: Wikimedia CommonsOne of the main purposes of the Purge of the 1930s and show trials was to eliminate political opponents, but they also went after common folk and academicsotherwise called the intelligentsia. The Soviets called them the bourgeoisie, a middle class of educated, wealthy people whom the Soviets believed represented the ruling elite of the former Russian Empire; therefore, they were enemies of the communist state.Actor, director, and theater producer Vsevolod Meyerhold was arrested during the period of cleansing for being a formalistone who adhered to a literary theory called Russian Formalism. Under Stalin, this literary movement became an all-encompassing term for anything considered elitist art, not just literature, that contradicted Soviet Socialist Realism, a more traditional, figurative form of art. Thus, Formalists were seen as enemies during Stalins reign because they would not adhere to the new way of life and art, which differed from the avant-garde art of the early USSR.Meyerhold was arrested in June 1939. His wife was stabbed to death by home invaders, and he was tortured mercilessly by the secret police in Moscow, where he confessed to being a spy for Britain and Japan. He, like hundreds of thousands of others, confessed to a crime he did not commit so that the torture would end. After confessing, he was executed on February 1, 1940. In 1955, the Soviet Supreme Court absolved him of the charges, but it was too little too late.The Khrushchev Thaw and Political RehabilitationThe Soviet Union 1963 CPA 2824 stamp (Russian Civil War Hero Marshal of the Soviet Union Mikhail Tukhachevsky. Source: Wikimedia CommonsThe Khrushchev Thaw was a period of relaxation and a reversal of the repression caused during the Stalin years. Nikita Khrushchev, who held several government positions, including Prime Minister and First Secretary of the Communist Party, was highly critical of Stalin and made it a mission to rehabilitate/exonerate victims of the Purge (and other subsequent small pogroms or political repression).The above images of Russian stamps with photos of Meyerhold and Mikhail Tukhachevsky were part of a series of stamps commemorating victims of the repression. Tukhachevskywas a prominent military general, and just after he was demoted to commander of the Volga Military District, he was arrested in 1937. He was tortured and interrogated, and he made a false confession to being a German spy, and he was executed less than a month later.Stalin and the other prominent communists knew that victims would confess to just about anything if the circumstances were rightand the circumstances had to be torture.ReferencesHochschild, Adam. (2003). The Unquiet Ghost: Russians Remember Stalin. Mariner Books.Kovago, Jozsef. (1959). You Are All Alone. Praeger.Mertz, Dawn-Eve. (2024). Young Men Go West: The Hungarian Revolution of 1956 and One Teenagers Risky Escape. Kleo Press.Rayfield, Donald. (2004). Stalin and his Hangmen. Random House.Sebag Montefiore, Simon. (2003).Stalin: The Court of the Red Tsar. Weidenfeld & Nicolson.

At the beginning of the 2nd century BCE, two major powers vied for the Mediterranean. In the west, the Romans had recently defeated the Carthaginians and, having crossed to Greece, the Macedonians. Concurrently, Antiochus III (223-187BCE), king of the Seleucid Empire, earned the title the Great by re-establishing Seleucid power in Asia Minor, seizing Syria from the Ptolemies, and campaigning in central Asia.After the Roman victory over the Macedonians at Cynoscephalae in 197 BCE, Greece was contested by the Romans and Seleucids. Neither initially desired war but in less than a decade they were drawn into a fateful clash that ended at Magnesia.The Freedom of the GreeksAntiochus III, 1st century BCE, Italy. Source: Muse du LouvreAfter their removal of Macedonian control over Greece in 197 BCE the Romans did something unexpected. They withdrew their legions and proclaimed the Greeks free. The various Greek city-states, federal leagues, and kingdoms were to govern themselves. This Roman settlement created ambiguity. Roman troops had withdrawn but everyone still looked, expectantly or nervously, across the Adriatic to Rome. Few could doubt that the Romans were a major power in Greece but the limits of their interest were uncertain.While the Romans were proclaiming the freedom of the Greeks Antiochus was bolstering the Seleucid Empire. In Asia Minor, this saw the Seleucids take or threaten cities previously under the control of the Macedonians, places that the Romans could claim they had liberated. Crossing into Europe Antiochus built a strong Seleucid presence in Thrace. For Antiochus, he was within his rights as a Hellenistic king to re-establish control over the territory which his ancestors had held.Diplomatic exchanges between Antiochus and Rome in the years 197-192 BCE were cautious and tense but not overtly hostile. Some scholars have suggested that while neither side pushed for war there was a misunderstanding that drove them to it. Antiochus controlled his empire through direct occupation or treaties. Roman control was more informal and based on political friendship and the propaganda of freedom for the Greeks. What to the Romans looked like an area under their influence and bound to them seemed to Antiochus a land the Romans had little interest in and one which, in some regions at least, was well within his dynastys sphere of interest.The War in GreeceSilver coin of Antiochus III, 3rd-2nd century BCE, Syria. Source: British MuseumIt was the smaller powers between the two empires that provoked war. The Seleucid revival in Asia Minor left the small Attalid kingdom of Pergamon vulnerable. King Eumenes II (197-159 BCE) turned down a Seleucid alliance and talked up the danger of Antiochus. This task was not difficult. Antiochus advances in Thrace could be seen as threatening to both the Roman settlement of Greece and ultimately Italy. These fears grew when Romes bitterest enemy, Hannibal the Carthaginian, visited Antiochus court in 195 BCE.In Greece, the Aitolian federal state had grown dissatisfied with its previous partnership with the Romans. As they looked to secure their ambitions they turned to Antiochus. In 192 BCE, the Aitolians attempted to seize control of central and southern Greece. A series of coups they plotted largely failed but with the