Dean Swift

King George’s War & King William’s War

The assault on Cape Breton Island was successful / louisbourghistory.blogspot.com

The War of the Austrian Succession in Europe actually saw a component part in North America, the first time such a thing should happen. Up until 1744 Europeans fought each other in the New World regularly, but not many expected the taking of Louisberg on Cape Breton Island by a combined British Navy/New England force commanded by W. Pepperell in 1745. Thus it was that a British army was able to see for itself what American colonists were capable of. Pepperell’s report is favourable. (more…)

By Dean Swift| 2013-04-30T08:24:27+00:00 April 30th, 2013|A History of North America, British History, English History, French History, US History, World History|0 Comments

What really happened to William II (Rufus) in 1100?

Rufis falls dying, struck by an arrow that ‘bounced off’ a stag / daviddarling.info

William the ‘Red-faced’ was the second son of William, Duke of Normandy and William I of England, a.k.a. the Conquerer (q.v.). He was bad-tempered, wily and unpopular, and certainly not a chip off the old block. His father had made himself King of England, turning out the Saxon dynasty and replacing their language with Norman French, which was used officially in local and national government almost up to the time of Geoffrey Chaucer. Latin was universally used in the Church. When the Conquerer died, Rufus succeeded but not without considerable opposition from the barons of England, led by his own uncle, Odo Bishop of Bayeux, who wanted the older brother Robert on the throne. The Bishop’s rebellion was crushed first in 1088, as was a second attempt in 1095. (more…)

By Dean Swift| 2013-04-27T11:06:24+00:00 April 27th, 2013|British History, Church history, English History, English Language, French History, Today, World History|0 Comments

Gunboat diplomacy

It might well have been Lord Palmerston (twice Prime Minister of Britain, 1855- 58, 1859- 65, q.v.) who concreted this term, though gunboat diplomacy in its various forms has been with us for centuries. The term implies diplomacy backed up by the threat of force (a gunboat for example) between countries, one state half-drawing a sword from its scabbard while talking in measured terms with another. It is all about imposing the will, and GD as I will call it was the accepted political force mostly in the nineteenth century.

British myself, I am resigned to the fact that it was Great Britain which used this kind of diplomacy to the greatest effect until the beginning of the First World War, simply because she had a superior navy, which could coerce smaller, weaker nations – sometimes big ones – to bend to her will. (more…)

By Dean Swift| 2013-04-26T09:37:38+00:00 April 26th, 2013|A History of North America, British History, French History, German History, Greek History, History of China, History of Egypt, History of the Cinema, US History, World History|2 Comments

Louis-Philippe, last King of France (see footnote)

Louis-Philippe, also called Égalité like his father Duke of Orleans / commons.wikimedia.org

This not very fortunate man was born in 1773, some sixteen years before the beginnings of the French Revolution. He was a descendent of Louis XIII, and the eldest son of Philippe, Duke of Orléans. Though very young, he supported the Duke in his stance with the people and against the Monarchy and the Government, being a traditional Orléanist. Both he and his father renounced their titles and called themselves Philipe Égalité. (more…)

By Dean Swift| 2013-04-24T09:33:57+00:00 April 24th, 2013|English History, French History, World History|0 Comments

The ‘Glorious Revolution’ in England and Scotland

James II, painted by Sir Peter Lely / thebooksmuggler.com

In most of the recorded history of the British Isles there have only been three ‘civil wars’: the first, known as the ‘Wars of the Roses’ was not a civil war but a gangsterlike struggle between the highest and richest nobles in the land with one aim in mind – the throne of England. Ordinary people in the shires and towns were not involved unless they had been pressganged into battle by their overlords. (more…)

By Dean Swift| 2013-04-23T12:38:35+00:00 April 23rd, 2013|British History, English History, French History, Scottish history, World History|0 Comments

The SECOND Reich

Von Bismarck / numaudes.blogspot.com

We assume our studious blogwatchers know all that is to be known about the Third Reich, because it was notorious, racist, and the direct cause of half a billion deaths in a Second War to End All Wars. But what do we know about the Second Reich (Empire)? (more…)

By Dean Swift| 2013-04-22T10:12:52+00:00 April 22nd, 2013|Austrian history, British History, French History, German History, Russian history, US History, World History|0 Comments

The Bourbon Dynasty

Louis XIII / wikipedia.org

This is essential reading for any serious student of world history; the Bourbon family and its influences have been popping in and out of recorded history since the thirteenth century. Robert of Clermont (born in 1256) was the sixth son of Louis IX of France, when France was very much smaller than it is now. Robert married into what was then simply the ‘lordship’ of Bourbon. Their son became the first Duke, Louis I, born in 1279. (more…)

By Dean Swift| 2013-04-18T11:07:18+00:00 April 18th, 2013|French History, Today, World History|0 Comments

The Cherokee

The Cherokee, a painting by Nick Freemon / fineartamerica.com

In the story of the Cherokee nation can be found the finest and saddest elements of the early history of the United States of America. The ‘Plains People’ were North American Indian tribes who had inhabited a large region stretching right across modern western Virginia and the Carolinas, parts of Kentucky and Tennessee, and even northern Georgia and Alabama.

They had been there since pre-historical times, constructing the city Etowah in Georgia which became a religious centre for Mississippi cultures. Unfortunately, the Cherokee were visited by the conquistador Hernando de Soto around 1541 – an introduction to European culture which many natives did not survive. (more…)

By Dean Swift| 2013-04-17T10:51:12+00:00 April 17th, 2013|A History of North America, British History, French History, Philosophy, Scandinavian history, Spanish History, US History, World History|0 Comments

The Emperor Constantine (known as ‘the Great’)

The statue of Constantine before York Minster / york-united-kingdom.co.uk

Flavius Valerius Aurelius Constantinus was born around 274 AD. His was a patrician family in Rome and his father was Constantius I who died in the year 306, when our subject was thirty-two years old. He should have succeeded immediately, because the army declared him emperor, but there were, as always, complications; several other patricians rather thought they should rule, among them Licinius. Constantine showed consummate skill in staying alive, at the same time ‘removing’ the competition according to the ancient rules of the game. (more…)

By Dean Swift| 2013-04-16T10:19:47+00:00 April 16th, 2013|British History, Church history, History of Rome, History of Turkey, Jewish History, World History|0 Comments

A law in urgent need of repeal: the Royal Marriages Act

The Houses of Parliament / gothereguide.com

Yes I know that the majority of you don’t give a stuff about royalty anyway but quite a few nations prefer their Head of State to wear a crown; some fine republics abound, where the H of S is elected every so often, such as the United States, France and Germany, but there are plenty of Presidents on this planet who would make a fine old mess of managing a small shop, let alone a nation.

Now in Great Britain a hard law exists which is not as oecumenical as the Church of England claims to be: this law prohibits the heir to the throne (alone among all British subjects) from marrying a Catholic. It does not matter if the heir has not thought of doing so. The fact is that the law is insulting to the British monarch’s innumerable Catholic subjects, as well as being an even greater insult to common sense. (more…)

By Dean Swift| 2013-04-15T11:16:28+00:00 April 15th, 2013|Austrian history, Church history, Czech History, English History, Humour, Philosophy|0 Comments

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