a history of children at arms

From ancient Sparta to the Spanish Civil War, child soldiers have been the norm for thousands of years.

In 1863, soon after American President Abraham Lincoln introduced the Medal of Honor it was awarded to Willie Johnson, a 13-year-old who stood just five feet tall.

He had enlisted in the army at 11 and received the highest medal for bravery at 12.

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During the battle of Berlin in 1945, German boys reportedly as young as ten fought against the Russians and, in turn, the Red Army had used boy soldiers.

In the Iran-Iraq war both sides used boy soldiers, the former to clear minefields and as advance attack waves.

One of the most notorious regimes to use children, both boys and girls, was the Khmer Rouge in Cambodia in the late 1970s.

Terrorists and revolutionaries have also employed children to do their work, from the Tamil Tigers of Sri Lanka to Palestinian and Arab suicide bombers.

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