situation in Greece now unstable they called on Antiochus to arbitrate their disputes with the Romans.Antiochus seized the opportunity. If the Roman settlement in Greece could be replaced by a Seleucid system of alliances there would be no more need to negotiate with the Romans about how their policy of freedom applied to Seleucid lands. At the very least any future war would take place in Greece and Antiochus would gain allies.Antiochus badly miscalculated the Roman reaction. In late 192 BCE, he landed in Greece with a small force of up to 18,000 troops, clearly looking to the Aitolians and future Greek allies for support. While they did make progress and some reluctant allies, the Roman response was decisive and soon the legions were dispatched back to Greece.According to Grainger, the limited size of Antiochus force may show that the king did not expect the Romans to fight and that a lighter presence was more likely to win over Greek allies. But it meant that Antiochus was not prepared to fight in Greece. He hastily retreated to the famous mountain pass at Thermopylae in 191 BCE but was defeated trying to hold the pass. Having received little support from the Greekseven the Aitolians sent only a small force to ThermopylaeAntiochus was forced to withdraw to Asia. The Greek expedition was over less than a year after it had begun.Modern view of Thermopylae. Source: Livius.orgInvasion of AsiaAfter the disaster in Greece Hannibal warned Antiochus that the Romans would not stop in Europe. The king tried to negotiate but following their swift victory and with more reinforcements on the way the Romans were uninterested.While the Roman army dealt with the Aitolians in Greece the combined forces of Rome, Rhodes, and Pergamon fought for control of the Aegean Sea. The Rhodians played a crucial role as they prevented Hannibal from bringing reinforcements, and froze him out of the war, before joining the Romans to defeat the Seleucid fleet at Myonessus in 190 BCE.Having lost control of the sea Antiochus withdrew from the coast and prepared himself in the center of Asia Minor. The Roman invasion force under the recently elected consul Lucius Cornelius Scipio could now make over to Asia. This command had been secured by the consuls more famous brother Publius Scipio Africanus, the most renowned Roman general of his day and the man who had defeated Hannibal.Image of a Rhodian trireme, Lindos. Source: Wikimedia CommonsAntiochus made one final bid for peace after the Romans landed in Asia. However, there was no sense of compromise from the Romans and the terms offered imposed heavy costs on the Seleucids and demanded the surrender of all Asia Minor. Antiochus could not agree to these terms and withdrew from the coast some 60 kilometers inland and awaited the Romans at Magnesia and Sipylum.Advance to MagnesiaThe Scipios led the first Roman army to reach Asia, consisting of 30,000 to 40,000 troops, to confront Antiochus. At its core were 20,000 heavy infantry consisting of two Roman legions and two Italian Latin contingents, each around 5,400 strong. 3,000 lightly armed Pergamene and Achaian troops and 3,000 cavalry, of which 800 were again from Pergamon, were to support the battle-winning infantry. Smaller numbers of Cretans, Macedonians, and Thracians made up the rest of the army. The Romans were also accompanied by 16 African elephants though they played little part in the battle and were kept back as they were outnumbered by Antiochus larger Indian elephants.The Seleucid army was said to be much larger and much more diverse. While our sources claim Antiochus was relaxed about the prospect of a Roman invasion of Asia he had made extensive preparations. According to Professor Bezalel Bar-Kochva, the army Antiochus gathered at Magnesia drew on the resources of his vast empire and gathered 60,000 infantry and 12,000 cavalry.Roman Republican soldier, 2nd century BCE. Source: Muse du LouvreAt its heart was the famed Macedonian phalanx of massed pikemen. These 16,000 soldiers would form the center of Antiochus line. The nearby regions of Cappodocia and Galatia provided contingents with others coming from Seleucid territories in Media, modern Iran. Split into two equal contingents were 6,000 cataphracts, heavily armored horsemen. Macedonian armies had a long cavalry tradition but the addition of armor was an innovation Antiochus may have picked up from campaigns further east. Another notable feature of this army was the deployment of scythed chariots. With blades sticking out from the wheels these chariots looked terrifying and had been used before by the Seleucids without becoming a common feature.In late 190 BCE (some accounts put the battle in January 189 BCE) these two armies stood at opposite ends of a flat plain between two rivers outside Magnesia. The Romans were outnumbered but the sources generally give the impression that the Romans were confident and eager for battle. The Romans had defeated Hellenistic armies before. Roman victories in Greece and the Aegean and Antiochus abandonment of his territories in Europe at the Roman approach surely boosted their confidence further.Battle of MagnesiaThe Macedonian phalanx. Source: Livius.orgAfter the arrival of the Romans at Magnesia neither side moved. Antiochus, on chosen ground, could wait for the Romans to come to him. Lucius Scipio could not. It was late in the year and the Romans had to decide whether to fight or disburse to winter quarters. After some hesitation Scipio ordered the army to advance to a slightly narrower part of the plain. Seeing the enemy advance Antiochus also decided the time for battle had come.The Romans deployed their forces in their traditional formation with three lines of heavy infantry in the center, Eumenes with the Pergamene and Greek cavalry and auxiliaries on the right, and their left next to a river. Antiochus largely matched this layout but with some interesting variations. Interspersed among the phalanx in the center were groups of elephants adding to the terrifying spectacle of the wall of pikemen. To both the left and the right Antiochus stationed his cataphracts and supporting cavalry. The king himself was with the right wing while to the left the scythed chariots lined up.Seleucid or Parthian Cataphract, 3rd-2nd century BCE, Iraq. Source: British MuseumThe day of the battle began with mist and clouds which reduced visibility. The later Roman historian Livy states this gave an early advantage to the Romans since Antiochus larger army was so spread out that the king could not see the full picture across the battlefield.Once the battle began, Antiochus plan became clear. This was not to be another battle between legion and phalanx. Instead, Antiochus pinned his hopes on his cataphracts and chariots. The plan started with spectacular success. The armored cavalry of the Seleucid, right under Antiochus himself, smashed through the Roman lines by the river. This was a rare occasion in which the heavy infantry of the Romans was broken by a cavalry charge. Following up this success was more difficult. The Roman left was broken, but not destroyed, and enough troops rallied around the Roman camp to halt Antiochus momentum, forcing the king to eventually turn around without achieving anything decisive.In contrast to the success on the right, everything went wrong on the Seleucid left. The use of scythed chariots backfired as the Romans and Eumunes targeted the horses with javelins, arrows, and sling stones until they became uncontrollable. The panicking horses turned back into their own lines disrupting the cataphracts. Seeing the disorder, Eumenes charged, and suddenly the Seleucid left was fleeing. In the center a similar story played out. The elephants stationed among the phalanx to give it extra strength became uncontrollable when targeted. As they broke they disrupted the cohesion the phalanx relied on to survive, and the Seleucid center joined the left in its rout.By the time Antiochus understood what was happening it was too late. Roman sources claim more than 50,000 Seleucids were killed at the cost of less than 400 Romans and Greeks. The numbers are probably exaggerated but once the infantry in the center was isolated it is unlikely many survived the massacre.Where the Battle Was LostSilver coin of Antiochus III with a Seleucid elephant, 3rd-2nd century BCE, Syria. Source: British MuseumAntiochus approach to the battle deserves some comment. A much later historian, Appian, criticizes Antiochus for concentrating on his cavalry rather than the phalanx which he left crowded in a narrow space. The innovation of placing elephants within the phalanx also did more harm than good. However, it is possible that the focus on cavalry shows a clear line of thought from Antiochus and an attempt to overcome previous failures.Antiochus was well aware that Hellenistic armies with their focus on the phalanx had struggled and been defeated by Roman legions. He was well-informed about the defeat of the Macedonian phalanx at Cynoscephalae in 197 BCE. During the expedition to Greece he had sent officers to the battlefield. There, Roman legions had broken up and destroyed a phalanx. Antiochus, therefore, avoided another contest of phalanx and legion.The turn to heavy cavalry and chariots was an attempt to innovate and win the battle elsewhere rather than simply waiting for the phalanx to lose against the legions. On the right this plan worked. Modern historians like Grainger and Bar-Kochva argue that the failure was in the use of chariots, a previously unreliable weapon, and the inadequate protection for them against enemy skirmishers.The plan he came up with for the battle of Magnesia shows Antiochus was an intelligent and innovative commander. Unfortunately he may have learnt the wrong lesson from Cynoscephalae. That battle was fought on uneven ground allowing the more flexible Roman legionnaires to disrupt the tight formation of the phalanx. The flat plain of Magnesia could have been a more suitable place to test the phalanx against the legion on its favored terrain.End of Seleucid Asia MinorMap showing the increase in Pergamene (blue) and Rhodian (green) following the Treaty of Apamea, 188 BCE. Source: Wikimedia CommonsAs Antiochus fell back toward Syria after the defeat, Seleucid power in Asia Minor and Anatolia went with him. A peace was soon agreed, the Peace of Apamea. Its terms spelled the end of Seleucid rule north of the Taurus mountains, essentially the Seleucids lost all of modern Turkey. As they had done in Greece, the Romans would not take these lands directly. Instead, Rhodes and Pergamon, who had both been essential to the Roman victory, divided the lands between them.The Seleucid Empire was not finished yet. But, in a short war that lasted just over two years, 192-190 BCE, the Romans had wiped out the progress Antiochus had spent decades on in the west. Stripped of some of its richest provinces, the Seleucids would never recover.Bibliography:Bar-Kochva, B (2008). The Seleucid Army:Organization and Tactics in the Great Campaigns. Cambridge University Press. New YorkChaniotis, A (2018). Age of Conquests:The Greek World from Alexander to Hadrian. Harvard University Press. Cambridge, Mass.Grainger, J.D (2015). The Seleukid Empire of Antiochus III: 223-187 BC. Pen & Sword.Gruen, E (1984). The Hellenistic World and the Coming of Rome, vol.1. University of California Press. London

Nearly any person you speak to has heard of Beijings most famous site the Great Wall of China. However, Beijing is an intriguing city for many other reasons. Ancient temples stand side-by-side with uber-modern skyscrapers. Some residents live in traditional courtyard homes, while others live in expensive high rises. Perhaps most impressive of all is that Beijing is home to seven UNESCO World Heritage Sites. So, regardless of your reasons for visiting Beijing, its remarkable heritage sites should be at the top of your must-see list.A Home Fit for an Emperor: The Forbidden CityPhotograph of the Forbidden City, by Lan Lin, 2022. Source: UnsplashThe Forbidden City, which sits at Beijings center, was Chinas political center for over 500 years. It was constructed between 1406 and 1420 and was inhabited during the Ming (1368-1644) and Qing (1644-1911) dynasties. The former imperial palace features splaying courtyards punctuated by imposing red buildings and surrounded by walls. It was home to 24 emperors, their families, and their servants.The Forbidden City was constructed after a coup detat during the rule of the Ming Dynastys founder, Zhu Yuanzhang. The emperor moved the capital from Nanjing to Beijing and built the Forbidden City. When the Qing Dynasty was established in 1644, the new imperial family took over the palace. In addition to daily living, rituals and ceremonies took place there. Thus, it was designed to follow the cosmic order in Confucian ideology.Public and private life were divided in the Forbidden City. State affairs were managed in the huge compounds of the outer court, where only men were allowed. The inner court was the imperial familys domestic space, containing the emperor and empress residences. There were palaces for the emperors consorts and spaces for the retired emperor and empress. It was long claimed that the complex contained 9,999 rooms, though experts have only counted 8,886.Photograph of the Forbidden City taken from Jingshan Park, by Yekaterina Golatkina, 2020. Source: UnsplashThe city was last inhabited by the child emperor Puyi, who was expelled in 1924. During the 1933 Japanese invasion, many treasures were taken from the Forbidden City. Some were returned after World War II, while others were evacuated to Taiwan by Chiang Kai-shek. These artifacts are now displayed at Taipeis National Palace Museum.In 1987, the Forbidden City was designated a UNESCO World Heritage Site. The palace is the most visited museum in China, welcoming around 80,000 visitors daily or 14 million annually. Experts have valued the palace at US$70 billion, making it the most valuable palace in the world. It is also the worlds most valuable property. Interestingly, it is thought to be haunted, but closes promptly at 4:30 pm each day, leaving ghost hunters disappointed.A Modern World Wonder: The Great Wall of ChinaPhotograph of the Jinshanling section of the Great Wall of China, by Max van den Oetelaar, 2020. Source: UnsplashChinas best-known attraction is, of course, the Great Wall of China. The wall, constructed continuously between the 3rd century BCE and the 17th century CE, was one of the largest construction projects ever undertaken and is the worlds largest military structure. The Great Wall was developed as a border fortification to protect the country from invasions and raids.Chinas first emperor, Qin Shihuang (259-210 BCE), unified the country and connected existing defensive walls to create a single wall system around 4,160 miles long. The wall was strengthened during the Han Dynasty (202 BCE-220 CE), the Wei Dynasty (386-534 CE), and the Sui Dynasty (581-618 CE). The greatest changes were made during the Ming Dynasty (1368-1644), as the Mongol Yuan Dynasty (1271-1368) had just ended and another invasion was to be avoided at all costs. The best-preserved sections of the wall date back to this time.The wall is comprised of three components, passes, signal towers, and walls. Passes were strongholds along the wall, often in key positions such as intersections with trade routes. Signal towers were used to send military communications using fire, smoke signals, banners, clappers, or guns. The wall sections generally stand between 23-26 feet in height. Their structure is dependent on the topography and building materials available, such as tamped earth and wooden boards, adobe bricks, or rocks. Around one-fourth of its total length is made up of natural barriers such as rivers and mountain ridges. The wall ends at the Shanhai Pass, where it goes into the water at the Liaodong Bay Coast.Photograph of the Great Wall of China, by Hanson Lu, 2017. Source: UnsplashThe Great Wall, in total, stretches for 13,171 miles. Nowadays, large sections of the wall are in ruins or have disappeared. Despite its cultural importance, sections were removed to build roads or other infrastructure. In the 1970s, one section was dismantled for building materials, though it was subsequently rebuilt. Still, the site has captured the imagination of the world and was designated a UNESCO World Heritage site in 1987. Some sections of the wall, including Badaling and Mutianyu, have been restored. Other popular (and wilder) sections to visit include Jinshanling, Simatai, Huanghuacheng, and Gubeikou.A Retreat Fit for a King (and Queen): The Summer PalacePhotograph of the Summer Palace, by Zhang Kayv, 2021. Source: UnsplashThe Summer Palace, another UNESCO World Heritage Site, is a Qing Dynasty (1644-1912) imperial garden. The palace was a summer retreat for the Chinese royal family, who preferred it to the walled-in Forbidden City during the warmer months. The palace features lakes, gardens, and palaces and covers around 1.1 square miles. Though there had been other structures in the area before the Qing Dynasty, the palace that exists today was constructed between 1750 and 1764.It is said that in 1749, the Qianlong Emperor decided to build the palace to celebrate his mothers 60th birthday. A large lake was constructed, called Kunming Lake, inspired by the famous West Lake in Hangzhou. Earth that was excavated in shaping the lake was then used to enlarge the surrounding hills, particularly Longevity Hill, which accounts for around a quarter of the garden area.In 1860, during the Second Opium War, the Summer Palace and the nearby Old Summer Palace were occupied by British and French forces. They sacked both palaces and burned the Old Summer Palace. This was done as part of a British and French effort to persuade the Qing government to negotiate with them. Later on, between 1884-95, Empress Dowager Cixi oversaw the reconstruction and enlargement of the Summer Palace for her 60th birthday. In 1900, forces from the Eight-Nation Alliance seized artifacts and destroyed the gardens. The palace was, however, restored just two years later.Photograph of the Summer Palace, by Zhang Kaiyv, 2023. Source: UnsplashAfter the fall of the Qing Dynasty, the Beijing municipal government took charge of the palace and turned it into a public park in 1914. Large restorations since then have brought the park to the condition it is in today. The Summer Palace is easy to reach via a dedicated stop on the subway. Though crowded, a short walk off the main path provides a more peaceful experience. Those wishing to view the palace from the water can pay for a boat ride on Kunming Lake. You can also walk down the longest corridor in the world (2,388 feet long), as listed in The Guinness Book of World Records.Praying for Good Harvests: The Temple of HeavenPhotograph of the Hall of Prayer for Good Harvests, by Victor He, 2020. Source: UnsplashUnlike the previous structures on the list, the Temple of Heaven wasnt any kind of residence for royalty. Instead, it was visited by Ming and Qing emperors for annual ceremonies. During these ceremonies, emperors would give sacrifices and pray for a good harvest. Prior to the ceremony, the emperor and his entourage would travel through Beijing, starting at the Forbidden City and ending at the temple. Ordinary people were prohibited from seeing this procession. Ceremonies at the temple had to go perfectly, as there was a superstition that one small mistake would be a bad omen for the entire nation in the coming year.The temple complex was initially constructed during the Ming Dynasty, between 1406 and 1420. It was constructed during the reign of the Yongle Emperor, the same emperor responsible for building the Forbidden City. The complex was extended in the 16th century and renovated in the 18th century.The temple was occupied by French and British forces during the Second Opium War and it was occupied again during the Boxer Rebellion of 1900, when the Eight-Nation Alliance used it as a command post for a year. After the fall of the Qing Dynasty, the temple was not managed and fell into disrepair.Photograph of the Temple of Heaven, by Isaac Chou, 2024. Source: UnsplashThe Temple of Heaven was opened to the public as a park in 1988, and in 1998, it was designated a UNESCO World Heritage Site. It is considered to be the supreme achievement of traditional Chinese architecture and the most representative existing ancient sacrificial building.The grounds of the Temple of Heaven cover 1.05 square miles, an area five times the size of the Forbidden City. There are three main groups of buildings inside. The most famous is the Hall of Prayer for Good Harvests, a circular building that is 125 feet tall. It is built on three levels of marble stone base and was the site of imperial ceremonies. This building was struck by lightning in 1889 and burned down but was rebuilt in the years that followed. Other structures on site include the Imperial Vault of Heaven and the Circular Mound Altar.The Imperial Tombs: Where Emperors are Laid to RestPhotograph of the Ming Tombs, by Haluk Comertel, 2011. Source: Wikimedia CommonsWe havent run out of UNESCO World Heritage Sites in Beijing yet the next on this list are the Imperial Tombs of the Ming and Qing Dynasties. These tombs are a collection of mausoleums built by the Ming Dynasty emperors, and they are clustered in an area 26 miles northwest of Beijing. This site was selected in 1420 by the Ming Yongle emperor after he constructed the Forbidden City. This was to be his burial site, and he chose the southern slope of the Tianshou Mountains based on feng shui. Subsequent emperors went on to place their tombs nearby in the same valley, with a total of 13 Ming emperors buried here.At the time of the Ming Dynasty, the tombs were not accessible to regular people. In 1644, however, many of them were ransacked and burned by Li Zichengs army. Li Zicheng was a rebel leader who helped overthrow the Ming Dynasty. From there, Qing emperors went on to establish their tombs in the area as well, and there are two main sites of Qing tombs. Three of the Ming and Qing tomb sites were added to the UNESCO World Heritage site in 2000 and 2003. In addition to these, there are also Ming and Qing Dynasty tombs in the Liaoning and Jiangsu provinces.Yonghe Temple, a Bustling Religious CenterPhotograph of the Yonghe Temple, by Erica Chang, 2012. Source: Wikimedia CommonsThe Yonghe Temple, known locally as the Lama Temple, is located centrally in Beijing. The temple is one of Chinas largest Tibetan Buddhist monasteries, and it was the most important Buddhist temple in China during the middle and late Qing Dynasty.Construction started in 1694, during the Qing Dynasty, on a site where an official residence for Ming Dynasty eunuchs had once stood. In 1702 it was converted into the residence of one of the Kangxi Emperors sons, who moved in, in 1703. The future Qianlong Emperor, Hongli, was born in one of the temples buildings in 1711.After taking power, the Qianlong Emperor promoted the building to imperial status, replacing its turquoise tiles with yellow imperial tiles reserved for the emperor. In 1744, the emperor converted the building to a lamasery (a monastery).Photograph of incense burning at the Yonghe Temple, by A_Peach, 2017. Source: FlickrIn the years that followed, the monastery became a residence for a sizable population of Tibetan Buddhist monks. These monks traveled to China from Tibet and Mongolia. The Yonghe Lamasery became Chinas center for the Lama administration. Then, in 1929, the temple was involved in a revolt against the Chinese Nationalist government.When the Chinese Civil War ended in 1949, the temple was declared a national monument. From then, it was closed for 32 years. It is believed that the temple survived the destructive Cultural Revolution due to intervention from Premier Zhou Enlai. The Yonghe Temple was reopened to the public in 1981 and is both a popular tourist attraction and an active religious site.The buildings and artwork feature a fusion of Tibetan and Han Chinese styles. Particularly striking is the 85-foot-tall statue of the Maitreya Buddha, which is carved from one large piece of white sandalwood. The statue was gifted to the Qianlong Emperor by the seventh Dalai Lama. It was brought from Tibet to Beijing, a journey that took three years. The temple can be easily reached by subway and has its own stop called Yonghegong Lama Temple Station.Tiananmen Square: A Site With a Sad HistoryPhotograph of Tiananmen Square, by Zachary Keimig, 2020. Source: UnsplashLocated directly in front of the Forbidden City, Tiananmen Square is a city square in the center of Beijing. It is named after the gate to its north, famed for its large portrait of Mao Zedong, which separates it from the Forbidden City. In English, Tiananmen translates to Gate of Heavenly Peace. The square contains several buildings, including the Mausoleum of Mao Zedong, the Monument to the Peoples Heroes, the Great Hall of the People, and the National Museum of China.The square is a meaningful place for Chinese people Mao Zedong proclaimed the founding of the Peoples Republic of China there on October 1, 1949. This event is celebrated at the square annually. Tiananmen Square covers 53.31 acres and is the 8th largest city square in the world. It was built in 1651 and was expanded fourfold in the 1950s.Besides the squares importance in the founding of the PRC, it is best known internationally as the site of the 1989 Tiananmen Square protests and massacre. The protests were student-led, starting on April 15, 1989, and reflected unhappiness with the countrys government and political structure. Grievances included inflation, corruption, and recent changes to the economy which benefited few at the expense of many.Violent confrontations between demonstrators and the army occurred regularly, and the Chinese Community Party (CCP) decided to clear the square by force. The government declared martial law on the evening of June 3 and deployed troops to occupy the square in the early morning hours of June 4. There were bloody clashes between the military and demonstrators with estimates of the death toll ranging from several hundred to several thousand, with thousands more wounded.Photograph of Tiananmen, the gate between Tiananmen Square and the Forbidden City, by Yang Yang, 2020. Source: UnsplashAs a result of the demonstrations, the CCP has strictly limited political expression in the country. This situation is ongoing, and the topic of the Tiananmen Square massacre is one of the most sensitive and widely censored in China. Today, the square is open to visitors but heavily monitored. Military parades are held in the area on important dates, including the 50th and 60th anniversaries of the PRCs founding.Zhoukoudian: Traces of our Early AncestorsPhotograph of a statue at the Peking Man Museum, by Xiquinhosilva, 2016. Source: FlickrMoving away from architecture, we have the Peking Man Site at Zhoukoudian. This site, located 42 km (26 miles) southwest of Beijing, is a cave previously inhabited by a subspecies of Homo Erectus, an extinct archaic species of human from the Pleistocene Period. The first human fossil, a tooth, was found at the site in 1921 by Austrian paleontologist Otto Zdansky. Between 1929 and 1937, researchers discovered several partial skulls of hominids here from ancient times.The number of findings at Zhoukoudian Cave has made it the most productive Homo Erectus site in the world. These discoveries started a dialogue and supported the Out of Asia hypothesis that humans evolved in Asia, though the Out of Africa theory is more widely accepted today.It has been determined that at the time Peking Man lived, the area was a cool, predominantly steppe region. There were rhinos, elephants, bison, bears, wolves, and big cats, among other creatures. The exact time that Peking Man lived in Zhoukoudian is unclear, but estimates range from 230,000 to 780,000 years ago. Over 100,000 stone tools were also recovered in the cave, and there was also evidence of fire use.During the Second Sino-Japanese War, in 1941, fossils from around 40 individuals were transported by the United States Marine Corps to the SS President Harrison, one of their ships. The aim was to protect the fossils, and they were to be brought to the American Museum of Natural History in New York. However, the ship was attacked by Japanese warships. Many attempts have been made to locate the crates containing the fossils, but they have never been found.Photograph of fossils at the Peking Man Museum, by Xiquinhosilva, 2016. Source: FlickrFollowing the Chinese Civil War, excavations at the Zhoukoudian site resumed and continued off and on for several decades. Excavations of the site are now considered to be more or less complete. A modern museum was opened at the site in 2014, which features over 1,600 relics.

The final years of the Han Dynasty witnessed the emergence of powerful warlords who consolidated into three major powers at the formal dissolution of the Han Dynasty in 220 CE: Cao Wei in the north, Eastern Wu in the southeast, and Shu Han in the southwest. Shortly after vanquishing Shu, Cao Wei was overthrown by the Jin Dynasty in 266. The Jin ruled a unified China until the 310s but survived as the Eastern Jin until 420. China was thereafter divided between northern and southern dynasties until its reunification by the Sui dynasty in 589.Rise of the WarlordsMap showing the Late Han warlords (c. 195 CE) and the extent of their territorial control. Source: Wikimedia CommonsIn 189 CE, after the massacre of the eunuchs, the warlord Dong Zhuo seized control of the government and replaced the young Emperor Shao with his younger brother, Emperor Xian. He soon gained a reputation for being a debauched tyrant, and in 190, Yuan Shao organized a coalition of senior Han officials and generals to challenge Dong Zhuos hold on Luoyang. Many of these men had distinguished themselves in the suppression of the Yellow Turban Uprising in 184.In 191, General Sun Jian, leading the vanguard of Yuan Shu (Yuan Shaos half-brother), marched on the capital with a small force. In response, Dong Zhuo set fire to Luoyang and evacuated to Changan. Sun Jian occupied the deserted Luoyang but quickly withdrew his troops when the coalition began falling apart. Dong Zhuo was killed in 192 by his subordinate L Bu, but Changan and the emperor remained under the control of Dongs followers.In late 191, Sun Jian was killed in an ambush. His teenage son Sun Ce took over his army and proceeded to conquer the Jiangdong region to the southeast of the Yangtze River. Sun Ce continued to serve Yuan Shu until 197, when the latter launched an ill-fated attempt to make himself the emperor of a new dynasty. Although Sun Ce would be assassinated after a private dispute in 200, his 18-year-old brother Sun Quan inherited a powerful state.Red CliffsStatue of Cao Cao in Xuchang, China. Source: Wikimedia CommonsIn 196 CE, Emperor Xian and several followers escaped and sought to return to Luoyang. On the way, they were intercepted by the warlord Cao Cao, who promised to protect the emperor. Cao Cao soon took the emperor to his power base at Xuchang and used his presence to legitimize his conquests. In 200, he defeated Yuan Shao at the Battle of Guandu, enabling him to become master of northern China.A Peking Opera performance of the Battle of Red Cliffs by Shanghai Jingju Theatre Company. Source: Wikimedia CommonsIn 208, Cao Cao was named chancellor and was ready to strike south of the Yangtze. He crossed into Jing Province and accepted the submission of Liu Cong, the second son of the late governor Liu Biao. Liu Biaos elder son, Liu Qi, was determined to resist Cao Caos efforts to conquer his native land and joined forces with Liu Bei, who claimed descent from the founding Han emperor Liu Bang. For many years, Liu Bei and his followers experienced mixed fortunes. He supported Yuan Shao but had to flee south to Jing Province, where he became a key advisor to Liu Biao.Following a plan devised by his strategist Zhuge Liang, Liu entered into an alliance with Sun Quan. Despite being heavily outnumbered, the allied commander Zhou Yu won a dramatic victory at the Battle of Red Cliffs by setting Cao Caos fleet on fire. Following Cao Caos withdrawal north of the Yangtze, Liu Bei quickly seized control of Jing Province south of the Yangtze River.Three KingdomsStatue of Liu Bei, Temple of Marquis Wu (Zhuge Liang), Chengdu, Sichuan, China. Source: Wikimedia CommonsDespite their joint victory over Cao Cao, the Sun-Liu alliance remained shaky as Sun Quan also laid claim to Jing Province. In 211, Liu Bei invaded Yi Province to the west to obtain a secure base for himself and conquered the region in 214. The following year, Cao Cao gained control of Hanzhong and threatened Liu Beis territory from the north. In response, Liu Bei attacked Hanzhong in 217 and emerged victorious after a two-year campaign. In 219, Liu Bei became king of Hanzhong, the same title Liu Bang held before establishing the Han Dynasty.Following Cao Caos death in 220, his son Cao Pi formally assumed imperial power as Emperor Wen of Wei, marking the end of the Han Dynasty. Liu Bei followed by proclaiming himself Emperor of (Shu) Han in 221. He died the following year and was succeeded by his teenage son, Liu Shan. Sun Quan became King of Wu as a vassal of Cao Wei but later assumed his own imperial title in 229.Over the following decades, Shu launched 11 northern expeditions against Wei, all of which were unsuccessful. Zhuge Liang, the Shu chancellor, led the first five, but Wei strategist Sima Yi foiled his plans. Following Zhuges death in 234, Shu general Jiang Wei took command and continued the northern expeditions.The Jin DynastySima Yan, Emperor Wu of Jin from the Thirteen Emperors Scroll by Yan Liben, Tang Dynasty, 7th century CE. Source: Wikimedia Commons (Museum of Fine Arts, Boston)In 249 CE, shortly before his death, Sima Yi instigated a coup enabling his family to assume effective control of the Cao Wei state. In 263, Sima Yis son, Sima Zhao, commanded the Wei forces in a campaign that resulted in the conquest of Shu. He assumed the title of King of Jin, but two years later, he died and was succeeded by his son Sima Yan, who forced the puppet emperor Cao Huan to abdicate and proclaimed the Jin Dynasty.During the reign of Sima Yan, who was posthumously known as Emperor Wu, Jin forces reunified the country by eliminating Eastern Wu in 280, bringing an end to the Three Kingdoms period. However, this reunification would prove short-lived. Emperor Wu was succeeded by his son, Emperor Hui, in 290. The new emperor was mentally impaired, and by 291, the empire was torn apart by a vicious civil war among members of the imperial clan. This conflict was known as the War of the Eight Princes.Although the civil war ended in 306 CE with the victory of Sima Yue, Prince of Donghai, and the accession of Emperor Huai in 307, the conflict severely weakened the dynasty and encouraged attacks by the Wu Hu or Five Barbarians in the north and west. In 311, the Xiongnu state of Han-Zhao occupied Luoyang and captured the emperor, who was executed in 313. His nephew and successor, Emperor Min, moved the government to Changan but was forced to surrender in 316.The Eastern JinFragment of the Admonitions Scroll, a Tang Dynasty copy of a painting by Eastern Jin artist Gu Kaizhi (4th century CE). Source: Wikimedia Commons (British Museum)For the next century, northwestern China fragmented into a series of short-lived states known as the Sixteen Kingdoms. The majority of these were ruled by Wu Hu peoples, though several were also founded by Han peoples. In the meantime, the Jin refugees from the north fled to Jiankang (present-day Nanjing), where in 318 CE, Sima Rui proclaimed himself Emperor Yuan, marking the beginning of the Eastern Jin Dynasty.The Eastern Jin would survive for another century and made numerous attempts to reconquer territories lost to the Sixteen Kingdoms. During the middle of the 4th century CE, Jin general Huan Wen achieved notable but temporary successes during his campaigns in the north. In 376, northern China was united by the Former Qin, which invaded the Eastern Jin in an attempt to conquer the whole of China. The invasion was defeated by an outnumbered Jin army at the Battle of Fei River in 383, ensuring the survival of the Eastern Jin and the collapse of Former Qin.During the early years of the 5th century CE, Jin general Liu Yu led a series of successful campaigns against the Sixteen Kingdoms, which saw the dynasty reconquer almost the entirety of China south of the Yellow River. In the process, Liu concentrated power in his own hands and overthrew the Jin Dynasty in 420 CE to establish the Liu Song Dynasty, the first of five southern dynasties.The Northern DynastiesYungang Grottoes near the Northern Wei capital of Datong. Source: Global TimesThe collapse of the Former Qin in the north saw the emergence of the Northern Wei state in 386, ruled by the Tuoba clan from the Xianbei people. In 423 CE, Tuoba Tao came to the throne as Emperor Taiwu with ambitions to unify northern China. These ambitions were realized in 439 when Northern Wei conquered Northern Liang, the last of the Sixteen Kingdoms.In 450, Taiwu invaded Liu Song, but his reign was cut short two years later when he was assassinated by an eunuch. While the early Northern Wei emperors sought to maintain a distinct Xianbei identity, at the end of the 5th century CE, Emperor Xiaowen introduced reforms to assimilate the Xianbei elites into Han Chinese culture. In 493, the emperor moved the capital from Datong in Shanxi province to the ancient capital of Luoyang. With the exception of Taiwu, who persecuted Buddhists, the Northern Wei emperors promoted Buddhism in China and patronized the famous Longmen Grottoes near Luoyang.The Northern Wei began to fall apart in the 520s, and by 535, the empire was divided between the Eastern and Western Wei, ruled officially by members of the Tuoba family but under the effective control of the Gao and Yuwen clans, respectively. In 550 CE, Gao Yang overthrew the Eastern Wei and established the Northern Qi Dynasty. In 557, the Western Wei emperor yielded the throne to Yuwen Jue, who became Emperor Xiaomin of Northern Zhou. In 577, Emperor Wu of Northern Zhou conquered the Northern Qi, but the Northern Zhou was overthrown by the general Yang Jian, who founded the Sui Dynasty in 581.The Southern DynastiesXiao Yan, Emperor Wu of Liang. Source: National Palace Museum, Taipei, TaiwanIn the south, Emperor Wu of Liu Song died in 422 CE, two years into his reign. His death resulted in a civil war, which was won by his third son, Emperor Wen, whose 29-year reign was marked by relative prosperity and stability. However, he lacked the military talents of his father, and his campaigns against Northern Wei were largely unsuccessful, leading to his deposition in 453. The dynasty lasted another quarter century until 479 CE when the nine-year-old Emperor Shun of Liu Song relinquished his throne to the general Xiao Daocheng, who established the Southern Qi dynasty.Seven successive emperors led the Southern Qi, which lasted 24 years until the general Xiao Yan overthrew the teenage Emperor He in 502 and founded the Liang Dynasty as Emperor Wu, whose reign of almost half a century is best known for his patronage of Buddhism. The end of the reign was marred by a rebellion by the general Hou Jing, who occupied Jiankang in 548 and exercised power in Emperor Wus name until the latters death the following year. The rebellion was defeated in 551 by the Liang generals Wang Sengbian and Chen Baxian.In 557, Chen Baxian overthrew the Liang and established the Chen Dynasty as Emperor Wu. The last of the southern dynasties was unable to regain control of its northern and western territories, which had fallen to the Northern Qi and Northern Zhou respectively, and in 589, it was conquered by the Sui, marking the end of the Northern and Southern Dynasties period.

What are the best war games? Its a tricky question to answer since there's been a long history of war titles in the world of video games. Conceptually, it never changes, whether you're fighting in WW2 or you've taken to a future battlefield in, well, Battlefield. Weve chosen some highlights from top-quality war games on PC for your consideration, from calmer free-to-play options to serious strategy games that cover some of history's most serious conflicts.As new releases appear, we're always on the lookout for the best and newest war games to add to the list,so make sure you check back regularly. Thefree PC gamesare up top by default, so if you're looking for somethingto play with zero financial commitment, that's where to look. Continue reading The best war games 2025MORE FROM PCGAMESN: Best WW2 games, Best free Steam games, Best FPS games

When isthe Soulframe release date?The upcoming fantasy MMORPG from the creators behind Warframe has been on our minds since it was first announced in 2022. More recently, developer Digital Extremes has revealed story details and gameplay trailers that give us an idea of what to expect from Soulframe's beautiful open world that establishes its themes of climate change and environmental destruction.Soulframe certainly looks and feels very different from its sci-fi sister, Warframe, instead, it takes cues from our favorite fantasy games. However, there are plenty of parallels to delight long-time Warframe fans and new players alikeonce the MMORPG arrives. Until then, here's everything we know so far, including all the latest news surroundingthe Soulframe release date and the upcoming Preludes playtests. Continue reading Soulframe release date window, trailers, gameplay, and newsMORE FROM PCGAMESN: Best MMOs, Best RPG games , Best fantasy games

Clair Obscur: Expedition 33 is one of the most innovative turn-based RPGs of recent years. It takes the gameplay and flair of the beloved Persona series and combines it with the narrative strength of earlier Final Fantasy games, yet is wholly original in its approach to the genre. Its an easy contender for Game of the Year already. If you want to see what all the fuss is about, you should take a chance to get it for just $7.99 / 7.15. Continue reading Don't miss your chance to get Clair Obscur Expedition 33 for just $8MORE FROM PCGAMESN: Best Clair Obscur Expedition 33 weapons, Best Clair Obscur Expedition 33 builds, Best Clair Obscur Expedition 33 Pictos

What are the Kingdom Come Deliverance 2 console commands and cheats? Life in Bohemia is tough; in the beginning, you have to fight for every meal, youre forced to use sub-par gear, and your skills are so low that you wont be able to hit a barn door with an arrow at ten paces. Console commands and cheats can change that, though, if youre so inclined.Even with the best KCD2 swords and KCD2 armor, you can struggle on occasion in the sprawling open-world RPG that is Kingdom Come Deliverance 2. Your enemies are numerous, and it can sometimes feel like an uphill battle, even hours into your adventure. With KCD2 console commands, you can turn the tide and get the upper hand with ease. Continue reading All Kingdom Come Deliverance 2 console commands and cheatsMORE FROM PCGAMESN: Kingdom Come Deliverance 2 review, Kingdom Come Deliverance 2 mods, Kingdom Come Deliverance 2 map

What is the best mini gaming PC? The traditional image of a custom gaming PC is a hulking behemoth of a machine, with frantically spinning fans, blazing rainbow RGB LEDs, and a monstrously large graphics card. However, the best mini gaming PCs can be compact, quiet, and elegant, all while providing performance that can rival full-size desktop rigs.We've tested a wide range of options from ultra-compact ones, which are similar to small laptops in performance, to true powerhouses. Our top choice overall is the Geekom AX8 Pro, thanks to its incredibly small size, decent gaming power, and fair price. For more serious power and stunning design, we've picked the fantastic Corsair One i500, while for a budget option, the Minisforum UM773 Lite is great value for under $400. Also check out the mini gaming PC FAQ section at the bottom of this list to answer all your burning small PC questions. Continue reading Best mini gaming PC 2025: top small form factor PCsMORE FROM PCGAMESN: Best graphics card, Best gaming PC, Best SSD for gaming